While I realize that the majority posting here are living in Cancun full-time, might anyone know what the procedure may be for re-entering Cancun when one is not going to renew their FM3? Maybe fill out an FMT and give both the FME slip and the FMT to Immigration? Wondering who to return the FM3 book to as well? I have sent an e-mail to Sr. Mendoza but with the Holidays and our return to Cancun next week I'm afraid the timing is terrible. It seems that with this change in the law, the need for an FM3, for those who don't stay more than 180 days at any one time and NOW can't register/plate their car, goes away... We got our FM3's specifically to be able to purchase/own a Nationalized car, register/plate it in Cancun and be able to leave it in Cancun. We found out about the need for an FM2 to register/plate our newly purchased car at the beginning of November...Surprise! Luckily a very dear Mexican friend was with my husband and he put the plates in his name. Our Mexican Insurance agent wasn't even aware of the change. So, now it seems that with this change, we would have been better off to bring a car in, keep US plates and have it legit as long as the FM3 was current. Live and learn. Happy Holidays to ALL.
When does your FM3 expire? Will it expire before you plan to leave Mexico again? Do not fill out the FMT and turn it in along with your FME, you will just get INM mad at you. Legally you cannot have two types of immigrant status at once. Meaning you can't have an FM3 and an FMT at the same time. One easy way to get out of your FM3 would be to turn it in the INM as you are leaving Mexico. Tell them you are relinquishing it. Then when you come in after that you would get an FMT.
Thank you for the response. Our FM3's expire at the end of January so will expire before we leave. This trip was planned to account for the FM3 renewal with its potentially long time process needs and well before we found out about the FM2 requirement for plates. Based upon your suggestion above, I think we'd better re-enter with the FME paper then hope that we hear back from Sr. Mendoza and/or get the issue resolved through Immigration downtown. We surely don't want anyone in Immigration upset with us!!! If we are lucky, it may be as simple as the "reverse" of someone coming in on an FMT and then applying for FM3 status... we come in on our FM3's and then try to surrender them and ask for FMT status going forward. Now that may be asking for too much but one can hope. Thanks again and I will post whatever the resolution turns out to be.
If you dont need/want the FM3 have no intention of renewing and it will expire before you leave why would you produce it at all on entry? Just sounds like extra hassle to me. If it were me I would just enter and leave as a tourist and forget I ever had an FM3.
I would like to do it that way if I thought/knew for sure that was legitimate but since we had to register our residence location with Immigration and the car ownership/title is in our name, it would be just our luck to have someone notice that we left the Country at the end of November on our FM3's, that they were due for renewal at the end of January and with the remote possibility of a cross-check, see that we had re-entered on FMT's at the end of December. I just don't want to take any chances. We would rather do it the correct way even if it is more of a pain. Or, maybe I'm simply paranoid about losing our property there. I appreciate being able to go to Cancun and to have property there so I don't want to step on any toes unnecessarily. Hope that makes sense. ETA: When one renews their USA passport, the old one is sent in and is returned along with the new one but with holes punched through it making in invalid. I would think that someone, somewhere in Mexico may also be keeping track of FM3's since they are Goverment issued documents. I may be wrong but I don't want to take the chance. Also, I had found ALL the information about getting the FM3 (we did it out of Boston, MA) down to how and where to go to get it registered in a timely fashion, right here on this Forum. There is so much great information here...
CancunMole.... not sure if you have time, but maybe you could look into either renewing or canceling your FM3's at your nearest Mexican consulate.... Don't think you can apply for an FM2 there thou...
Life has a point. You might try giving up your FM3 at a Consulate, then enter Mexico as a tourist. One point you should understand is that if you come with your FM3 and then let it expire and do not get an FMT you could have trouble when you leave. When you leave Mexico you need to prove you were here legally. If you try to leave and your FM3 expired just a few days before you likely won't have a big problem. But if you try to leave Mexico with an FM3 that expired months before you will probably end up in hot water with INM and might miss your plane. I'd like to tell you to just stick your FM3 in a scrapbook somewhere and enter Mexico with an FMT. But if you got caught doing that you'd be in trouble.
Duh! Not sure why I didn't think of that except possibly too many other things going on with the Holidays. I'll call the Consul in Boston, hopefully they'll be open if not tomorrow then at least on Monday. Thank you for the idea!
If I can't get an official type answer before we leave, then I think that our best bet will be to return to Cun on the FM3 and contact Immigration there and hope that I hear back from Sr. Mendoza beforehand. Since the FM3's don't expire until the end of the month, we should have time to get it squared away. Thank you for all your help and suggestions. A Peaceful Christmas Day to all.
