This may not interest most of you, since you probably have residency visas, but, some visitors may stumble on this. My adult son came to Cancun 6 months ago to visit and apply for his fm3. Of course, by the time he applied all the rules had changed and he now has to go back to the states to start the visa process. However, for various reasons it isn't convenient to go back now, and we wanted to get him a new FMM. So, we went blindly to Belize to get him the new FMM on the way back. However, we couldn't even exit Mexico because he had not paid the $295 dollar EXIT tax. Being Sunday, we couldn't pay the tax, so, we returned to Cancun. I did ask the immigration agent if there was "anything" we could do to exit. He said no. I'm fluent in Spanish, so there was no misunderstanding. The following Sunday, we took ADO to Chetumal, $600MXN round trip for each. The round trip drive was more than I wanted to take on in one day. The bus is quite comfy. We arrived in Chetumal, found a very accommodating cab driver to take us to the border. This time we had the tax receipt in hand, so, exiting Mexico was easy. The cab driver offered to drive us across, and we accepted. We entered the duty free zone and returned immediately to enter Mexico. Here's the rub. You can't reenter Mexico without an exit stamp on your passport from Belize immigration, a little further down the road past the duty free zone. This is for FMM's only. So, our patient driver then drove us into Belize again, to Belize immigration. Here's the big rub. Belize immigration sticks you for a $100 USD "fee" to stamp your passport since they surmise what it is you are trying to do. There is no way to get around it. It is a standard charge that everyone on both sides of the border is well aware of. They wouldn't lower the price or give me a receipt. Again, our waiting cab driver drove us back across to Mexican, through the usual long line of cars that are returning to Mexico. We went back to Mexican immigration and my son got his FMM for 6 more months. Our cab driver took us back to the bus terminal in Chetumal. His total fee was $500MXN. A little stiff, maybe, but it saved us a hell of a lot of hassles, and he was very nice. The drive between Chetumal and the border is about 15 minutes, so, I guess the fare was fair. Just FYI in case anyone on an expiring FMM reads this forum.
Nice post, Tristan, but too bad you hadn't read just a little further down the page of "Living in Cancun" before you made the trip. http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/living-cancun-riviera-maya/25602-entry-exit-belize.html
I really don't see anything in that post that would have helped. We had no interest in "visiting" Belize.
I believe, without having experienced it, that if you are entering Belize they will give you an entry stamp without hesitation: what changed the dynamic was the fact that you didn't actually want to enter Belize any further than the Immigation Station, and you wanted to be stamped out of the country immediately after getting stamped in. _________________ ADO has daily, overnight service to Belize, leaving Cancun at 10 PM, arriving in Belize City about eight hours later, and costs about 500 pesos. I suppose the idea of making an excursion of it just naturally occurs to me: an overnight stay, and a little look around Corozal, or Belize City, might make the whole thing seem just a little less onerous. That $100 USD you had to pay to get someone to stamp you in- then immediately out- could have been applied to a stay. You might not have wanted to actually go into Belize, but it seems to me a more straightforward way to deal with this, and is far simpler on balance, eliminating the need for negotiating with Belize Immigration, and for switching modes of transportation. At least it's an option for some to consider. http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/living-cancun-riviera-maya/25602-entry-exit-belize.html
No, we didn't want to go into Belize. We weren't on vacation. The rude "woman" who felt quite entitled to my 100 bucks said we would have to go in and spend minimum 72 hours in Belize to get a free stamp. This is a well organized scheme. It wasn't an anomaly. She had no qualms about asking for the 100 bucks in front of everyone. I'm sure the money is shared with her superiors. I spoke Spanish to her and talked with my son in English. She told my son that I was a liar, not realizing he was actually my son. When I told her he was my son and that I don't lie to my son, she was somewhat embarrassed. The Mexican immigration agent on returning had some choice words for his counterparts in Belize.
Thanks for sharing the details, Tristan. You have given the readers fair warning of what they might expect, under identical circumstances. __________________ I suppose anybody entering a country with the intention of immediately leaving it- especially in a case in which there isn´t even an intention to leave passport control without both entry and exit stamps being put in the passport- is going to be vulnerable to this type of cohersion. Not liking to find myself in that type of situation, I´ve never tried it, always staying overnight at a minimum, just to avoid that very thing (exit-reentry, Thailand-Myanmar-Thailand, for example). Avoiding having to pay bribes is, to a degree, a matter of being well informed, and having some flexibility. I was once taking a night train from Moscow to St Petersburg: the conductor said he would put me off the train if I did´t pay him something extra (the train was not designated for foreigner´s travel): I refused to pay and just took the next train, an hour later. These types of choices, which involve accepting some inconvenience or engaging in careful advance planning are not for everyone: I like to think it´s worth the trouble, as part of improving the travel experience for everyone as well as for the good feeling it gives me not to be coerced into paying a bribe.
