Border Crossing

[Riviera Maya Ar]

Has anyone crossed the border at Nuevo Progreso with trailer and household goods. The man handling our FM3 at consulate in Atlanta said we might have easier crossing there. From there we plan to go to Tampico and on to Playa anyone with info on that route and crossing info would be helpful. We will be leaving Atlanta about June 1.
Jim & Penny Hoskins

[Life_N_Cancun]

I have no experience crossing there, but its not so much at the border where you will have problems. Rather it’s the checkpoints after you start your trip, so DO have your paperwork, and DO be prepared for a hassle at the checkpoints.

[JimmyMN]

When we brought SusieQRoo's travel trailer down this past March, it was suggested that we cross at Nuevo Progreso because it's quite a bit more relaxxed than at nearby Brownsville/Metamores. We crossed at noon on Sunday and there weren't any immigration or customs agents to greet us. It was so weird...

If you're bringing things that might be scrutinized by customs (new furnishings or food) you'll also want to avoid the secondary checkpoint. You'll hit lots of military checkpoints along the way (firearms & drugs) but they never seemed to be concerned with immigration stuff.

By the way, I recorded the location of every Pemex station (Petroleas Mexicanos) from Brownsville to Playa del Carmen and will try to make it available as a chart before you leave.

Jimmy

[Riviera Maya Ar]

Jimmy we would really appreciate your list, you can email it if you like. We will turn off our internet service in about 10 days. We are now moving between euphoria and total panic, but dreams do come true. Next week we apply for our Menaje de Casa, and have to be out of our house by June 1 or should I say the new owners house
thinks for your help
Jim & Penny Hoskins

[maya]

Originally Posted by Riviera Maya Ar

Jimmy we would really appreciate your list, you can email it if you like. We will turn off our internet service in about 10 days. We are now moving between euphoria and total panic, but dreams do come true. Next week we apply for our Menaje de Casa, and have to be out of our house by June 1 or should I say the new owners house
thinks for your help
Jim & Penny Hoskins

we crossed at Brownsville in January. Had a van loaded. No problem at border-less at check point. Maybe because we crossed at 6:30 on a Monday morning-I really dont think the agent wanted to be bothered. After that it was a piece of cake.

[Ginger]

Originally Posted by maya

we crossed at Brownsville in January. Had a van loaded. No problem at border-less at check point. Maybe because we crossed at 6:30 on a Monday morning-I really dont think the agent wanted to be bothered. After that it was a piece of cake.

We also crossed at Brownsville last November without problems, although we were on Tourist Visas. We told them we were headed to Playa for 6 months, they gave us 180 days on our visa and didn't even want to LOOK at our vehicle. Same at the checkpoint. I don't remember what day is was that we crossed (it's in my trip report, link below) but it was around 10 am.

I think crossing into Mexico is so much easier than it is getting back into the US. It can get quite annoying when the Yanks decide to do all sorts of searches and ask a bunch of questions. They're so darn paranoid, even with my passport, green card and everything they're still weird at times. Now I'm a citizen so hopefully they'll just bug off when we come back in.

[Ginger]

Originally Posted by Mariposita

I think crossing into Mexico is so much easier than it is getting back into the US. It can get quite annoying when the Yanks decide to do all sorts of searches and ask a bunch of questions. They're so darn paranoid, even with my passport, green card and everything they're still weird at times. Now I'm a citizen so hopefully they'll just bug off when we come back in.

I hear ya'! We had those problems coming back into the states from Mexico, due to John's status and record. But we had a waiver and they shouldn't have bothered us, as the INS told us in Seattle. Didn't stop them from holding us up for more than an hour at 10 at night in Brownsville when we had just driven for 36 hours straight and really wanted a Whataburger!

Originally Posted by Ginger

I hear ya'! We had those problems coming back into the states from Mexico, due to John's status and record. But we had a waiver and they shouldn't have bothered us, as the INS told us in Seattle. Didn't stop them from holding us up for more than an hour at 10 at night in Brownsville when we had just driven for 36 hours straight and really wanted a Whataburger!

Well we know that we have nothing to hide or worry about, but the people they should be looking for like murderers, kidnappers and big drug dealers seem to slip through their fingers while they harrass law abiding citizens like you and me....*sigh*

I guess you should have said you wanted a Mc D burger instead. You never know - just the Whataburger craving might have struck them as a serious offense

[Riviera Maya Ar]

Originally Posted by maya

we crossed at Brownsville in January. Had a van loaded. No problem at border-less at check point. Maybe because we crossed at 6:30 on a Monday morning-I really dont think the agent wanted to be bothered. After that it was a piece of cake.

were you using FM3 or tourist visa when you crossed the border and what does border-less check point mean
thinks Jim

[maya]

[quote=Riviera Maya Ar]were you using FM3 or tourist visa when you crossed the border and what does border-less check point mean
thinks Jim[/QUOTE

I got my tourist card when I crossed the border, that is immigration. My husband had his fm3 card. The next stop is the check point or I guess I should have said customs. Not sure how far that was since it was so early, I was half asleep. Customs is where they check what you are bringing into Mexico and make sure you have your sticker on the car(which you also get at immigration). Some vehicles gets a thorough check - after the agent looked at our passports and the sticker on the windshield-asked where we were going a waved us through.