# Crossing Laredo Questions



## sky7 (Feb 26, 2012)

Hello! I am hoping to get some questions answered about crossing the border at Laredo. 
When I originally drove down to GDL I went through Nogales, but will be returning through Texas.

First, are there cuotas from GDL to Laredo? And a good site to map it out exactly?

Also, I paid the $400 to bring my car in, but I'll be crossing a different border, does this matter?

AND...the Visa i used to pay the $400 dollars has since been cancelled ( forgot I used that card for the crossing). So, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get the money back, or what to do?

Also, i know you have to repurchase U.S car insurance upon re-entry. I am wondering how you do this, where, etc. The details.

Thanks in advance for any help.
S.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

sky7 said:


> First, are there cuotas from GDL to Laredo? And a good site to map it out exactly?


Yes - Rutas Punto a Punto



sky7 said:


> Also, I paid the $400 to bring my car in, but I'll be crossing a different border, does this matter?


No.



sky7 said:


> AND...the Visa i used to pay the $400 dollars has since been cancelled ( forgot I used that card for the crossing). So, does anyone have any suggestions as to how to get the money back, or what to do?


I am not clear what you mean when you say "canceled". Are you saying that you now have no visa and are in Mexico illegally? If so, you can definitely kiss your $400 goodbye. If you means that you have just renewed your visa or changed to a different visa status type that may be OK as long as you notified Aduana of the changes when you made them. If you didn't notify them, then you will probably have to kiss that $400 goodbye as well.



sky7 said:


> Also, i know you have to repurchase U.S car insurance upon re-entry. I am wondering how you do this, where, etc. The details.


Sorry, I can't help you with this one. I kept my US insurance at a minimal level. Illinois requires insurance to maintain auto registration and Mexico requires current registration when you get a new temporary auto permit at entry so I needed to keep mine. I just call my agent and he restores normal coverage for the time I am driving in the US and then returns it to bare minimum when I leave.
I know there are many places that sell temporary US insurance.


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## sky7 (Feb 26, 2012)

*Thanks*

Thanks for the info!

About the Visa...I mean the credit card. Not my legal status. I'm very legal. 
The Visa credit card I used to pay the $400 I cancelled it...i wasn't using it. I forgot I'd paid the entry fee with it. Any thoughts there?

S.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

Oops, I get it... Visa credit card as opposed to visa.

I know that Aduana will not credit back to a different card number so you may be in trouble. Maybe talk to your ex-Visa company/bank and explain the situation to them?


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Two things:
-I wasn't aware that you needed to show credit card at exit. I thought that you just went to the point where they remove the permit and they will give you a receipt. Keep this with your entrance receipt and think should automatically go to the old card. Now I would contact VISA ahead of time to tell them of the credit and how you want refunded, or transferred if you kept card from the same bank.
-It was my impression that you had to have US car insurance in force to get and keep Mexican insurance on foreign plated car and that Mexican coverage could be no higher than US. I'm plated in NC and you have to have insurance to get car registered each year. You might check state where your car registered to see requirements and use that as the base.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

conklinwh said:


> -I wasn't aware that you needed to show credit card at exit. I thought that you just went to the point where they remove the permit and they will give you a receipt. Keep this with your entrance receipt and think should automatically go to the old card. Now I would contact VISA ahead of time to tell them of the credit and how you want refunded, or transferred if you kept card from the same bank.


I don't know that you need to show the card at exit but if he doesn't have another card with that same bank he may have a problem.



conklinwh said:


> -It was my impression that you had to have US car insurance in force to get and keep Mexican insurance on foreign plated car


When I bought my Mexican insurance they never asked if I had US insurance on my Illinois plated car so I don't think that is a rule. You do need current US registration when you enter though and in most (all?) states that requires insurance.



conklinwh said:


> I'm plated in NC and you have to have insurance to get car registered each year. You might check state where your car registered to see requirements and use that as the base.


Same for Illinois but I don't know if that's true in all states or not.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Some of those 'suspicions' and 'beliefs' are not entirely true. These things have been covered many times, but few seem to retain the information. Here's what I know:
The deposit will only go back to the original card.
Mexican insurance is required in Mexico. Your US state may, or may not require insurance to register.
Some tourist insurance does require that you maintain US/Canadian insurance. Emphasis on 'Some'.
There is no need to show a credit card on exit from Mexico.
A credit to a credit card account will remain as a credit; not refundable as cash. It may be transferred to your new credit card.
If you paid a deposit in cash, it will be returned in cash. The choice is not yours.
Keep the receipt for your importada temporal; forever!


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

[deleted]

It is not clear what 'suspicions' and 'beliefs' you are referring to. In your post you have essentially restated what has been previously said in this thread.

Except... you are making a contradiction on an important point for the OP. You say:
>>The deposit will only go back to the original card.

Then later you state:
>>It may be transferred to your new credit card.

If the new credit card is with the same bank then, yes, it will be credited to the new card.
However, the OP's original card is canceled and they have not chimed in as to whether their new card is with the same bank, a different bank or if they indeed even have a new card. If it is not with the same bank, then a credit to the canceled card will not be transferred to the new card. And if they have no new credit card with any bank then, as I said, they have a problem.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

I have cancelled credit cards in the past without another card at that bank. In one case, I knew of a credit post closing and called the credit issuer. They have no problem sending a check for the credit. In my case the credit was soon after closure so they held 30 days to let any charges clear before they sent the check. My net is that you should call the company before the credit hits so they know is coming.
I guess only new news to me from RVGRINGO was that some Mexican Insurance companies will issue insurance on US plated car without proof of US insurance. I've used almost half a dozen companies and all have required my insurance reference and in fact would not insure at levels above my US insurance. I did suspect that some states still allow uninsured cars as I get charged each year to cover uninsured motorists but didn't realize there was a way to bring such a car legally into Mexico.


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## ReefHound (Aug 9, 2010)

A closed account is not necessarily closed to any further transactions. In many cases a merchant can refund to a closed account unless it has been closed for a long time. The credit card issuer can then re-activate the account or issue you a check.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Hate to make same point thrice but when it's my money, I never leave it to the system. I would call the credit card issuer before you get to the border to verify what will happen when the credit hits. You don't want to find out after the fact that was rejected.


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## Grizzy (Nov 8, 2010)

When you turn in your car sticker they give you a form to sign. If you want the credit sent to a different credit card or debit card with a visa or MC logo you fill the information in on the form. It may delay the credit by a few days but you will still get it. I wouldn't try to get money from a cancelled credit card. I went through this less than a month ago at the border. The guy asked me specifically if I wanted the refund credited to the same card or a check or to another card. No worries.

And Mexican insurance companies don't care if you have other insurance on your vehicle. I renewed my Mx insurance without having Canadian insurance on it and no problem.

When you want to go back to the US you can buy insurance for the US from here in Mexico for a month or longer.


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Sorry for slight change in subject but relative to Laredo crossing options, we now have three people that have made round trip to San Antonio in the last ten days. In each case there was a speed trap just off the ramp from the Nuevo Laredo highway onto Rte. 2headed to Columbia crossing. There is a very short section that drops to 40kmh and they were stopping people in both directions. This is sometimes local police and sometimes federales.


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