# Questions about bringing household items across the border



## DebInFL (Dec 1, 2016)

I'm really confused about bringing household items across the border. I know you can't bring anything on a visitor visa, but once I get my temporary visa, what is the cheapest way to get my stuff there? 

My doctor now says I'll probably be fine in Guadalajara (YAY!) with an emergency inhaler, so that's still going to be my base for awhile, or maybe Guanajuato, don't know yet.

I was reading about people in Mexico who have businesses coming up and bringing your belongings across the border. Someone mentioned a person in Ajijic who carried their stuff from So. Cal. It seems they are much cheaper than the international shipping companies. I won't have that much, maybe 15 boxes total. I'll bring some smaller things across in my luggage. 

One thing I read that concerned me was that you only get one shot at bringing in household goods, but then I read that someone stored things in El Paso and made several trips across in their vehicle bringing small loads in. Which is true? I can't find that anywhere.

Another question is about bringing in kitchen knives. The rules say nothing about that. As long as they are packed away in a box and I leave that box open to be inspected, should I have a problem bringing them in? I have a really nice professional set I got as a gift that I would be loathe to part with, and I certainly don't want them confiscated at the border. If it's going to be a problem, I'll just give them to my son and say a sad "adios" to them before I come.

There is so much to do. I'm beginning to think 12 months of planning is not enough!


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

DebInFL said:


> I'm really confused about bringing household items across the border. I know you can't bring anything on a visitor visa, but once I get my temporary visa, what is the cheapest way to get my stuff there?
> 
> My doctor now says I'll probably be fine in Guadalajara (YAY!) with an emergency inhaler, so that's still going to be my base for awhile, or maybe Guanajuato, don't know yet.
> 
> ...


I brought a 15 passenger van full of boxes across the border once. I took out the seats. It was around midnight when we crossed at El Paso-Ciudad Juarez. They shined a flashlight in the van, then looked into a couple of boxes that were on top and easy to get at, then told us to go ahead.

One of the boxes contained kitchen knives. There were also several saws, a couple of hatchets, an axe, an electric saw (Skil) and an electric drill.


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

we decided to check outMexico in February 2001, came down in March 2001 bought a house the same week and came down in July , my husband with a pick up and I drove the car down. wth 3 matiffs and 2 cats and a few suitcases..I flew back a few months later with a list of what I wanted to bring down, shipped the boxes LTL to Laredo where a moving company from Ajijic came to pick up n December and that was the extend of the planning we did.. 

After I bought the house we but our house on the market.. I packed everything and did a packing list and we put everythng we did not sell and may keep in storage.. After a couple of months I came back sold what we had decided we did not need, sold it or gave it away and shipped the rest. t is a little time consuming but you do not need a year to figure it out if you are organized and systematic.

Kitchen knives are tools why would you worry about that.. so are machetes.. Hunting knoves are a different stories but even that if they are part of the kitchen I do not think it would be a major deal...

They check the electronics a whole lot more than the kitchen items.


----------



## DebInFL (Dec 1, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> I brought a 15 passenger van full of boxes across the border once. I took out the seats. It was around midnight when we crossed at El Paso-Ciudad Juarez. They shined a flashlight in the van, then looked into a couple of boxes that were on top and easy to get at, then told us to go ahead.
> 
> One of the boxes contained kitchen knives. There were also several saws, a couple of hatchets, an axe, an electric saw (Skil) and an electric drill.


Lordy! When was this? I have thought about buying a minivan and driving down, but I don't think I'd want to do it at midnight going into Juarez. LOL

It's all so complicated. You have to get a visitor visa to get in to get your temporary residency card so you can go back to get your things. Meanwhile, someone like you could probably meet me in El Paso, stick all my stuff in the back of your truck and drive it in with no problem. 

I'm sure all the hassle will be worth it in the end. Sheesh.


----------



## DebInFL (Dec 1, 2016)

citlali said:


> we decided to check outMexico in February 2001, came down in March 2001 bought a house the same week and came down in July , my husband with a pick up and I drove the car down. wth 3 matiffs and 2 cats and a few suitcases..I flew back a few months later with a list of what I wanted to bring down, shipped the boxes LTL to Laredo where a moving company from Ajijic came to pick up n December and that was the extend of the planning we did..
> 
> After I bought the house we but our house on the market.. I packed everything and did a packing list and we put everythng we did not sell and may keep in storage.. After a couple of months I came back sold what we had decided we did not need, sold it or gave it away and shipped the rest. t is a little time consuming but you do not need a year to figure it out if you are organized and systematic.
> 
> ...


I'm a worrier. I've always been. It's what I do. It's actually saved my butt quite a few times, so I think of it as a blessing. I also have to know everything before I do something, because I don't like surprises. 

As to electronics, I've found that my phone, tablet and laptop are all the entertainment I need. I am bringing a bunch of thumb drives & a couple of external drives, which have movies & ebooks on them. Oh, and of course my camera, but it's nothing they would worry about.

I need to figure out how to get the stuff from FL to El Paso, but that's just going to go on a list of things to do for now. Once I get prices for shipping, I'll figure out how much to actually bring. Most of what I want to bring is kitchen stuff. I love to cook, so my cookware and bakeware is important to me. 

I have much less money to work with than you did, and I don't want to arrive flat broke. I lost everything during the recession; car, house, savings -- everything, so I'm living on SS & what I can make online. I don't have any savings at all, so I have to earn & save the money to move over the next year, that's why it's 12 months. Having money makes everything simpler. 

I'm moving because I can't afford to live here anymore, and it will take everything I've got to be able to do it. You're very blessed to not have my worries; I hope you realize that and are thankful for it. Sometimes your replies makes me think you don't realize how lucky you are.


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

DebInFL said:


> Lordy! When was this? I have thought about buying a minivan and driving down, but I don't think I'd want to do it at midnight going into Juarez. LOL
> 
> It's all so complicated. You have to get a visitor visa to get in to get your temporary residency card so you can go back to get your things. Meanwhile, someone like you could probably meet me in El Paso, stick all my stuff in the back of your truck and drive it in with no problem.
> 
> I'm sure all the hassle will be worth it in the end. Sheesh.


I rented the van in Guadalajara. Drove to Colorado, filled it with stuff I had in storage, then drove back to Gdl. I paid for full insurance coverage, but it didn't occur to me until after the trip, that the insurance probably wouldn't have covered anything that happened in the US. Fortunately nothing did.

Like Citlali, I stored stuff in the US before coming to Mexico originally. I kept the storage locker for years. Every time I visited the US, I got rid of more stuff, until it was down to a minimum that I didn't want to get rid of, mostly boxes of old paper records, kitchen stuff, and tools. That was when I finally rented the van and brought the remaining stuff to Mexico.


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

and of course you know that Guabajuato is at 2000 meter, much higher than Guadalajara.

I am grateful for my health and hope it lasts.. as far as money I am not rich and I earned every bit I have. I came to the US with a suitcase to my name and made the rest. I have lived with no money and debts to doctors that took me 4 years to pay off .. I have lived with money and without money. Money can make things simpler sometimes, not always.. 

Here in Mexico I work with indigenous who probably are a whole lot poorer than you are but they never talk about that.. they work and we look for ways to better their business and do not look at what they do not have.
Happiness comes from your attitude not from money or the lack of it

Shipping LTL via a shippng company (trucking line) is cheaper than shippng via movers..but nothing is really cheap so narrow down what you want to bring..tundragreen did , it is way more lax.. you do not have to do it at midnight.. good grief with the crowd we ran into in Nogales, I am glad it was not midnght.. they insisted they would pay me 2000 pesos for each of my dogs... they all wanted them for fighting dogs.. I have never spoken with so many people that I would be afraid to see on a dark street.. These guys were friendly but I sure was happy to have the dogs with me even during the day..i
If you have a menage de casa electronics and appliances go together and you have to have on the list seral number model etc.. The mover who crossed the border for me told me they were fined every time there was a mistake ibn the serial number .. I think that if you bring stuff like


----------



## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Incidentally, crossing the border into Ciudad Juarez at midnight was not a planned exercise. We left Colorado in the afternoon and it was late when we got to the border. We figured the border crossing would be quick that time of night, and also we knew we could get a motel for a lot less money in Ciudad Juarez than in El Paso, and we both were cheap. I was with a friend who went along for the ride and to visit his daughter in Colorado.


----------



## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

From the late Rolly Brooks excellent site...all about moving to Mexico...

How to Move to M?xico


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Rolly did a great job. I miss him, he was a wonderful human being..


----------



## DebInFL (Dec 1, 2016)

The more I learn, the more I think I'm just not capable of going through all this. I appreciate all your help, but my brain just can't take all this in, and with no one here to help me and very little money, I fear it's just impossible. I suppose I'll never have this dream, so I'll leave it to those who are young and able or have the money to hire someone to do it for them. Goodbye. Again, thanks for opening my eyes if nothing else.


----------



## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

You may have made the right decision, but if you still have an interest in living in Mexico, you probably owe it to yourself to make an exploratory trip. I suspect that you would benefit from asking a friend to make the trip with you, as "two heads are always better than one." The usual 'tourist trap destinations' are not what you are looking for. Instead, you might fly into Guadalajara, for example, and stay in a centrally located hotel for a week. From there, you can take the local double decked tour buses, allowing you to get off and on at various stops all day long. You will see a lot, and eat a lot. Then, if you are able, book a room in Chapala or Ajijic for another week and explore the Lake Chapala area by foot, local bus, or even with a taxi driver hired for the day. You will now have two weeks under your belt. If your budget allolws, you might even make it longer and include another part of Mexico. 
However, if you really are a "Nervous Nellie", with no true interest in the language and culture, but just the economics; then, forget the whole idea.


----------



## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

DebInFL said:


> It's all so complicated. You have to get a visitor visa to get in to get your temporary residency card so you can go back to get your things.
> 
> I'm sure all the hassle will be worth it in the end. Sheesh.


Remember that there will always be unpredictability in life, but sometimes our fears and anxieties make things look more complicated than they really are. 

You don’t have to first get a visitor visa to get in to get your temporary resident card. You apply for Residencia Temporal at a Mexican Consulate in the US. You can do that without ever having stepped foot in Mexico. 

I wouldn’t recommend doing that, though. RV’s advice is wise. Take a trip to Guadalajara for at least a week or two, to see if the reality bears any resemblance to your expectations. You don’t need to get a visitor visa. You will be given a visitors permit by Immigration at the airport or the border (a piece of paper called the FMM - don’t lose that piece of paper or you will have complications when leaving Mexico, at least if you’re flying out). 

As an example, right now you can get a round trip flight on Interjet from Miami to Guadalajara for about $250, for October. Check Google Flights. I understand that worry and anxiety can be paralyzing, but given that you have been exploring this dream for some time now, the type of exploratory trip RV suggests may really help you decide one way or the other, rather than living with the eternal “What if?”


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

ojosazules11 said:


> Remember that there will always be unpredictability in life, but sometimes our fears and anxieties make things look more complicated than they really are.
> 
> You don’t have to first get a visitor visa to get in to get your temporary resident card. You apply for Residencia Temporal at a Mexican Consulate in the US. You can do that without ever having stepped foot in Mexico.
> 
> ...



Great advice from one of the most sensible posters on this forum!


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Yes rather than abandon the dream check it out, you may findout that it is very different from what you imagined it to be and love it or hate it and then go for it or forget it, this way no regret..you can move on to something else or go ahead and move and love it.

By coming out you will answer a lot of the questions and you have.


----------



## xolo (May 25, 2014)

All the suggestions are helpful. You should visit Mexico because some people really love it and some do not love it at all.


----------



## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2017)

Buenos noches . . . I don't know if Deb is still online here, yet I found the comments, suggestions, and referenced links for more info on this forum to be invaluable!

Visiting and exploring are very important, they were to me. I discovered that the "resort familiar name locations" not to my liking . . . it was the colonial environment that captured my imagination, and the people, families, tiendas pequenas, etc. that made "the plunge" possible. All mis vecinos are Mexicanas, la tienda de verduras son de Chamula, and a couple from Argentina . . . english is not the language of choice en mi barrio. 

My biggest hurdle was : could I learn espanol ( not one word answers, but to listen to a sentence/question and answer with a sentence - so I continued my espanol clases - I am not fluent by any measure today, but I am experiencing progress, to some their eyes light up when I say correctly a complete sentence ( OR self correct - I love that ), and my grammar is improving.

I packed up my Jeep with storage totes all numbered in espanol, created the menaje de casa certified at the Mexican Consulate ( over done, but suggestions indicated better to have this then not IF asked! - Well at the border the Aduana said I didn't need this - I guess since all my belongings were in the car - like I was saying I have nothing to hide?? ); Mexican insurance; documentation for the Temporary Import Permit ( BRING ORIGINALS - TITLE AND REGISTRATION, Residente Temporal terjeta, passport, etc maybe even your birth certificate - I kid you not! ); mis dos gatos with their vaccination papers; and one of those plastic portfolio binders with all my papers for easy access when asked for documentation ( I was stopped by Policia Federal, the Mexican Army, a couple of corrupt local police, an Oaxacan customs/immigration fellow.).

TWO of my totes were all kitchen stuff, including knives - everything listed on the menaje de casa. I also brought hand tools in another tote, some electric - all with serial numbers - same with all my electronics - just in case. All came in handy with the Army guys - fully loaded. I think mis gatos made their day, though. Other totes were linens ( San Cristobal de Las Casas gets "cool" at times, so flannel sheets & a comforter were smart. The Company Store has an order awaiting me for more. ), clothing, etc.

So to Deb I say read and listen to those more experienced than I, because of their suggestions & comments, plus my dream and drive, making this happen "has made all the difference . . . " David Thoreau . . . and I cannot forget to mention the older lady I spoke with at our parque central who said, " I was afraid leaving Oklahoma, family & friends . . . I wish I had done this move sooner . . . " 

((( I couldn't have done this sooner, I am so glad I didn't wait . . . " ))) con una sonrisa


----------



## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> Great advice from one of the most sensible posters on this forum!


Thanks, Isla, for the compliment.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

DebInFL said:


> The more I learn, the more I think I'm just not capable of going through all this. I appreciate all your help, but my brain just can't take all this in, and with no one here to help me and very little money, I fear it's just impossible. I suppose I'll never have this dream, so I'll leave it to those who are young and able or have the money to hire someone to do it for them. Goodbye. Again, thanks for opening my eyes if nothing else.


Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 32 years ago I became a widower in the UK. 30 years ago, this November, I decided to get out and see what was out there and I flew to Colombia (same sort of life as MX, just a different name.) I met somebody who was 18 years younger than I. We married and celebrate our 30th anniversary next January) We now live in Spain and are very happy. BTW I am 78 next month - you do the maths.

If you always say "I can't" then you never will.


----------



## Jreboll (Nov 23, 2013)

Often there are are those who lurk and are willing to help if the conditions are right. If you give up too soon you may not find the right person to help you. If you give up too soon you will never find out what you could have accomplished.


----------



## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Nice story baldilocks.. That meant gettng out of your comfort zone and exploring other areas .. Good for you,, Nothng ventured and nothng gained..


----------



## Lawgrrl (Apr 24, 2015)

Deb in FL, if you DO decide to move to Mexico (wherever that may be), we shipped seven boxes of art and household goods (including good kitchen knives) from British Columbia to Guadalajara for a reasonable cost. PM me for details if you're interested. (Plus, I know of some other options for you.) But DO take a good, long look around before you make this big move!


----------

