# TIP and Tourist Card/Visa?



## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

Is that in the same building?

We won't get our new passports or car title until right before we have to leave (maybe not even then) so no time to do anything online. 

If we go through at Laredo, where is the first place we should go and to do what? 

Also, will they have a problem with our drivers license address not being our address anymore?


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

StuckintheUS said:


> Is that in the same building?


Depends where you cross. They are never too far apart.



StuckintheUS said:


> We won't get our new passports or car title until right before we have to leave (maybe not even then) so no time to do anything online.


Without passports and vehicle registration, you won'be entering Mexico so that "maybe" better not happen! I have never done anything online. We cross at Colombia and it is fast and easy in person.



StuckintheUS said:


> If we go through at Laredo, where is the first place we should go and to do what?


We cross at Colombia, so I can't say what the specifics are at Laredo proper, but you'll need your FMM before your TIP so you go to INM first and then Banjercito.



StuckintheUS said:


> Also, will they have a problem with our drivers license address not being our address anymore?


No. 
But they will have a huge problem if you don't have your passport or the registration for your vehicle!


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

StuckintheUS said:


> Is that in the same building?
> 
> We won't get our new passports or car title until right before we have to leave (maybe not even then) so no time to do anything online.
> 
> ...


Leaving the US without a passport is a bad idea. It makes returning a big headache.

I have entered Mexico lots of times without showing a passport. I was either on foot, or in a Mexican plated vehicle and didn't have to deal with vehicle permission. However, I have never returned the US without a US passport or visa. Once, on foot, the woman next to me in line to enter the US was a US citizen but did not have a passport with her. She was taken aside. I assume she eventually was allowed to enter but it took more time.

I just last week came into Mexico through Laredo-Nuevo Laredo. I went through three checkpoints as I recall. But I was riding a Mexican plated motorcycle, and was waved through all of them without stopping, so I can't provide advice on vehicles.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

TundraGreen said:


> Leaving the US without a passport is a bad idea. It makes returning a big headache.
> 
> I have entered Mexico lots of times without showing a passport. I was either on foot, or in a Mexican plated vehicle and didn't have to deal with vehicle permission. However, I have never returned the US without a US passport or visa. Once, on foot, the woman next to me in line to enter the US was a US citizen but did not have a passport with her. She was taken aside. I assume she eventually was allowed to enter but it took more time.
> 
> I just last week came into Mexico through Laredo-Nuevo Laredo. I went through three checkpoints as I recall. But I was riding a Mexican plated motorcycle, and was waved through all of them without stopping, so I can't provide advice on vehicles.


I assumed that they would need an FMM, which does require a passport and a visit to INM. If they are RT, RP or Mexican Nationals then a passport isn't necessarily needed to enter. But, yes, it would be a nightmare to return without a passport.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

circle110 said:


> I assumed that they would need an FMM, which does require a passport and a visit to INM. If they are RT, RP or Mexican Nationals then a passport isn't necessarily needed to enter. But, yes, it would be a nightmare to return without a passport.


Agreed. My comment was not that it would be a good idea to enter Mexico without a US passport. Just that Mexico doesn't really check and it would be the return that would be the big hassle.


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## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

TundraGreen said:


> Agreed. My comment was not that it would be a good idea to enter Mexico without a US passport. Just that Mexico doesn't really check and it would be the return that would be the big hassle.


We won't be leaving the US without my passport book as I've been having a difficult time getting back in from Canada even with my passport card.

We'll still be in the states for more than a week after we leave our current residence and management will overnight the documents if need be.


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## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

circle110 said:


> Depends where you cross. They are never too far apart.
> 
> 
> We cross at Colombia and it is fast and easy in person.
> ...


I've heard people say they prefer Columbia over Laredo, but got confused when they said they got paperwork done at Laredo and then crossed at Columbia.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

What paperwork were they referring to? The FMM and TIP? For that you'd already be across so you couldn't go back without losing what you just got.


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## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

circle110 said:


> What paperwork were they referring to? The FMM and TIP? For that you'd already be across so you couldn't go back without losing what you just got.


I really don't know what they were talking about. I just assumed it was the visa and TIP

So you just drive across the border and then go to those offices?


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

StuckintheUS said:


> I really don't know what they were talking about. I just assumed it was the visa and TIP
> 
> So you just drive across the border and then go to those offices?


I'll bet they were talking about the paperwork at the consulate regarding their residency. That part you do on the US side at a Mexican Consulate and then you could drive over to Colombia if you wished. Or, if you did that part somewhere else, you are all set to cross.

For the FMM and TIP, yes, you just cross and the buildings are somewhere close by on the Mexico side. We always have crossed at Colombia and they are in the very same building there on your right just after entering Mexico. Armed guards stop you right when you cross and do a cursory search for weapons but this isn't customs - that's some 25 miles farther inside the country.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

""Leaving the US without a passport is a bad idea. It makes returning a big headache.""

I left my passport in my copier/ printer this morning, got to Lukeville AZ and showed the agent a color copy of my passport, she asked for a picture ID and i handed her my drivers license and she asked where i was born, i answered and she said have a safe trip......NO HEADACHE., big or small maybe 3 min.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

chicois8 said:


> ""Leaving the US without a passport is a bad idea. It makes returning a big headache.""
> 
> I left my passport in my copier/ printer this morning, got to Lukeville AZ and showed the agent a color copy of my passport, she asked for a picture ID and i handed her my drivers license and she asked where i was born, i answered and she said have a safe trip......NO HEADACHE., big or small maybe 3 min.


If you hadn't had that color copy of your passport with you, I imagine you might have had at least a small headache, ¿verdad?


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

Isla Verde said:


> If you hadn't had that color copy of your passport with you, I imagine you might have had at least a small headache, ¿verdad?


And the OP was talking about not possessing a passport period, not simply having a passport but it's not with you, like what happened to chicois8.


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## StuckintheUS (Jun 1, 2017)

circle110 said:


> And the OP was talking about not possessing a passport period, not simply having a passport but it's not with you, like what happened to chicois8.


No passport and no passport card either at the moment as they were turned in with the application and a birth record that some of the border agents don't think is legit. 
Last year, the US government decided it wasn't eligible to be apostilled so the border agents have it stuck in their heads that it's not a legit document at all.

I wouldn't dare leave the US right now!


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

StuckintheUS said:


> No passport and no passport card either at the moment as they were turned in with the application and a birth record that some of the border agents don't think is legit.
> Last year, the US government decided it wasn't eligible to be apostilled so the border agents have it stuck in their heads that it's not a legit document at all.
> 
> I wouldn't dare leave the US right now!


That's wise. Hopefully all your documents will show up in time to cross when you had planned. Suerte!


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## RickS (Aug 6, 2009)

Crossing at Colombia is very easy and as circle110 says, both offices are right there as you cross. Opens at 8:00 A.M. 

Crossing at Laredo Bridge II is easy enough but finding the building for your FMM and TIP is not easy and not intuitive unless you know how to get there (or have some clues, like following the blue CIITV signs and winding through the streets of N. Laredo).


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## horseshoe846 (Feb 8, 2017)

RickS said:


> Crossing at Colombia is very easy and as circle110 says, both offices are right there as you cross. Opens at 8:00 A.M.
> 
> Crossing at Laredo Bridge II is easy enough but finding the building for your FMM and TIP is not easy and not intuitive unless you know how to get there (or have some clues, like following the blue CIITV signs and winding through the streets of N. Laredo).


When we went through at Laredo it was before sunrise and we got lost. Actually we were headed back to the US until some kind soul moved some cones for us so we could make a U turn.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I have heard that Nuevo Laredo isn't so obvious but we've never crossed there. Colombia is really simple and you rarely wait. Your extra driving time is more than offset by the time you save. If you have a Mexican auto and have RT or RP, you just fly through. Well, they do a cursory search right at or after the border gate, but that is 5 minutes or less.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

horseshoe846 said:


> When we went through at Laredo it was before sunrise and we got lost. Actually we were headed back to the US until some kind soul moved some cones for us so we could make a U turn.


I crossed at Laredo II a couple of weeks ago and followed the GPS directions through Nuevo Laredo to get out of town going south. I agree, it was not obvious.


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