| The adventure of the USA Mexico border crossing |
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| Tuesday, 23 November 2004 | |
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EMBARKING ON THE MARIPOSA TRAIL With the winds of winter at our back, we left our home state of Colorado to embark on a journey that led us south of the border. We were chasing our dream to build a B&B perched high above the white sand beach and turquoise waters on our newly purchased property in Tulum. We had prepared for over a year for this step of the journey and were now approaching the Rio Grande Bridge for the border crossing. We paid a $3 toll for our car and trailer, but did not realize that we needed a receipt before proceeding to the random “red light/green light” check station. We crossed without a hitch when the green light signaled our good news to advance. We headed to the vehicle registration complex. With butterflies in our stomach, we got in line and waited our turn at the window where two Mexicans, who spoke no English, examined our paperwork. We could tell by the way they kept shaking their heads as they examined our documents that something was not right.................. The gentleman behind us stepped forward to interpret when he saw the confused looks on our faces. They were trying to tell us to go to another building a quarter of a mile away. In this building, the man in charge told us that our FM3 visas had expired. He instructed us to go the Mexican Consulate on the US side of the river. We had secured our visas at the consulate offices in Denver where we were told that they were good for one year. The clerk there neglected to tell us that they had to be stamped at the border within 90 days to be valid. In fact, he told us not to get them stamped until we were bringing our belongings into Mexico because the first time was the only time you could do this. We left the car and trailer, and walked across the bridge to the consulate office where a secretary there told us that the visas were indeed expired and could NOT be reissued. She continued with, “you are welcome to drive into Mexico using your passports, but you have lost the right to ever bring your household belongings in.” We asked to see the Consulate General, and after relating our story to him were again told NO. We pleaded for help, and he said he would make a phone call to Denver. Ten minutes later the secretary returned and told us that the Consulate General would reissue FM3 visas and stamp our inventory list of household goods if we had everything in order by 9 am the next morning. She also mentioned that we should hurry back to our car, as it was not safe in the vehicle registration parking lot. We rapidly departed the office and vaguely heard her mutter something about needing a “Custom’s Broker” to bring our goods into Mexico. We saw no taxis, so we hoofed it across the bridge and through the gauntlet where we had left our vehicles. With a sigh of relief, all was well, so we drove back to the border. When we approached the US customs station, they asked to see the receipt of when we entered Mexico. We told them that we had just entered a few hours ago and never received one! They asked us to open the trailer, and were amazed at what we were trying to bring into the United States. They asked us to pull into a check station where they would examine our vehicles more thoroughly. Before we could move, an ambulance came roaring up and needed access, so the guard signaled for us to proceed across the bridge in order to clear the area. Sometimes you get lucky! We checked into a hotel on a back street and asked for a room with a view, of our car and trailer, of course. We began the task of calling our banks in Colorado where we had recently closed our accounts. The new bank account we had just opened in Ft. Collins, where our daughter lives, would not be able to document the history we needed. Because we were getting retirement FM3 visas, we had to prove that we had $1500 monthly income in the states. We had been instructed to retype the list of our household items, because I had added things that we had purchased along the way. The list, in Spanish, could have no crossovers, or add-ons, it had to be perfect. The hotel proprietors let us use their computer to redo the inventory list, and their fax for receiving letters from our banks. After making all the necessary copies the task was complete. At 9 am the following morning, we took our documents back to the Consulate and were amazed when they told us to return at 1 pm to pick up our visas and stamped inventory list. The Secretary asked if we had called a Customs Broker. We told her that we had called one yesterday. The broker told us to bring our stamped letter and she would take care of paying the required fees. I asked her many questions and still it was unclear as to what exactly a Customs Broker’s job entailed. We returned as requested at 1pm and picked up our prepared documents. We were anxious to get started on our trip, so we decided to see what would happen if we just skipped the Customs Broker part and proceeded across the bridge. This time we got the receipt after paying a $3 toll AND the red light. The attendant waved us into a check-in area under a carport. He asked us to open the car and trailer, and immediately said, “This needs to go through a Customs Broker.” Then the custom’s agent smiled and said “You are my amigo, today and only today, I will let you go.” PS: He did not ask for any money for this favor. Before anyone could change their mind, we drove off to the vehicle registration area with huge smiles on our faces. We found ourselves in the same line, with the same attendants as yesterday. We proudly handed them our NEW set of documents. They examined them closely and sure enough found yet another problem. The visas on our passport were stamped Oct. 26 and this was Oct. 24. After much conversation using our best Spanish, they agreed that it was indeed a sloppy mistake by the Consulate. They took our fingerprints and sent us to the next line to pay the $25 for the vehicle registration sticker. They had no interest in our household goods list, as their job concerned only vehicles. We put the sticker on our windshield and headed south. We had been warned that there was another checkpoint thirty miles from the border and if they found anything wrong they would send us back. We were prepared for the worst. When we approached this checkpoint, we slowed down to two miles an hour and they waved us through. We were on the Mariposa Trail with all the excitement and wonder an adventure like this offers.
Author: Mari Mulrooney enjoying life in Mexico. Comments (0)
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By: Mari Mulrooney
Mari Mulrooney is retired and lives in Macario Gomez near Tulum with her husband, Louis Pintkowski. They are currently writing a book about their experiences buying property and building a home in Mexico. You can reach her at 
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