Let it first be known that I suck at taking pictures of things and places and people (mostly when there are people around, because I get really shy). So…there aren’t many pictures to accompany this post. But, do marvel at this monstrous Mexican flag. It’s absolutely beautiful, the way the fabric is persuaded to movement by the breeze, all 265 pounds of it.
This flag is monumental. The flagpole measures nearly 338 feet to the top. The flag itself is 164 x 92 feet. That’s some national pride right there.
Let it also be known that this will be a long and somewhat convoluted post. So for those who just want the lessons learned, here they are…quite simple actually.
- Bring originals of your title and registration for the boat as well as your passport (make sure your passport is signed).
- Bring copies of each of these documents, as well as three copies of your crew list.
- Write down the serial number from your engine and be aware of all the big ticket items you have on your boat. Bring this with you.
- Bring your credit card as well as cash (go to the bank machine before you visit immigration).
- Breathe, relax, you’ll get through it, even if you get confused sometimes.
Prep Work
We were too late to do all the immigration paperwork when we arrived in port at 3:20pm on Thursday, so we waited until 9am the following morning when the Port Captain’s office opens. We showered and put on some of our nicer articles of clothing so as to show respect (you should have seen us the night before, downright scraggly and completely unpresentable). We compiled all of the necessary paperwork: our passports, the crew list, a copy of the title and registration for our boat, and Tack’s health certificates (all three of them).
Arturo, at Baja Naval, had talked us through it all. He made copies of things and handed us two packets. “This information is for immigration. You give them this paperwork, then you pay at the bank, then you return to immigration. Then you take this information.” Putting forth another packet. “Present this to the Port Captain, then pay at the bank, then return to the Port Captain, then go around the corner….” I don’t remember much else. It all seemed to make sense at the time, but that was before I understood the layout.
Fortunately, Ensenada invested in a centralized immigration services center. Several years ago cruisers had to take taxis all over town getting paperwork signed and paying for visas, import permits, fishing permits, etc. We were glad to take care of it all in one place, though it was still a circuitous and confusing dance. The centralized service center has five separate windows, one for immigration, one for the port captain, one for customs, one for fishing permits, and one where you pay for everything. Oh, and also a separate dedicated copy room.
Visas
Getting our visas was by far the easiest part. We first visited the Instituto Nacional De Migracion (INM) window. The friendly gentleman gave us the Forma Migratoria Multiple (FMM) to fill out, took our visas, input our information in a computer, gave us a printout and pointed to the Banjercito (bank) window behind us where we needed to pay. We went to the Banjercito window where two women nonchalantly collected our money and gave us a receipt. Then we returned to the immigration window where he issued our 180 day visas and stamped our passports. Easy peasy. Cost for the both of us: $50 ($25 per person).
Who Knows What
Next we went to the window of the Capitan de Puerto (Port Captain). There were four women, click clacking away on keyboards (with their intricate, long, perfectly manicured nails) and chit chatting on the phone. We stood there looking for any indication that they were ready to help us. No one made eye contact. Eventually the woman at window 4 looked up and said something in Spanish that I pretended to understand. I thought she said “Go down to window 2” which we did. But what she really said was “Take a number, it’s near window number two.” The woman at window 2 just stared at us.
The woman at window number 1 filled us in, in English “You’re supposed to take a number.” Please keep in mind there wasn’t a line, it was just us. We took a paper number from the plastic holder and turned to go sit down. Before we could sit the the lady at window number 4 invited us forward and took our number and motioned for us to hand over our paperwork. She looked at our title, registration, passports and crew list, punched some things into the computer and gave us a printout.
We returned to the Banjercito window and paid for something (Jeff says that it was some sort of clearance…I initially thought it was for a temporary import permit for our boat, but it wasn’t). With the receipt in hand we went back to the Port Captain’s window…uncertain whether we should take another number (it was just us still). The woman at window 4 was gone, so the woman at window number 2 helped us out. She stamped our crew lists and told us we were good to go. Go where? We didn’t really know. Cost for that lady stamping things: $19.
Temporary Import Permit: Round 1
This is where we got really lost. We went to the Aduano (Customs) window, since we figured they would issue the import permit for our boat (it was customs after all). The man at the window spoke very rapidly in Spanish and pointed to the left. I convinced myself that he said something like, “You need to go pay” though in reality I had no idea what he said and I was fairly certain we’d already paid.
When I get nervous I just pretend that I understand when I clearly do not…this was particularly frustrating to Jeff because I would smile and nod to someone saying “Oh, okay” then we would walk away and when Jeff asked what they had said (thinking I had understood) I responded with “I have no idea.”
Detour to the Copy Room
At this point we convinced ourselves that we needed to go around the corner as per Arturo’s directions. So we went around the corner, not knowing what we would find. The woman who we found around the corner spoke quickly (in Spanish) and after a quick game of gestures we figured out that it was the copy room and she was wondering how many copies we wanted of our paperwork. We had no idea, so we just had her make one copy of everything. Total cost for copies (most of which we didn’t actually need): $2.00
Temporary Import Permit: Round 2
We returned to the gentleman at the Customs (Aduano) window (a stack of papers in hand), hoping that this is what he needed. It wasn’t. Again, he pointed to his left (where the Banjercito window was). We walked to the Banjercito window and told them that we needed the temporary import permit for our boat. They pointed to a list on the window of all the papers we needed (the original plus one copy…aha!). We gave her all the documents listed.
“Do you have your original title?”
Oops. Forgot that one on the boat. After a quick trip to the boat to retrieve our original title, we returned to the Banjercito window (make sure to have all of your originals, cruisers of the future!). The lady checked all of our paperwork and then gave us another form to fill out documenting the serial number of our engine as well as any possessions of value on board. Once we filled this out we paid more money and were given a pretty piece of paper with a sticker (our temporary import permit at last!) Cost of the temporary import permit: $55. This permit is good for ten years and lets us bring our boat in and out of Mexico as we please (provided we have our visas).
Clearing Customs
Now, with our visas and temporary import permit in hand we went to the customs (Aduano) window and had to fill out another form declaring if we had cash over $10,000 (we don’t), any live animals (we do), fresh produce, other items to pay duty on, etc etc. At this point we were sure he was going to ask about the live animal, but he just made Jeff go to a red/green stoplight and push a button. It was green. Jeff and the man looked equally relieved. “Es todo (That’s all),” the man said, waving his arms in front of him like we were safe on first base. I was halfway to the door, but Jeff hesitated.
“Tenemos un gato en nuestro barco. Necesita algunas certificaciones? (We have a cat on our boat, do you need any certifications?)” I cringed, expecting the worst. It’s like when someone in class raises their hand and asks the teacher if there’s any homework due tomorrow and the teacher, having simply forgot, assigns everyone homework…and then you hate that kid forever. Luckily, I don’t think this gentleman wanted the extra work.
“No, es todo (No, that’s all),” he repeated.
Neither one of us was going to ask any more questions, especially since Tack’s health certificate had expired the day prior. We were in the clear!
Fishing Permits
We walked through the front door triumphantly then turned around almost immediately, realizing that we still needed to get fishing permits. We went to the Comision Nacional de Acuaculturala y Pesca (Fish Commission) window and presented our passports and visas and asked to purchase two licenses. The man at the window gave us a printout and informed us that we needed to go back to the Banjercito window to pay. We went back to the Banjercito window.
“Un otro vez. (One more time).” Jeff joked. She smiled. It was one of the few times we saw her smile. The only time that she smiled at us.
“How would you like to pay?”
We had paid for everything with a card, so we figured we would pay with our card again.
“No, sorry. Only cash.”
That was a strange turn of events. And it just so happened that we didn’t have enough cash. So we went back out the door to find an ATM. We returned with cash in hand, paid at Banjercito and returned to the fish window where we were quickly issued two permits. Cost for fishing permits: $92.
Are you thoroughly confused yet? We were too.
Three hours and many iterations later, we were done and we proudly lowered our quarantine flag. Total cost for being legit in Mexico: $218.