Vehicle Permit

We were just issued FM3 visas. At the time we originally brought our car across the border we did so with a tourist visa(180 days). Will our vehicle permit stay active with the issuance of our FM3's? Do we need to notify anyone about the FM3 to extend the permit to the end of the FM3? Does this affect our deposit? Do we need to pay a fee yearly for the permit?

In your questions, you address a number of issues:
1) Deposit: You don't state when you originally crossed the border and whether or not you were actually charged a deposit. For years, Mexico actually charged a deposit if you were paying in cash but only recorded a credit card number without charging an actual deposit. This changed with respect to credit cards sometime in 2011 when they actually started charging a deposit to your card. There have been issues reported on getting a refund after the original 180 period has run out: http://lakechapalainfo.forumotion.net/t3612-temporary-vehicle-permit-deposit
2) The prevailing interpretation of the law has been that your vehicle permit is good as long as you have a current FM# document. However, there have been problems with police agencies not being aware of the provisions in the law and creating problems for NOB plated vehicles. Intercasa has come up with a system by which his office notifies Aduana of current FM# status and getting some sort of document(?) from them which alleviates this problem.
3) Yearly fee for the permit? Not as I understand but if you go to the border and have them cancel the permit, you will have to pay for a new one upon reentering Mexico.

You'll find details about your permit and more here:
http://rollybrook.com/car-in-México.htm
At the bottom of that page, there is this "Return to Main Directory" which will take you to more information about cars and lots of other things.

You should notify aduana to have a nice paper to keep in your car to help if stopped by police and necessary to not lose your deposit.

Rolly wrote:You'll find details about your permit and more here:
http://rollybrook.com/car-in-México.htm
At the bottom of that page, there is this "Return to Main Directory" which will take you to more information about cars and lots of other things.

I don't think your article is up to date. First, there is no more FM 3. it's combined into one document. If you brought your vehicle into Mexico recently, I don't know what date that is, you must renew your permit yearly at the Aduana in GDL airport.

Intercasa wrote:You should notify aduana to have a nice paper to keep in your car to help if stopped by police and necessary to not lose your deposit.

Yep, we had to use ours when there were all those checkpoints around GDL for the games and it was immediately accepted. Technically, we didn't need it because our permit is so old we don't have any actual deposit. In fact, the credit card on which it was initially imported is long gone.

Thanks Spencer!

I went to the Aduana at the airport tuesday. I was informed that it was closed until after the election (August?).
And that there was a SAT office in Guad.

My office does the notifications and 2 trips, many people trying to do it on their own to save money often do it wrong, there are Guadalajara offices who can receive the paper, we charge 250 pesos to prepare the notification with the proper number of copies and present it, get a file stamped copy and then return for the final letter