Emergency help
 

Anyone out there reading this that has crossed the mexican-Guatemala border south of San Cristobal? I tried yesterday, but was told that to get my $400 deposit back I had to go to any bank back in Comitan, 60K back north. I did that but no bank will credit my card. They say I have to go to the original bank that took the deposit, and the nearest one is 2-3 days north of here. What am I doing wrong? I'm heading to the border anyway, if I can't figure it out it looks like I lose my deposit. HELP, I'm leaving soon.

I would imagine you are crossing at the same area most people cross on CA-1. If so about 15mins before you hit the frontier there is a place located on the left hand side ( its the last town before the bordering town but now if your coming from the border back of course it will be on the right) it looks like and old gas station and is blue. You will go into that building there to get the money refunded back on your card and if I am not mistaken you will need to get some sort of stamp and paper work as well so when you get back to the border crossing you hand them those papers to be stamp out of mexico properly.

Short Legs

Don't be daft and buzz off out of Mexico without getting your TVIP $ 400 refunded . Are you that rich that you are willing to abandon that much money and also face future problems and more expenses if you wish to re-enter Mexico? Or are you that short tempered and tightly over-scheduled that you cannot afford a day to sort this out?
This problem should be easily solved with a bit of patience and maybe a one day detour .Chill out and regain your common sense because if you are going south you are going to run a into a lot more border crossings with more complicated problems that will drive you over the edge .

First , if you are going back north through Mexico within the 180 days of your TVIP you do not even need to cancel it for your visit to Central America . If that is your travel plan then keep all TVIP stuff and cancel& refund when going into the USA.

Your reference to COMITAN makes it clear, sort of, that you are talking about the Mex 190/ CA 1 border crossing of Cd Cuauhtemoc , CHIS and La Mesilla , Guatemala. At least that is what I assume since you do not give any name for the border crossing you tried. Every border crossing has a name so it would have been good to report which exact crossing you were at.

Did you visit the actual MEXICAN CUSTOMS TERMINAL in Cd Cuauhtemoc which is on the NE side of the highway, opposite a big bus terminal with restaurant in that Mexican town at the bottom of the mountain 4 km before the actual border? The Aduana and BANJERCITO used to be able to handle all details ,( maybe they changed it recently ?... odd it is an important border )
Did THEY tell you to go back to a bank in COMITAN ?
Don't let them send you off on another wild goose chase , insist on it that they give you exact directions on paper and the NAME of the bank branch they say will serve your need .
Did you initially pay by credit card at a bank ? All bank brands that work with this TVIP program should be named on the TVIP document so find one of those and they will be obligated to pay you regardless of which brand and branch you paid at . If they don't do cc then insist on getting CASH refund in US dollars . If a bank employee told you to go back to the exact same bank where you made the $400 deposit that person is talking absolute bullshit. Get his/ her supervisor and explain your dilemma .
You should not need to backtrack three days north into Mexico to find a bank that works.

If you cannot get the REFUND. in cash or to your cc at the Mexican border terminal of Cd Cuauhtemoc and they insist on you doing so at a bank there will be much better chances for success if you detour south to the big city of TAPACHULA and Mex 200. That will be only a few hours ride and you will still be very close to the GT border and CA 2. Tapachula has many banks .

But there is a more logical choice. There should be an immediate resolution . From Cd Cuauhtemoc ride SOUTH along Mex 211 and when you come to Mex 200 turn northwest and go a few minutes to HUIXTLA where you will find a big Mexican customs inspection station and customs terminal on the North side of Mex 200 . Guaranteed , they will cancel your documents and REFUND your $400.

Once you have your hard earned money back and the FMM also cancelled you will be legal to stay in the border zone of Chiapas for 72 hours and you can cross into Guatemala at either of the border points 20 km north east or south of the city or you can go all the way back to cross into La Mesilla.

Now I have an important question WERE YOU TRYING TO CROSS AT CD CUAUHTEMOC ON MEX 190 OR DID YOU TURN OFF THAT HIGHWAY TO ONE OF THE SMALL NO- SERVICE BORDER CROSSINGS LIKE TO GRACIAS A DIOS , GT ?
If that is the case no wonder you are having this trouble . These small crossings do not serve tourist needs , for that you must go to Cd Cuauhtemoc or HUIXTLA .
Always make your border crossings at the major traffic points , stay away from the small ones which serve mainly the local residents who cross with a small pass booklet while they run over to the other side for some errands

Maybe you have already solved the problem.
Post again to update us , a learning experience for us all .

Situation corrected
 

Here's what happened, as I found out. The Mexican official told me incorrect information. He was a Mexican Immigration person who had nothing to do with and had no knowledge about checking out of Mexico. The bank the government uses, Banjercito, has a branch at every border crossing and they take and refund deposits right there. Had I not been so tired I would have thought about this. They have to have a bank there. How would they collect a deposit from someone coming in? So I wasted 24 hours, but this is an adventure, right?

doh Always a bad idea to cross country boundaries when tired. Been there ... done that. Much better to cross in the morning on a week day - not after a holiday/sporting event when things are busy.

Hope the rest is much better!:scooter: