These problems for visitors from overseas who bring their vehicles into the USA will apply even to those who come in by land from Mexico or through Canada.

Last fall a pair of Australians left their two bikes parked for the winter at a friends house here in Canada and they came back this April to continue into the USA . They had to exit Canada by a specific date . They described all the paperwork it took to get into the USA and how they then had one year allowed there before they had to remove the bikes .
Last month in Santa Rosalia BCS an English couple on two bikes related how they had to set up their papers with the USA and how they had to get their bikes out before a certain date. They were planning on going on into Canada to store the bikes before flying back to England for a visit, then back to the bikes and more arranging time in USA .

Your friend on German plates may have had special status because of dual citizenship with Mexico or got lucky with slack border personnel , who knows, but there are definitely hurdles to cross for overseas tourists who are only visiting , not importing bikes permanently .

Well, you're actually wrong.

Let's say a Mexican border crosser (BCC) crossed into the US at TJ and told the immigration officer that he or she was going shopping locally. THEN, he or she was found at the San Clemente checkpoint (or worse, Disneyland) -- far outside of the "border zone allowed for BCC holders.

Without an I-94, the BCC holder would be out of status and the BCC would be revoked and the BCC removed to Mexico.

Happens way too often and the excuse is usually, "I didn't know..."

The good news is, CBP no longer seizes the vehicles for that offense.

I'm about to make the same trip. What's a FNM?

FMM I think. You pay US$25 and the immigration officer fills in a slip of paper and the tear off stub is put in your passport. Visitors visa - good for 6 months.

It's your tourist visa. As noted in this thread ... be sure to stop at BORDER ... go to Migracion office to get yours. I'm not sure of the acronym but I always ask for "Tarjeta de Turismo" and everyone seems to know what I need.

Price fluctuates depending on dollar value ... somewhere between $20 to $25 now but goes up a bit every year (it seems?). Good for 6 months.
!Que le via muy bien!

bier

Thanks, I probably would have screwed that up. So many questions. I'm sure this will all fall into place once I'm on the road.

It will be similar at any and every border you cross, it is only matter of remembering that AT THE BORDER you must stop to do some official paperwork . Even if you do not know what or why you can find out on the spot by the act of ASKING a member of the actual customs staff who sit inside at counters with the labels MIGRACION clearly displayed.
Most of the recent screw ups described here are due to noobs riding into a Mexican border crossing blissfully ignorant of the requirements and too flustered to ask for fear of ... what ? That they will get mugged ? And then when a traffic flow coordinator suggests they keep mouving they think they have been cleared and directed to continue on into Mexico.

The Mexico customs staff may not speak English but the FMM application you are asked to fill out has all sections printed in Spanish and English

FMM stands for the words Forma Migratoria Multiple and even if you speak no Spanish you CAN remember and say those very words in a questioning voice .:thumbup1:
Or beforehand write them out on a card followed with a ? mark and hold that up as if you are a mute.

Then just ask them what other documentation you need for your bike and they will send you over to the guys who do your Temporary Vehicle Import Permit or in Spanish if you babble about Permiso para Importacion Temporal de moto you will be understood .
Congrats Blackdog , for asking beforehand .
Just keep your cool at the border and follow the directions and you will do fine

You wish. Some border arrangements seem specifically arranged to make this as hard as possible. Main thing is that there is a two step procedure leaving and the same entering.

MAKE VERY sure you get an Immigration exit stamp and then hand in the TIP at Aduana (sometimes the same person). Immigration and aduana may be the same person or many kilometres apart. Ideally have a copy of your TIP and get it stamped as proof you handed it in. Bolivia actually hand you a receipt.

At the next post for entry to the country(which ranges from 1 metre to 150km away you get and entry stamp in your passport - double check it is there and then to Aduana - wherever it might be - for vehicle TIP. DOUBLE check that ALL details on the TIP are correct. Take a copy and keep it separate.

Couple of resources on the net. Couple of very comprehensive posts on this forum plus there are some borders covered in the iOverlander list, plus there are some blogs that seem to fixate on border crossings, sometimes with good reason. One local resource is to ask the money changers at the border - the ones with the 10 cm thick pile of notes in their hand. They are universally helpful - as distinct from the fixers who are variously described as saints or criminals with no way to figure out who is what.

Many immigration offices will give you a entry "visa" form tucked in the back of your passport to be handed in when you leave the country. I ask for their stapler and staple it in the back of my passport so it doesn't get lost.

Other slight complications - vehicle "fumigation" which is often charged for and rarely effective, and agricultural inspections such as by SAG on entry into Chile.

This is what I got at the border, am I good to go? I'm traveling with an experienced Spanish speaking lady that said we have the necessary paper work to board the ferry. After reading this tread I'm not so sure.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...pselxtbaav.jpg

Si senor Carpenter , you have your FMM and YOU are set to proceed from ALGODONES to Pichilingue . I hope your companion also has obtained a similar document, or she will be staying in La Paz .
Save that big white page , it is your proof of payment. If you lose it you have to pay again when you cancel that FMM .

But there is a next step you must do at Pichilingue before you may buy the ticket and get on the ferry.
If you are travelling on ONE motorcycle, yours , or on two individual bikes you must at PICHILINGUE still obtain for each bike the Permiso para importacion temporal de vehiculos which we here on these sites constantly refer to as the TVIP ,or Temporary Vehicle Import Permit.
AND for each bike you will have to post the security deposit , Maximum value $400US , which will be refunded when you cancel the TVIP.

Decide which ferry sailing you want to use , go to the Pichilingue ferry terminal a day early , or at least 5 hours before on the day of the departure , enter the main gate and park the bike(s) .
Go into the blue and beige two story building to west of the parking lot area and seek out the office where the TVIP are issued . Sniff around and ask and you will find it easily. You may pay for the TVIP and the Security deposit with your credit card or US$ CASH. (Always have cash on hand in case you mess up the PIN and the cc is balked, I have fat fingered the PIN several times and so I know this )
With the TVIP in hand you may now go to the lower level in that building where you will find the counter for ticket sales and you may now buy passage on the ferry you wish to use.
If that ticket counter is still closed because it is considered too far in advance of the time when passengers are expected to show up you can get a ticket from the small offices of the individual ferry companies located along the inside of the ferry terminal property fence to the north of the main entry gate. These small offices are always staffed to deal with the truckers mainly.
Payment for the ticket maybe done in cash , by credit card and even a debit card may work, so try that .
At some point in the ticket buying you will be asked to ride your bikes across the weigh scale so that they may determine the total tonnage the ferry will be carrying. It will not affect the price of the ticket for the bike.
With ticket AND TVIP in hand you may now either asssume a waiting mode untill your ferry boarding is slated to commence, or if you are a day or two early you may leave to enjoy the local roads, spend nights in La Paz and then return at least 5 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Now, go and enjoy the trip south through Baja.