July 13'th is the big day...Move from Michigan to Leon

[Miniflexalex]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and this is my first post.
I'm glad that I found this site since I was able to gather already a lot of helpful information’s.

Well, a few words about myself.
I'm German, I moved to the US in 2004. I brought along my girlfriend which is also German.
Some time back we felt like that we've seen what we wanted to see in the US and that it is time to move on.
At first we wanted to go back to Germany until a job offer (same company as we're currently working) came up....well, after 2 trips down to Leon we fell in love with it and decided to move there....4 month fast forward....and we are only 10 days away from the final move.
We go to the Consulate this Friday to get the sticker for our Passport (Visa should follow any day).

We will drive to Leon and we will use the Laredo border.
We've planned 4 days for the trip, we bring along our dog and we wanted to make it comfortable for him, so we broke the trip down to about 9hrs of driving per day.


Well, I'm sure I will have a lot of questions once we are finally down in Leon but as of now I have a few questions regarding the drive, especially from Laredo to Leon.

- We were told some time ago that the safest way is the toll road (Laredo, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Leon). Is this still correct?
- How much Peso do we have to bring along for the toll roads?
- We are planning to cross the border very early around 8am and drive the whole stretch down to Leon in one day...does that sound feasible?
- How is the current safety situation around Laredo / Monterrey?
- We were told that we have to stop right after the Mexican checkpoint to get a sticker for the car, are there any signs to this building/office?
- Our Spanish is close to zero (we want to learn it once we down there), how is it on the Mexican side. Do they speak english at the checkpoints or at the office were we have to get the sticker for the car?

Thank you very much in advance


Alex

[circle110]

Hi, welcome to the forum. I live in nearby Guanajuato City and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

- We were told some time ago that the safest way is the toll road (Laredo, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Leon). Is this still correct?
Yes

- How much Peso do we have to bring along for the toll roads?
You'll need at least $1000 pesos (~$75 USD) for tolls. It wouldn't hurt to have more. You will need pesos for gasoline too -- they do not accept credit cards at some stations (most?) and never dollars.

- We are planning to cross the border very early around 8am and drive the whole stretch down to Leon in one day...does that sound feasible?
Yes, it should be about a 10 hour drive. Bring sandwiches or something to eat on the road because you won't find a lot of roadside restaurants. We found a good one in Matehuala (about 5 hours south of the border) but if you go there you have to drive through the city rather than taking the quicker bypass.

- How is the current safety situation around Laredo / Monterrey?
We have made the same drive twice recently and have seen no problems on the cuotas.

- We were told that we have to stop right after the Mexican checkpoint to get a sticker for the car, are there any signs to this building/office?
We always cross at the Colombia crossing so I will let someone who crosses at the main crossing answer that question.

- Our Spanish is close to zero (we want to learn it once we down there), how is it on the Mexican side. Do they speak english at the checkpoints or at the office were we have to get the sticker for the car?
Possibly, but you can't count on it. At Colombia crossing they speak no English at all but it is possible if you cross at Laredo proper that someone might.

[terrybahena]

Originally Posted by circle110

Hi, welcome to the forum. I live in nearby Guanajuato City and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

- We were told some time ago that the safest way is the toll road (Laredo, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Leon). Is this still correct?
Yes

- How much Peso do we have to bring along for the toll roads?
You'll need at least $1000 pesos (~$75 USD) for tolls. It wouldn't hurt to have more. You will need pesos for gasoline too -- they do not accept credit cards at some stations (most?) and never dollars.

- We are planning to cross the border very early around 8am and drive the whole stretch down to Leon in one day...does that sound feasible?
Yes, it should be about a 10 hour drive. Bring sandwiches or something to eat on the road because you won't find a lot of roadside restaurants. We found a good one in Matehuala (about 5 hours south of the border) but if you go there you have to drive through the city rather than taking the quicker bypass.

- How is the current safety situation around Laredo / Monterrey?
We have made the same drive twice recently and have seen no problems on the cuotas.

- We were told that we have to stop right after the Mexican checkpoint to get a sticker for the car, are there any signs to this building/office?
We always cross at the Colombia crossing so I will let someone who crosses at the main crossing answer that question.

- Our Spanish is close to zero (we want to learn it once we down there), how is it on the Mexican side. Do they speak english at the checkpoints or at the office were we have to get the sticker for the car?
Possibly, but you can't count on it. At Colombia crossing they speak no English at all but it is possible if you cross at Laredo proper that someone might.

All the answers above look great. So I will only add a couple of small items. If you are pulling a trailer expect to spend twice as much on gas- that's what happened to us. And the gas stations took only pesos as stated above. As for your dog- big or small? Our big (& yes he was overweight at the time of the trip, but slimed down now ha ha) lab had a very hard time once we hit hot areas; Arizona, New Mexico, and of course Mexico. And once we got here he continued to struggle for a least a week with the heat. He has since acclimated much better than me, but be ready to make lots of stops, and have lots of water for him. Sam (dog) got overheated and anxious which made it worse. He stopped eating too. The last 2 days of our trip he road in the ac truck with us instead of the very cool bed we made him in the covered back. (small truck small space behind seats)
Toll roads were great, and we felt very safe. We crossed at Santa Teresa and there you get the sticker for the truck right in the building where you process your visa- just a different line- make sure you do both! ha ha I thought I did both in one line and was sorely mistaken. I assume you are getting a 6 month permit for your vehicle? Because if you are nationalizing it, it takes alot longer- at least a day and costs $$. We came in early June to Guerrero and are SO happy to be here! Good luck and safe travels...oh and better to NOT drive after sunset. Cheers!

[conklinwh]

Circle 110 gave you good info. There is a route calculator that has been referenced on this site many times. I can't remember the exact name so I just googled Ruta Punta a Punta and found it. If you put in Tamaulipas/Nuevo Laredo and Guanajuato/Leon for starting & ending states and cities, it will give you the route with kms, tolls and time. Answer was 456 pesos, 896 km and 9 hours.

There are two Laredo crossings in addition to Columbia. The main one is straight ahead on I35 while for the more local, you follow sign to the right just before the crossing. This takes you around a few city blocks(after the 1st right, a left & another left and you are on the bridge I believe) but is easier and is much less confusing to go to immigration & banjercito than the main bridge the 1st time.

A couple things 1st, not sure how much you are moving but I would have a list of all electronics(except for one PC each) and anything that they can take as more than personal use. Have the values listed with any receipts that you have. We get so many red lights at customs these days that I just go through the declare line. I give them my list and they normally just pass me through after looking around.
Also, make sure that you have the shot record for your dog and a paper signed by your vet within 5 days of crossing that dog is clean.
When you exit customs, make a right and then 1st road right(there is a driveway 1st). This takes you back underneath the bridges to a large building on the right that is immigration. The entrance is about 1/2 way down. Go in the left end of the building to immigration. You will get FMM's to fill out and hand back. Used to be that you then paid before doing the car permit but may have changed and you pay for both together. You then need get copies of driver's license, passport, FMM, title or registration and credit card at a window to the right. You then go further to the right where there is a series of windows and a roped off queue. Here you will be called to do the car permit and pay. You will also be charged a car deposit between $200 & $400 depending on the car. Everything can be on the credit card.

After completing this. Place the car permit sticker behind the rearview mirror and keep the rest of the paperwork handy. After leaving, make a right(opposite from direction that you came). This merges into the Nuevo Laredo bypass at the 1st light. You make a half left onto the bypass and drive straight ahead. The road will make a loop but keep following it. You will see a large overpass at a light. Go under it and make a left which will merge you onto 85 south toward Monterrey. Drive straight ahead, stopping at the aduana checkpoint till you see the libre/cuota split. Stay left to follow the cuota. After the tollbooth, there is a good gas/rest area on the left. This a good place to gas up and buy food that you can eat on the drive as a number of options. After leaving the rest area, you will be heading north. Just before the tollbooth, you make a u-turn to head south.

Good luck!

[Miniflexalex]

Originally Posted by circle110

Hi, welcome to the forum. I live in nearby Guanajuato City and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

- We were told some time ago that the safest way is the toll road (Laredo, Saltillo, San Luis Potosi, Leon). Is this still correct?
Yes

- How much Peso do we have to bring along for the toll roads?
You'll need at least $1000 pesos (~$75 USD) for tolls. It wouldn't hurt to have more. You will need pesos for gasoline too -- they do not accept credit cards at some stations (most?) and never dollars.

- We are planning to cross the border very early around 8am and drive the whole stretch down to Leon in one day...does that sound feasible?
Yes, it should be about a 10 hour drive. Bring sandwiches or something to eat on the road because you won't find a lot of roadside restaurants. We found a good one in Matehuala (about 5 hours south of the border) but if you go there you have to drive through the city rather than taking the quicker bypass.

- How is the current safety situation around Laredo / Monterrey?
We have made the same drive twice recently and have seen no problems on the cuotas.

- We were told that we have to stop right after the Mexican checkpoint to get a sticker for the car, are there any signs to this building/office?
We always cross at the Colombia crossing so I will let someone who crosses at the main crossing answer that question.

- Our Spanish is close to zero (we want to learn it once we down there), how is it on the Mexican side. Do they speak english at the checkpoints or at the office were we have to get the sticker for the car?
Possibly, but you can't count on it. At Colombia crossing they speak no English at all but it is possible if you cross at Laredo proper that someone might.

Hello Circle110,

thank you very much for your reply.
It answered pretty much all questions I had
We will take about 5000 Pesos with us just in case.

Thank you very much for the restaurant tip in Matehuala but we probably stock up our Sandwich case and try to drive straight to Leon without bigger stops.

[Miniflexalex]

Originally Posted by terrybahena

All the answers above look great. So I will only add a couple of small items. If you are pulling a trailer expect to spend twice as much on gas- that's what happened to us. And the gas stations took only pesos as stated above. As for your dog- big or small? Our big (& yes he was overweight at the time of the trip, but slimed down now ha ha) lab had a very hard time once we hit hot areas; Arizona, New Mexico, and of course Mexico. And once we got here he continued to struggle for a least a week with the heat. He has since acclimated much better than me, but be ready to make lots of stops, and have lots of water for him. Sam (dog) got overheated and anxious which made it worse. He stopped eating too. The last 2 days of our trip he road in the ac truck with us instead of the very cool bed we made him in the covered back. (small truck small space behind seats)
Toll roads were great, and we felt very safe. We crossed at Santa Teresa and there you get the sticker for the truck right in the building where you process your visa- just a different line- make sure you do both! ha ha I thought I did both in one line and was sorely mistaken. I assume you are getting a 6 month permit for your vehicle? Because if you are nationalizing it, it takes alot longer- at least a day and costs $$. We came in early June to Guerrero and are SO happy to be here! Good luck and safe travels...oh and better to NOT drive after sunset. Cheers!

We don't bring a trailer, we have a moving company taking care of our stuff. We only take the most important items with us to survive the 2 weeks until our stuff arrives in Leon.
We have a yellow lab and he is pretty sensitive to heat....even up here in Michigan he is pretty much hiding out in the cool house I hope he will get used to the heat in MX, he surely will miss the winter though
We drive an VW Passat wagon, we will lay flat the back seat so he can stretch out while he sleeps....
We are planning on driving thru the nights (at least in the US) and spend some time during the day walking with him....it's probably more comfortable for him that way.
I'm not going to nationalize my car, our work contract id for 2 years, if we want we could extend the stay but for now we will import the car temporarily.
As far as I know the permint is for one year, the same as our FM3 visa...we have to renew it every year.

We can't wait to finally be there....needless to say, we are currently in crunch mode ....lot's of stuff to do and so little time to do it....getting our house here in the States prepped up for sale, package all out stuff, say good bye to friends and neighborhood....

[Miniflexalex]

Originally Posted by conklinwh

Circle 110 gave you good info. There is a route calculator that has been referenced on this site many times. I can't remember the exact name so I just googled Ruta Punta a Punta and found it. If you put in Tamaulipas/Nuevo Laredo and Guanajuato/Leon for starting & ending states and cities, it will give you the route with kms, tolls and time. Answer was 456 pesos, 896 km and 9 hours.

There are two Laredo crossings in addition to Columbia. The main one is straight ahead on I35 while for the more local, you follow sign to the right just before the crossing. This takes you around a few city blocks(after the 1st right, a left & another left and you are on the bridge I believe) but is easier and is much less confusing to go to immigration & banjercito than the main bridge the 1st time.

A couple things 1st, not sure how much you are moving but I would have a list of all electronics(except for one PC each) and anything that they can take as more than personal use. Have the values listed with any receipts that you have. We get so many red lights at customs these days that I just go through the declare line. I give them my list and they normally just pass me through after looking around.
Also, make sure that you have the shot record for your dog and a paper signed by your vet within 5 days of crossing that dog is clean.
When you exit customs, make a right and then 1st road right(there is a driveway 1st). This takes you back underneath the bridges to a large building on the right that is immigration. The entrance is about 1/2 way down. Go in the left end of the building to immigration. You will get FMM's to fill out and hand back. Used to be that you then paid before doing the car permit but may have changed and you pay for both together. You then need get copies of driver's license, passport, FMM, title or registration and credit card at a window to the right. You then go further to the right where there is a series of windows and a roped off queue. Here you will be called to do the car permit and pay. You will also be charged a car deposit between $200 & $400 depending on the car. Everything can be on the credit card.

After completing this. Place the car permit sticker behind the rearview mirror and keep the rest of the paperwork handy. After leaving, make a right(opposite from direction that you came). This merges into the Nuevo Laredo bypass at the 1st light. You make a half left onto the bypass and drive straight ahead. The road will make a loop but keep following it. You will see a large overpass at a light. Go under it and make a left which will merge you onto 85 south toward Monterrey. Drive straight ahead, stopping at the aduana checkpoint till you see the libre/cuota split. Stay left to follow the cuota. After the tollbooth, there is a good gas/rest area on the left. This a good place to gas up and buy food that you can eat on the drive as a number of options. After leaving the rest area, you will be heading north. Just before the tollbooth, you make a u-turn to head south.

Good luck!

As said in above reply, we only take the most important stuff with us, the rest comes with a moving company.
Should we also have a inventory list for the little stuff we have in the car? It will be mostly cloth, 2 laptops etc....
We have a appt. at the vet next week Thursday, so the cert will be 5 days old once we arrive at the border.
I just printed your driving instructions, Im sure we will need them once we're at the border.

[Miniflexalex]

One last thing.
Our visa is still not approved.
Our initial plan was to go to the Consulat tomorrow to get our inventory list approved and get the sticker for the Passport, well, that wont happen now....
I hope the visa will be approved early next week
We applied for it end of February and our imigration consultant said back then that the process takes about 4-6 weeks...hm it's been now over 4 month...

and one more last thing

I have a little antique collection, nothing special but very valuable for me.
Would you send it with the movers or would you take it with you in the car?


Again, thank you very much for all your replies, I very much appreciate it


Alex

[conklinwh]

I don't quite understand the consulate's role as they can no longer issue visas. What they can do is sort of have you pre-pay the visa, put a "quasi visa" in your passports and give you receipts which you will need keep. I had this done in one day at Raleigh Consulate.
You will still need go through immigration at the border and get FMMs'. When you get to Leon, you will then need to go to immigration with your passports, receipts and FMMs to get your visa card.
I'm not sure what you mean by small antique collection. Expect breakable and/or valuable or you would ask. We have brought a lot of oddball stuff because my wife is a painter and have always been able to explain that it is personal, necessary for painting and not for sale in Mexico. So far so good but each time the discussion a little tougher.
BTW, my vet was willing to post date the form a couple days when we explained the timing and our drive.

[terrybahena]

Originally Posted by Miniflexalex

We don't bring a trailer, we have a moving company taking care of our stuff. We only take the most important items with us to survive the 2 weeks until our stuff arrives in Leon.
We have a yellow lab and he is pretty sensitive to heat....even up here in Michigan he is pretty much hiding out in the cool house I hope he will get used to the heat in MX, he surely will miss the winter though
We drive an VW Passat wagon, we will lay flat the back seat so he can stretch out while he sleeps....
We are planning on driving thru the nights (at least in the US) and spend some time during the day walking with him....it's probably more comfortable for him that way.
I'm not going to nationalize my car, our work contract id for 2 years, if we want we could extend the stay but for now we will import the car temporarily.
As far as I know the permint is for one year, the same as our FM3 visa...we have to renew it every year

We can't wait to finally be there....needless to say, we are currently in crunch mode ....lot's of stuff to do and so little time to do it....getting our house here in the States prepped up for sale, package all out stuff, say good bye to friends and neighborhood....

Your dog will acclimate, our black lab Sam has, but it took about a week and a half, maybe two before he started eating his normal amount. But your dog will be haooy just to be with you! We take Sam for a romp on the beach early before it gets too hot, and again in the evening when it cools down a tiny bit. He does love the cool tile in the house.. Have a wonderful trip, we are so happy we are here! Viva Mexico! Oh yeah - our vet also post dated Sam's certificate so it would be within 5 days, of course nobody asked to see it but I felt better having it.