Where do I pay for 6 mo tourist visa

[DonaldW]

Greetings and thanks for accepting my membership request. I am one of those sort of oddball travelers in that I often ride the bus here from Texas and either bus or fly back home. When you ride the bus through Laredo at night, your bus stops at the bridge and they give you a tourist card for up to 180 days. In 2008, they used to collect the fee and stamp the card paid. Then in 2010 they started giving you the card but asking you to "pay at the bank". Not knowing what that meant, up until 2014 I didn't pay and no one said anything about it. But there were some law changes recently and during my return home (via bus) 3 months ago, I was removed from the bus and requested to pay the fee (ouch!) while crossing the guard station just south of Laredo.

Also recently my sister, who also comes here to visit quite often, also who most of the time flies home from here, recently ran into a situation where she had not paid the fee and she discovered the office where you can pay this fee at the airport was closed early in the morning and she almost missed her flight.

So ..... here's the story.... I am about to leave here with an unpaid card also on an early flight. Therefore I am trying to find out how to pay this fee that is associated with the temporary tourist visa, here in Guanajuato GTO area. (San Miguel is an option if it can't be done here.) I would like to pay and finish the paperwork prior to my anticipated struggle to make the early AM flight and chancing I will miss my flight if the fee collection station is far from the gate and/or closed.

Does anyone know where to pay that fee here in GTO GTO? My Spanish skills get me around town with no problem, but they can't take me through understanding this part of the tourist visa and any governmental agencies. Any help is appreciated.

[Celine]

Is this something unique to bus travel? When I fly in and just say 6 months...even when I have no return ticket. If it is unique to bus travel, I would ask at the bus station...preferably ETN or Premera Plus.

[Lisa Andrews]

I would either go to the Casa de Moneda on the LHS of teatro juarez, that's where there are social security, tax office and other stuff. Otherwise I had to go to the immigration office in Leon for my temporary residents card, I imagine that is where you will have to eventually go but might be worth asking in town before you travel.

[doncoulter]

You can't pay that fee here in Guanajuato. There is no office at the Casa de Moneda or anywhere else here that can help you. Just go to the airport and trust that the immigration office will open in time for you to make your flight. It might be a close call, but it always opens early enough for those who are departing on early flights. You will probably have to pay a fine.

And next time you come into the country, if someone tells you to "pay at the bank," try to figure out where the bank is. :)

Don

[DonaldW]

OK, I will just face the airport and pay any fine. In the mean time, I will remain open for anyone who finds the bank and can pass along the location.

Thanks !

[grumbalina]

When they say the bank, they probably mean Banjercito because it's a Banjercito office at the border where you pay if you're driving through. I've read from other sites that you can go to the Banjercito in Queratero or Mexico City for other visa-related stuff.

[peddler665]

A TRUE STORY
1997 Three Idiots (I being idiot number 1) leave San Diego on a 37' Sloop heading for Zihuatanejo. Third night out we hit a huge storm losing our sail, rigging almost sinking due to a fowled pump.
After 6 days adrift we finally make port at Bahia de Tortuga half way down the Baja Coast. It is Sunday so no Immigration open at this small port although we have our tourist cards filled out but not stamped/process.
Idiot's 1 & 2 abandon ship hiring a car, bus & plane to reach PV. Idiot 3 (the boats owner) waits for his San Diego friends who are following a few days behind for assistance.
On arrival in PV we contact a local lawyer who tells us to just be cool. Have a good stay & just turn your Tourist Visa unstamped on departure via Mexicana Airline. He said it would be far too complicated to try to straighten this out.
Worked like a charm with no hitches.
PS This is not advise Only a True Misadventure.

[jesm]

Our daughter had a similar situation, no valid visa and a flight to catch. She arrived at airport 2 hours early, went back to INM office and threw herself to the mercy of the system. After countless discussions among themselves, INM created a new visa on the spot, where her 265 cash peso fee payment went is anyone's guess, then immediately cancelled that fresh visa, allowing her to depart, making her plane with about 5 minutes to spare. If this happens again i would go to the airport a day early, admit my error and beg!

[sparksmex]

You can pay at any bank

............... more charcters

[Laura Brown]

Check out inm.gob.mx for information.
You used to be able to go to any bank to pay, but you needed a preprinted form. Now you may be able to pay online.