Talisman (MEX) - El Carmen (GT) | Customs and Immigration

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR VEHICLE OVER 3.5 TONS (if you need a TIP to enter Mexico).
The exit of Guatemala was pretty easy. Be careful that the SAT woman has a lunch break between 12h and 14h…
The entry of Mexico was much more difficult!
The FMM was quick and easy. But for the TIP they are very annoying! If you are over 3.5 tons they have to do a request for overweighting and we had to wait 3 hours before they get a response! It is not more expensive, but it's a huge waste of time.
For pets I recommend hiding them for exiting Guatemala if not they will ask for a specific exiting document.

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Super easy border crossing north at El Carman/Talisman. Arrived just after 8am on a Monday. We have found border crossings are easy first thing in morning Monday-Friday.

65 minutes total for both sides! No big tractor trailers rigs on either side of border!

Guatemala:
Immigration-passport exit stamp & closed CA-4.
Close out TIP
Paid 5 Q to drive over bridge

Mexico:
Pay $717 pesos for new FMM
Immigration - stamped in
We already had a TIP from driving south. Checked in with aduana. They searched our refrigerator. Took cheese, fruits, veggies & yogurt. Dairy is not a problem at northern USA/Mexico border. Don’t know why it’s a big deal here. We took a chance on veggies & lost.
Fumigation = 90 pesos

Keep TIP & passports handy. Driving north on hwy 200 you will hit many checkpoints.

Friendly immigration staff. Lady at Banercito not so friendly.

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Guat to Mex

Whole process took a couple of hours starting at about 0815 on the Guate side.

Great info from previous posts.
Only updates are:

- We paid 717MXN per person at immigration.

- We asked for the form to change our vehicle class to Casa Rodante and get a 10 year TIP but our camper is too light. She did say we may be able to do this if we come from the US border.

- ***It is now possible to do the TIP online before you go***
The office had signs up everywhere about it and confirmed by the lady in the office.

- We paid around $200 USD deposit and $59 to get the TIP. This had to be paid on a card with the car owner's name on so that they can get it back on exit.

- Fotocopia place just past the Oxxo on the left on the Mexican side. $1/copy.

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Fumigation now 120p no credit cards. smooth crossing north to Mexico. great info on previous posts. yes, coming north into the Guatemala border "The fixers" we're trying to get us to park etc. ignore them. it's all very straight forward. no one checked or asked what provisions we had. no one asked what food we had. one inspection looked in the fridge and he couldn't care less. The ONE post that said no dairy etc is weird. we've entered Mexico many times and they have NEVER asked about food.

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Mexico --> Guatemala

Mexico side:
1) A lot of people will solicit you ("Facilitator", Mobile Money Exchange Agent, Vendors, ...), ignore it unless you need to change money to get Quetzals.
2) Park in the free car park to the right of the border crossing.
3) The driver (owner of the vehicle) must pass the gate on foot (with his passport), cross the street and enter the building on the left.
3) Go to Banjercito to cancel his TIP. Follow the person who wants to see the vehicle and take pictures of the declared equipment (PC, etc.). Retrieve the TIP cancellation document. Return to your vehicle, normally you are not asked for your passport.
4) All the members of the family must go and have their passport stamped, to do this go back through the gate, return to the building and go to the counter opposite Banjercito.
5) Return to your vehicle and cross the bridge (free for us).
--> about 30 minutes of procedures

Guatemala side:
1) Park in the street in double line and go to have your passports stamped in the "Migracion" building on the left after the bridge. Request a form for the import permit for your vehicle.
2) Complete the vehicle import form.
3) Make the following photocopies at one of the copy shops (there are at least 3), price 2Q per copy.
2 x vehicle owner passport
2 x vehicle owner Mexico exit stamp
2 x vehicle owner Guatemala entry stamp
1 x double-sided vehicle owner driving license
1 x double-sided registration vehicule document
1 x vehicle import form
4) Advance your vehicle to the blue "SAT" building and park in double line below, normally you will be told where to park. Go to the SAT office "Permisos de turistas" in the central direction. Give all photocopied documents and originals to the agent.
5) Go to the office on the right to get a paper to pay.
6) Go to the bank "BancoCHN" with the payment document, 20m on the left towards Guatemala and pay Q160 in currency.
7) Return to the previous desktop to retrieve the sticker.
8) Return to the "Permisos de turistas" office, give the sticker and the bank receipt, the person will then stick the sticker on the windshield.
9) Normally everything is over you can leave. Do not store your documents because about 1km further there is a control (passport of the whole family and import permit).
--> about 1h30 of procedures

NB: we have not had any checks for fruit, vegetables and fresh produce, however on the vehicle import permit form you agree not to import anything.

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We crossed from Guatemala to Mexico with a dog and our truck camper. We crossed at 9.15am on a Monday and it took just over 2 hours for both borders with no problems. For dogs crossing, they must have a health certificate approved by Guatemala City. Luckily we got this even though we thought we didn’t need it! Thanks to the vets advice in Antigua. You don’t need help from the fixers so just drive to the terminal building. Officials all very helpful and friendly.

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In Mexico the hours are from 8:00AM to 9PM. Going from Guatamala to Mexico. Guatemala also doesn’t open until 8:00 AM. Very easy process. If you have an animal; make sure that all of the paperwork matches and that there are no inconsistencies.

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Passed today from Mexico to Guate -

Mexican side went smoothly. although, firstly lots of people came to help and it was stressful. we had to tell them several times we don't need their help. We bought our camper truck in Mexico so we had to cancel the last owner TIP first and then to change to our plates. So two helpers with badges tried to scam us to pay them money because they said it's not possible to cancel TIP that isn't yours. we just went to banjercito and it all happend well.

In the Guatemalian side, we didn't know you need to ask for a form when you are in the immigration. A basic form that says you want to enter with a vehicle and declades you got nothing in big quantites. so we had to come back. also there, people tried to scam us saying it costs money and pay them.
Just be aware - All you need to pay is for the Aduana building for the new TIP - costs 160Q.
Also good to know the copies they need:
A. Your passport ×2.
B. Stamp out of Mexico + Stamp im Guatemala x2.
C. The form you filled.
D. Your vehicle title.

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Driving from Guatemala to Mexico in US-plated car, crossed about 1pm on Friday

DO NOT park in any parqueros on the Guatemalan side if you have a car permit to cancel. A bunch of guys surrounded my car and basically forced me into a parquero and then lied to me that I could park there to cancel my TIP, it’s NOT TRUE. The customs agent wants to physically check your car, so drive all the way into the aduana area where you can park for free. The parquero guys surrounded me and intimidated me for their 15Q even after I yelled at them and told them I knew they were lying.

Cancelling TIP and getting stamped out on Guate side is easy and straightforward. The immigration side is a little ways down from the aduana, you can drive down and park in front. They have thick wrinkled plastic covers over the windows that make it look closed, but when you approach you will just be able to see the hands that take your passport. I was not asked for the 10Q that I had read about. I was also not asked to pay 5Q for the bridge, the lady just let me pass without asking for payment.

Make sure you get some pesos on the Guate side, you will need pesos to pay for the car sanitizing spray, it is 90MXN.

After that you proceed in your car through a brief passport check and military guys that will check your car. My car is very full of personal stuff and they moved stuff around a bit to look in crevices but didn’t make me take anything out. They wanted to see my car title which I don’t carry with me, but were satisfied with a photo of it. After that, park in the parking lot to the left and go inside to complete immigration paperwork.

DO NOT purchase FMM online before you go! The online FMM is not accepted at this border crossing — even though this is an option for “port of entry” when you fill it out. The lady was being very nice and trying to help me, she even made some calls in front of me to see if they could transfer my payment for this to their version of FMM, it is clearly just a failure of the bureaucracy. The FMM form they use looks completely different but costs the same, and if you purchased one online you will either have to purchase another one or settle for 7 days which is free.

The TIP process is very straightforward, there is a pharmacy just down the road that will make copies for you. All my copies cost 5 pesos total. They did not check my insurance or license, just passport, registration, FMM, and payment.

After that you’re all done! There are many military and federales checkpoints ahead so keep all the paperwork handy.

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Crossed from Guatemala to Mexico at 9 in the morning. We had crossed from MX to GT about four weeks ago and we’re heading back to MX. It was easy, fast and we cleared in 90 minutes. First, ignore the touts. Drive in front of customs to clear your GT temporary vehicles import permits. Drive forward 100 meters and stop a the immigration office on the right. Crossed the bridge to MX; no toll. On the MX side, your car is sprayed first; pay for it in the booth just on the other end of the spray shed. Drive forward and park just on the other side of the customs/immigration building. We already have the Mexican TIP for our van and they checked for it. Next a very brief, friendly agricultural check for fruits, vegetables and dairy (we didn’t have any). They looked in the van but very briefly and didn’t take anything. They also checked our cat’s veterinary records but didn’t ask to see him. I showed them a picture anyway because he’s so cute. Next, we got our 90 day visitor visas. Piece of cake.

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Crossed from Guatemala into Mexico at 9 in the morning. We crossed from MX to GT about a month ago and we’re now returning to MX and on our way, eventually, to the USA. The crossing was super easy and super fast. First stop: cancel your vehicle’s Guatemalan temporary import permit on the left. Ignore the touts. Next drive forward 100 meters to Migration office on the right to clear Guatemalan immigration. You can change your Quetzales to pesos from guys in front of the office. Don’t know what kind of a deal you can get as we didn’t need to exchange money. Crossed the bridge to Mexico and didn’t have to pay a toll. On the MX side your car will be sprayed. Pay for it at the booth just on the other side. Next, drive forward and park. They’ll check your TIP, which we already had. Then there was a very brief agricultural inspection. They asked about fresh fruits, veggies, and dairy (we didn’t have any). Did a short, friendly inspection, and didn’t take anything. They checked our cat’s veterinary records. They didn’t ask to see him so I showed them a picture because he’s so cute. They passed us on to immigration, in the same building. We got a 90 day visitors visa. Be sure to get a receipt because you’ll need it when you exit MX. Everyone on both sides of the border were super friendly and professional.

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my partner and I were on our way to this border crossing but there was a shooting at the border and closed it down for awhile. when traffic finally started moving again we had someone tell us to not cross the border here and instead go to Hidalgo city 45 minutes south. he said it was much more tourist friendly. we did and had a great experience.

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Crossed today from Mex to Guate. Just some additional remarks:
We were at the border just before 8 am, which proved to be too early. They just open the building at 8 am and then it takes another half hour before they open the counter at 8:30 am.
The „bridge toll“ is a donation which is collected by the local community. It is 5 Qz.
After crossing the bridge there is no need to put the vehicle in an estacionamiento, but just drive to the Guatemala control building using the left lane.

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México to Guatemala:

Steps are as described below.
Mexico side went smooth but Guatemala took us forever for no apparent reason. After immigration in Guatemala we went to get our TIP. The lady doing the paperwork took forever, consulting other colleagues for various times and also asking us for several fields in our passports. We had the feeling that she probably didn’t speak any English, hence couldn’t figure out our passport and car title details.

After 2! hours of waiting she then told us that she would go to lunch break now. Another 40 minutes later she came back to work on the papers for 20 more minutes, then handed back our papers, put the sticker on our car without any further inspection and let us go. I guess it really depends on who is doing the paperwork but there is not much more you can do than being patient and help with translating.

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Crossed from Mexico to Guatemala. The 'helpers' mercilessly followed us everywhere trying to get us to pay them. It's not necessary here.

Park in the lot off to the right of the border crossing, pass through where the cars go to the building on the other side, and you get your passports stamped and your TIP canceled all right there. The border patrol people are generally friendly and helpful.

If you change pesos to quetzales on that side, there are two guys in green shirts with ID badges and calculators. You can't miss them because they approach you as soon as you park. They tried to give me a bad exchange rate and I had to haggle hard for a better one. Know what you should get (-~2-5%) because they will offer far less to start.

When you drive your car across the border on the Mexico side, everyone will have to exit the car, pets included, and a drug dog will inspect your vehicle inside and out. The dog got in on all our seats and sniffed everything. It was thorough.

The helpers following us on the Mexico side followed us to the Guate side. Then more started following us on the Guate side. It was annoying. You'll need to be rude for them to stop. We made friends with a tall, intimidating bilingual fellow tourist in line on the Mexico side and he finally got the helpers to leave us alone on the Guate side.

The Guatemala side is more confusing. You can park on the street but I don't recommend it. There's a rude woman insisting you pay her dollars to cross the bridge. She blocks you with orange cones and yells a lot. We drove through the cones and she didn't do anything.

The Immigration building is to the left but there is a 20 quetzal parking lot just past it on the right. Park there. You pay when you leave. Don't let them park other cars in front of yours. We saw another driver get parked in and stuck there until well after we left. And they were in front of us in line to start.

To get a TIP in Guatemala here, you need copies of the following:
-both sides of your car registration
-both sides of your car title
-your passport photo page (driver only)
-the page with your mexican exit stamp (driver only)
-the page with your guatemala entry stamp (driver only)
-both sides of your drivers license
-a copy of the completed customs form you get at immigration. they keep one copy and give you the yellow carbon to get copied.

Just before the parking lot on the right, there is a copy shop up the steps. It looks like a clothing store. Copies are 2q each (per side) even though the sign says they're only 1q.

After immigration and copies, take all your documents to the Aduana. It's in the building that's in between the Guatemala checkpoint lanes. After all your paperwork is reviewed and approved, the Aduana person will send you to pay 160 Q at the 'bank' which is a checkout office in the same building. It is cash only.

Then the Aduana person will check your car, put a sticker in your window, give you your paperwork back and you'll be on your way.

Keep your paperwork handy because just outside of town you'll hit your first checkpoint.

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Scam alert. Fake employees say Canadians need Covid card. Paper not accepted. A Bully will stand in front of counter. There police around, call police and guy will run away

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The whole border crossing from Mex to Guat took us about 4 hours. This was for our family of 4 and to get a TIP for our truck. Nothing went wrong, there wasn't really a line, everyone just moves slow.
On the Guat side the aduana TIP lady did make me remove everything from our truck. Every bag, every drawer, inflatable kayak, etc. It took about an hour in 95 degree heat.
People on both sides were pretty nice, just slow moving.

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Guatemala to Mexico: SAT at Guatemalan side had lunch until 13:00 (1:00 pm). They had some trouble finding my TIP in their computer. But it was cancelled quickly thereafter. Migracion stamped us out quickly. We changed money, but be aware that on the bridge you'll have to pay GTQ 5 toll.

We already had a Mexican TIP, which was for 180 days (about three months ago), we needed to do some talking to get 90 days but it worked. Very grumpy immigration officer.

Paid MXN 638 per person on a credit card.

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We went from Guatemala to Mexico, on the 27.12.2021, with a 8m MAN Truck.
Guatemala side very friendly and easy 30min with waiting time we were through, QZ 10 for exit of the Truck.
Mexico side, we had Banjercito for the Truck already, this part was very easy.
Immigration took us more than 2 hours (maybe because of holiday time) and we only got 90 days.
We ask the Immigration Offizier why only 90 days, she told us since 1th of November 2021 new Regulations, this is supposed to be the maximum for Tourists now, had to Tourist Tax Mex Pesos 594 pP.
Not sure if this is at every Border like this.

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Although the border is officialy closed to enter Mexico, we won't through yesterday without any problem.
No pcr test requested.
We we're just asked how long we we're gonna stay in Mexico and had à 6 monts visa.
We already had our TIP for the camper so it inly took a 45 min to cross the border.

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Guatemala to Mexico border crossing experience Talisman/El Carmen Border that started on Friday, April 24, 2020 and Ended the next day with support from our Embassies.
Guatemala side:
- At this time, it was against the law for Guatemalan officials to PREVENT you from crossing into Mexico.
- Immigration official made it difficult to cross, as he was constantly stating that Mexico will not allow you to cross over and once you have been stamped out, Guatemala will not allow you to come back in.
- Once we understood the risk, we decided to proceed in crossing and completely exit Guatemala
- Make sure that your vehicle permit is NOT expired. If it is expired, you will need to pay a fine. El Carmen border crossing will NOT process fines at this time according to officials there. You will need to do this at Tacum Uman crossing but will need to call in advance to confirm
- Other than that, pretty straight forward
- We requested to walk across and get information from Mexico side before officially exiting Guatemala. This was denied to us, but next day we met a French backpacker that was granted permission to do so.
-Make sure to convert your Quetzales in the Guatemala side - on that day we all received different exchange rates. it varied from 2.2, 2.3, 2.35 pesos per quetzal. Google showed 3.24 pesos per quetzal for that day.
Mexico side:
Our caravan of 3 vehicles (3 USA citizens, 1 UK and 1 German with dog) was approached by an un-uniformed individual that seem to express a lot of knowledge about the situation in Mexico. His message in summary: The Mexican Aduana (immigration) will give you all the paper work needed to get into the country. However, the local towns people have created a road block preventing you from getting through. If you do get your paper work, and the towns people do not let you through, you will not be able to stay in aduana property and will need to be stamped out of Mexico and be forced to stay on the bridge between Mexico and Guatemala. He recommended to first ask for permission from the local leaders to see if they can grant us access before starting any paperwork. We agreed, after speaking with Aduana officials that also told us the same message. Word got around fast and instead of us going there, the towns people had sent 3 local leaders to hear our case. We addressed our situation from a humanitarian point to which they did understood but still held their grounds from preventing us from crossing. Apparently, there was a corona case in that town a couple of weeks back and the locals feel that the government is not doing enough to prevent the spread and are taking matters into their own hands.
Upon returning back to our vehicles, the original guy that approached us reconfirmed that we will not be getting through and that we should be pushing our embassies to work with the Guatemalan officials to allow us back into Guatemala. By this time, it was past 4pm and we would not be able to complete our entry into Mexico as Banjercito is open from 8am to 4pm for any payments needed for tourist visa and Vehicle permits.
There is also a law that you do NOT need a vehicle permit to go within 20 miles of the border freely. You can also request a 7 day tourist visa (free of charge).This option was not offered to us at this time, and the only option they gave us was to stay the night on the bridge between the Mexican Aduana and Guatemala border (which is still Mexico).

We quickly worked with the USA, German and British embassies to see what options we had that evening and again the next morning.
The night crew allowed us to use the bathrooms until 9 pm. They also said they would re-open the bathrooms to us the next morning by 8am and allowed us to walk to the Oxxo convenient store nearby.
The next day, the morning security crew was just the opposite. They behaved as if we had done something wrong and prevented us from using the bathrooms. They told us to ask the Guatemalan’s to let us use their bathrooms instead and told us that the bathrooms will not be open for our use. Eventually we received word from the British Embassy that we would be getting a vehicle escort from local authorities and to be ready to go as they would be there within 30 min and to not do anything until they arrived.
Once they arrived the council informed us that we are ready to go and that everything is taken care off and we should get going. He was very much in a hurry. I mentioned that we did not have any proper documentation and if we were to be stopped, it would be much more difficult for us to get home. This is when we started the paper work with Aduana/Banjercito.
Tourist Visa/immigration came first. Originally they wanted to give a 7 day visa to transit home. I immediately told them that this would be violated as the UK/German tourist had a flight on May 15. I also mentioned that those driving to the USA would encounter any additional roadblocks or car problems we would easily violate the visa. I told them that we had no problems to pay the 525 pesos for the 180 day visa and they accepted. You can make this payment at Banjercito with Cash or Credit card. This process was pretty straight forward. The ladies from immigration had more empathy for our case (but NOT initially).
Now came the vehicle permits. The lady at Banjercito seemed to just make our lives worst and not willing to work with us at all.
In summary, you will need copies of
1. Passport (picture/info side)
2. Title (front and back)
3. FMM ( she insisted that the stamp date needed to be visible - which is hard to see in the copy)
If you ask nicely, the Immigration ladies will make a copy for you. I highly recommend that you either go over the date with an erasable ink or pencil ) If you ask for too many copies, they will not do this. Please come prepared to this border crossing)
4. Drivers license (Front and back)

There is a pharmacy that offers copy services on the same side of the OXXO just across the street (1 peso/copy). I recommend you bring all copies ahead of time except for the FMM.
FYI, there are departments within the border crossing process that do not work with each other.
You will need to get your vehicle fumigated and it costs 95 pesos and they only accept cash.
To be clear, this was a HORRIBLE experience in which they went out of their way to make matters worst given we were already in a very stressful situation. I would avoid this border crossing, but if you proceed - come prepared with copies etc..

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Regarding the new facility West of Huixtla. No they don't do TIP's there. It's just customs. They looked at us like we were from Mars. Leaving Mexico we wanted to cancel our TIP there. They finally told us to go to the Banjercito in Tapachula, which I think is wrong also. Just do it at the Talisman / El Carmen border.

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Pretty chaotic on Guatemala side; lots of guys that want to help but just ignored them. Some of them actually tell lies but anyway. Just to say they did not let us go to Guatemala because we only have registration and not the title. Not this crew anyway.. other than that it’s all pretty border-normal. They sure wanted to have copies made and didn’t want to use the ones we had?!

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What we tell here is for both sides Guatemala and Mexico. In Mexico they check your car inside but they were nice and friendly and let us keep the few vegetables we had. I think a lot of people make to much about all this things, everything what they did here was perfectly normal

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We went over to Mexico Talisman. I don’t know where all the stories come from but it went very smooth and easy. Of course you need to go to migracion for your passport and to the aduana for your car, that’s s normal. We were 4 years in South America and we did a lot of border crossings, and also in Central America, USA and Canada. This was the easiest we had in 13 years travelling.

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Entering Guatemala from Mexico.

Was able to cancel vehicle permit & get stamped out of Mexico right at the border. See photo attached (#1) for the times of this Banjercito and following photo (#2) of the “tienes dudas” sign there.

Then ride over the bridge into chaos of Guatemala. Kept saying no to the offers but still attracted a trail of about 6 guys who followed us.

You don’t need to change money with the guys there. A “cajero” or ATM is directly beside the bank where you pay for your vehicle permit into Guatemala (which charged a service fee of about 41 Q)

See photo #3 for window where you submit paperwork & copies for vehicle import permit
Photo #4: the bank where you pay for this permit
Photo #5: posted page telling you what you need & how much it costs.

No insurance for Guatemala.
No such thing as a permit that is good for all countries in Central America no matter what the “helpers” try to tell you.

160 Q for the vehicle import permit,
16 Q for fumigation (motorcycle),
and change for fotocopias,
no other costs.

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Guatemala into Mexico:

This border requires only the vehicle driver to drive the vehicle through the lane. All passengers and pets must exit and walk through. Driver should keep his documents and vehicle documents with him white he drives through.

DOG: health certificate must be valid within 15 days.

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Leaving Guatemala.
I came to hand my TIP to cancel it as a normal procedure like all the 1000 other border crossing i did on this trip... and couldn’t find it. The officer had to call the other border we crossed to enter the country couple weeks ago to find out what happened. We had our proof of payement and visa stamped and everything, we just didn’t have the TIP paper. After maybe an hour, she comes back to tell us that we didn’t finish the process after the payement to get the paper.. (A long day it was...) So we asked her what is it we have to do now to get it fixed ? She said she had to call again to ask.. We waited another hour and came back to tell us that there is not much to do because the officer in charge is in vacation for who knows how long ... the other solution was to go back physically with the van to get the paper and come back... not an option for us.. Or the last one is exit the country like that (the TIP will be forever pending in the system) and IF we ever come back we would have to change ether the name on the van registration or pass with another van or maybe get an escort to cross to the other border to get our paper fixed... we went to stamp our passeport at the building a little after on the right (Migracion)

So after about 2 hours of waiting around to exit, we were free to pass to mexico! ... except when you drive towards mexico you have a fee of 5Q to pay.

Mexico:
Fumigation 95 pesos.
They all seemed a bit unorganized telling us to go in all direction .. They finally stopped us after fumigation to inspect the van. They saw we had cats so we had to take them outside at the quarantine place just to verify their papers. All good. He even checked one of our cats physically. That was a first.

What is cool is that everything you have to do is all in the same building.
Then, we stamped our passeport and filled a custom form (didn’t pay since we are planning on crossing the country in less then 7 days) if more you have to pay 558pesos per person. Then our TIP we still had it since it’s good for 10 years so nothing to do about that.

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Entering Mexico from Guatemala. procedure:

1. cancelling TIP for Guatemala. easy procedure, officer looks at import paper and you return the sticker. you park right in front of it.

2. drive to immigration aprox 100 m further. get exit stamp. No exit fee.

3. drive to Mexican border. through fumigation which was 90 or 95 pesos.

4. then they seperated us which was a bit odd. I went to immigration and my partner went to park the vehicle, where aduana did a quick inspection of the car. nothing thorough.

5. fill out immigration card and pay at banjercito which is in the same room. 558 pesos pr person. keep the receipt as you need it when you exit mexico or you will have to pay again.

5. go a few blocks down town and get photocopies of vehicle owners passport, car registration and the newly made immigration card.

6. go back to banjercito, give them the photocopies and get the import permit. for our 2001 van it was 300 usd deposit + 51 for the permit itself. All payment can be made with credit card or cash.

the you are good to go! the whole process didn't take more than an hour or so. plenty of options to exchange money with locals.

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We crossed here into Guatemala yesterday. Guides are good, but I missed that after crossing the bridge you need to stop at Migración, not directly to Fumigación. This is located after the bridge on your left and has big blue signs.

Fumigación was 38QT.

I had some copies for my car paperwork, and the lady made the missing ones in her office herself at no cost. Super nice.

To pay the 160QT for the TIP, there’s a bank, just at the final gate on your left. One door earlier is an ATM also.

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Si pueden, eviten está frontera. Al igual que otros viajeros no la pasamos muy bien.
Trato super descortés, falta de consideración y mala voluntad de entrada.
Yo presencié como se burlaban y le hacían el ingreso difícil a un grupo de 5 judíos que estuvieron tratando de ingresar durante varias horas (al igual que nosotros) se les hicieron las 6 de la tarde y por cuestiones religiosas no podían tocar los pasaportes con sus manos sino que debían hacerlo con sus túnicas: el oficial de migraciones se burlaba y no le quería devolver el pasaporte a menos que lo tomara con sus manos libres, indiferente a las explicaciones religiosas.

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Douane passée le 5 juin 2018, sans problème avec un gros RV français, du Guatemala au Mexique.

Arrivés vers 10h30, car nous avions passé la nuit au refuge du quetzal un peu avant (très bon plan !), nous avons fini vers 12h30.

1. Sortie du guatemala
Nous avons stationné dans un parking payant (25 quetzals les 12 heures), sur la gauche, juste avant de passer effectivement les bureaux des douanes.
C’est un peu le bazar ici, beaucoup de jeunes essayent de vous vendre leurs services... Nous avons très facilement fait sans.
Je pense qu’on peut aussi aller directement vers les bureaux et stationner quelques minutes en double-file pour faire annuler l’importation temporaire du véhicule. C’est très facile et très rapide, gratuit et aucune copie demandée. Ils veulent juste voir le véhicule et enlever l’autocollant (donc compliqué si on est garé plus loin, il faut retourner le chercher !).

En parallèle, il faut aussi aller faire tamponner ses passeports pour sortir du Guatemala, ultra rapide. A noter, le tampon est nécessaire pour annuler le permis d’importation du véhicule, donc il faudrait mieux le faire dans l’autre sens, mais les bureaux se présentent pas dans ce sens là !

N’oubliez pas de changer votre argent à ce moment là, après il n’y avait plus personne.

2. Entrée au Mexique
Ensuite, on reprend le véhicule, on traverse le pont, et on entre au Mexique.
On est passé par la fumigation, mais je ne sais pas si c’est obligatoire... on a payé 125 pesos.

Ensuite, contrôle des douaniers, quelques questions, et pour la première fois, ils rentrent à l’intérieur et nous font ouvrir tous les placards (même les coffres sous les fauteuils). Ils nous enlèvent les œufs, et tous les fruits et légumes. On négocie pour les manger sur le parking à côté après avoir fait les papiers. Ok pour eux, et aucun contrôle quand on repart !

On va se stationner et on va faire les papiers. Il faut s’armer de patience !
4 passeports à tamponner et 533 pesos par personne pour tout séjour supérieur à 7 jours (enfants de tous âges compris).
Il faut payer au banjercito dans le même hall, ouvert tous les jours de 8h à 22h.

Au banjercito, on fait aussi l’importation temporaire du véhicule, les règles et tarifs diffèrent selon le véhicule et l’année. C’est simple mais long... il faut présenter le passeport et la carte grise et le permis de conduire, pas de copie nécessaire.
n’oubliez pas la carte bleue au nom du propriétaire du véhicule, paiement possible aussi en pesos ou dollars US.

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Guatemala --> Mexico for big rigs/ "camiones": we just want to inform that we had the biggest problem in 4 years traveling through South- and Centralamerica by entering Mexico coming from Guatemala. It took us 2 days (15 hours) because we were told that a "Camion" cannot pass this Mexican border, only small vehicles. In the evening after hours of discussions we went back to Guatemala, but they did not let pass the vehicle, because we already left Guatemala in the morning and then you have to wait 90 days before you can re-enter into Guatemala! So we were stuck between the two borders. The Mexican officials/chiefs at the aduana and the bancercito were not friendly and helpful at all. One possibility was crossing after midnight (no cameras, other officials, bribing, no bancercito, etc.) with the help of some scary people, what we refused. In the evening the custom lady from Guatemala! went over to the Mexican side and negotiated and found a (legal) solution. The Mexicans delayed then the process of the paperwork so that we could not pass this night and we had to come back the next morning, but with new officials (new shift). After 3 hours and calling the officials from yesterday we got the bancercito and the authorization and could finally pass. Was quite stressful...we have no idea what would happen if we did not had the help of the nice Guatemala girl from the aduana.... and actually we do not know if it was only a "personal" problem of the chief of the aduana (no authorization) or if it is really not allowed to cross this border with heavy vehicles. So ask before, because once you cleared Guatemala, they do not let your vehicle come in again for 90 days. And the chief of the Mexican aduana (Mr. "Rigoberto") let us go through the whole process (we paid fumigation and migration) and refused after that the authorization. So be careful at this border. This is our story and it may be different for others... or we did something wrong that we did not realize? It was said that the better border crossing for heavy vehicles is north at "La Mesilla".

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Mex to Guatemala
We could not find how to change qz in Mexico so we change at border. Watch to the guy, they count the money, then they let you count them, then you discover there is one short then they take in their money back in hands they count again , say you are right, add the one missing but switch some out... watch out, take them in your hand and count again....
change today 7 qz for 1 us $
fumigation 36 qz was good they just did wheel not inside...
Car import 160 qz
You need copy of the
Car Registration
Driving license
Passport picture page
Passport page of stamp of out Mexico in Guatemala
Fumigation receipt
No need copy of the declaration of importing the car.
No need of cancellation of your Mexican temporary importation vehicle

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CA4 renewal did not go smoothly! We cancelled the GT permit and went to Tapachula for 2 days. Came back to get GT permit in second name on title. The SAT agent did not want to do this. Other random travelers with better language skills intervened for 2 hours. Finally we got it done. Suggestion- don’t cancel and leave, but request a renewal or name switch in the same visit.

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This crossing is a zoo. As soon as you get close to the border, there are dozens of guys jumping on your vehicle trying to get you to hire them to help you across the border. We agrees to pay one $50 pesos in order to shake the rest of them. You can avoid all of them if you wish. Below is how to cross without the assistance of these "extortionist".

As you approach, you will probably see a long line of cars on your right qued up. Drive past this line and pull into a parking lot on your right to park just before the covered area for Mexican immigrations.

Park (you will be approached again by someone wanting to give you some assistance) and go inside, across the street to get your temp vehicle refund. Nice guy. Will take care of your paperwork and then go outside to your vehicle and take pics and remove your sticker.

Return back inside to get your passport stamped for exit with your vehicle receipt. Just before you cross, a Mexican official will probably look through your vehicle to see what you're taking out of their country.

Easy enough. Now comes the fun part.

Drive toward the Guatemala border. Do not pull into one of the parking lots. Pull up for fumigation ($36Q), just under the covered area. When that is finished, pull up a bit, park and head over for your tourista forms at a small window before the covered area, on the left side.

After you fill out your tourista form, take your vehicle title, passports, drivers license and tourista form to a copy shop to make copies for your Guatemala vehicle permit. There is a copy shop on the right side opposite the permit issuer and bank ($1Q per copy).

Once you have your copies, head inside to get your permit at the window. If all goes well, they will send you to the bank next door to pay $160Q. After you pay the bank, you will hit the copy shop one more time before they will place the permit on your windshield. Then you're done.

If you choose to use one of the "helpers", then there is a very good chance they will try to extort money from you by telling you something is not in order or you won't be able to bring some personal items into the country without paying a fine. ALL LIES!

It is quite overwhelming, but certainly manageable without the help of the extortionists.

Best of luck.

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The Banco in the Mexican Migracion is open from 8am till 10pm 7 days/ week to pay for your TIP.

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Driving GUATEMALA to MEXICO. We found precious descriptions of this border to be a bit confusing... There IS a banjercito here so it is not necessary to drive anywhere else to get your TVIP. It took us 5 minutes to cancel our Guatemala permit (free, no exit cost either). Took 20 minutes to get a vehicle import permit, in a nice air conditioned banjercito! Smooth sailing on a Sunday at noon, nothing was even closed for lunch!

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No need to visit the customs facility near huixla to cancel TCIP etc. They did not have the facility available to cancel as bank not available. Just do it at the border.

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Take note, coming into Mexico the customs officer will confiscate any fruit, veges, cheese and eggs. They perform a very thorough seach of the camper/vehicle

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This is a guest post from  Sjoerd Bakker LINK: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=752824 for an April 2013 border crossing. 

Cacahoatan , Chiapas   ( Mex 200)  near Tapachula 
Border crossing  Mexico to  El Carmen    , Guatemala 
In the southmost corner of Chiapas  there are two possible locations where one can  legally cross the border to and from  Guatemala.Both are served by highway Mex 200 and both connect in Guatemala with the main highway CA 2.
The Mexican   customs terminals at both locations on the border can handle your documentation  but such service may be available there only on a restricted time schedule. This is because  the Mexican customs service for  cross border traffic has been for years  operating through a facility  along Mex 200 to the west of Tapachula.

In late 2013  this Customs Service Terminal was relocated to a  large new purpose- built  facility  on the north side of Mex 200  at a point 10km west of Huixtla and the junction with Mex 211 which runs north to Motozintla. See the map for exact location at bottom of purple  pin marker, on north side of Mex 200

Travelers heading to Guatemala  need  to pay attention  but the buildings and the tall  mast with huge flag  will be quite visible across the highway median wall.  There are RETORNOS  provided  for southbound traffic to access the facility. It is open  24/7 [LINK: ]  and has all required  MIGRACION and BANJERCITO  service  for Tourist Card, TVIP and TVIP Security Deposit. 

If going to Guatemala you must cancel the TC . You do NOT  need to cancel  the TVIP   IF  you will be returning through Mexico and into the USA within the valid period of the TVIP.  If that is not the case cancel the TVIP and get your Security Deposit refund.In all cases cancel the TVIP BEFORE it expires or you forfeit your security deposit. After canceling the  document(s)  you are free to travel around and spend a night or two  in the frontier zone east  of Huixtla.

The  border crossing with most appeal is that at CACAHOATAN  to  EL CARMEN,GT  . This is located  about 20km  east of the big city of TAPACHULA  and very simple to find by following the direction signs of Mex 200 across the top of that city. This crossing is usually  fairly tranquil since  most of the major heavy truck commercial traffic is required to go by way of the Cd Hidalgo border 40km to the south.

El Carmen is situated at the bottom of a river valley  and has a small duty free zone in the Guatemalan town.  With your Mexican exit paperwork taken care of at the Huixtla roadside  facility you are free to move quickly into Guatemala. If you failed to get the clearance arranged at Huixtla  you may still be able to get it done here at the  remaining Mexican customs office depending on staff available. In Guatemala the El Carmen customs facility straddles the road, you cannot miss it .Get your GT  tourist card and TVIP , hand over the required photocopies ,  pay up and be gone in an hour.

For travel from Guatemala to Mexico it is very simple too.First you cancel your GT Tourist Card and your GT TVIP  and pay a small $2 exit tax . You should have saved all your documentation from when you entered GT , it will spare  you a lot of time and trouble.
Once cleared out of Guatemala  you are free to roam  for 72 hours in the Mexican Zona Fronteriza  as far as the Huixtla Customs Terminal .You may do so without having a Tourist Card or a TVIP .It is still possible to obtain a Tourist Card at the Mexican Migracion office at the border but they do not accept any form of payment. You will need to visit a bank in Mexico to pay for it and get the receipt. You will not be able to cancel it  without the receipt. If you loose that receipt and  try to cancel the TC you will have to pay again before you get it  cancelled.When they prepare your TC  by hand at this border read it carefully to see that all info is entered correctly. Ask them specifically to check it, we had a bit of trouble at the bank because of their sloppy work, but the banker knew  a way around it. If you still have the TVIP  from your first run across Mexico you are now complete and do not need to visit the Huixtla customs terminal.

After exploring the scenic countryside up the slopes of Volcan Tacana and perhaps overnights in  Union Juarez or Tapachula  continue your journey west on Mex 200 to get  any remaining Mexican  re- entry documentation at needed at the new terminal 10 km west of Huixtla. You could alternatively turn north on Mex 211 and travel through Motozintla then to Cd Cuauhtemoc and get your TC and TVIP needs looked after at the Cd Cuauhtemoc customs facility.Whatever you decide you DO need to have these papers in order before heading any farther west in Chiapas .

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