Latin America Collection

There is a lot of required paperwork that must be completed if you are
planning to move, or to just drive into Mexico or Central America. This
includes:

1.
PASSPORTS
: You can obtain a "Tourist Card" at the border, through
the Mexican Consulate, or through an airline. To continue beyond a
certain point in Baja California, or about 25 miles south of the Mexican
border or elsewhere into Central America, you will need a passport.
You can obtain your passport by making application at many designated
post offices. Just phone your nearest post office and they will give you
all of the information on the documents you need. When you have the
required documents together, take them to the designated post office,
pay your fee, and in a few days you will receive your passport by mail.
As a suggestion-- when you have your passport photos made, you may
want to have them take several different shots. Pick out the one that
you like best for your passport, and save the others for visas. You
never see your visas, but your passport photo is with you for the next
ten years.

2.
BIRTH CERTIFICATES
: You must contact the Hall of Records of the
county in which you were born to obtain your birth certificate. Once
you obtain your certificate, seal it clear plastic covers. Never give out
your original. Always make photocopies right through the plastic
cover, and give them out. Keep the originals in a safe place such as a
strong box or safe deposit box.
3. MARRIAGE LICENSES AND DIVORCE PAPERS
: If you are moving
to another country, they will probably want a copy of these documents.
This is particularly true in Central and South America, which are
predominately Catholic countries. Make photocopies of them and
keep your originals with your other documents.
4.
POLICE CLEARANCE
: Most countries require a police clearance. Go
to your local police or sheriff's department. Fill out the request forms
and pay them a nominal fee. They will mail your clearance in a few
days. Keep it with your other documents, and give out photocopies,
only. Some countries will require a clearance by Interpol before allowing
you in as a resident. This is done by the country to which you are
moving.
5. FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
: Unlike the United States, which
seemingly does not require immigrants to be financially sound (in fact
it appears that we accept them more readily if we can put them on the
welfare rolls immediately), many countries require certain financial
guarantees to get into their country as a resident. As an example, to
immigrate to Costa Rica to become a "Pensionado", you must have a
guaranteed income of $600.00 per month for a couple. A "Rentista" must
show $1,000.00 per month. A letter signed by an official of the Social
Security office will suffice as long as the amount at least equals the
requirement. An arrangement can be made between a Costa Rican
state bank and your stateside financial institution, where your account
is sufficiently sound, for the monthly transfer of at least the minimum
required amount. Check with the consulate of the country of your
choice to be sure you meet with their financial requirements.
6. CERTIFICATE OF AUTO INSURANCE
: If you plan to drive more
than about twenty-five miles (in most cases) into Mexico, or pass
through Mexico on your way to Central America, you must have
Mexican Automobile Insurance. Most American insurance policies are
void as soon as you cross over the border. (We suggest that you check
this out with your insurance agent). We checked the "yellow pages"
of the Los Angeles phone directory and found a Mexico Insurance
Company with an "800" phone number. We called them, then faxed
our U.S. insurance policy (the typed page with all of the details about
your car), and authorization to charge it to our credit card. We gave
them the dates we planned to be in Mexico (they charge by the day).
Within an hour I had a fax copy of my policy, and the next day I received
the actual policy in the mail. Check your yellow pages. Also, you can
buy the insurance at the border. There are usually several insurance
offices as you approach the border. It is fast. My policy cost $13.00 per
day for full coverage.

Californians driving into Mexico will find the red tape easier to negociate
thanks to a new agreement that allows an American company to issue
tourist permits to American travellers.

The agreement between Mexican Ministries of Tourisim and Sanborn's
International Insurance services of McAllen, Texas, permits motorists
to fill out immigration and customs forms and have them stamped
before they enter Mexico at any of the 23 offices along Mexico's border
with California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. With the proper
documents in hand, a motoring tourist arriving at the border need
only to go to the Banjército (Mexican Army Bank) window at Mexican
Customs. There, travellers present their documents, pay an
adminstrative fee of about $12 and receive a car sticker. The alternative
is to do all the paperwork at the border, which means standing in
several lines--a process that can take hours at the worst. For a list of
Sanborn's locations, contact Sanborn's Insurance, 2009 S. 10th St.,
McAllen, Tex 78503; Tel: (210) 686-0711, Fax: (210) 686-0732 or toll free
at 800 222-0158.

Sanborn's provides a booklet full of information and services for a care-
free driving trip to Mexico and Central America. Sanborn's is the
ONLY company to offer Central American Insurance for both you and
your vehicle. They also provide you with a helpful publication called
Travelog for overland travel all the way to Panama. It guides you mile-
by-mile to your destination and back and is a good supplement to this
book. For questions about Central American Travel call their resident
Central American Expert at (210) 682-1354. You may also join Sanborn's
Amigo Club for additonal privileges and travel benefits. Call their 800
number for more details. Another good feature Sanborn's offers is that
if you overstay your policy in any of the countries and it expires, you
can extend it by just giving them your credit card number by phone
or fax.
The American Automobile Association
(AAA ) offfers insurance and
similar services in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, but not in California.
The AAA decided not to become involved in the stamping of documents
because many Californians go to Baja California, where they are not
required. Anserv Insurance Services (tel: 800-2621994)and International
Gateway Insurance Brokers (tel: 800 -423-2646) are other companies
which provide Mexican automobile insurance.
7. MEXICAN RULES REGARDING ACCIDENTS
: It is important to
know and understand that Mexican laws and rules differ from those
in the United States. In the U. S. you are considered innocent until proven
guilty. In Mexico it is the reverse. You are considered guilty until
proven innocent. If you are in an accident where someone is injured
or killed, whether it was your fault or not, in all probability, you will
go to jail. Contact your Mexican Insurance Company immediately,
and have them get an attorney for you. Remember , you are in their
country and their laws prevail.
8.
PROOF OF OWNERSHIP OR PERMISSION STATEMENT
: When
you cross the border into Mexico, be sure to tell the border guard that
you are driving deep into Mexico. Otherwise, he may think you are
just going to shop in the border city. If you do not do this, he may wave
you through, and a few miles down the road, you will come to a check
point. If you do not have the proper sticker on your windshield, and
are not properly documented, he will probably send you back to the
border to get it. At the office where the sticker is issued, they will
make photocopies of your "pink slip" (ownership certificate), passport
and drivers license. If you do not have your pink slip because your
car is not paid off, you must go to the financial institution who holds
the pink slip (title) and get an authorization letter stating their approval
for you to drive the car into Mexico. Once you have satisfied the
officials that the paperwork is correct and it matches the numbers on
the car, they will place a sticker on your windshield. As you come to
checkpoints in the country, the guards will check your papers against
the numbers on your car and your windshield sticker. Guatemala was
the only other country we encountered that put a sticker on our car.
They were not as thorough as Mexico. I guess they figure that if you
got all of the way through Mexico, it must be right.
9. OBTAINING YOUR `DRIVE THROUGH' VISAS
: One thing that is
very important, and that will save you time and problems at the border
crossings, is to obtain your "drive through" visas in advance. Determine
your routing, then contact the consulates for each of the countries you
will pass through, and arrange for your visas. The regulation are subject
to change from time to time. So, contact your nearest consulate in
advance to find out the most recent requirements. We phoned each of
the consulates and found out the following:

A. MEXICO: Required our passport and extra passport photos. The
charges were $21.00 per person. Call (202) 728-1750 in the U.S. and
(604) 669-2845 in Canada.

B
BELIZE: If you plan to travel through the Yucatan peninsula to this
country, check with your local consulate. You may call the consulate
in Washington (202) 332-9636 or Los Angeles at (213) 469-7346.

C. GUATEMALA: Required our passport which they stamped. The
charges were $10.00 per person. Call (202) 745-4952 in the U.S. and
(613) 237- 3941 in Canada.

D. EL SALVADOR.: Required our passport which they stamped. There
was no charge. Call (202) 265-3480 in the U.S. and (613) 238-2939
in Canada.

E. HONDURAS: At present no visa is required. They stamped our
passport at the border. Call (202) 966-7700 in the U.S. and (604) 685-
7711 in Canada.

F. NICARAGUA: They did not require visas. They stamped our
passports at the border. Call (202) 939-6531 in the U.S. and (613)
238-7677 in Canada.

G. COSTA RICA: They did not require visas. They stamped our
passports at the border. Call (202) 328-6628 in the U.S. and (604)
682-3865 in Canada.

H. PANAMA: U.S. and Canadians only need a $5 tourist card. Call
(202) 387-6145 in the U.S. and (416) 822-0488 in Canada.
NOTE
: At this writing, the above countries are negotiating for a "no
inspection" system, similar as crossing from one state into another in the
U.S. This may or may not be in effect at the time of your planned crossings.
We managed to get our visas in two days. If we had found out their hours
in advance and planned accordingly, we probably could have done it in
one day, as some of the consulates closed at 1:00 p.m.
Now that you have completed your legal requirements, you can really
get ready for your trip.