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Mexico’s Unsolvable TIP Catch-22

If you remember Maj. Major Major Major from Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 you may remember that his assistant was told to only let people into his office when he wasn’t there, and not let people in when he was there. This is the situation many boat owners find themselves in when they discover they have a boat with an uncanceled Mexico TIP (Temporary Import Permit) issued before 2005. The department that issued those TIPs has been disbanded and there is absolutely no agency in Mexico that can solve the problem. The Baja Ha-Ha Grand Poobah wrote recently on his FB page, “DO NOT BUY A BOAT WITH AN UNCANCELED TEMPORARY IMPORT PERMIT!!!” However, there are a wide variety of situations that can arise without an owner’s knowledge. A second or third owner of a boat may have no idea his boat has an uncanceled TIP.

La Solana in the Sea of Cortez
The Shaw family wants to head back to Mexico aboard La Solana, but so far can’t legally do so.
© 2024 La Solana

We heard from owners stranded in San Diego last year with this problem and recently heard from Brad Shaw, owner of the 1977 Islander 32 La Solana, when he discovered he was in the same boat and wrote us about the situation, which he has not been able to solve.

‘”La Solana, our 1977 Islander 32, took our family safely to the Sea of Cortez and as far south as Zihuatanejo in 2001. Thankfully, we missed the whole World Trade Center disaster, only finding out about it weeks later when Hurricane Juliet forced us into Puerto Escondido and cruisers passed around a video of the towers coming down. We had a truly magnificent year, spending the winter on the mainland and the summer in the Sea of Cortez.

“Luckily for me, my wife was game for the trip, and even homeschooled our second-grade son Michael and our pre-K son Mason. I can’t tell you how much it truly changed all our lives, so much so we went back five years later and did it all again. Both boys grew up loving the ocean, from surfing and sailing to fishing and spearfishing. If it happens on the water, they’re into it.

Life aboard La Solana in Mexico.
Life was good aboard La Solana in the Sea of Cortez in 2001.
© 2024 La Solana

“This brings up my problem. I want to take La Solana back down to relive those magical times but I can’t get a new TIP, or temporary import permit. This is required to visit Mexico and you may have read in Latitude about issues regarding uncanceled TIPs on resold boats wishing to visit Mexico. I did, but didn’t think it would affect me since I still own my boat and could do whatever paperwork would be needed to create a new TIP. As it turns out our 2001 TIP was issued by aduana, or customs, in La Paz, a government agency then responsible for this process. Ours was good for 10 years, which served us well for both trips. I’m told that agency no longer exists so they cannot cancel our expired TIP. I have spoken to several Mexican officials including a lawyer in Mexico specializing in this particular problem and understand that without an official document showing the boat leaving Mexico, we are out of luck. We had our boat shipped home through Marina San Carlos both times and apparently it was not checked out of the country in that process. The only solution offered by anyone in Mexico so far is to permanently import the boat to Mexico, a very expensive process that probably has implications here in the US when I return.

“I recognize our situation is a bit unique but I wonder how many others may be in a similar situation, perhaps without even knowing it. I really want to go back to Mexico so if anyone has any useful information I would sure appreciate it.”

Brad, Nancy, Michael and Mason
Islander 32, La Solana

Somehow, someday you imagine the Mexican government might find a way to create a process to issue a new TIP to these stranded boats to allow them to return to cruising in Mexico. But when? It also has us wondering: If there really isn’t any paperwork or department in Mexico that knows anything about these boats and TIPs older than 2005, why not just apply for a new one? Is there something that would show up in the records somewhere? It sounds risky, but who would know?

You can learn more about TIPs in the First Timer’s Guide to Mexico, and see more Mexico cruising news on our Heading South page.

New information on how to cancel a pre-2005 TIP posted on October 18

 

Sailing

6 Comments

  1. Marek Schindler 1 month ago

    I’m in the same situation. You can apply for a new TIP but it will not be issued as a boat can’t have two TIPs. Question is if the can check for an existence of an old TIP why can’t they cancel it?

  2. Doug Clark 1 month ago

    You may have some bad info. We had a TIP issued in Cabo in 2000. I did not cancel it, can’t remember if I knew about the cancellation rule or what. Anyway we returned to Mexico in the same boat in 2016 and got a new TIP in Ensenada. There were no questions. Just get to Ensenada, stay at either of the two good marinas and they will go to the office with you and work it out. The aduana and immigration folks there are reasonable. I hope they have not changed management!

    When I finally sold my boat in 2022, I sent the second TIP to the agency in mainland Mexico that is supposed to handle these. After 4 months they sent me a document asking for a repeat of all the same stuff I already sent to them. So I sent it again. I guess that was enough since I have not heard back from them, and have had no complaints from the new owner or my broker.

    • Neal Holmlund 1 month ago

      I second Doug Clark’s advice. I’ve taken two boats to Mexico, both using the online process to get a TIP mailed to my CA home in advance. The first one went smoothly, no issues. The second one got lost in the mail, it was never delivered. Repeated phone calls and online inquiries to fix the problem were fruitless. “Sorry we can’t issue another TIP”. I sailed to Ensenada and the TIP expert at Marina Coral solved my problem. We spent the afternoon driving to various offices to cancel the first TIP lost in the mail and issue a new one. It worked, but only because I got local help. Worst case you have to sail back to San Diego 🙂

  3. Tom Carr 1 month ago

    My TIP up in January next year. I trailered my boat in 2015 and entered through Tecate and got my TIP there. Can I renew my TIP without the boat present in Mexico or at a Mexican consulate in the US?

    • Neal Holmlund 1 month ago

      My understanding is you cannot renew a TIP, it must be cancelled when the boat leaves Mexico BEFORE the TIP expires. Then you get a new TIP issued to re-enter Mexico. If you don’t have a local expert to help you, I suggest calling Tom at La Paz yachts in Marina La Paz and he can give you advice.

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