Immigration checkpoint

Posted by Bret on March 11, 2009, 11:04 am
189.162.164.218

Donna and I found something new on our way to drop friends at the Manzanillo airport yesterday around noon. We were stopped at the agricultural checkpoint just after you cross the big bridge and enter Colima state. Instead of the usual question about fruits and vegetables, this time an Immigration officer asked us for our immigration documents. We normally don't carry our original FM-3 visas around with us all the time in fear of losing them. Instead we carry copies of the important pages. The officer warned us that we must always carry the originals. After logging everyone's data on a clipboard, he let us go on. During the 5 minutes we waited, they didn't stop any other cars. We don't know if they were too busy with us, or there weren't any other foreign-looking people going through the checkpoint then. So be aware, anyone heading to the airport or to Manzanillo for shopping. We don't know if this is a temporary thing or something more permanent. For what it's worth, this is the first time we've ever been asked for immigration documents anywhere in the interior of Mexico in several years of travelling and living here. We will start carrying the originals on any trips beyond Cihuatlan, at least until we see if this continues. PS, they didn't ask for our passports, just the immigration docs (FM-3 in our case). Bret and Donna

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