The Law states that all persons moving Personal Household Belongings may bring these into the country Duty Free on a One-Time Basis providing that the items are at least six months of age and have been USED. 

1. From the date of issue of the FM3, the importer has six (6) months to obtain the Inventory Visa which allows them to cross their goods duty free. 

If you are transporting your personal belongings in your vehicle, then you can do so without an Inventory Visa but you are required to make a formal declaration when entering Mexico and you are subject to paying IVA and possibly duty.

Because so many people moving to Mexico are not following the Rules and Regulations of the country, Customs is checking very carefully all houshold shipments for the presence of any of the items listed below.

We have clients each month that try to hide in their shipment some of these items.  If we find them before going through Customs we remove them.  Everyone needs to UNDERSTAND that Customs takes the shipping of household belongings very serious and it is just not worth the money or risk to take a chance.  If you cannot bring these items with you in your vehicle or on the plane, then sell or give them away to family, friend or a local charity because you can find most of them here in Mexico.

• New Undeclared Items:  Customs can tell by the serial number when the item was manufactured and they also know what to look for to see if an item that does not have a serial number is new.  All new items MUST be declared and taxes paid but some items also require a special permit so before you decide to purchase any new item please check with us first.  If we are not sure then we will call our customs broker to get a clarification.

The following cannot be brought into the country in a commercial shipment.  They can be brought in privately but there are some quantity restrictions, so please check the current regulations for the allowed quantity and the possible import duty.

• Drugs (including prescription and over the counter items such as aspirin and vitamins)
• Food
• Spices
• Oils of any kind like cooking, motor vehicle, oil candles, etc...
• Alcoholic Beverages
• Items of Excess or More than One (1) per FM3 like computers, TV, VCR, DVD

And others, as per normal moving rules, like

• Flammables – butane/propane bottles, lighters, lighter fluid, gas cans, matches, etc.
• Live plants
• Firearms including bullets or any other type of ammunition, empty cartridges, holsters, cleaning equipment.
• Pellet guns and accessories or even toy guns
• Pornography of any sort (including magazines such as Playboy)
• Cloth material in bulk (such as fabric or sheeting material)
• Mounted animals, birds, etc. (taxidermy items)
• Valuable jewelry, coins, stamps, or any other extremely valuable item  (these should be transported by you)

There are many other rules that will be enforced when moving your belongings into Mexico.  Everyone should be aware of them.  For our paid clients we will make sure that all these regulations are followed and passed on to you so that you will not have any legal problems bringing your belongings into Mexico.

This is not meant to scare you but it is meant to make you very aware that it is extremely serious when moving into Mexico and that you must follow all the current rules and regulations.