The Logistics of Cancelling a TIP

To enter Mexico, foreign flagged vessels need to apply for a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for the vessel (the ownership is unimportant). The TIP is valid for 10 years in Mexican waters and costs less than US$100. The TIP saves the boat owner a lot of money and days of hassle whenever they suddenly, or unexpectedly, have to get new replacement parts shipped in.  Plus, it prevents imported parts from being diverted into Customs/Aduana, where expensive items often ‘get lost’ and are never received by the boat owner.

Foreign vessels are supposed to cancel their TIP when exiting Mexican waters for the last time, or when the vessel is sold. However, many owners just don’t bother doing this, causing problems if the boat returns to Mexico in the future.

Check for a TIP

Pat Rains, author of the Mexico Boating Guide, says anyone considering buying a cruising boat for Mexico is strongly advised to first check if Mexico still has a TIP registered in that boat’s history.

“The Mexican Government has been upgrading and computerizing their TIP database,” Pat told Noonsite.  “However, some vessels show as having more than one TIP issued and some vessels show they have an active, uncancelled TIP. Mexico Cruisers, please remember your boat’s TIP is good for 10 years and time flies when you’re having fun, so please remember to cancel the TIP before you sell the boat or leave Mexico for good.”

“Additionally, last year all TIPs issued and uncancelled prior to 2005 were completely frozen. These TIPs could not be cancelled or re-issued, which meant affected cruisers were forced to change their plans and could not enter Mexico.”

If you intend selling a boat that has been cruising in Mexico and you do not cancel the boat’s TIP before the sale, it can have far-reaching impacts, particularly if the tip was issued prior to 2005. Fortunately, it is now possible to cancel pre-2005 TIPs with the Aduana in Ensenada, as outlined by cruisers Michael and Sally Aldridge in the report below.

Pat says, “I am grateful to Michael and Sally for their perseverance, not only in sorting it all out for themselves, but more so for sharing their “How To Do This” information. Their report should help fellow cruisers who’ve lately realized they were innocently stuck in the same old TIP maze. I agree with their advice that boaters should plan on staying in Ensenada and working with officials for two or three days to get each step completed. Be patient and try your Spanish!”

Cancelling Pre-2005 TIPS

Reprinted with permission from Michael & Sally Aldridge and Latitude 38 magazine.

This report details our experience in taking a land trip to Ensenada, Mexico, with the sole purpose of cancelling two pre-2005 TIPs – one from 2001 and the other from 2004.  On October 16, we walked across the border at PedEast at San Ysidro in the morning and caught the ABC bus down to Ensenada from Tijuana, because we didn’t want to mess with driving a vehicle across the border and dealing with a motor vehicle TIP and insurance (too many TIPs already!). Walking over the border turned out to be super-easy, with no lines and the bus is nearby and is comfortable and inexpensive.

When in Ensenada (we got there at around 10:30 am) we started with the Banjercito Ensenada on Av Teniente José Azueta.  We spoke with manager Elia Beatriz Urquidi Cobos, who speaks great English. We showed her the relevant boat documentation.

Elia made three copies of each and also verified and checked the report in her system.  She explained we needed to go to the Aduana (Customs) office down the street to start the process.

At this point, Elia stepped outside to direct us and she and the manager of the Aduana, Jorge Badillo, spoke in person on the street. We are not sure if they just “ran into each other” or whether this was planned, but it turned out to be a very fruitful conversation. Jorge reviewed our documents right there, confirmed that everything was in order and told Elia what else we needed to do.

The Process:

• Write a letter to the Aduana asking for the TIPs to be cancelled
• Include the TIP number/s, previous owner names, etc.
• State that you are the new owners
• Print it
• Sign it
• Make three copies

We went to the tourist information office around the corner to do this and they were very helpful and made printouts and copies for us for free.

Then we went to the Aduana de Ensenada with all the paperwork. The address is Blvd, P.º Olas Altas 110, Recinto Portuario, 22800 Ensenada, B.C., Mexico.

This office is behind a heavy layer of security, and they told us that only one person can go through, so Michael, my husband, did this for us, as he is the appointed “manager” of our LLC. He spoke with the woman at the desk and she asked for the letter to be in Spanish, so she translated it for Michael, he wrote it out by hand, and she stamped it. She told him it would take one week to get the TIP cancellations done.

We then showed the stamped letter to Elia back at the Banjercito, but she said she actually needs a printed and stamped image of a “cancellation screen” from Aduana to get the process going on the Banjercito side. She said once she has that, she can send it to the Mexico City Banjercito and it could be cancelled out of the system in a day, depending on time differences.

So we went back to Jorge at the Aduana to ask for that and he committed to doing just that the next day. Jorge promised to email it to Elia it at 10 am the next day, so we stayed overnight just to make sure that happened.

We stayed at the Hotel Coral, as it was a good chance to speak with Fito Espinoza, the dockmaster, who is very experienced with TIPs and immigration. He suggested it was a good idea for us to see it through. He was very interested to hear about the results of our efforts, as it will allow him to help many other boats.

Finally – the cancelled TIPS!

Michael went back to the Aduana office the next day at 10 am (on October 17) and he stayed there until he had the right documents in hand.  At this point we had now cancelled the two old TIPs!

We then took those pages to Elia, who scanned them and sent them to her superiors. The old TIPs were cleared out of the Banjercito system within a few hours and we were able to successfully apply for a new TIP that day. Again, we sat in the office until this was all done (about 30 minutes) and we now have the TIP in hand.

In Summary:

The Sacramento consulate was correct: It is now possible to cancel pre-2005 TIPs with the Aduana in Ensenada, and the Banjercito in Ensenada can get it cleared from their system with the right documentation from Aduana.

Jorge (Aduana Ensenada manager) and Elia (Banjercito Ensenada manager) are competent people who seem to have a good working relationship, and they are collaborating to make it happen. It helps that these offices are down the street from each other.

There are no charges for the process of TIP cancellation and it can be done by the boat owner through the official channels without an agent in one or two days. Be prepared for multiple visits to each office.

Hopefully this bodes well for other boats in this situation.

Michael and Sally Aldridge
Santa Cruz 52 Sweetheart

The Old TIP Maze

Pat Rains relates a story from about 10 years ago, when she and her husband John got tangled in the Old TIP Maze.

“As organizers of San Diego Yacht Club’s CUBAR (Cruise Underway to Baja Rally), John and I had “guested” aboard one of the participant boats – a 59 Selene with the owner couple – helped them provision in San Diego, helped them with their paperwork, checked into Ensenada and cruised with them for 15 days down Baja and up to La Paz. That was one of several deliveries for us that year, mostly from Florida to California via the Panama Canal.

“Four years later, John was helping Nikolai Alexandrov bring a couple of boats down the East Coast and through the Panama Canal toward California. As they were northbound from Central America coming up to Mexico, they entered Puerto Chiapas, Oaxaca, just to clear in and continue north with a good weather window. … But no.

“Turns out, this boat already had an uncancelled TIP registered to it, but with a different ownership. We called the owner in Florida, but he knew nothing about it. The Chiapas authorities called around and the only Aduana who could help was at Tuxtla Chico, a tiny border crossing 30 miles inland from Puerto Chiapas.

“So Nikolai hired a taxi to take him up there, got an appointment, but learned that the only way to cancel that uncancelled TIP was with the signature of whoever had signed it originally. “OK, who was that?” Nicholai asked. “It says John Rains,” the Aduana said. … “What?” So this was the same Selene we’d guested on for one of the CUBAR rallies.

“The owners we knew had evidently sold it on the East Coast and the new owners had changed the boat’s name, changed the home port, painted the hull a different color, changed the flybridge, new stuff in the engine room, etc. We hadn’t even recognized it; just another Selene 59. So, surprisingly, John was able to sign a document in Puerto Chiapas, fax it to the Aduana up in Tuxtla Chico and thus cancel that old TIP. Nikolai got the boat a new TIP in Puerto Chiapas, so it was allowed to continue on through Mexico to the US.

“What a sticky mess and weird stroke of luck, eh?”

Captain Patricia Rains

………………………………

About the Author

Pat Rains (U.S. Coast Guard 100 Ton Master) cruised her 28-foot trimaran and a 44-foot Peterson around the Sea of Cortez for five years while working as a freelance writer and photographer.  As yacht-delivery skipper with her husband Capt. John Rains (U.S. Coast Guard 3,000 Ton Master Upon Oceans), she has logged more than 100,000 n.m. skippering a variety of yachts (sail & power) up and down both coasts of Mexico and Central America. She has transited the Panama Canal 38 times, each time skippering a different boat. She also worked as a bridge officer on a research vessel for the U.S. Navy.

Since retiring from yacht delivery, Pat and husband John now cruise for pleasure with friends and former clients, and Pat is constantly updating her nautical guidebooks – “Mexico Boating Guide” and “Cruising Ports: the Central American Route,” and “MexWX: Mexico Weather for Boaters.”