Moving your stuff to México ain’t easy

Menaje de casa -- The menaje is the paperwork that allows you to move your used household belongings to México without paying any import duties. (Note the word “used” defined as at least six months old.) Rules for the menaje, like the FM3, vary among the consulates; so get the instructions on your first visit along with the FM3 instructions. Shortly you’ll see why it is important for your menaje to move along as you get the FM3.

Update July 2006: I have recently heard from three people in different parts of the USA telling me that their consulates are no longer issuing menajes (except to returning nationals). They were told that the moving company can now deal directly with the Mexican authorities. They were required to prepare a menaje, but it did not need the blessing of the consulate, and it could be in English. Check on the requirements at your consulate. I have an idea that this is a change being started slowly like most changes down here.

Here’s how one person did his move to México:

When I lived in Los Angeles, I used to go down to the Vince beach to watch the crazies along the boardwalk. The craziest of the bunch was the guy who juggled running chain saws. I thought of him several times while I was trying to map out my move to México.

Before I got my FM3 I knew exactly where I would be living -- Lerdo, Durango. So I studied the ways in which I might move my household to Lerdo. I wanted to avoid the expense of a moving company. My idea was to rent a U-Haul truck to take my things to El Paso, and there transfer them to a truck owned by a Mexican friend (actually a friend of a friend). I learned that no rental trucks are allowed to cross into México, and my Mexican contact could not bring his truck into the USA, so that idea went down the drain.

Then, I thought I would U-haul to a storage place in El Paso, so I could take things across in my pickup, making several trips to my friend's big truck. But that idea was shot down when I learned that the rules say everything on the menaje must cross the border in only one shipment. Foiled again!

I did not explore the idea of U-Hauling to El Paso and then hiring a Mexican commercial company to complete the move. My information search did not turn up that option. Since then I have heard from several people who have done this successfully.
Strom Moving has a warehouse in Laredo where you can deposit your shipment, and Storm will then move it through customs and to your new home in México. MexiCo Forwarding, Inc in Harlingen, Texas offers a similar service.

Movingtomexicoguy.com offers a door-to-door service moving your household from your home in the USA or Canada to any place in México. They can also expedite getting your FM3 as well as doing your menaje. Their rates are reported to be very attractive.

San Miguel Moving offers door-to-door moving to or from México. Their website has an online estimating form.
I have learned that taking your menaje stuff across the border yourself is not as easy as it sounds even after you have solved the transportation problems. You can pull a trailer behind a pickup or van, so it is possible to bring quite a bit of stuff. If you do, you'll have to engage the services of a customs broker to walk the paper work through Mexican Customs. I’ve talked to some people who have been through this, and their experiences vary from a minor nuisance to a major hassle. I recommend this do-it-yourself approach only to the stout-hearted. (If you use a trailer, it will be treated like a vehicle; you'll need papers for it.)

After several weeks of phone calls and internet searches, I gave up on the do-it-myself idea and started interviewing moving companies. I selected United Van Lines because their agent seemed, more than the others, to know what she was talking about. A couple of the agents were less informed than I was. [color=#FF0000]You may find a different ‘best’ mover in your city. Talk to all you can find because the prices, services and experience do vary.

Having worked out all the mechanics of the move and having most of my menaje done, I was finally ready to make the application for the FM3. I planned to have everything in place to complete the move within the first 90-day time window, so I would only have to make one trip to the border – the real trip. I completed my menaje a couple of weeks after I got the FM3. Then I was ready to go.

Now, preparing the menaje and getting ready for the movers is where the real nightmare begins. It’s almost a catch 22. You must have your belongings packed in boxes, and the boxes must be numbered and inventoried for the menaje. My living room was my box room But you also have to keep on living in your house while doing all this. Some things you can’t box until the day of the move unless you want to move into a motel or with family or friends. I solved this problem by packing those things for the inventory and box numbering, and then unpacking them for continued use until moving day. I also attached labels to each box listing contents in both Spanish and English. This was a big help when it came time to unpack 54 boxes.

All this inventory and box numbering has to get turned into the menaje de casa, which, sigh, must be in Spanish -- an original and five copies to be submitted to the Consulate for approval and stamping. There is a fee of around $150. At the top and the bottom of this page, there are links to my menaje with side-by-side English and Spanish to help you translate. I had help offers from several of my Latino friends -- some from México, some from other Latin American countries. I quickly learned that even simple things are not always called by the same word in various Latin countries. I came to rely only on the Mexicans. I had trouble finding names for some less common items. I never did find the word for 'wind chime' -- espanta espiritus, I learned after I moved. On my menaje I called it music by the wind - música de viento.

Then there is the matter of who packs the boxes. The moving company must prepare a manifest which the Mexican Customs folks can use to compare with your menaje. The moving company can’t (won’t?) list the contents of the boxes you pack – their manifest will say “owner packed.” I was told that this would increase the chances of the boxes being inspected. I was completely honest in what I packed and listed, but I wanted to avoid the time delay of a protracted inspection. I also was told that if an inspection is triggered, the authorities would find something to charge duty on to pay for their time. A thought that I find believable. So we agreed that I could pack the boxes and leave them unsealed so the movers could verify the contents and then seal the boxes. They charged me an additional $160 to seal the boxes. $160 for 54 boxes = $3.00 per box. Banditos!
But in the end, it all went well. The head of the moving crew is from Gomez Palacio the town next to Lerdo, where I was moving to. He was so surprised, and asked, like so many others, Why? We had a nice chat.

Two copies of my approved menaje were attached to the mover’s manifest, and my stuff was loaded on the truck and taken away. The trailer part of the truck was loaded on a train and taken to Laredo where it was attached to a Mexican company’s rig and taken through customs and on to my new home in México. The move went off without a hitch, and my stuff arrived a couple of days early and with only one minor cracked glass.

The bill was $8,000. I discovered to my chagrin that United (and others) will not accept a credit card for an international move. $8,000 was actually only $3,000 more than I had calculated would be the cost of doing it myself – helpers on both ends, U-Haul, gas, motels, Mexican truck, etc. In retrospect, I’m glad I used a moving company.

If you choose the moving company route, your cost might well be different than mine. As you can see from my menaje, I brought umpteen boxes of books, kitchen cabinets, file cabinets, two refrigerators, even the kitchen sink, and other heavy items. The cost was about $1.00 per pound, so some of my decisions were based on the simple question “Can I replace this item for a dollar per pound?” I now wish I had brought several things that I decided I could do without. I also brought stuff I have no use for – wine glasses, fancy serving bowels and platters, etc.

Somewhere along the planning for a move to México, one really should carefully address the question of moving the household furnishings vs. having a giant garage sale, move to México with personal items and a few treasures that will fit in your vehicle, and buy all new for a new life in a new land. What you save by not doing the big move + the yard sale could very well furnish a house here. You might even rent a furnished apartment or house for a while.

I chose to bring a lot of stuff because the move would be cheaper than replacing my stereo recording system and my graphics-enhanced computer system – replacing them in México would cost more than $8,000. So I brought everything that would fit in my new house and then some. If it were not for those big ticket items, I think I would have come with no more than would fit in my pickup.