A friend of mine left Guatemala 2 weeks ago on his bike with Canadian license plates, he went to Mexico, then on to Belize and then he wanted to reenter Guatemala . At the border in Melchor de Mencos he was denied to enter the bike to Guatemala, because apparently there is a new law , forbidding reentry to Guatemala in a period shorter then 90 days . Has anybody out there had the same problem before ? Any advice is highly appreciated !!!
Julio I think that 90 day re entry has always been there. Its a case of him cancelling his TVIP when he left Guatemala. He should have keep the permit open when he exited and said he would be back in a few weeks, they ask at the border if you will be returning at least they did for me. He can get a "in transit permit" to cross the country if he is heading south to other countrys. Or......ride in discreetly and ride out discreetly.
Yeah, that 90 day rule has been there as long as I can remember as well. El Salvador is 60 days IIRC, and Costa Rica is 90 days as well. Not sure about Nicaragua and Panama. When I was headed north Mario and I crossed into Guatemala and when I was at aduana, the guy told me I could not enter Guatemala with the bike since I had been there in the previous 90 days and cancelled the import permit. However, it had been over a year and half in reality. The SAT stamp in my passport showing that the bike had left Guatemala, did not have a date on it, and there was no record in the guy's computer. Fortunately, I still had the SAT receipt with the date when I left Guatemala a year and a half earlier. After producing that paper, I was permitted to bring the bike in.
In my limited experience, the Guatemala aduana people can make records appear, disappear, and change at will on their computers. If some guy said he had no record of your departure, I'd assume he was looking for a bribe. They did the same to me (after 10 months or so), but then punched a couple of keys and made the record appear. But yes: the rule has long been in place, and their aduana seems to take great delight in paging through passports looking for something to argue about--missing stamps, missing dates, whatever. Actual enforcement of the rules is always variable, but saving receipts and other documentation is a good idea, just in case--same as a lot of places. Mark
Sounds like some bureaucratic crap. That crossing is an outlier - done it a few times. Never ran into that problem before. They love the pest spraying (and fee), or maybe that's just on the BZ side. Maybe talk, cajole, play stupid, just be friendly. There are also places you can cross with no officials.
You could easily get away with it. In months in Guatemala, and many other countries for that matter, my paperwork was never once checked by anyone. You have to be ready to pay the price if you get caught, but its totally doable.
it is of course doable. like carrying back 20 kilos of snow white powder on your next trip to colombia. as long as no catches you you will be fine. but seriously, why take the risk of having your vehicle impounded in a foreign country, possibly being detained yourself for some unknown period of time in a country where you likely don't speak the language all that well, have few if any contacts or friends, all to save a bit of time and effort. sorta like saving the $12 by not buying nicaraguan insurance. will you get away with it? most likely. is it worth the hassle if you don't. No. save your "chance-taking" for back home, where the legal system functions just a tad better...
You left out the possibility for torture by boiling tar, dull knives, and some other methods commonly used....on tourists...to get them in line. You are quite right: do are you're told, and do as they say. There lies your safety and path forward in life. Yes, why.....
holy shit! i should've looked before i said anything. coming from a guy with damn near 25,000 posts on an internet forum, i shouldda known better than to doubt your sagacity. hopefully people are smart enuf to not listen to horseshit from people that advise them to break the law in foreign countries, especially when it may cost them not only their property but their freedom. if not, they get what they deserve. i mean fuck! that's what adventure is all about, right? and this from a guy who wasn't intending to break the law: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=21111288&postcount=15 yeah, 25 days stuck in a foreign country with your bike in lock-up. that's fun AND adventurous!!!
Options and possibilities.... Many people are more comfortable when offered few - assigned limits. You can see this in everyday life when you look.
Not sure why one would take coke into Colombia, but...... I'm just saying that its doable with a high probability of no issues if you have the stomach for it. I think its not quite the same as smuggling 20 kilos of coke for some reason. Would I do it (lack of paperwork, not smuggling coke ) if I needed to and didnt have an option? Probably. But that's just me.
Just an update on the initial issue , he is back in Guatemala . We might get the story from him...one of these days
