Household goods, car and pet to Mexico: the stamped list, the car that may never go definitively, and a certificate of fifteen days

A move across the ocean has three items that each follow a rule of their own, and with Mexico those rules diverge widely: the household goods are simple if the list is right, the car is almost always a sale, and the pet is easier than within Europe.

The household goods: the certificate to the list

Used household goods enter the country free of duties and VAT with a certificado de menaje de casa, issued by the Mexican consulate — the same consulate as your visa, so combine the appointments. The certificate belongs to a list of everything that comes along, and that list is the work: per appliance brand, model and serial number, everything used, in Spanish. The fees are in article 22 of the Ley Federal de Derechos: 3,202.98 pesos, some 150 euros.

What may not be on it: vehicles, new things, and anything that looks like trade. What the card does with it differs: whoever has a permanent card imports definitively; whoever has a temporary card imports temporarily, for the duration of the card and the renewals, and is meant to take the things along again on departure. In practice you only notice that difference when you leave — but it's on the certificate.

The shipment has to stay close to your own arrival; have your mover read the list beforehand, because one missing serial number is a discussion at the port that costs weeks. The containers go via Rotterdam or Antwerp to Veracruz or Altamira on the Gulf, or to Manzanillo on the Pacific; count on six to ten weeks door to door.

The car: temporary, or not

This is the item most people count on working out.

A residente temporal may import their car on foreign plates temporarily via Banjercito, with a permit that is valid exactly as long as the residence card, a deposit of 400 dollars for a car of 2007 or younger and a permit of 45 dollars plus VAT. The car may not be sold or lent, and has to leave the country before the permit expires — or be renewed with the card.

A residente permanente may not. The ANAM is unambiguous about that: permanent residents fall outside the temporary import. Whoever goes from temporary to permanent therefore has to drive the car out of the country or regularise it — and the latter isn't possible.

Because definitive import of a used car is under the decree of November 2024, extended since, only possible for cars built in Mexico, the United States or Canada. A European car never gets Mexican plates. So count on selling in the Netherlands and buying again in Mexico, where cars are more expensive than here. The temporary route is there for whoever absolutely wants to keep the car for a few years — and then drives back with it anyway.

The driving licence: per state, and not exchangeable

Mexico doesn't exchange a Dutch driving licence. As a tourist you drive on your Dutch licence; as soon as you have a residence card you're meant to get a Mexican licence, and that is arranged per state: a theory exam, sometimes a practical exam, a medical certificate and fees that differ per state. In Mexico City the permanent licence costs 1,500 pesos, an ordinary licence of three years a good eleven hundred; whether a foreigner there can get the permanent one or only a licence that expires with their card differs per state and per year.

Keep your Dutch licence valid for the visits to the Netherlands: a Mexican licence can't be exchanged in the Netherlands.

The pet: fifteen days

Here Mexico is simpler than the EU. A dog or cat from the Netherlands needs no chip and no titre test, only a health certificate at most fifteen days old, issued by an official vet or a practice vet on letterhead with their registration number: a valid rabies vaccination, a deworming within the last six months, and clinically healthy.

On arrival SENASICA inspects the animal and issues the import certificate; that is free. Ectoparasites are treated at your expense before the animal is released, so do the flea treatment at home. What isn't allowed: a basket with blankets, nappies, newspaper or sawdust, and loose food in the basket. What does work: a clean transport box, collar and lead.

The fifteen days are the clock. Plan the vet on your travel date, not the other way round, and fix the appointment as soon as the flight is booked.