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Gig in Mexico, Need Customs Advice

Discussion in 'Cinestar Misc' started by Zubeyir Mentese, Jul 21, 2014.

  1. Zubeyir Mentese

    Zubeyir Mentese New Member

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    I've got a gig coming up fast in Mexico (flight's in 1 day). I was just going to provide some invoices and documentation for my X8 DSLR rig and ground equipment to Mexican Customs upon arrival. Then I got a call from the AP, the lighting guy had just gotten all of his equipment held at the airport. The AP told me that as long as the value of the equipment is less than $3000 per person, then I should be fine.

    I'm a little worried about this turn of events and I could really use any advice or feedback on this matter. Especially since it seems a little late to get a carnet.

    Have you travelled to Mexico with a full rig? What was it like? What documentation did you provide?
     
  2. Jose Luis Ocejo

    Jose Luis Ocejo Active Member

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    Hi I fly to Mexico often most of the time a US customs declaration listing everything you are taking and very important staped works to show that you took the time to declare it in the US and they let you in, but some times you get an extra efficient mex custom agent that can make your life miserable
     
  3. Zubeyir Mentese

    Zubeyir Mentese New Member

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    Thanks for the advice! Do you mean customs declaration form 6059B? And how can I get it stamped in the USA?
     
  4. Jose Luis Ocejo

    Jose Luis Ocejo Active Member

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    The US customs 6059b form (Blue form ) is the standard customs form that any person from any ware entering the USA
    has to fill when entering the USA that one is given usually at the departure airport, on the plane, or you can get one arriving BACK to the US
    The form I am talking is US customs form # 4455 (020984) you can find it online, This one you fill it up before you leave the US and present it with your gear in hand usually at a custom window located at the international airport where you leave the US, at that window a customs officer checks your gear and stamps the form you need this form to get back in to the US along side the blue form
    The customs window usually us located near the international arrivals exit of your airport but I would double check that at your airport
    If you are connecting from a smaller non international airport to a larger international airport it's a pain because you are going to have to pick your gear when you arrive at the connecting international airport look for the customs window for declaring stuff, declare it then re check it with the airline that's taking you to Mexico if you don't do that on your way back US customs may give you heat with your gear but having proof with your invoices may help
    Remember the stamp form is for the US the Mexican customs agent may accept it or not, it has work for me every time
    I would not show the Mexico customs my invoices just the Mexican standard customs declaration an the US stamped form
     
  5. Jose Luis Ocejo

    Jose Luis Ocejo Active Member

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    Hi Zubeyir how did it go in your Mexico trip?
     
  6. Zubeyir Mentese

    Zubeyir Mentese New Member

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    Hi Luis,
    Other than the crazy mini hurricane that hit our hotel and left the staff scrambling to clean up before our shoot, things went really well.

    As far as customs go, I made a complete list of every item we were bringing right down to the hex wrenches. I presented this list to the customs officials who were quite professional and merely wanted to charge us a tax (which we passed on to the client). We had to wait for almost 4 hours at customs but only because their printer was broken. A couple of other film crews came through during that time and we made some new friends.

    As we were leaving Mexico, security said we could not bring lipos on board the aircraft and tried to confiscate all of them. Some calm words and a few jokes relaxed the officers and they eventually let us through, but not before confiscating a roll of velcro straps.

    you can see some of the shoot here:

     
    Bryan Edmonds likes this.
  7. Andy Johnson-Laird

    Andy Johnson-Laird Administrator
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    Yeah, those Velcro straps can be a real hazard!
    Andy.
     
  8. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    Velcro? Really? That's amazing.
    The video looks wonderful. Good job!
     
  9. Jeff Scholl

    Jeff Scholl Distributor

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    What airport did you fly in/out of?
     

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