Mexico Customs & Yacht Clearance: TIP and Ensenada (2026)

Heads up

This is best efforts, not a guarantee. Rules change, officials change, and two boats clearing into the same harbor the same week can have pretty different experiences. We do our best by combining three things: research (reading the official sites so you don’t have to), automation (a tool that fills in the forms for you), and personal experience (what actually happened to us, with dates). It’s all in one guide and one forms tool. It won’t make clearing in effortless, but it should make it a whole lot easier. If something’s different when you get there, tell us and we’ll fix it for the next boat.

Fees at a glance

What	Cost
Temporary Import Permit, online	US$45 + IVA. Apply 10 to 60 days before entry. Credit card in the importer’s name.
Temporary Import Permit, in person	US$51 + IVA, at a CIITEV office or a consulate that has one.
Visitor fee, per person	MXN 983 in 2026. Up to 180 days. The officer decides the number. It can’t be extended.
Port Captain, 20–100 GT	MXN 626.93 in office hours in 2026. Double outside hours and on non-working days. We paid MXN 1,208 overtime at Ensenada on 6 December 2025, which was the 2025 rate doubled.
International despacho, same band	Same scale. Void if you don’t leave within 48 hours.

Ley Federal de Derechos amounts are updated each January. Ours are the 2026 figures except the Ensenada overtime, which is what we paid.

1. Get the Temporary Import Permit, or confirm you already have one

What: Banjercito’s permit for a foreign recreational boat over 4.5 m. One active permit per hull. Check the hull identification number first on the SAT lookup. An old uncancelled permit blocks a new one, and only the person named on it can cancel it.
When: Online, 10 to 60 days before the boat enters Mexico, at gob.mx/banjercito. In person, at the first port of entry that has a CIITEV office, or ahead of time at a Mexican consulate in the United States that has one.
How long: Permits issued from 1 April 2026 last 5 years. Earlier permits keep their original term. ANAM’s page still says 10 years. Go by the date on the permit. The law is the 19 November 2025 reform and rule 4.2.5.
Our experience: I applied online years earlier for the Newport to Ensenada race, and Banjercito mailed the permit. We arrived in December 2025 with it already in hand. The full explanation, and why you cancel it, is on the Temporary Import Permit page.

2. Clear in at the first port. At Ensenada, budget a full day

What: Fly the Q flag and the courtesy flag. Foreign recreational boats register their arrival with the Port Captain of the first port they touch. Immigration first, then the Port Captain. Official page for Ensenada’s one-stop office: Centro Integral de Servicios, Blvd. Teniente Azueta #101-1.
Our experience: We cleared in at Ensenada on 6 December 2025 and stayed two nights at Hotel Coral & Marina. The marina put us in a van to three different offices downtown, the same day. We had lunch with the van driver and bought him tacos. The port’s website describes one building. That is not how our day went. Allocate a full day. More of that day is on the Ensenada page.

3. Immigration, the visitor permit

What: Each person, passport in hand. The visitor fee is MXN 983 per person in 2026, the Derecho de No Inmigrante. The stay is up to 180 days from the day you enter, with no permission to work. The officer decides how many days you get, up to that limit. It can’t be extended, and it covers one entry. Check the number before you leave the counter.
Official: Ley Federal de Derechos, article 8. Ley de Migración, article 52. INM on the 180-day limit. The paper tourist card is being phased out. You usually get a passport stamp, and you can download a digital FMM afterwards from the INM portal.
Our experience: I don’t remember exactly how many days we were given. We were in Mexico from December 2025 to March 2026, well inside 180. When Meghan flew home from Acapulco, I listed her as departing crew with the Port Captain there. Do that whenever someone leaves or joins, or the clear-out crew list won’t match the boat.

4. Port Captain arrival authorisation

What: A written request: the office, the date, your name, an address, what you’re asking for, the ETA, and the boat’s details, plus passport, proof of ownership, the despacho from the last port, registration, a crew and passenger list, an estimated itinerary of Mexican ports and the exit port, and the fee receipt. The procedure is SEMAR-05-017-E in the 2025 public-services manual.
No zarpe from the United States: SEMAR accepts a written statement in Spanish, under oath, giving the port of origin and why you have no despacho.
Fee: For 2026, over 20 to 100 GT is MXN 626.93. Double outside Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 14:30, central Mexico time, and on non-working days. If you are more than three hours later than the ETA you gave, you need a new authorisation. It is valid for one arrival.
Our experience: At Ensenada the overtime charge was MXN 1,208, the 2025 rate of MXN 604 doubled, paid at the bank.

5. Inside Mexico, check in wherever there is a Port Captain

Official: A formal despacho is for international voyages. Boats still register each arrival and departure with an authorised marina. Ley de Navegación y Comercio Marítimos, article 50. The international despacho has to come from the Port Captain.
Our experience: We checked in with every Port Captain, and no two were the same. Zihuatanejo wanted us in person and issued an Aviso de Salida on 12 February 2026 for Acapulco on 14 February at 12:00. Mazatlán, on VHF, told us to stop bothering them. La Paz was relaxed. Chiapas was formal. Go ashore and check in. If they don’t need you, they’ll say so. The port notes are on the La Paz and the Sea of Cortez page and the Pacific coast page.

6. Clear out, then cancel the permit if you are not coming back

What: Immigration exit, then the Port Captain’s international despacho. Bring a written request with the planned departure, identification, proof of ownership, a letter that the marina is owed nothing, registration, proof of skipper competency, the crew list, and the fee receipt. SEMAR-05-018-H, in the same manual. The despacho is void if you don’t leave within 48 hours. Keep the original. The next country wants it, and so does Banjercito if you cancel the permit.
Our experience: We did not clear out at Acapulco. The marina agent there helped list Meghan as departing crew and said Chiapas was easier. I sailed on alone. At Puerto Chiapas the Navy and other authorities board every boat coming in and going out, often with a dog. Have the papers ready, the pets secured, and the boat tidy. The marina prepared the paperwork. Use an agent for this. The write-up is on the Puerto Chiapas page.
The permit: Keep it if you will be back before it expires. If you won’t, cancel it. At Puerto Chiapas that was a drive of about 90 minutes to the office at the Guatemalan border, with a driver the marina arranged. Only the person named on the permit can cancel it. Send Banjercito the stamped despacho, the permit, and the mobile-accessories list. Details and the warning are on the Temporary Import Permit page.

7. Pets

What: SENASICA inspects dogs and cats on arrival. Since 3 August 2026, dogs from the United States need a screwworm inspection certificate from a USDA-accredited vet, issued within 5 days of entry. Cats from the United States are inspected, with no certificate.
Official: SENASICA and USDA APHIS.
Our experience: Mexico didn’t care about the dogs at all. We left Marina del Rey on 3 December 2025, eight months before that rule. The longer note is on the pets page.

Heard from Cruisers

Most of this circulates by word of mouth among cruisers. We pulled it together, organized it, and share it free. It is not official guidance, so don’t rely on it as such.

The online permit and a second one Heard from Cruisers

The online application accepts United States, Canadian, and Mexican passports. A boat gets two permits, then it has to leave. That second limit is not in the official text we checked. An engine serial that no longer matches the permit can block a cancellation. The lookup of old permits covers Banjercito issues after 2005. Older ones are a separate query to customs.

Immigration at a port Heard from Cruisers

The online INM payment is for boats that cruise Mexican waters without going ashore. If you are arriving at a port, don’t pre-pay online. Officers sometimes stamp far fewer than 180 days, and it can’t be changed afterwards. Read the stamp before you step away.

Domestic avisos Heard from Cruisers

Most offices still want an aviso at each port, in writing, by email, or on VHF. Some charge to anchor. Cabo San Lucas has no Banjercito office.

What the forms tool can fill

Mexico has no official fillable PDF for a yacht clearance. The tool builds two answer sheets, and nothing else:

The INM passenger and crew spreadsheet, which you copy onto their .xlsx. The 2026 filling guide is theirs. Most boats that go ashore do immigration at the port instead.
The boat data for the Banjercito Temporary Import Permit, which you type into their site or take to the office.

There is no official blank for the Port Captain’s letter or the despacho. The tool does not invent one. Open the forms tool.

Questions

How do I clear a yacht into Mexico?

Get a Temporary Import Permit, then clear Immigration and the Port Captain at the first port. We did that at Ensenada on 6 December 2025. Hotel Coral & Marina drove us to three offices. Budget a full day.

What is Mexico’s Temporary Import Permit?

Banjercito’s permit for a foreign recreational boat. Online it is US$45 plus IVA, 10 to 60 days before entry. In person it is US$51 plus IVA. Permits issued from 1 April 2026 last 5 years. Cancel it when you leave unless you are coming back before it expires. Only the person named on it can cancel it.

How long does Ensenada yacht check-in take?

Budget a full day. On 6 December 2025 we visited three offices by van from Hotel Coral & Marina, and paid MXN 1,208 overtime for the Port Captain.

Want these filled in for you?

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The honest fine print

Some Tuesday, LLC shares information and a do-it-yourself forms tool, free. We never file, submit, sign or send paperwork for anyone. We’re not a customs agent, yacht agent or lawyer, and nothing here is legal advice.

Everything here is best efforts. We combine research from the official sources, automation that fills in the forms for you, and our own experience. Rules change, officials change, and every boat’s experience in each country will be a little different, including from ours. Before you rely on anything here, check it against the official links and with the officials themselves. You’re responsible for checking, signing and submitting your own forms.

Mexico customs and clearance for yachts, step by step