From San Cristobal de las Casas the nearest border crossing from Mexico to Guatemala is at La Mesilla, along the highway 190.

We crossed from Cuidad Cuauhtémoc on the Mexican side to La Mesilla on the Guatemalan side on the the 7th of October 2017. It is important that you check out at the Mexican border and check in at the Guatemalan border. Here is our experience of the border crossing and may differ form other experiences:

Mexican border – Cuidad Cuauhtémoc

Arriving in Cuidad Cuauhtémoc the Mexican migration office and Banjercito are on the left-hand side straight after the green “BIENVENIDOS” sign. They open up at 8 on a weekday and at 9 on the weekends. Crossed on a Sunday morning, arriving at the boarder at 9.

1. Migration office – Aduanero
At the migration office you need to hand in the tourist visa and get the passport stamped out of Mexico. If they ask for a fee to stamp you out, show the receipt of the tourist visa. There were no additional fees in our case.

Documents required: Passport, Tourist visa, A-4 receipt for tourist visa (to prove you paid the 500 Pesos already)
Time: 10 min, no queuing

2. Banjercito – Importacion temporal de vehiculos
In the next building to the left is the Banjercito to clear the temporary import of the vehicle from Mexico and get the refund of the 400$. The officer needs to check the VIN on the vehicle, so make sure to park in front of the building. After the refund is processed on the computer, you receive a document to proof the exportation. If you paid the deposit in cash, a copy of the passport is required and you receive the deposit back in cash (USD). If credit card, the deposit gets refunded to your card and you don’t need a passport copy.

Documents required: TVIP, Vehicle registration document, passport copy if you paid the deposit in cash
Time: 15 min, no queuing

The Mexican side is done! The drive from the Mexican side to the Guatemalan border is 4 km.

Guatemalan border – La Mesilla

For the Guatemalan border you need Quetzals. Money exchangers can be found on the right-hand side when arriving in La Mesilla. We got a good exchange rate and the exchange was very straight forward with no hassle.

1. Vehicle fumigation
Just after you drive trough the boarder gate the fumigation is on the right hand side. They will spray smelly liquid on a couple of random places on your bike and ask you to pay 12 Quezales per bike at the counter right at the fumigation station. Check the change they give you!

Time: About 2 minutes

2. Immigration
The next stop is at immigration. The entrance is just a couple of meters along the road on the right hand side. There are a couple of spaces to park right in front of it.

They filled out a form which will set you back 10 Quezales. They will stamp your passport and give you a carbon copy of the immigration form. We where not asked to pay a “beer-tax” like we have read at other places. The guys where actually really nice and gifted us a map of Guatemala!

Documents required: Passport
Time: 10 minutes, no queuing

3. Aduana/SAT
The Aduana is just a few meters further up the road on the right hand side. Drive your vehicle there since they will look at the VIN/numberplate/motor number and put a sticker on your bike

There are two counters which you can already see from outside. Give them all  documents and they will put all the information into the computer. After a while they give you a bill which you can pay in the bank (door with bars and the guard on the right side of the two counters) you have to pay 160 Quezales and bring back the receipt to the Aduana counter. They will put a sticker on your bike and hand you the “Permiso de Importacion Temporal con Reexportacion para Vehiculos”

Documents required: Passport, drivers licence, vehicle registration, fumigation receipt, carbon copy of the form you filled out at immigration

Time: 45 Minutes, no queuing (had to go back to Immigration twice because they forgot to tick a box)

All done! Welcome to Guatemala!