An Insider’s Tip on US Car Registration When Living in Mexico
After you’ve been in Mexico for a while, you’ll notice that a lot of foreign-plated cars are from South Dakota. For those not “in the know”, this can be a bit puzzling, because with a ranking of 47 out of 50 US states in population, it does seem a bit odd that so many people from South Dakota have moved to Mexico.
The answer, of course, is that they have not. I would doubt that even a small percentage of those driving with South Dakota plates have ever even been to South Dakota.
Then what’s the reason for all those South Dakota license plates? There are three of them:
- The cost of car registration in South Dakota is less expensive than most other states.
- South Dakota does not require emissions testing. This would be important to you if your car’s existing license plates were from a state or area that required emissions testing on some time-based interval. If this applies to you, then in order to comply with your state’s requirements to license your car, you would have to drive back every so often and get it tested. Registering your car in South Dakota avoids that.
- The government of South Dakota is happy to do it, knowing full well your situation. Just call the Clay Country Treasurer.
If, after checking with your insurance agent to see how or if your coverage would be impacted, you would rather have your car registration be from South Dakota, contact the South Dakota Clay County Treasurer in more than enough time to have them ship you your new plates while you’re NOB. (“North of the Border”; the US and Canada). They won’t ship your plates or stickers to Mexico.
Your NOB (“North of the Border”; the US and Canada) car insurance will not cover you in Mexico, so if you drive in anything other than a rental car in Mexico, you will need to get Mexican car insurance. (When you rent a car in Mexico, typically insurance is included, but make sure to ask.
There is a very good chance that you will need to maintain a “legal address” in the US or Canada for all sorts of things, including for credit cards, ATM cards, and banking institutions. You could use your sister-in-law’s, or your good friend’s, or one of the mail forwarding companies.
You will be living in Mexico, so you should have at least some pesos in your wallet when you arrive. If you let most NOB banks know well enough in advance, most will exchange your dollars for you so you can have those pesos in your wallet well before you enter Mexico.
Just like there are rules for how people can legally enter Mexico, there are also rules for dogs and cats. (The rules for animals other than dogs and cats can be different.)
Healthcare and auto emergencies can happen without warning (and seemingly more than randomly on a weekend or national holiday), so it’s a very good idea to establish your local providers as soon as possible. That way, when you do have that acute pain where you believe your appendix is located or that throbbing pain in your back molar on the left side, you will know who to call and they will know you.
If you are a US citizen, you must pay US federal income taxes forever, regardless of where you live or where your income originates or anything else I’m aware of. That’s the bad news.
When you get to Mexico, if you have one of those addresses that companies can deliver to, great! If you don’t, there are lots of companies here that will accept your packages for you at a commercial location known and knowable to the delivery companies and call you when your packages arrive. Then, you can go to retrieve your much-anticipated presents, all for a reasonable amount. And when you do this in Mexico, remember, you’ll be in Mexico, so the prices will be much lower. Personally, I use iShop, but I know there are many others that provide the same service.
I know of many Canadians who use some type of dish service so they can watch curling 24 / 7, but I don’t know much more about either the service or the sport other than that they both exist.
