You can apply for the TIP 60 days before crossing, the tourist card 30 days before.
During the TIP process you have to go to another site to get a pre authorization (http://www.inm.gob.mx/pae). I suspect if you have already done the tourist card, you would use this number instead, but I am not sure. I believe they have to tie the tourist card to the TIP. Maybe not, when I flew home for Christmas last year, they took the tourist card and then issued a new one on my return.
Maybe it is only for 180 day permits, not 10 year, as you have to get that pre-authorization number during the 180 day permit process, not the 10 year. If you can use the tourist card number, that means you do not even have to stop if you have a tourist card all paid for. Of course this means you cannot do vehicle permits until 30 days before either.
Can anyone shed some light on this? Or is somebody willing to test this out, by getting your TIP within 30 days of crossing.
I have been having an Airstream caravan have issues getting permits on line. I do not know why. I assisted a baja amigos caravan in Oct and nobody had any issues. That caravan will be where I am in about a week and I think one of them got both TIP & Tourist card on line so I will question them. Or it may have been somebody else crossing that day who had both.
