BajaNomad

Taking a minor into (and out of) baja north

bowser - 11-21-2005 at 04:08 PM

We want to take our 11 year old grandson to Bahia De Los Angeles for a week. We will be driving through Tijuana. He doesn't have a passport. Can anyone tell me what documentation we will need to get his tourist card and where the best place would be to handle this?

Thanks for your help.
Bowser

bajajudy - 11-21-2005 at 04:12 PM

I am sure that others have more experience with this but I am pretty sure that you should have notarized papers giving you permission to travel with your grandson into Mexico. If you were flying you would not be able to get on the plane without them. On the ground may be a different story.
I would check with the Mexican consul in your area.

[Edited on 11-21-2005 by bajajudy]

Kids to Baja

mcgyver - 11-21-2005 at 04:26 PM

You will have to have notarized letters from both parents or guardian and some times picture ID. People drive across all the time with out permissions but getting caught 1 time with all the hassle is not worth it. If there is a problem between the parents about permission from one of them you will have REAL problems. The least of which is you will be on permanent watch list both US and Mexico from then on. Check with both before crossing.

Bob and Susan - 11-21-2005 at 04:39 PM

Bring his birth cert...

Stop in secondary in TJ at the border...far right where the busses go

Park...and get the visa there.

7 days or less free...$21 if you need to pay

Worst Case Scenario

MrBillM - 11-21-2005 at 05:12 PM

You ARE REQUIRED legally to have notarized permission from both parents to take the kid across the border, but the likelihood that anyone will check or care is pretty low and usually corrected by a "fee". Go for it. Worst case, maybe they take the kid. Just go home and tell the parents where to look.

Bruce R Leech - 11-21-2005 at 05:45 PM

it is correct You ARE REQUIRED legally to have notarized permission from both parents to take the kid across the border. I have done it many times and have been asked for the papers.

Mr Bill is correct

thebajarunner - 11-21-2005 at 06:41 PM

The worst thing that they can do is take the kid.
Probably turn out to be a great learning experience for all involved.
Many years ago we took the 15 year old son of one of our race sponsors to help in one of our race pits.
That was back when they had the little booth at Maneadero.
We had some sort of note on an envelope, or some such, but the guy was having none of it.
So, we just backed up the truck, drove up the hill, around the garbage dump and back on the hiway and had a great time pitting with the kid.
Nice kid too, would have been a shame for them to confiscate him...

bowser - 11-21-2005 at 06:43 PM

sure - remember a great short story - "The ransom of red chief"?

David K - 11-21-2005 at 07:10 PM

What Bob & Susan say... PLUS the notorized permission slip signed from the living parents.

FYI... In the dozens of times I have taken my kids to Baja (without a mother) AND taken one of their school friends along, too... I have NEVER been stopped, asked, or hassled for the permission slip from the missing parent(s).

Ken Cooke - 11-21-2005 at 07:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
In the dozens of times I have taken my kids to Baja (without a mother) AND taken one of their school friends along, too...


David,

That boy told Suzanne he was 42 yr. old! :lol::lol::lol:

David K - 11-21-2005 at 07:51 PM

Good, that means he listened to me!!!:lol::lol::lol:

bajaandy - 11-21-2005 at 08:09 PM

For what it's worth, I also have taken my minor son into and out of Baja on many of our numerous camping trips and never even had a suspicious eye cast in my direction. I'm not advocating this approach for anyone, just telling what my experience has been. I did once fly to Mexico city with some friends and a minor youth. He and his father almost missed the flight after having to go to the airport notary to get an authorization for his father to take him into Mexico. It's probably best to be prepared with the notarized authorization from his parents as well as some sort of picture ID and or passport.

Kids to Baja

mcgyver - 11-22-2005 at 08:08 AM

It too depends on if there is a AMBER ALERT in progress locally. Smaller entrys ports are more likely to be checked by US Customs/Law enforcement before crossing IE: Agadones/Tecate/Lukeville. US Agents eyeball cars, I have been stopped several times at Agadones before crossing border while towing my Geo Tracker for title check and California Highway Patrol routinely has a car eyeballing traffic entering at Tecate. David k. You obviously have never did anything to get your lisence plate put on the watch list, when you do you will see what I mean, luckly it dosent follow you when you get a new lisence number and car. (YET)

David K - 11-22-2005 at 08:47 AM

Nope, I am a clean dude... no problemas...

I have never crossed at ALGODONES ('Cotton', in English), however... But have at all the other Baja borders.

bajalou - 11-22-2005 at 09:09 AM

In Algodones I have been asked for my FM3 on several occasions - once when it was being renewed. They looked at my passpost which shows something about it and said OK. This in response of being asked where I was going and answering "San Felipe".

:biggrin:

bajalera - 11-22-2005 at 11:45 AM

Way to go, Runner!

When living in Escondido, with no husband to notarize permission to take our child to Mexico, I had that same unfortunate experience. The main "highway" wasn't well marked in those days, and quite often I somehow strayed off it and onto back roads that didn't happen to go by the Migra post at Maneadero.

Lera

Skipjack Joe - 11-22-2005 at 12:45 PM

The imigracion office just north of Guerrerro Negro always checks our papers for parental consent. Always.

You can avoid this by passing through at night or driving around it in some way, but what kind of a lesson are you sending your child?

Lessons

MrBillM - 11-22-2005 at 01:45 PM

Don't be a slave to bureaucratic nonsense ??

bajajudy - 11-22-2005 at 02:18 PM

Lessons

MrBill.
I would guess that if it were your kid in the car with kidnappers the burearcratic nonsense would, in fact, make sense.

soulpatch - 11-22-2005 at 04:08 PM

What if the other parent is dead (or, just dead to you;D)?

Skipjack Joe - 11-22-2005 at 04:13 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MrBillM
Don't be a slave to bureaucratic nonsense ??


No. More like ... it's OK to break the law when it doesn't suit you, son.

Typical Response

MrBillM - 11-23-2005 at 10:50 AM

IF there was a concern on the part of Mexican Authorities that Kidnapped Children were being smuggled across the border, you would expect that they would do something to enforce the law and protect those children.

During the period from 1972 to 1989, I took my kids across the border time and time again, often without my wife, crossing at Tijuana, Tecate, Mexicali and not ONCE was I ever stopped and asked for any documentation. The same was true for the Army Checkpoints.

And NOTHING has changed. I still have friends who have minor children who accompany them frequently and they have NEVER been stopped.

So, go ahead and climb up on your High and Mighty perch and lecture, but the reality is that nothing effective is being accomplished.

comitan - 11-23-2005 at 11:15 AM

But the one time they do, it will probably spoil your vacation. I have taken my dog back and forth many times and never been checked but I have the papers in case they do. Its not worth the hassle of the possiblity you might be checked. 10cents

Skipjack Joe - 11-23-2005 at 01:57 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MrBillM
During the period from 1972 to 1989, I took my kids across the border time and time again, often without my wife, crossing at Tijuana, Tecate, Mexicali and not ONCE was I ever stopped and asked for any documentation. The same was true for the Army Checkpoints.

And NOTHING has changed.


Things have changed since the 70's and 80's. I have been taking Alex down for the last 5 years and (I repeat) we have been stopped G. Negro imigracion by inspectors and asked for that signed and notarized document every single time.

Are they doing the right thing? Absolutely.

I know a guy from Holland whom I met in Peru who was not happy with his custody situation and kidnapped his daughter and moved from country to country avoiding the law. He had figured out the routes to take and airlines to use to avoid detection. It took the mother 4 years to locate the daughter through international police. By that time the child had grown estranged from her and there was no way to rectify the parental absence of those years.

These checkpoints and documents are not meaningless and just a matter of bureaucracy. I know they're not, because I have met people who got their children back through this 'bureaucracy'.

As far as the likelihood of being asked for the document. I only know of two places: the border and the G.N. The militairy checkpoints are looking for drugs - not kidnapped children.

As far as only following laws which are reasonable. Well, that's a slippery slope. I may decide to double my daily quota of sportfish based upon my hunch and lack of law enforcement. I might justify robbing a gringo because his salary is 20 times my salary.

Regardless of how you look at things kidnapping minors is not a trifle matter and the small inconvenience it causes is small price to pay.