schwlind
Nomad
Posts: 362
Registered: 8-30-2008
Location: Daytona Beach, FL/San Antonio Del Mar (Colonet)
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Sentri Card Saga
3 years or so ago, my husband and I entered the Sentri program. Last year new cards were mailed to everyone in this program. I received my card
around April 2008, but my husband never received his. After about a month of receiving my card, I called the main Sentri number to inquire about this
situation and was told that even though we applied for our original Sentri cards at the same time and locale, it was not unusual for the new cards to
be sent at different times. Two months later, still no card for my husband, and I called the main Sentri number again to learn if my husband’s card
had been mailed. I was told to call the Sentri office where we had originally applied and they could tell me. Called the Otay Mesa office and was
told there was no way to know whether or not the card had been mailed. I asked what to do about this and was informed that my husband had to come to
their office, be finger printed, have another photo taken, then return in 10 days to pick up the new card. I was told they would NOT mail it to him.
Since we live in FL and my husband is still working, we couldn’t just run down to the Sentri office in Otay Mesa, then hang out for the necessary 10
days to pick it up.
Fast forward to yesterday, May 28. Returning from a brief trip to San Antonio Del Mar (Sur) entered the San Ysidro Sentri Lane, which was pretty fast
(only about 15 minutes) until it was our turn with the Customs/Immigration person. We gave her our Sentri cards and she immediately began grilling my
husband about his “old” Sentri card and wanted to know where his new card was… Well the answer that we had never received it, didn’t sit well, so you
guessed it… we were told we had to go to secondary. Okay, pain in the butt, but we had been sent to secondary in the past and it wasn’t a
particularly big deal then. Well yesterday was far different. First we were sent through this huge x-ray machine… car, my husband and I and all
contents were x-rayed. We were then told to go park and they placed a cone on our car with a number.
A woman with two kids pulled in and parked about 15 minutes after us, reclined in her front seat and began taking a nap… she had evidently been
through this drill before and it did not bode well for how speedily we could be done with this. I was becoming increasingly annoyed the longer we
sat. After 1-1/2 hours an agent finally approached us. He looked at the form the 1st agent placed on our windshield along with our Sentri cards,
asked more questions about why my husband didn’t have his new card…. blah, blah, blah! He took the form and our cards saying he had to find the one
and only sentri person working the San Ysidro Sentri crossing to get their assistance. About ½ hour later, he returned to say that my husband’s card
had been confiscated and that the reason it took so long was because the Sentri person had to verify that my husband was still in fact a "trusted
traveler" in good standing. He told us we should go to the Otay Mesa Sentri office; that they in fact had his new Sentri card. Oh joy!... Since
their office was open until 10pm, we decided to go right then to pick up his new card.
There were about 25 people who were already at the Sentri office when we arrived. We checked in and were told that my husband’s card was not there…
and he’d have to do the finger-print/photo thing again. I asked if he would get his card today and was told no. This “receptionist” told us we would
not have to come back to pick up the card; that it would be mailed to us in about 7 to 10 days. She also told us we would probably receive a form
letter saying we had to pick it up, but to ignore it. Fortunately, there were only 2 people ahead of us with the same problem, so it didn't take
forever.
We finally got to our hotel room at around 10:15 pm… only about 5 hours after our encounter with the first agent at the Sentri crossing… What fun!
Bottom line to this story… do not attempt to cross at Sentri with the old card… they will confiscate it and delay you more than you’d like. We were
told all the old cards are now cancelled. The problem is however, as is the case when dealing with almost any governmental agency, you can’t always
get correct information. So when anyone says anything to me about the Mexican government and how fluid everything is, I will definitely know… our
country is probably not much better.
Linda
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Udo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6364
Registered: 4-26-2008
Location: Black Hills, SD/Ensenada/San Felipe
Member Is Offline
Mood: TEQUILA!
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This sounds like something the Mexican Feds would do, only it would have cost you a few extra Pesos.
Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65293
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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As strict as the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security is, I would never dream of trying to use an expired I.D. card to get in... Yah, it sucks that you did
everything you were supposed to to get it replaced in time... but until you had the new card, using the normal lanes to return aren't that bad
anymore, with tourism so down.
Memorial Day, late afternoon (a typically insane time to cross) took us only 37 minutes at Tecate.
Good luck getting the new card, anyway!
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
Posts: 19974
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
Mood: Hot n spicy
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Wow. You could have avoided the problem easily -- keep this in mind for nexrt time:
When crossing sentry and one or more vehicle passengers do not have a sentri card (or has expired card), the passengers should get out and walk across
border via pedestrian line, and get back in car on other side of border.
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tjBill
Senior Nomad
Posts: 516
Registered: 10-6-2007
Location: Tijuana
Member Is Offline
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Interesting story. 
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bajabound2005
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2762
Registered: 10-15-2005
Location: Punta Banda, BCN
Member Is Offline
Mood: words cannot describe...
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Given your situation, I would have opted to cross at Otay to begin with. Then you go directly to the SENTRI office...
Friends don't let friends drink white zinfandel.
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Martyman
Super Nomad
Posts: 1904
Registered: 9-10-2004
Member Is Offline
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Remind me not to apply for a Sentri.
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DanO
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
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One thing people may not pay attention to is keeping their travel document info, typically the passport, current with SENTRI. Our passports were set
to expire earlier this year, so we renewed them. When you do that, you must go to Otay and update your file with the new passport number. I only
noticed this because I got a notice requesting that I verify my vehicle information, and when I logged in to the SENTRI computer system, there was a
flag on my file indicating my travel document had expired. Good way to avoid a potential headache.
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
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Woooosh
Banned
Posts: 5240
Registered: 1-28-2007
Location: Rosarito Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Luminescent Waves at Rosarito Beach
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DanO
One thing people may not pay attention to is keeping their travel document info, typically the passport, current with SENTRI. Our passports were set
to expire earlier this year, so we renewed them. When you do that, you must go to Otay and update your file with the new passport number. I only
noticed this because I got a notice requesting that I verify my vehicle information, and when I logged in to the SENTRI computer system, there was a
flag on my file indicating my travel document had expired. Good way to avoid a potential headache. |
Sentry is a waste of time, energy and money right now. There aren't any significant lines to cross and the new passport rules will cut that back even
further. In a couple years it may make sense- so save your money until then and slum it in the regular lanes where the good food is.
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
Member Is Offline
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goat- Your advice is generally correct. It works fine, as long as those without current SENTRI possess another form of acceptible ID.
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estebanis
Nomad
Posts: 279
Registered: 11-11-2002
Location: Stuck North of the Border. They won\'t pay me
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by mtgoat666
Wow. You could have avoided the problem easily -- keep this in mind for nexrt time:
When crossing sentry and one or more vehicle passengers do not have a sentri card (or has expired card), the passengers should get out and walk across
border via pedestrian line, and get back in car on other side of border. |
I will be doing that coming back from the Baja 500. Can you tell me where I should pull over to drop my passenger and where is the best place to pick
him up on the other side?
Thanks,
Esteban
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
Member Is Offline
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Drop off is fairly obvious as you'll see pedestrians in line. Pick up depends on which crossing you're using.
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schwlind
Nomad
Posts: 362
Registered: 8-30-2008
Location: Daytona Beach, FL/San Antonio Del Mar (Colonet)
Member Is Offline
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| Quote: | Originally posted by David K
As strict as the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security is, I would never dream of trying to use an expired I.D. card to get in... Yah, it sucks that you did
everything you were supposed to to get it replaced in time... but until you had the new card, using the normal lanes to return aren't that bad
anymore, with tourism so down.
Memorial Day, late afternoon (a typically insane time to cross) took us only 37 minutes at Tecate.
Good luck getting the new card, anyway! |
David and others,
When I received my new card, the only instructions were to activate the new card online at the GOES website and that after your new card was activated
to destroy your old card as it would no longer be valid.
After the number of conversations I had with the Sentri people, over a 6 or 7 month period of time, you would think at least ONE would have told me
that if the new replacement card had not been received by such and such date the old card could no longer be used. NO ONE from Sentri ever told me
that. If we had known that they were cancelling the original cards by a specific time, we would not have been stupid enough to use it going through
Sentri yesterday.
Lesson learned, but I have made sure all friends and Nomads are aware... because no one told us!
Linda
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bajasammy
Nomad
Posts: 119
Registered: 11-21-2006
Location: OC/Estero Beach
Member Is Offline
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If you're crossing at San Ysidro the Ped line is pretty easy - just keep going 'straight'. We usually meet people right next to the Jack in the Box
on the other side.
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schwlind
Nomad
Posts: 362
Registered: 8-30-2008
Location: Daytona Beach, FL/San Antonio Del Mar (Colonet)
Member Is Offline
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Sentri Card Saga - Update
My husband received his new Sentri Card on 6/6/09, as was promised when we went to the Otay Mesa office on 5/28 so a new picture and fingerprints
could be taken.
Linda
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BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 5010
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: INTP-A
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| Quote: | Originally posted by CaboRon
It seem as if you are going through a lot of trouble when only crossing a couple of times of year.
Just think of all the time and money spent for occasional use.
Could have spent all those hours eating fish tacos instead 
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Ron, would you believe that's actually the exact reason behind the announcement I just made:
http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=39144
[Edited on 6-8-2009 by BajaNomad]
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
– John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
https://www.regionalinternet.com
Affordable Domain Name Registration/Management & cPanel Web Hosting - since 1999 |
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