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makana.gabriel
Nomad
Posts: 115
Registered: 1-10-2008
Location: Honolulu
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Passport needed to cross into TJ?
Been away for a long time so not up to date on the new rules. Do we need passports to cross into Tijuana from San Diego now?
FAITH sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64835
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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According to posts here on Nomad and the local news stations: By foot, yes... in a car, maybe... but not, likely as you have to actually pull over and
park at the Mexican border to walk in to get a tourist card, which requires a passport. Stopping every U.S. plated car has not happened yet.
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
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"By foot, yes... " Si, there is a new building where everyone has to go through, with lines for locals and foreigners, and you will need to get a
visa, although they are free. Birth certif. should suffice if you don't have a passport. Driving should be the same, except that there is a new
X-ray station, and if you get the red light, you have to pull out of line, and put your stuff through the X-ray table. Report back your experiences.
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SFandH
Elite Nomad
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I got the red light driving across at SY last week. They just looked in the trunk, no x-ray, no request for ID. No problem.
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sancho
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Quote: Originally posted by wilderone  | | and you will need to get a visa, although they are free. Birth certif. should suffice if you don't have a passport. |
DK has it about nailed. The 7 day fmm is apparently still free,
the 180 day $22, or so. Is the above post suggesting an
fmm will be issued with a birth cert? That would be new,
Mex Imm has wanted a passport/ pazsport card for 6 yrs?
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BigBearRider
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Importantly, you need a passport or passport card to get back to the US. (I've crossed back with Global Entry/Sentri card recently, without being
asked for passport, but always carry both the passport book and card.)
Does anyone have experience getting an FMM using a passport card only?
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SFandH
Elite Nomad
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Yes, it works, I've done that a few times at the San Ysidro crossing.
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BigBearRider
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Thanks.
As an aside, a friend of mine realized he had forgotten his passport at home when we headed south last year, but crossed into Mexico anyway. He got a
copy of his birth certificate e-mailed to him. He crossed back to the US and showed the copy. He received some questioning about US history from the
Officer, and was told not to cross without a passport again. He's probably on some list now that it's better not to be on.
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bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Interesting comments - Border Zone myth debunked
“The notion of a zona frontera [border zone] was never a law,” Figueroa said. “All people who are not Mexican citizens must have travel documents,
like in any other country. Mexican citizens must show proof of their citizenship.”
Mexico considers travel documents as a passport or a passport card, and Mexican citizens can use their voter-registration card or even a copy of their
birth certificate. Many visiting Tijuana and other northern border cities were once told that they were permitted to remain within 25 miles of the
border — the zona frontera — sans a visa or a passport, but according to Figueroa that was never federal law.
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/oct/07/citylights-bo...
[Edited on 10-7-2015 by bajaguy]
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BigBearRider
Super Nomad
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This link, posted elsewhere here, indicates that you need a passport (or passport card) in addition to your Global Entry or Sentri card, because the
Mexican authorities do not recognize the card as identification.
http://www.discoverbaja.com/wp-content/uploads/October-Newsl...
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Location: San Diego County
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If it was a myth, it was in effect for 50 years before this post!
Baja California always had different rules than the mainland of Mexico...
Mostly because it is almost an island and for it to get more resources from the (once rich) neighbor to the north. California, USA was more closely
connected to the peninsula than Mexico City ever was. These exceptions were to help the flow of dollars into Baja California.
Perhaps now with highways and Internet this is no longer the case? Let's hope Mexico City returns more of the revenue it has been sapping from the
peninsula, to benefit the peninsula!
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PaulW
Ultra Nomad
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BTW, when going north a passport is not required. All you need is proof you are a US citizen. Sigh - I have tested that because I forgot my passport
a couple of times and just gave him my drivers licence. The guy at the border said "try to not forget" and gave me the handout that explains what kind
of ID proves you are a us citizen then he waved me on - bypassing secondary. All the usual items are listed in the handout, especially the US driver
license.
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makana.gabriel
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Thanks everybody!!
FAITH sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible!
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joerover
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Mood: sleepy
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Card is good going south by land.
card is bad at mexico city airport.
Tj migration says 180 day fmm is good for multiple entry all over MX
mexico city airport says esta lado NO
by land into Guatemala it is a $10 tip for a card
by land from gracious a dios into MX it is a 20 hour weight with card only, only non corrupt port in mx.
explain this ¿ by air from Colombia to mx city airport I got 180 days without paying ¡??=
is there a way to set the spell check to english no matter where you are
[Edited on 10-10-2015 by joerover]
the fat lady is breeding
which means
The fat ladys are breeding
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JoeJustJoe
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| Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy | “The notion of a zona frontera [border zone] was never a law,” Figueroa said. “All people who are not Mexican citizens must have travel documents,
like in any other country. Mexican citizens must show proof of their citizenship.”
Mexico considers travel documents as a passport or a passport card, and Mexican citizens can use their voter-registration card or even a copy of their
birth certificate. Many visiting Tijuana and other northern border cities were once told that they were permitted to remain within 25 miles of the
border — the zona frontera — sans a visa or a passport, but according to Figueroa that was never federal law.
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2015/oct/07/citylights-bo...
[Edited on 10-7-2015 by bajaguy] |
I would not exactly call the "San Diego Reader" a Beacon of Truth, since most of those articles in the "reader" are from unknown bloggers, and some
dubious. I just don't want anyone to confuse the "The San Diego Reader" with the "San Diego Tribune."
That's said, I would say that article is fairly accurate, but in practice, I haven't witnessed what the article's writer talked about with Mexican
Nationals.
For example, I recently crossed, and if you're a Mexican National, or go into the Mexican National line, the Mexican officials do no checking, they
just walk right though. I suppose, they might ask for those documents at another day, but I didn't see it, and those who I talked to haven't seen it
either.
It's the foreigners that have to jump through the hoops, fill out forms, show a passport, and in some cases like mine, get their passport stamped!
Wow, I'm a world traveler now, I have six or seven stamps now including the green Mexican stamp. Lets just hope they don't stamp my passport for every
one day visit.
Now lets say there are some deadbeats here, who don't have and can't get a Passport, or passcard, because they own back child support, and they still
want to visit Tijuana or Baja. How to get around this pedestrian check?
You go to the " Otay Mesa Border" they are not doing the pedestrian check at this time.
You can still drive into Mexico through the San Ysidro border, because they are not set up to check all the cars that enter into Mexico yet, although
some here, mentioned the "red light" but I don't know any American that have been denied entry driving into Mexico, and didn't have a passport.
On the way back to the USA, you are suppose to have your passport or passcard, but US Customs, haven't really changed their polices in practice, and
you can still walk in or drive back to the USA, with only your drivers license, and birth certificate. You will not be denied entry back to the USA.
And no you will not be sent to secondary, unless you're suspicious looking and would be sent to secondary, regardless of your paperwork.
[Edited on 10-10-2015 by JoeJustJoe]
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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 2-9-2004
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"...most of those articles in the "reader" are from unknown bloggers,"
Most are long-time contributors - the Reader has been around for 40 years. E.g., Don Bauder was a financial writer for the UT - a weekly contributor
for the Reader.
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xolotl_tj
Junior Nomad
Posts: 38
Registered: 9-20-2008
Location: Col. Libertad, Tijuana
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I don't know who this Figueroa guy is, but around here we say "zona fronteriza", not "zona frontera". Maybe that was just the Reader getting their
facts right again. Or maybe Figueroa is a phantom spokesman.
The excursionist FMMs at Tijuana's Eastern Gate was called a "pilot program" by the INM official I spoke with there. If it proves successful, it will
be implemented formally in April 2016 and rolled out to the other land ports of Mexico. She also said that the vehicular entrance to Tijuana "lacks
the infrastructure" to apply the same program. (Translation: pedestrians only.) The cross-border shuttle, Tourismo Express, will be collecting
excursionist FMMs from their passengers but I doubt they will be insisting on passports.
Excursionists, as distinguished from tourists, are people entering under their own power and staying within the border zone for less than a week.
Mexican law does not require a visa of these people, but many branches of the increasingly greedy government have been wanting to keep tabs on them.
Rumor has it that this pilot program was the work of our local SAT boss (translation: tax collectors).
What I've seen happen at the Eastern Gate when a gringo shows up without a passport is that the INM official becomes flustered, then hands the
non-conforming gringo off to an INM supervisor standing outside of the offices on the south side of the area, then the supervisor explains in gentle,
reasonable words the importance of following the rules, then the non-conforming gringo enters Mexico.
Since this is a pilot study, we might all register our dissatisfaction in ways that can lead to scrapping the program. Grousing about "muh Murikan
rites" is not enough: they need to know that you're the only one to make the trip because all your friends cancelled when they heard about the extra
red tape. And then there's Gandhi's tactic: just because you have a passport doesn't mean you should to show it to them.
L’homme ici arrive où il peut et non où il veut.
—Vasco Núñez de Balboa
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elgatoloco
Ultra Nomad
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| Quote: Originally posted by xolotl_tj | I don't know who this Figueroa guy is, but around here we say "zona fronteriza", not "zona frontera". Maybe that was just the Reader getting their
facts right again. Or maybe Figueroa is a phantom spokesman.
|
He appears to be 'somebody'? Maybe you can stop by his office and validate?
"We’re currently working on Otay,” said Rodulfo Figueroa Pacheco, the federal delegate in charge of the international border in Baja California.......
.......... He and his team are responsible for the six land entries in their various forms, along with four airports and six seaports in Baja
California. The plan is that eventually all ports of entry will comply with what has been Mexican law for many decades."
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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xolotl_tj
Junior Nomad
Posts: 38
Registered: 9-20-2008
Location: Col. Libertad, Tijuana
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| Quote: | | Maybe you can stop by his office and validate? |
Not worth the time. He's probably in Aguaje de la Tuna.
So now either the Reader got its facts "right" again or this Figueroa guy is a Carmen Salinas appointee. There's something hinkey with the citation
because frontera is a noun.
The term zona fronteriza is what is used in federal law, both for Customs and for Immigration even though the two disagree on the area
involved.
L’homme ici arrive où il peut et non où il veut.
—Vasco Núñez de Balboa
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SFandH
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7084
Registered: 8-5-2011
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| Quote: Originally posted by David K |
Let's hope Mexico City returns more of the revenue it has been sapping from the peninsula, to benefit the peninsula! |
The new roads and bridges from the new Tijuana border crossing to Los Cabos over the past ten years has been impressive. The modernization of the TJ
police force too. New officers, new cars, new headquarters, new high tech equipment.
[Edited on 10-10-2015 by SFandH]
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