Nice video, I really felt the same way when I last crossed by car a few month ago... it's a little confusing and nerve racking but then suddenly it's over. :)
I'm going to be going north soon and have never crossed at the Mexicali crossing before this will be useful thanks for the info. Keep up the good work.
You both were so calm through all that. Remind me to tell you the story of our accidental adventure thru the Sentri lane with a rental car (big no-no). Sent to the secondary inspection and were threatened with confiscation of our Global Entry cards. I was not as calm as you two and threatened divorce as our car was being inspected. We were able to keep our Global Entry cards, barely made our flight out of San Diego, and are still married.
Congrats on having your marriage survive that! We took our RV through the SENTRI lane last year. Our plates were in the system, but RVs aren’t allowed. We got yelled at in secondary too!
Wow - we once waited 4 hours to cross at TJ in the normal lane - because one person out of four didn't have a global pass. I gotta say it was quite entertaining. There's a whole economy based on serving people waiting in line. SENTRI is the way to go!
Over the past three years we have been directed by GPS and other map systems, physical signage and local window washers at the border to get into the sentry lane. It's really difficult to not get in the Sentry lane. Once you are in they will not let you out. Apparently 3 times means 2 hours of secondary inspection and a $5000 fine. Yes the United States government fined us $5000 for getting in the wrong lane.. We are headed there today with our dog to visit our vet. A few weeks ago we spent about 2 hours and managed to avoid that lane. And btw we applied for the pass which will take at least a year. Thank you for posting this. We love Mexico and don't want these issues to deter our visits
This is so incredibly frustrating. The US is soooo particular about the SENTRI lane, but they don't make it obvious on the Mexican side. It's not like they can't put up a sign in Mexico! So you really got the $5000 fine? I've heard about that, but I always thought it was a threat. They threatened us with that when we used SENTRI in our RV. Our plates were registered with SENTRI, but I guess they don't allow RVs, even if they approve the plate. Where do you live? Can you email me at brighton@gen-mex.com. This is a pet peeve of mine and I'd love to see if there's something we could do.
Yes $5000 and harassment at the border. We were treated like criminals. We went down to see our vet and had to turn off our gps on both android and google because it insisted on the Sentri lane. We actually asked directions. Contact Paul Ruiz congress office and complain. Btw to get a sentry pass is a year wait. A friend told us that there is another crossing just east of El Centro that is easier. We will bet trying that for future travel @@AlmostRetiredinMexico
Sentri only takes a few weeks at most to get. Once you apply online all you need to do is go back to the trusted traveler website after about 2 days and select your appointment location and time.
I think Mexicali is usually pretty calm. We shoot for first thing in the morning on a weekday, but we've also gone through in the early evening with no problems (that was actually Mexicali West because we'd rented a hotel room for the night in Mexicali.)
Absolutely ... clear as mud. I'm sure it gets easier with experience. I do think just maybe I could hear you sweat a bit. LOL Thanks for the info. P n D
Sure thing. We never officially “check out” or “in.” But I imagine you’d turn at 3:12 in the video. There are two buildings marked immigration near there and there’s a parking lot to the right. And there were two guys there directing traffic (the ones that sent us back after we originally got in the wrong lane…) I’m guessing those guys could direct you if you asked for INM. Going in, the INM office is under the covered area just after you pass through the electronic gates.
Correct usage "Kat and ME" Not "kat and I" when used as the object. "... with Kat and me " But when the subject is Kat and I as in "Kat and I live in Mexico".😊😊
Kind of off topic, but I wanted to ask - is there good veterinary care in La Paz? We'll be headed down to look at houses in September, if not sooner - just wanted to be sure our (dog) boys have good vet care available. Thanks!
Yes there's good vet care. You can see more here: ruclips.net/video/XqBKDU-TYoQ/видео.html. Enjoy La Paz! You're coming at the hottest time - if you can survive September, you can survive anything ;-)
Hi Brighton and Kat: Always enjoy your Videos, but this did not show You stopping at the INM Office, before leaving Mexico, as we all know that you are RTs....Also did not see You stop at the "PARE" (stop signs)! Oops LOL
Stopping is so overrated. I've heard that RPs and RTs are supposed to stop at INM when leaving the country, and we do it at the airport, but we've never done it at a land border, and I've never heard of anyone else doing it. It's one of those "Mexico" things. And stop signs... jaja!
Nice video, I really felt the same way when I last crossed by car a few month ago... it's a little confusing and nerve racking but then suddenly it's over. :)
That’s the perfect way to put it!
Looks a lot better than the insanely backed up route I took. Kudos for taking us along.
True - it was a very quick crossing!
I'm going to be going north soon and have never crossed at the Mexicali crossing before this will be useful thanks for the info. Keep up the good work.
Happy to share!
You both were so calm through all that. Remind me to tell you the story of our accidental adventure thru the Sentri lane with a rental car (big no-no). Sent to the secondary inspection and were threatened with confiscation of our Global Entry cards. I was not as calm as you two and threatened divorce as our car was being inspected. We were able to keep our Global Entry cards, barely made our flight out of San Diego, and are still married.
Congrats on having your marriage survive that! We took our RV through the SENTRI lane last year. Our plates were in the system, but RVs aren’t allowed. We got yelled at in secondary too!
Thx for the video! We crossed with our dog on Thursday 11 May around noon through the Sentri lane and it took 10 minutes.
I think the normal lane was over 100 mins at the time
Wow - we once waited 4 hours to cross at TJ in the normal lane - because one person out of four didn't have a global pass. I gotta say it was quite entertaining. There's a whole economy based on serving people waiting in line.
SENTRI is the way to go!
Over the past three years we have been directed by GPS and other map systems, physical signage and local window washers at the border to get into the sentry lane. It's really difficult to not get in the Sentry lane. Once you are in they will not let you out. Apparently 3 times means 2 hours of secondary inspection and a $5000 fine. Yes the United States government fined us $5000 for getting in the wrong lane.. We are headed there today with our dog to visit our vet. A few weeks ago we spent about 2 hours and managed to avoid that lane. And btw we applied for the pass which will take at least a year. Thank you for posting this. We love Mexico and don't want these issues to deter our visits
This is so incredibly frustrating. The US is soooo particular about the SENTRI lane, but they don't make it obvious on the Mexican side. It's not like they can't put up a sign in Mexico!
So you really got the $5000 fine? I've heard about that, but I always thought it was a threat. They threatened us with that when we used SENTRI in our RV. Our plates were registered with SENTRI, but I guess they don't allow RVs, even if they approve the plate.
Where do you live? Can you email me at brighton@gen-mex.com. This is a pet peeve of mine and I'd love to see if there's something we could do.
Yes $5000 and harassment at the border. We were treated like criminals. We went down to see our vet and had to turn off our gps on both android and google because it insisted on the Sentri lane. We actually asked directions. Contact Paul Ruiz congress office and complain. Btw to get a sentry pass is a year wait. A friend told us that there is another crossing just east of El Centro that is easier. We will bet trying that for future travel @@AlmostRetiredinMexico
And we are in Jacumba@@AlmostRetiredinMexico
Sentri only takes a few weeks at most to get. Once you apply online all you need to do is go back to the trusted traveler website after about 2 days and select your appointment location and time.
Great video! What day of the week and time of day did you do this crossing? Looks pretty mellow.
I think Mexicali is usually pretty calm. We shoot for first thing in the morning on a weekday, but we've also gone through in the early evening with no problems (that was actually Mexicali West because we'd rented a hotel room for the night in Mexicali.)
my wife and I both have passport "cards" and always use the ready lane.
I’m gonna get a passport card next time I renew my passport. The ready lanes move pretty quickly.
Mmmmmmm
Bonito Bonito
Absolutely ... clear as mud. I'm sure it gets easier with experience. I do think just maybe I could hear you sweat a bit. LOL Thanks for the info. P n D
Sweating and "feeling the urge to strangle one's global-pass-forgetting wife" must sound similar ;-)
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico Yes no doubt. It was probably the 1 thing that person had to do. The 1 and only 1... Rrrright ? P n D
If you have a residency card where would you check out at this border crossing and I guess in for that matter? Thanks for the great videos.
Sure thing. We never officially “check out” or “in.” But I imagine you’d turn at 3:12 in the video. There are two buildings marked immigration near there and there’s a parking lot to the right. And there were two guys there directing traffic (the ones that sent us back after we originally got in the wrong lane…) I’m guessing those guys could direct you if you asked for INM.
Going in, the INM office is under the covered area just after you pass through the electronic gates.
it is very very confusing lol , hay dios mio
Every crossing seems to be confusing!
I'm still confused which one is it
SENTRI is to the west and regular cars are to the east - but you have to approach from the east if you're a regular car.
Correct usage "Kat and ME" Not "kat and I" when used as the object. "... with Kat and me " But when the subject is Kat and I as in "Kat and I live in Mexico".😊😊
That’s so confusing! And I think I’d have an easier time learning Spanish if I better understood the English language.
Kind of off topic, but I wanted to ask - is there good veterinary care in La Paz? We'll be headed down to look at houses in September, if not sooner - just wanted to be sure our (dog) boys have good vet care available. Thanks!
Yes there's good vet care. You can see more here: ruclips.net/video/XqBKDU-TYoQ/видео.html.
Enjoy La Paz! You're coming at the hottest time - if you can survive September, you can survive anything ;-)
Thank you! We're from Tucson, so the hot weather is no concern!
I've met a number of people from Arizona living in La Paz - it's like the same climate, just cheaper iced drinks ;-)
Hi Brighton and Kat: Always enjoy your Videos, but this did not show You stopping at the INM Office, before leaving Mexico, as we all know that you are RTs....Also did not see You stop at the "PARE" (stop signs)! Oops LOL
Stopping is so overrated. I've heard that RPs and RTs are supposed to stop at INM when leaving the country, and we do it at the airport, but we've never done it at a land border, and I've never heard of anyone else doing it. It's one of those "Mexico" things.
And stop signs... jaja!
the map that was stuck on the screen made it hard to view
Sorry - I wasn’t sure how best to show what was going on where.