baja??

EddyBreffitt · Joined: 31 Oct 1992 Posts: 40

We get a yearly insurance policy from Lewis & Lewis, and can thus head down anytime without stopping at the border area!

windsrf · Joined: 01 May 1998 Posts: 464

OK, but where do you stop to get your entrance/"visa" card stamped -- or are you only going for less than a week?

Epenrose · Joined: 05 Nov 1997 Posts: 402

I get visa stamped right at the border. Much easier than Escenada and usually pretty quick.

jiber · Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 79

If you live in San Diego, get all the paperwork from the consulate. Take the trolley to the border a weekday mid morning before (or days before) you plan to head south. Walk across, (don't forget your passport card or book so you can come back). Go through the visa/payment/stamping dance. Walk across the pedestrian bridge to the east side and come back through US Customs. Trolley back to lunch.
Make it a group outing for all your gang planning to go south...easier on the nubies.

Get all your insurance on the way south at E st offramp 805 and top your tanks. 0730 through the San Ysidro border. Toll Road... Obey km/hr speed limit

No TJ/Ensenada stops necessary. Bring your own lunch...
1300 Fuel at El Rosario Too easy...very smooth.

Remember...if you'd like to return to the US...bring your passport card (ground only) or passport book if you might fly back.

We've been going down since '68...always cool...no problems...

jiber · Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Posts: 79

If you live in San Diego, get all the paperwork from the consulate. Take the trolley to the border a weekday mid morning before (or days before) you plan to head south. Walk across, (don't forget your passport card or book so you can come back). Go through the visa/payment/stamping dance. Walk across the pedestrian bridge to the east side and come back through US Customs. Trolley back to lunch.
Make it a group outing for all your gang planning to go south...easier on the nubies.

Get all your insurance on the way south at E st offramp 805 and top your tanks. 0730 through the San Ysidro border. Toll Road... Obey km/hr speed limit

No TJ/Ensenada stops necessary. Bring your own lunch...
1300 Fuel at El Rosario Too easy...very smooth.

Remember...if you'd like to return to the US...bring your passport card (ground only) or passport book if you might fly back.

We've been going down since '68...always cool...no problems...

EddyBreffitt · Joined: 31 Oct 1992 Posts: 40

We never bother with visas since we normally do not go south of Guerrero Negro. They never ask for it in Baja Norte.
Visas, we don't need no stinking visas!

BajaVaya · Joined: 03 Apr 2003 Posts: 88

There appears to be too much misinformation here about needing "Mexican Visas," most of it bullshit.
I have rented my house just so. of San Quintin (24 km marker) close to the beach, you can see it in the distance as you speed down to PSC. Leased it for 25 yrs. I go to Baja about every 4-6 weeks, rain or shine.
You don't need a visa to visit Baja so. of Ensenada.
You DO need a TRAVEL PERMIT. Officially.
A visa (FM3, FM2, FM1) is required if you want to lease property or conduct business. I have an FM3 and it is a colossal pain the butt (need 2 photos, bank statements for 6 mos, apply at a Mex consulate, pay $120+, wait half a day, get it stamped at an office of entry, pay a mex lawyer $300 every yr to renew it). Don't even think of a visa, unless you plan to rent/lease -- don't skip if you do, the upside is that it gives you power if you end up in a squabble with a Mex landlord. A neighbor won a dispute with the landlord, in a Mex court -- gringo or no gringo.
All you need is a TRAVEL PERMIT. Many gringos skip the hassle, but I would not recommend it. If you have an accident or some serious mishap so. of Ensenada, the authorities will likely ask you to produce it. You will definitely need it to take the ferry to the mainland. Think of it as insurance, and I would definitely not skip that for your wheels.
After helping dozens of friends get a TP, here is the painless (20 min) way:
1. Cross the border at San Ysidro. Stay in the rtmost lane (one that says "something to declare").
2. Tell customs guy "necesito visa" and point to the strip of offices to the rt. He will point you to the parking row in front of them.
3. Go to the office "MIGRA." Show him your passport and fill out the duplicate form. (They are almost always polite and speak passable English).
4. Take the form to the bank window, 2 offices to the so. Pay the guy $20 (may be $25 now). He will stamp the form you filled out (certifies that you paid for the TP).
5. Go back to the MIGRA office. The guy will stamp the permit, tear off the blue sheet and put it in your passport. THAT IS IT!!
The TP is valid for 6 mos. so you have 1/2 a year before you have to do it again.
If anybody has a question or about leasing your dream vacation house, feel free to contact me at (one of the best investments we ever made, never regretted it -- valhalla by the beach for our kids, now grown):
bajaya@sbcglobal.net (Ian)