Mexicali West | Customs and Immigration

January 3rd, 2024 by instagram.com/woodysvanlife

USA->MX. We were flagged over to the side and our van searched for about 5 minutes. They were professional and friendly enough and sent us on our way. No need to stress.

*but, Don’t forget to stop and get your FMM at the Aduana (Customs office)*

After the search through our van I completely forgot and drove off. It was a nightmare trying to figure out how to get back to it.

December 3rd, 2023 by tom.van.wyck

USA—Mexico. Getting an FMM card. Recent unconfirmed rumours have Migracion authorities checking FMM at standard military checkpoints.

Stay left, pull over and park before the Mexican border to apply in person. The bank in the building is only open 8-4 Sunday through Monday. Immigration agent did the standard “oops my card machine doesn’t work, can’t you pay cash, here’s a written receipt…”. That is a scam.

Pay for the real receipt. Don’t get scammed. Here’s a youtube link for parking before the border.

https://images.app.goo.gl/EJUcVg9WVPfuFKJ2A

October 25th, 2023 by gerard.saint

These are the exact coordinates for the Mexican immigration to get your tourist visa. They can also do your tip to save doing it later. Stay left and you’ll see the big building. Miss it, like I did and you’ll need to exit Mexico, enter the US, get searched because you’ll look like a smuggler and re enter.

32°39′50.08″N 115°29′56.27″W

May 23rd, 2023 by glacraz.endress

Nous avons traversé la frontière ce matin. Nous avons eu du mal à comprendre où nous rendre. Nous avons suivi Calexico mais nous nous sommes embarqué dans la voie "Sentri Lane", réservée aux frontaliers. Des mexicains nous aidèrent à faire demi tour et firent dégager une partie de la voie pour que nous puissions la prendre à l'envers puis un homme courut devant nous pour nous indiquer le chemin. Épique, une vraie aventure mexicaine! Finalement, l'attente sir la voie menant à la douane était un peu longue mais les démarches ont été très rapides! Nous n'avons pas vu de douanier mexicain et le douanier américain nous a juste demandé nos passeports et notre preuve d'Esta avant de nous faire passer avec bonne humeur. Nous lui avons déclaré avoir quelques fruits mais pas de viande, il nous a laissé passer ainsi. Nous n'avons pas de tampon dans notre passeport. espérons qu'à la sortie cela ne nous pose pas de problème. Nous avions fait une importation de 10 ans de notre véhicule au Mexique et n'avions donc pas de TIP à récupérer, sinon je pense que vous devriez le faire en amont.
Omegasfamily2022

May 19th, 2023 by davidpoeschl

If you are crossing into the US without Sentri then the line runs along the border wall from the east. I have added an approximate marker (or where we joined the line). You can’t cut in, so you may have to go around the block and join further east.
Following gps coordinates to cross over will likely take you to the Sentri line.. there is a last second turn off on the right but it is confusing. Taking this approach is more secure.

April 3rd, 2023 by charlesryst04

No banjercito at this border. For tip (open or close)
Go to the east border !

March 19th, 2023 by La Famille POOS

Simple border but can be long depending on the influence. Follow Calexico and you arrive directly at US customs. No official from Mexico or Banjercito

February 3rd, 2023 by Matty’s Travel Blog

The signage is difficult getting in and I accidentally follow the signs, but it brings you right to the Sentry lane. I was just following the signs, but regardless, apparently that’s a crime man as I was rushed by a border patrol vehicle from the United States, and I thought he was going to ram me.

Regardless, this scared me and so I immediately tried to communicate with this psycho with no avail and there was just talking and more aggressive behavior with the vehicle so I figured that I should just back up and I was waving and trying to be nice and let him know that I had made a simple mistake because the signage and directions to access the border crossing was confusing.

April 29th, 2022 by nrcantwell

Mexico->USA. Confusing as hell, as I should expect from American crossings. Missed one turn because it was a sudden right turn from a higher speed road, missed a second turn because there were two one way roads right next to each other, and I turned onto the wrong one, then I finally did a U-turn onto what looked like a big entrance, only to find (15 minutes later, when I was close enough to see the lane designations) out I was in the Sentri lane. I couldn't turn around, and I was told I'd face a $5k fine and have my vehicle impounded if I ever made the same mistake at another US border crossing. I used Google maps to help navigate, and neither it nor the posted immigration signage were helpful. There were a lot of signs pointing towards 'Mexicali', but none of them elaborated about the correct lanes for certain vehicles or Sentri pass holders. By the time you got to the actual checkpoint and could see the designated lanes, you are *very* stuck with whatever lane you chose.

Cannot stress enough how poor the signage is. Make sure you know a bit about the setup of the checkpoint, and drive slow when navigating so that you don't get surprised by any of the weird traffic routing BS. If nothing else, avoid the right-most lane if you don't have a Sentri pass.

January 18th, 2022 by zippididou

Usa—>Mexico At the border, the guy just wave us. Getting the FFM was very difficult: finding the place, the right building and paying it. The lady wanted cash only no credit card. But when I insisted for the receipt she gave my money back and then accepted the credit card.

March 31st, 2021 by carrothospital

This crossing was a cluster**** when we got there on a Tuesday afternoon. The normal way to get to the crossing is closed (google maps will route you the old way) and you have to follow a bunch of detour signs that eventually led us to a dead end. Instead of going on the border road from east to west to get in line, it is now west to east.

It took us about 3 hours or so to cross into the US, arriving at 3pm in a Tuesday. We also had to have a secondary inspection because we had oranges. Also, there’s only one lane for motorcycles to go through. If you’re not on a moto, don’t take that line because in typical fashion they all just cut in line so you end up waiting twice as long...

March 5th, 2021 by Nicole

I didn’t take my van I just walked over. The line to get back took at least 45 min. so be aware

March 22nd, 2020 by anniegaray

Okay overlanders - this was an easy pass through . Took us maybe 2 minutes tops , with our dog. Only asked for passports, peeked inside. We hadn’t gotten the entry paperwork when we entered Baja (whoops) and he didn’t even ask for it (thankfully ). The border town is looking fairly desolate. At the time of this post , once we crossed over there were many businesses shut down.We saw a gas station and store still open,
and a handful of others open. Stay safe out there everybody.
.

March 9th, 2020 by nicguin54

Be careful of not taking the « Sentri Lane », where GPS sent me...

March 6th, 2020 by instagram.com/migratory_animals

AVOID THE FAR RIGHT LANE! You will be cut off by no less than 50 motorcycles and spend at least another hour waiting in line.

December 9th, 2019 by cdelfosse314

Mexico -> USA was very easy. RVs go all the way to the RIGHT lane. Guard checked our usa passports and waved us through. No search of the RV or scan. ***just be cautious of the vendors on the way there... they seem to take over the middle of the street and their awnings/umbrellas stick out.

November 30th, 2019 by tom6326

Super easy crossing into Mexico the Mexican staff were amazing, friendly and helpful.

They made us a parking space so we could get our tourist card in our 30ft class c

December 23rd, 2017 by juliastout2000

we just left through chemical border crossing to belize. we had the fmm tourist card but not the receipt for payment ( I thought it was only fmm needed) and we had to pay. we did not get a receipt for payment in mexicali just the fmm and had to pay in chetumal. paid at bank and got receipt but total crap. make sure you get print out showing how much you paid for each fmm, should be stapled individually to each fmm.

October 16th, 2017 by floornagler

Super easy border crossing. They checked inside for the idea. Make sure you get a stamp for proof that you excited the usa, in case you want to go back in.

November 11th, 2016 by visiterra

When enter to Mexico, keep te bank receipts for the Tourist Cards (25$ each) to avoid paying again when leaving Mexico. This is a big scam... when leaving they call that exit fee.

December 20th, 2015 by We are Sane, Everyone Else is Crazy

"Downtown" crossing, open 24 hours. Poor parking for big rigs when you go get your FMM tourist card, but it was easy for our Range Rover.