You can definitely leave the US going into Mexico without a passport. The problem is getting back to the US. One time standing in line to cross the border from Tijuana to San Ysidro, I talked to a woman from Seattle who hadn't realized that the procedures had changed. She had just moved to San Diego and came to Tijuana to go to the dentist. She didn't have a passport. She had to do a lot of talking to get back into the US. I don't know how long it took. I assume she made it eventually.You can't even get on a cruise ship which leaves US waters without having a passport anymore. I pretty much think that anywhere outside of US territory requires a passport, if not to leave the US, then certainly to get back in.
Don't you need to show some sort of ID to go from the US into Mexico, even in the border area? How can you prove your nationality without a passport?You can definitely leave the US going into Mexico without a passport. The problem is getting back to the US. One time standing in line to cross the border from Tijuana to San Ysidro, I talked to a woman from Seattle who hadn't realized that the procedures had changed. She had just moved to San Diego and came to Tijuana to go to the dentist. She didn't have a passport. She had to do a lot of talking to get back into the US. I don't know how long it took. I assume she made it eventually.
I have crossed on foot from San Ysidro to Tijuana, from Calexico to Mexicali, and from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez. I was never asked to show a passport. Only once in about 7 or 8 crossings did anyone ever say anything to me. Once they looked at my Mexican visa. You are supposed to stop at Mexican Migracion and there they would want to see some ID if you didn't have a visa. I haven't been in the habit of doing that, but comments on this board have convinced me I should so in the future I plan to. But by the time you stop at Mexican Migración you are already outside the US and will have difficulty going back without a passport.Don't you need to show some sort of ID to go from the US into Mexico, even in the border area? How can you prove your nationality without a passport?
It sounds like crossing the border on foot no one seems to care who comes or goes. Odd.I have crossed on foot from San Ysidro to Tijuana, from Calexico to Mexicali, and from El Paso to Ciudad Juarez. I was never asked to show a passport. Only once in about 7 or 8 crossings did anyone ever say anything to me. Once they looked at my Mexican visa. You are supposed to stop at Mexican Migracion and there they would want to see some ID if you didn't have a visa. I haven't been in the habit of doing that, but comments on this board have convinced me I should so in the future I plan to. But by the time you stop at Mexican Migración you are already outside the US and will have difficulty going back without a passport.
Do the Mexican authorities assume all foreign visitors along the border are from the US? Or is it that they just don't care, as long as the visitors spend money while they're in Mexico?You do not need a USA passport to visit any of the border towns in Mexico, but you really need it to get back into the USA. I've living in Mexico for 25 years and have never been ask for a ID or passport crossing into a border town of Mexico, Mexico does not require a passport for border towns because they need and want the tourist business.
Mexico doesn't care who comes or goes. The US doesn't care who goes. The US definitely cares who comes.It sounds like crossing the border on foot no one seems to care who comes or goes. Odd.
Not quite correct. I have been hassled by US Homeland Security agents leaving Texas and Arizona to cross the border into Mexico. And hassled is a deliberately chosen word. Compared to getting a car permit and IMM visa in Mexico, which is always a pleasant task, the US agents treated me like I was a criminal and crazy for going to Mexico.Mexico doesn't care who comes or goes. The US doesn't care who goes. The US definitely cares who comes.
The legal answer is no, There is no way to legally enter the interior of Mexico w/o a US passport for a US citizen. As Ken Wood shared, there are practical ways to enter w/o a passport. Once in the interior, there are methods and means to obtain various forms of "official" identification. For a US citizen in Mexico without an immigration permit, virtually all forms of living are restricted, no bank accounts, national airline flights etc. But I repeat, the legal answer is no.Is there any way to travel to and/stay in Mexico without a passport?
Not to mention the nervousness connected with knowing you could be found out any time and deported!. . . For a US citizen in Mexico without an immigration permit, virtually all forms of living are restricted, no bank accounts, national airline flights etc.
As far as I know anyone traveling inside Mexico with a Permanent Resident Alien card could get an FMM or cross back into the US with no problems from the "free zone" or probably take an international flight into Mexico and return to the US. I might be wrong, but don't see why not. If they immigrated from other than Mexico they might need a passport from their country of birth, but I doubt they have one. If not are they grounded in the US? I doubt it.You can definitely leave the US going into Mexico without a passport. The problem is getting back to the US. One time standing in line to cross the border from Tijuana to San Ysidro, I talked to a woman from Seattle who hadn't realized that the procedures had changed. She had just moved to San Diego and came to Tijuana to go to the dentist. She didn't have a passport. She had to do a lot of talking to get back into the US. I don't know how long it took. I assume she made it eventually.
That can work if you are a pedestrian. However, you won't get on any international flights.You do not need a passport to return to the USA. A birth certificate will so. They can
not keep a US a citizen out. They will give you a hard time and make you wait for a
while but will let you in.