Ogaudemar

Note to my readers: if you are not planning to cross the border to renew your Visa, you will not find this post very useful, so I’d suggest moving on to something more important.

I just came back last night from my short trip across the Mexican border to extend my US Visa. When organizing the trip, I found little information online, so I decided to share my experience on my blog. If Google does its magic, people will find this page and find useful information to organize their trip without stress.

If you plan to drive to the border and walk across to Tijuana, I recommend Sridhar’s dedicated blog, which I discovered the night before leaving LA.

Paying the fee to Banamex

My appointment at the Consulate was at 9:30am so going to the Banamex bank before my appointment was risky (my appointment confirmation letter mentioned I should arrive 15 minutes earlier). The closest branch is 10 minutes from the Consulate and opens at 9am. So, I had to arrive the day before before the bank closed (at 4pm). Note that, in theory, there should be a way to go to another Banamex branch that opens earlier or closes later. However, the bank locator on Banamex’s site was out of service for two days before my appointment, so I had no choice but to go to the Zona Rio branch. The branch is located in front of the mall, on the other side of the Paseo de los Heroes Avenue. If you are driving, note that there is a parking lot at Banamex. I didn’t know and parked inside the Zona Rio lot, which was a waste of time since it’s a large avenue to cross. Inside the Banamex, someone will give you a ticket to wait for your turn. I had to pay $135 and gave the amount in pesos, but it was not necessary, I could have paid with a card or US cash. Note that they are very strict about their closing time, they close the doors at 4pm sharp and don’t let anyone in while people still in the bank wait for their turn.

Car insurance

US insurance is not valid in Mexico, so it is very recommended to take a Mexican car insurance. I was told that there would be insurance companies just across the border, but I could not see anything. As a matter of fact, I was taken by surprise by the border crossing experience. I was expecting the US customs to leave the US, then the Mexican customs to enter Mexico. That’s how all the borders I have crossed in my life work. Well, not this one. Basically, you are driving south on the I-5, suddenly you have signs to slow down at what looks like a regullar toll plaza, and once the light turns green, you are in Mexico! The experience was all the more surprising that I was expecting to surrender my form I-94 when leaving the territory. Instead, in a few seconds I was driving inside Tijuana with my I-94 still at hand and no car insurance. I missed the Zona Rio exit and went the exact opposite way and got lost somewhere in the center of Tijuana - if you are more careful than me, you should be able to take the right exit and arrive almost directly at the bank.

My suggestion for car insurance is to buy it directly online at Bajabound. Bajabound lets you compare different insurance policies and buy it directly online. That’s the first thing I did when I arrived at the hotel. I went online, chose a car insurance at ~$25 per day with a pretty good coverage. Once you pay, you can download a PDF of your car insurance. I sent the PDF by email to myself as an attachment, went to my hotel business center and paid to print the policy for a few pesos. Next time, I will do everything from home before.

Hotel

Staying at a hotel is the only way to go if you arrive the night before. I used different search engines (Kayak.com, Hotels.com). The only things I cared about were: a parking lot, an Internet connection in every room, and a location not far away from the Consulate. I finally went for the Grand Hotel Tijuana. According to the information available online at the time of my reservation, only the Grand Hotel and Marriott were mentioned as having the Internet. Surprisingly, the Camino Real which has a pretty good reputation among tourists doesn’t seem to have the Internet. Very surprising for what is supposed to be an upscale hotel in 2008. If that is not the case, the management should update their website…

Anyway, I was very happy with the Grand Hotel Tijuana. It is a huge 5-star hotel with two towers of 25 floors, is located in front of a golf course, and has all the amenities (gy,. sauna, tennis, pool) you can expect. I paid $100 a night for a nice non-smoking room at the 21st floor with a nice view on the golf course. Sure, the hotel is not brand new, but the service was great, bilingual. See below photo of the room and view.

Room

View

Tijuana and around

My original plan was to spend the week-end and surf in Baja California, so I brought my surfboard and wetsuit with me. Finally, I had to change my mind and go back to LA on Friday night, but if you are a surfer, you can find some empty barrels all along the coast, from the Tijuana Beaches (10-15 minutes drive from the Consulate) to Ensenada an hour and a half south.

I had heard a lot of stories about how unsafe and dangerous Tijuana is, how you can get mugged so easily, so I really avoided the center. I had my dinner and breakfast at the hotel and did not check out the city center. If you feel like having some “tequila sex or marijuana”, I am sorry I can’t help you much here.

It was 10:30am when I left the Consulate and I had to come back at 3pm to pick up my pasport with the new visa. During that time, I drove around the city on the Via Poniente (innercity highway), then took the 1 South to the beaches and surfed for an hour in empty waves. The beach area was totally empty and a little abandoned. So it looks like a sleepy and abandoned Manhattan Beach. I have seen rather nice houses and police cars patrolling regularly, so I assume the area is pretty safe. After an hour, the fog took over and I went back to my car (see photo below).

I drove back to Tijuana on the 5. I just had to follow directions to Zona Rio and then Via Poniente to be back at the Consulate in 10 minutes. It was only noon, so I stopped at a Starbucks nearby (on the intersection of Paseo de los Heroes and Avenida Abelardo L Rodriguez, one block east of Diego Rivera and the Consulate). Prices at the same than in the US, which is probably the crowd is upscale and business. You can pay in USD or in pesos. There is a valet parking, free for the first 15 minutes, then $1 (m$10). The wifi Internet is free and very fast.

View Larger Map

At the Consulate

The Consulate is on Diego Rivera, between Avenida Via Poniente and Paseo de los Heroes. There are a few parking lots next door for 50 pesos. I arrived early (around 9am) to play safe. There was a large crowd waiting outside. I told the security guy that I was here for an O1 Visa, and it seemed like a magic word because I didn’ thave to wait in line with the other people. I went directly to security where they checked my documents again before the usual screening (like at the airport). You probably already know that you can’t get in with any electronic, but I could bring a bag full of magazines and books to keep me waiting. Inside, a couple of officials took care of me personally and a few other foreign applicants (a couple of Chinese and Indian Engineers who were here for an H1B renewal). There was a special line for us to take a photo, and the have our interview. During all that time, the room was packed with Mexicans wiating for their turn, so it made me feel a little bad for them. A friend of mine from Mexico had told me about the long lines at the Tijuana Consulate, which is why I had brought books for an entire day of waiting. It only took me an hour total, and I only had the time to read Time Magazine… My interview took 5 minutes, the immigration official took my documents, asked me a couple of questions and told me that my visa would be ready at 3pm.

I came back earlier, at 2:30pm. This time, it was useless. They had us wait outside, so I went back to my car for a little nap. At 3pm sharp, they opened the line for Mexican citizens and the line for foreign citizens. After another security screening, we waited inside and at around 3;30pm, an official came back to give us our passports with the new visas.

Back to the US
To go back to the border, I drove back to Via Poniente, followed the San Diego sign which took me back to the Starbucks roundabout, I crossed the river on Rodriguez then West on Via Oriente. Just follow the sign and in 5 minutes you can start waiting for your turn. I was in line at 3:45pm and crossed the border at 5pm!

If you are hungry or thirsty of in the mood for last minute shopping, don’t worry. Everything will come to you while you are waiting in your car. Just open the window and have fun negotiating.

There is no Mexican custom when leaving the country, just US customs to enter. I told the official that I had crossed the border to get a new visa, he took my visa and told me that he would have to take my I-94. I asked him to give me a new one for my entry then, but it looked like he didn’t know what to do. So, eventually he just gave me back my passport with my old I-94. At the end of the day, it is like I did not officially leave the US territory since I did not surrender the old I-94 and did not get a new one. I am surprised by the fact that there are no clear directions about what to do with this important form. If you have experienced something different, let me know.

I arrived home at 8pm, exhausted but happy to have my new visa in hand. If I had to do it again, I might do things a little differently, but overall the experience was way faster, easier and cheaper than flying back home.