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hiddenninja
Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:06 pm Post subject: Valid ID at Mexican roadblocks |
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Aside from a passport, is there any other valid ID for a foreigner at Mexican roadblocks?
I'm taking a bus.... |
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hiddenninja
Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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What about my CURP (Clave �nica de Registro de Poblaci�n) would that be ok? |
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MotherF
Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 1450 Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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CURP is not a photo id so no, I've never ever seen anywhere that will take that as an ID.
Why not just use your passport? You are supposed to have it on you at all times (in theory). You should have your passport and proof of your legal status in Mexico on you at all time--Mexican law in this case is just as strict as the Arizona law they kicked up such a stink about... |
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hiddenninja
Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry to have to come clean like this - its actually a theoretical question for a novel i'm writing..... I used to live in Mexico but now I cant remember...what happens at Mexican roadblocks dealing with coaches?....do they typically ask everyone on the bus to produce ID or do they just board the vehicle and scan it for suspicious looking people and ask them. I remember once having to leave the vehicle, produce my id and show them through my bag but this didn't happen everytime
Anyway, thanks for the reply |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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I've never used my passport since I tend not to carry it around with me, either in town or on the road within Mexico. My Canadian driver's license was ID enough at a Oaxaca roadblock I went through earlier this year by car. |
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notamiss
Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 908 Location: El 5o pino del la CDMX
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:31 am Post subject: |
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I think the valid ID would be a credencial migratoria. If the story is set in the present, it�s a card. Up to 2010, it was a visa booklet, a documento migratorio. Aren�t we supposed to carry it with us all the time?
You shouldn't be sorry to come clean�the answers you get will be more relevant with the additional context being provided. |
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hiddenninja
Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:22 pm Post subject: |
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But on a coach - do you think a soldier / police officer would literally ask everyone to produce id or only certain individuals? I cant remember if this happened when I was there.
Thanks very much for the replies |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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The last time I went through a checkpoint on a bus was in 2001, again in Oaxaca. I wasn't asked for any ID at all. That was 10 years ago however.
I took a bus from DF to Taxco a few weeks ago and while there are no checkpoints on that route, the bus line had a sign up at the ticket counter saying one needed valid ID to board. Still, they never asked me to produce ID, neither at the ticket counter nor when boarding. |
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MotherF
Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 1450 Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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hiddenninja wrote: |
But on a coach - do you think a soldier / police officer would literally ask everyone to produce id or only certain individuals? I cant remember if this happened when I was there.
Thanks very much for the replies |
It varies.
If you are on the road from Chiapas through Oaxaca heading north there are multiple stops and sometimes they just board and shine the flashlight around. Sometimes they ask a few people to show ID. Sometimes they ask everyone to get their ID out. Sometimes they have a video camera and point it in the faces of eveyone on the bus. Sometimes they ask some people to show them the contents of a bag in the overhead bin. Sometimes they take some people off the bus. Sometimes they take everybody off the bus. They may or may not check bags from the under the bus compartment. A second class bus could be stopped every hour or so heading north. A first class bus may or may not be stopped one or multiple times. I have no idea what it depends on, I suspect the mood of the people working the check point, how far into their shift they are and the proximity of their supervisors.
Buses heading south rarely get stopped. |
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notamiss
Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Posts: 908 Location: El 5o pino del la CDMX
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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Another thing that might factor into your story is that in some regions you may not necessarily know who is running the checkpoint; i.e. knowing whether it�s �official� or not�even if the personnel are wearing official-looking uniforms. |
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hiddenninja
Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96
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Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks everyone - excellent replies |
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tjteachin
Joined: 22 Jan 2011 Posts: 32
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Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 7:00 pm Post subject: |
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There was only one stop when I went south to check baggage. A bunch of stops going north to Tijuana, esp. through Sinaloa and Sonora. Everyone gets off the bus. I show my credencial para votar (it's good to have dual nationality!) |
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Isla Guapa
Joined: 19 Apr 2010 Posts: 1520 Location: Mexico City o sea La Gran Manzana Mexicana
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Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:55 am Post subject: |
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I never carry my passport or FM3 with me in the city and only sometimes when I travel within Mexico. Since I am officially a senior citizen here, I have an special photo ID called an INAPAM card that I usually use for ID. |
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