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hiddenninja · Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96

Aside from a passport, is there any other valid ID for a foreigner at Mexican roadblocks?
I'm taking a bus....

hiddenninja · Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96

What about my CURP (Clave �nica de Registro de Poblaci�n) would that be ok?

MotherF · Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 9:23 pm Post subject:

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...

hiddenninja · Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96

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

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

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.

notamiss · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:31 am Post subject:

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.

hiddenninja · Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96

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

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

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.

MotherF · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:18 pm Post subject:

notamiss · Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:46 pm Post subject:

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.

hiddenninja · Joined: 29 Dec 2010 Posts: 96

Thanks everyone - excellent replies

tjteachin · Joined: 22 Jan 2011 Posts: 32

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!)

Isla Guapa · Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 4:55 am Post subject:

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.