Crossing border in MX

[Macchab 0]

So I've been crossing the US MX border every month to visit MX for less than a day or for the weekend for years. The MX border by land never checks anything, I've never been asked to show my ID when I cross into mexico.

 

How does the Mexican immigration know when I have left the country (I mean they know when I cross back to the USA since they check my Green Card) if I for example, overstayed? And viceversa, how does the US immigration know how long I have been gone for? I'm guessing they just assume I was there for a day or two since I have a job and everything in the US and pay taxes but if they want to be so strict about giving a US citizenship to immigrants, shouldn't they enforce or check who is leaving the country even by land? I'm guessing in Canada they do check when you leave to Canada.

[smilingstone 380]

They should enforce a check, but they don't. There's no mandatory exit checks. It's pretty well known that any countries exit checks are nowhere near as strict as their entry checks. That's how they've ended up in the position they're in today with regards to undocumented immigrants who have overstayed.

 

UK, but an example of the impact this has:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/28/border-exit-checks-records-of-600000-people-missing-watchdog-reveals

 

"Anyone flying out of the US do not have to go through any immigration or passport control line as a standard practice. Sometimes, there can be random checks, but it is not a normal process.":

https://redbus2us.com/travel/usa/us-immigration-exit-procedure-customs-records-no-stamp-faqs/

 

Maybe they think, in theory, the threat of a 10 year ban for overstaying would encourage people to tow the line.

[appleblossom 3,973]

34 minutes ago, Macchab said:

So I've been crossing the US MX border every month to visit MX for less than a day or for the weekend for years. The MX border by land never checks anything, I've never been asked to show my ID when I cross into mexico.

 

How does the Mexican immigration know when I have left the country (I mean they know when I cross back to the USA since they check my Green Card) if I for example, overstayed? And viceversa, how does the US immigration know how long I have been gone for? I'm guessing they just assume I was there for a day or two since I have a job and everything in the US and pay taxes but if they want to be so strict about giving a US citizenship to immigrants, shouldn't they enforce or check who is leaving the country even by land? I'm guessing in Canada they do check when you leave to Canada.

 

So you have a green card, what's your citizenship?

 

If you decide to apply for US citizenship then the onus will be on you to prove you've spent the requisite time in the US, not on USCIS to prove you haven't. 

[Macchab 0]

I'm not from Mexico, I just have friends and family there. I understand I'm the one who has to prove I was in the US but I always found it interesting that they do not check when you leave the US. 

 

 

[Macchab 0]

14 minutes ago, smilingstone said:

They should enforce a check, but they don't. There's no mandatory exit checks. It's pretty well known that any countries exit checks are nowhere near as strict as their entry checks. That's how they've ended up in the position they're in today with regards to undocumented immigrants who have overstayed.

 

UK, but an example of the impact this has:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/28/border-exit-checks-records-of-600000-people-missing-watchdog-reveals

 

"Anyone flying out of the US do not have to go through any immigration or passport control line as a standard practice. Sometimes, there can be random checks, but it is not a normal process.":

https://redbus2us.com/travel/usa/us-immigration-exit-procedure-customs-records-no-stamp-faqs/

 

Maybe they think, in theory, the threat of a 10 year ban for overstaying would encourage people to tow the line.

I used to think MX would check every once in a while but nope, I've been crossing every month or every other month except during the pandemic and I have never had any documents scanned

[NorthByNorthwest 438]

2 hours ago, Macchab said:

I'm not from Mexico, I just have friends and family there. I understand I'm the one who has to prove I was in the US but I always found it interesting that they do not check when you leave the US. 

 

In the case of US/Canada entry records are shared, so a Canada Entry record automatically (in most cases at least...) becomes a US Exit record and vice versa. I would have thought the same system was used with Mexico, but if they don't check any documents when you enter I'm not sure...

[Macchab 0]

4 hours ago, NorthByNorthwest said:

 

In the case of US/Canada entry records are shared, so a Canada Entry record automatically (in most cases at least...) becomes a US Exit record and vice versa. I would have thought the same system was used with Mexico, but if they don't check any documents when you enter I'm not sure...

Yeah it's weird why they don't check. I know people from mexico who live in mexico with a GC because they do not check and even cross daily to work in the US, it's kind of crazy how they get away with it 

[TBoneTX 47,048]

When Mrs. T-B. got her conditional green card, I took her on a 4-day tour of several Mexican border cities.

We hit 2 crossings per day, and spent overnights on the U.S. side.

She didn't have to report any of these trips to USCIS later.

 

Funny sidebar:  When we went into Nuevo Laredo, we walked a few blocks beyond the main tourist area.  We stopped in a restaurant at about 3:30 p.m.  We were the only customers among several helpful waiters.  Mrs. T-B. was asking them about menu items:  "What's a chimichanga?  What's a calzone?"  The waiters explained, but I could see them becoming increasingly confused by the questioning.  As one of them held the door open for me as we left, I mustered my entire Spanish vocabulary and said, "Mi esposa es una Ecuatoriana" ("my wife is Ecuadorian").  His eyebrows shot up and he exclaimed, "Ah, sí!" and rushed inside, presumably to tell his colleagues.  I'd guessed correctly that they were confused why a fluent Spanish-speaker didn't know Mexican menu items.

[SalishSea 18,421]

21 hours ago, Macchab said:

I'm not from Mexico, I just have friends and family there. I understand I'm the one who has to prove I was in the US but I always found it interesting that they do not check when you leave the US. 

 

 

The Peace Arch/Blaine crossing from US into Canada is now doing exit checks on the US side...

[top_secret 2,655]

We have people where I work who commute daily from Tijuana to San Diego and back.  It's actually quite common. 

 

Like the US, Mexico has no formal exit control.  Foreigners in Mexico are supposed to have a FMM and it is your responsibility to go to the IMM office and get one if you arrive by land, but if you stay in the border region no one is going to enforce that and it is mostly ignored.  They may check that at the airport departing on international flights, but not at land borders.  They also have checkpoints beyond the border regions that may check your FMM.  Like in Baja Norte I have never once been checked.  Not even at the military checkpoints.  But if you drive down as far as Baja Sur there is a good chance they might (or might not) check your FMM.  It's really a system of randomness.

 

We visited UK for the first time last year and I guess I just assumed we would encounter passport control on exit there but I was surprised when we didn't.  I guess they leave that to the airlines like I-94 in the US.

[Macchab 0]

4 hours ago, top_secret said:

We have people where I work who commute daily from Tijuana to San Diego and back.  It's actually quite common. 

 

Like the US, Mexico has no formal exit control.  Foreigners in Mexico are supposed to have a FMM and it is your responsibility to go to the IMM office and get one if you arrive by land, but if you stay in the border region no one is going to enforce that and it is mostly ignored.  They may check that at the airport departing on international flights, but not at land borders.  They also have checkpoints beyond the border regions that may check your FMM.  Like in Baja Norte I have never once been checked.  Not even at the military checkpoints.  But if you drive down as far as Baja Sur there is a good chance they might (or might not) check your FMM.  It's really a system of randomness.

 

We visited UK for the first time last year and I guess I just assumed we would encounter passport control on exit there but I was surprised when we didn't.  I guess they leave that to the airlines like I-94 in the US.

I wonder if someone can get the N400 petition and say they have been in the US if they only cross every now and then but actually live near the border on the Mexican side. I guess immigration has ways to track people but I feel like there are too many people to keep track of if they don't bother to scan your IDs 😅

[TBoneTX 47,048]

You might want to telephone (or personally visit) a CBP office and ask how this process works.  You'd have the chance to speak with a shift supervisor, if you so requested.  Tell them what your questions are and the reason you're asking.

[top_secret 2,655]

They have commuter status that would allow LPRs to live in Mexico or Canada and commute across the border working in the US without risking being deemed to have abandoned their LPR status.   https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-11-part-b-chapter-4

 

I don't think it works for N400 though.

Edited 22 hours ago by top_secret