UPDATE:
-----------
Well, the flight(s) to Mexico were fine, although you can certainly tell that United is sucking. Won't fly them again, even if they are the cheapest fare. Their in-flight snack left much to be desired and the service just all in all wasn't up to par in my opinion.
Anyway, I could not get a certified copy of my birth certificate in time to depart, so I took a certified copy of my marriage certificate with a good color copy of my original birth certificate that I have on file. The marriage license shows my place of birth, etc. and I took my military ID, social security card, etc. just as backup. The immigration official in Mexico rubbed his thumb on the gold seal on my birth certficate and said it was fake. I explained that it was a copy and used in conjunciton with my other documents, it proved I was a US citizen. At minimum, I explained, I was married to a US citizen (my wife), so that gave me citizenship right there. He argued with us and I was ready to turn around and go back home. The wife turned on the tears when I told her that she could go ahead and go by herself to her friend's wedding, but that made her even more upset.
After several minutes of discussion, the Mexican Immigration official folded my copy of my birth certificate in half and slid it across the counter to me. He said, "If you put something inside, we have no problems anymore amigo." My wife couldn't believe what she was witnessing, but I half expected it. Seizing the opportunity and with some fear that getting caught bribing a foreign government official could come back to hurt my security clearance for my civilian job, I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Looks like I'm getting on the next flight home. Lo siento senor." As soon as I grabbed my wife and child and grabbed my bags, he said, "WAIT! WAIT! You go. Have a nice vacation." I think he thought I would probably turn him in. He signed our immigration papers and let us pass.
We then caught a bus to Playa del Carmen so that we could take the ferry to Cozumel where my wife's friend was getting married on the beach. Well, at the bus terminal, myself and another fella grabbed each other's suitcases and didn't realize it until we were well beyond the ability to contact one another. Needless to say, the phone system in Mexico needs some work, as half the time we couldn't complete a call that would go through fine the second time.
My wife immediately panicked because she, thinking she was ahead of the game, put her wallet in our checked luggage for fear that she would be pick pocketed. I didn't know this and thought that me bringing my wallet would suffice. Anyway, trying to call an 800 number from Mexico was impossible for some reason. We even tried to call using a credit card, but they wouldn't charge a toll-free number that way either. We waited for 4 days hoping no one would charge up our credit. I did manage to call my buddy and see if he could transfer me to some of the numbers we needed (checking account with bank, etc.), but we didn't have time with the wedding and all to do anything else.
So, we went and bought some "tourist" clothes to get us by. I wore the same clothes for two days straight and had only the clothes I wore on the flight down as a backup. That sucks being in a foreign country with no luggage, let me tell you. Fortunately the trip was only 4 days long.
We got home late last night and my wife called a co-worker this morning to let her know about it all. She told us that some guy called Target where she works to get in contact with her because they have our luggage. We cancelled all of our cards anyway and have written off the $100 cash in her wallet, but at least we know who they are from their luggage tags, so it's all good. We chose to leave their luggage at the terminal in Cancun because we didn't feel comfortable carrying someone else's luggage into the US and thought it was better handled by the airline anyway. We had some fear leaving it with Mexican authorities, but other than the immigration dude, everyone else seemed pretty honest. Anyway, we're home, we didn't lose much (some clothes really) and all our accounts are secure.
Cliff notes:
-------------
1) didn't have correct paperwork to get into Mexico
2) Mexican immigration official attempted to bribe me to permit entry
3) threatened to go home anyway
4) he let me in anyway
5) got someone else's luggage, they got mine
6) Mexican phone system sucks (and maybe I'm too dumb to use it too)
7) couldn't cancel all credit cards
8) had no clothes to wear for 4 days
9) bought "tourist clothes" to get by
10) got home last night
11) no bad transactions on our credit happened, canceled all anyway
12) got contact info for guy that has our luggage
13) profit?
------------------------------
We are flying to Mexico on Wednesday and I have a few questions on documents required for entry.
First off, I cannot seem to find my birth certificate. I'm hoping the wife already got it, but worst case, she doesn't so here's what I do have.
US Army ID Card (Civilian and Reserve)
Color photocopy of birth certificate (excellent detail I might add, to include gold seal)
Certified copy of Marriage License showing my birthplace as Washington state
Do you think that's enough for me to get in and back out again in the event that I cannot find my birth certificate? If not, what should I do?
-----------
Well, the flight(s) to Mexico were fine, although you can certainly tell that United is sucking. Won't fly them again, even if they are the cheapest fare. Their in-flight snack left much to be desired and the service just all in all wasn't up to par in my opinion.
Anyway, I could not get a certified copy of my birth certificate in time to depart, so I took a certified copy of my marriage certificate with a good color copy of my original birth certificate that I have on file. The marriage license shows my place of birth, etc. and I took my military ID, social security card, etc. just as backup. The immigration official in Mexico rubbed his thumb on the gold seal on my birth certficate and said it was fake. I explained that it was a copy and used in conjunciton with my other documents, it proved I was a US citizen. At minimum, I explained, I was married to a US citizen (my wife), so that gave me citizenship right there. He argued with us and I was ready to turn around and go back home. The wife turned on the tears when I told her that she could go ahead and go by herself to her friend's wedding, but that made her even more upset.
After several minutes of discussion, the Mexican Immigration official folded my copy of my birth certificate in half and slid it across the counter to me. He said, "If you put something inside, we have no problems anymore amigo." My wife couldn't believe what she was witnessing, but I half expected it. Seizing the opportunity and with some fear that getting caught bribing a foreign government official could come back to hurt my security clearance for my civilian job, I looked him straight in the eye and said, "Looks like I'm getting on the next flight home. Lo siento senor." As soon as I grabbed my wife and child and grabbed my bags, he said, "WAIT! WAIT! You go. Have a nice vacation." I think he thought I would probably turn him in. He signed our immigration papers and let us pass.
We then caught a bus to Playa del Carmen so that we could take the ferry to Cozumel where my wife's friend was getting married on the beach. Well, at the bus terminal, myself and another fella grabbed each other's suitcases and didn't realize it until we were well beyond the ability to contact one another. Needless to say, the phone system in Mexico needs some work, as half the time we couldn't complete a call that would go through fine the second time.
My wife immediately panicked because she, thinking she was ahead of the game, put her wallet in our checked luggage for fear that she would be pick pocketed. I didn't know this and thought that me bringing my wallet would suffice. Anyway, trying to call an 800 number from Mexico was impossible for some reason. We even tried to call using a credit card, but they wouldn't charge a toll-free number that way either. We waited for 4 days hoping no one would charge up our credit. I did manage to call my buddy and see if he could transfer me to some of the numbers we needed (checking account with bank, etc.), but we didn't have time with the wedding and all to do anything else.
So, we went and bought some "tourist" clothes to get us by. I wore the same clothes for two days straight and had only the clothes I wore on the flight down as a backup. That sucks being in a foreign country with no luggage, let me tell you. Fortunately the trip was only 4 days long.
We got home late last night and my wife called a co-worker this morning to let her know about it all. She told us that some guy called Target where she works to get in contact with her because they have our luggage. We cancelled all of our cards anyway and have written off the $100 cash in her wallet, but at least we know who they are from their luggage tags, so it's all good. We chose to leave their luggage at the terminal in Cancun because we didn't feel comfortable carrying someone else's luggage into the US and thought it was better handled by the airline anyway. We had some fear leaving it with Mexican authorities, but other than the immigration dude, everyone else seemed pretty honest. Anyway, we're home, we didn't lose much (some clothes really) and all our accounts are secure.
Cliff notes:
-------------
1) didn't have correct paperwork to get into Mexico
2) Mexican immigration official attempted to bribe me to permit entry
3) threatened to go home anyway
4) he let me in anyway
5) got someone else's luggage, they got mine
6) Mexican phone system sucks (and maybe I'm too dumb to use it too)
7) couldn't cancel all credit cards
8) had no clothes to wear for 4 days
9) bought "tourist clothes" to get by
10) got home last night
11) no bad transactions on our credit happened, canceled all anyway
12) got contact info for guy that has our luggage
13) profit?
------------------------------
We are flying to Mexico on Wednesday and I have a few questions on documents required for entry.
First off, I cannot seem to find my birth certificate. I'm hoping the wife already got it, but worst case, she doesn't so here's what I do have.
US Army ID Card (Civilian and Reserve)
Color photocopy of birth certificate (excellent detail I might add, to include gold seal)
Certified copy of Marriage License showing my birthplace as Washington state
Do you think that's enough for me to get in and back out again in the event that I cannot find my birth certificate? If not, what should I do?
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