I have been doing some research and I am almost ready to get up the nerve to call OCC but I would like to know do I need a passport? Did you have a passport? Was it required. It didn't sound like most people were actually in TJ for more than 72 hours please advise.

I just read the following:

Tijuana, Mexico, lies less than an hour from San Diego, and many Americans head there for its cheap products and raucous atmosphere. Crossing the border into Mexico usually takes just a few minutes, and American travelers going no farther south than Ensenada for 72 hours or less do not need a Mexican tourist card. To cross back into America, travelers must have certain documents on hand.

Proof of Citizenship

Americans without passports or special documents also can return across the border from Tijuana with two proofs of citizenship, according to Frommer's. The most common documents include a driver's license and birth certificate, though documents such as military identification also work. Travelers 18 and younger must have a birth certificate if they are crossing without a passport.

GET A PASSPORT!!!!!

Don't chance. Get a Passport.

I did get mine. Didn't want to risk it. I expedited and got it a week later so I am ready to go for surgery on the 8th. The passport arrived in my birthday way cool!!!

Hey there. I just had my surgery in TJ On March 12th. Yesterday made week three post sleeve surgery. I will tell you that I had a passport and that is what they asked me to give them when I crossed back over the boarder from Tiajuana into San Diago. I am pretty sure that, before too long ,you are going to have to have a passport whenever you travel anywhere; including the US so it may not be a bad idea to get one anyway. BTW...I had my sleeve done at the OCC. No problems. No regrets. Good luck.

Hey there. I just had my surgery in TJ On March 12th. Yesterday made week three post sleeve surgery. I will tell you that I had a passport and that is what they asked me to give them when I crossed back over the boarder from Tiajuana into San Diago. I am pretty sure that, before too long ,you are going to have to have a passport whenever you travel anywhere; including the US so it may not be a bad idea to get one anyway. BTW...I had my sleeve done at the OCC. No problems. No regrets. Good luck.

Hi! I went to Tiajuana Mx too...my rny surgery March 26/14 ...12 weeks out...53 lbs down...feeling good...how about you? Any problems? Would love to stay in touch if you would like...

No one needs a passport to be admitted into their own country.

 

Recently, we were asked the same question by Club Medico USA, a medical tourism group working with Tijuana doctors and dentists. Their members were worried. Our blog ran an item about the passport question a few years ago and, like we told them, what we said then still holds true today. The club reported back that their members have had no problem crossing with driver's licenses and birth certificates.

 

What the Department of Homeland Security is trying to do is have everyone who crosses the border carry identification with RFID chips because that speeds up their process a bit. Current passports have that chip. So do the "enhanced" driver's licenses issued by four states. People with RFIDs can get into special "Ready Lanes" that presumably go faster than the regular lanes -- but people coming here for bariatric surgery most often return home in their own special "medical pass" lane, which is even faster.