Crossing Mexicali East Going North

Google Maps has a habit of directing people into the SENTRI lane when crossing the US border going north. So in this post, I wanted to share how to cross northbound, especially if you can’t use the SENTRI or Ready Lanes, at Mexicali East (AKA Calexico East.)

How to cross Mexicali East traveling northbound

Here’s the simple answer: If you are just a regular car, then approach the Mexicali East crossing from the east. If you are SENTRI or Ready Lane, approach from the west.

My wife forgot her Global Entry card, so we needed to use her passport to go north. And that meant using the “regular car lane.” But finding that lane in Mexicali was nearly impossible. As you can see from the photo above, there is a sign that says, “Cars/Autos.” However, when you try to pull in, you see that this lane doesn’t actually exist. There are four signs and three lanes.

There’s even a confusing “U-turn” sign for “regular cars” as you approach the crossing from the west. I guess what they mean is to go past the entry for SENTRI and Ready, and then make a U-turn at the next intersection so that you can enter from the east. 

Who can use the Ready Lanes?

One thing I learned while waiting in line was that you can use the Ready Lane if all adults in your car have a:

• U.S. Passport Card
• Enhanced Driver’s License (EDL)
• Enhanced Tribal Card (ETC)
• Trusted Traveler Cards (NEXUS, SENTRI, Global Entry and FAST cards)
• Enhanced Border Crossing Cards
• Enhanced Permanent Resident Card (PRC) 

But regular US passports don’t count. So head over the regular lane to the right.

I’ll have a video showing this soon, but I wanted to post this ASAP to save someone like you from the trouble we had (we drove around for about 20 minutes trying to find the correct entrance.)

You can see other videos about moving to Mexico on my YouTube channel.