New Information on Canceling Pre-2005 TIPs in Ensenada

We’ve heard from a good number of southbound cruisers who have been stuck in limbo with uncanceled TIPs issued prior to 2005. We’ve just received word from Baja Ha-Ha participants Michael and Sally Aldridge, on the Santa Cruz 52 Sweetheart, that they were able to cancel their two TIPs and get a new one issued with a trip to Ensenada. Below we share their complete story, hoping others can do the same. As with all such tales, results may vary, but it sounds like a clear path with a hopeful outcome.

We had two pre-2005 TIPs to cancel, one from 2001, and the other from 2004.

On October 16, we walked across the border at PedEast at San Ysidro in the morning and caught the ABC bus down to Ensenada from Tijuana because we didn’t want to mess with driving a vehicle across the border and dealing with a motor vehicle TIP and insurance (too many TIPs already!). Walking over the border turned out to be super-easy, with no lines, and the bus is nearby and is comfortable and inexpensive.

When in Ensenada (we got there at around 10:30 a.m.) we started with the Banjercito Ensenada on Av Teniente José Azueta.

(Building marked with a thick red line on attached image)

We spoke with manager Elia Beatriz Urquidi Cobos, who speaks great English. We showed her relevant boat documentation.

Elia made three copies of each, and also verified and checked the report in her system.

Elia explained we needed to go to the aduana office down the street to start the process.

At this point, Elia stepped outside to direct us, and she and the manager of the aduana, Jorge Badillo, spoke in person on the street. Not sure if they just “ran into each other” or whether this was planned, but it turned out to be a very fruitful conversation. Jorge reviewed our documents right there, confirmed that everything was in order, and told Elia what else we needed to do

Which was the following:

• Write a letter to the aduana asking for the TIPs to be canceled
• Include the TIP number, previous owner names, etc.
• State that we are the new owners
• Print it
• Sign it
• Make three copies

We went to the tourist information office around the corner to do this, and they were very helpful and made printouts and copies for us for free.

Then we went to the aduana de Ensenada with all the paperwork. The office is marked with a thick red line on the image, and the address is Blvd, P.º Olas Altas 110, Recinto Portuario, 22800 Ensenada, B.C., Mexico.

This office is behind a heavy layer of security, and they told us that only one person can go through, so Michael, my husband, did this for us, as he is the appointed “manager” of our LLC. He spoke with the woman at the desk and she asked for the letter to be in Spanish, so she translated it for Michael, he wrote it out by hand, and she stamped it. She told him it would take one week to get the TIP cancellations done.

We then showed the stamped letter to Elia back at the Banjercito, but she said she actually needs a printed and stamped image of a “cancellation screen” from aduana to get the process going on the Banjercito side. She said once she has that, she can send it to the Mexico City Banjercito and it could be canceled out of the system intraday, depending on time differences.

So we went back to Jorge at the aduana to ask for that and he committed to doing just that the next day. Jorge promised to email it to Elia it at 10 a.m. the next day, so we stayed overnight just to make sure that happened.

We stayed at the Hotel Coral, as it was a good chance to speak with Fito Espinoza, the dockmaster, who is very experienced with TIPs and immigration. He suggested it was a good idea for us to see it through. He was very interested to hear about the results of our efforts, as it will allow him to help many other boats.

Michael went back to the aduana office the next day at 10 a.m. (on 10/17) and he stayed there until he had the right docs in hand.

At this point we have now canceled the two old TIPs!

We then took those pages to Elia, who scanned them and sent them to her superiors. The old TIPs were cleared out of the Banjercito system within a few hours and we were able to successfully apply for a new TIP that day. Again we sat in the office until this was all done (about 30 minutes) and we now have the TIP in hand.

Summary: The Sacramento consulate was correct: It is now possible to cancel pre-2005 TIPs with the aduana in Ensenada, and the Banjercito in Ensenada can get it cleared from their system with the right documentation from aduana. Fito confirmed this is exactly how the process worked in the past, but he did not know it was working again at this time, and neither did BC Connections.

Jorge (aduana Ensenada manager) and Elia (Banjercito Ensenada manager) are competent people who seem to have a good working relationship, and they are collaborating to make it happen. It helps that these offices are down the street from each other. Not sure if it’s dumb luck and they have started canceling old TIPs again at just the right time for us, or we are geniuses. Either way, we will take it!

There are no charges for the process of TIP cancellation, and it can be done by the boat owner through the official channels without an agent in one or two days. Be prepared for multiple visits to each office.

Hopefully this bodes well for other boats in this situation.

Feel free to send any questions to [email protected].