What Documents You Need to Cross Back Into the US

Written by Michael Seutin, founder — former nurse, researching dental pricing abroad.

The most common reason a dental trip to Mexico stalls is not the clinic — it's the paperwork for getting home. This page lists what US Customs and Border Protection says it accepts at a land crossing, quoted from CBP's own guidance, plus the outdated rule that a lot of clinic websites are still publishing.

what CBP accepts at a land crossing

For US citizens entering the United States by land or sea, CBP lists: a US Passport; a Passport Card; an Enhanced Driver's License; a Trusted Traveler Program card (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST); a US Military identification card when travelling on official orders; a US Merchant Mariner document on official maritime business; or a Form I-872 American Indian Card or Enhanced Tribal Card. Any one of those is enough. Note that the list for air travel is shorter — the passport card is valid for the land crossing at Andrade or San Ysidro and is not valid for a flight.

the birth-certificate rule, and who it still applies to

This is where clinic websites get it wrong, and it matters because getting it wrong means being turned around at the line. For adults, a birth certificate plus a photo ID is no longer sufficient to re-enter the United States by land — the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requirements took effect on 1 June 2009. But the rule was never a blanket one: CBP states that US and Canadian citizen children under 16 — or under 19 when travelling with a school, religious group or other youth group — need only present a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship, and that it can be an original, a photocopy or a certified copy. If you read "you just need a birth certificate" on a clinic's page, that is the children's rule being repeated as though it covered everyone.

the passport card is the cheap option, and for a land crossing it is enough

For a drive or a walk into a Mexican border town, the passport card does the whole job — CBP lists it among the documents accepted at land and sea crossings. The State Department charges two fees on a first adult application (Form DS-11): an application fee to the State Department and a $35 acceptance fee to the facility that takes the application. The card's application fee is $30, so a first-time adult card is $65 all in. The book is $130 plus the same $35, so $165. Both together are $160 plus $35, so $195. Expedited service adds $60, and 1-3 day return delivery adds $23.36. If you cannot produce evidence of citizenship you may need a $150 file search. Fees read from the State Department's fee page on 11 August 2026, which was itself last updated 19 March 2026 — check the chart before you budget, because these change and a stale fee is exactly the kind of number this site exists to stop repeating. Two things the price does not tell you: the card is not valid for air travel, and processing time is the constraint more often than cost.

what is not refundable

The State Department states that the application fee and the execution fee are collected by law and kept even if no passport is issued. Only the $60 expedite fee is refundable, and only when the stated processing time was missed. This matters if you are applying against a booked appointment: the money goes whether or not the document arrives, so the safe sequence is document first, then clinic dates.

if you already hold a quote and no passport

This is a real and common position — in the thread that prompted this page, the patient already had a Mexican clinic quote in hand and was stuck entirely on documents. The sequence that unblocks it is: check what your state issues (an Enhanced Driver's License is accepted at land crossings and only some states issue one), then apply for the passport card if not, then book the clinic around the processing date rather than the other way round. A deposit paid before the document exists is a deposit exposed to a processing queue you do not control.

what we are not telling you

We report what CBP publishes and the date we read it. We cannot tell you whether you personally will be admitted, what happens in an individual secondary inspection, or how any of this applies if you are not a US citizen — non-citizens, lawful permanent residents and dual nationals all have different requirements and CBP's own pages are the place to check them. Nothing here is immigration advice.

See live border crossing times

common questions

Can I cross to Los Algodones with just a driver's license and birth certificate?

Not as an adult. CBP's accepted-document list for land and sea entry is the passport, passport card, Enhanced Driver's License, Trusted Traveler card, military ID on orders, Merchant Mariner document, or American Indian/Enhanced Tribal Card. The birth-certificate route ended for adults when the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative land and sea requirements took effect on 1 June 2009. Children under 16 are the exception and may still present a birth certificate.

Is a passport card enough for dental work in Mexico?

For a land crossing, yes — CBP lists the passport card among the documents accepted for entry to the US by land and sea. It is not valid for air travel, so it covers a drive or walk to Los Algodones or Tijuana but not a flight to Cancún.

How much does a passport card cost compared to a passport book?

On a first adult application the State Department charges an application fee plus a $35 acceptance fee at the facility. The card's application fee is $30, making it $65 in total; the book is $130, making it $165; both together are $160, so $195. Expedited service adds $60. Fees read from the State Department fee page on 11 August 2026 — check the current chart before budgeting.

Do my children need passports to cross?

CBP states that US and Canadian citizen children under 16 need only present a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship at a land or sea crossing, and that it may be an original, photocopy or certified copy. The limit rises to under 19 for children travelling with a school, religious group or other youth group. Children flying do need their own passport.

the rest of the trip

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sources

Nothing on this page is medical, legal or immigration advice — it's consumer research. We report what an official source publishes and when we read it.