Tens of thousands of Tijuana residents are scrambling to get proof of vaccination as the U.S. finally lifts a COVID-19-era restriction on non-essential border crossings Monday.

While people on both sides of the border initially cheered the long-waited lifting of the travel ban, problems with Mexico’s vaccine certification documents and news of longer border wait times have become a significant concern.

“I have relatives on the other side who I haven’t seen in 19 months,” said Luis Angel Reyes.

Reyes spent Wednesday morning in line with 1,200 other Tijuana residents outside of the Secretaria del Bienestar in Zona Rio. That’s the building where people who have problems with their vaccination certificates go to request corrections.

Watch the full report below or on KPBS here.

Gustavo Solis is an Investigative Border Reporter at KPBS. In 2018, he was part of a team of reporters who shared a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism.

Co-published with KPBS.