Diallng the US and Canada from Mexico

The international access code from Mexico is 00, and the country code for the US is 1 (the same as the long-distance code in the US and Canada).

To dial a US number from Mexico, just add 00-1 to the start. So to reach (760) 555 0123 it's 00-1-760-555-0123.

The same applies to call any numbers in the "1" country code (including Canada and some Caribbean countries such as the Cayman Islands). For example a number in Victoria, BC would be 00 1 (250) 555 1212.

Exception: US 800 numbers are dialled differently, see later in this article.

On most mobile phones (cellphones), you can replace the international access code (00 from Mexico) with a + sign (on some phones you get a plus by pressing and holding the zero. on Nokia phones it's the * key twice). So that makes a US number +1 760 555 0123. If you save a number to your phone book in that format, you can call it from any country without having to know the local international access code (unfortunately some US networks don't handle this correctly, but it's standard everywhere else).

Dialling other countries from Mexico

To call any other country from Mexico, it's the international access code (00, or + from mobile), followed by the country code and the local number.

For many countries like the UK and Australia, first drop the leading zero on the local number. So London UK 0207 123 4567 would be 00 44 207 123 4567, Sydney Australia 02 9988 7766 is 00 61 2 9988 7766.

Dialling long distance within Mexico

To dial a landline outside of your area code in Mexico, prefix the ten digit number with 01. A Mexicali number 686 123 4567 becomes 01 686 123 4567 from elsewhere in Mexico.

To dial a long distance cellphone from a landline, prefix the number with 045 instead.

To dial long distance from a mobile of one area code, to a mobile of another code, just dial the full ten digit number like 686 123 4567.

Dialling a local number in Mexico

San Felipe (and Mexicali) are in the Mexican area code 686. If you are in 686, and want to call another number in 686, dial just the final seven digits, such as 576 0000.

Exception: to call a local mobile (cellphone) from a local landline, add 044 to the start of the number,AND the area code, like 044 686 123 4567. It's not usually necessary to dial 044 in front of a local cellphone number when calling it from another local cellphone.

Dialling Mexico from the US or Canada

To call a Mexican landline from the US or Canada, dial the international access code (011 from those countries), then the country code 52 for Mexico, the Mexican area code such as 686, then the local numer. So 011 52 686 576 0000.

It's different if you are calling a mexican cellphone (mobile phone). Uniquely, Mexico has a special way to dial them, you have to add a 1 after the country code and before the area code. So calling a Mexican mobile from the US is 011 52 1 686 123 4567.

Dialling Mexico from other counties

When calling Mexico from countries outside of North America, the rules are the same: the international access code, then 52 then the area code then the number. For most countries, the international access code is 00 (or + can be used as well from a mobile). So it'd be 00 52 686 576 0000, or +52 686 576 0000, from most countries. Australia uses 0011 as their international access code, so from there it's 0011 52 686 576 0000.

Again, if you're calling a Mexican mobile phone you need to insert the 1 after the country code. So it'd be +52 1 686 123 4567 to call a Mexican mobile from a mobile in nearly any other country.

US 800 numbers

There's a special case if you want to call a US 800 (toll free) number from Mexico. These numbers are NOT free from Mexico, and you need to alter the area code to make them work.

An 800 number is dialled as 001 880 followed by the number (so 1-800-555-1212 becomes 001 880 555 1212).

For other toll-free numbers, replace the area code 888 with 881, 877 with 882, and 866 with 883. For example, 1-877-555-1212 becomes 001 882 555 1212. Not all toll free numbers will work this way because the owner of the toll free number can set restrictions on where calls are received from (such as the US only, or certain states only).