Immigration Changes?

[Michele]

I am heading off to a meeting at Bancomer today. I will let you know what their policies are. We have been VERY pleased with all of our activities there.

[Tony&Cheri]

Originally Posted by mayaplayagrandma

Libby my understanding of this process is, once you get your pemiso to leave, you will be allowed 30 days out of the country. The fm3 process is put on hold until you return. Then its another wait.

I am talking to my lawyer today about this very issue. Mine is up for renewal-it expires June 25th. I am returning to the states on Aug. 14th for 28 days. I may have some issues with my elderly parents and may have to return later than required on my permiso. Curious what will happen if I just cannot return. I will let you know what he says.

We have gone through this every year. Our FM3 renewal has always taken 3-4 months and during that time we have always traveled. It's a simple process. You need a copy of your passport, proof of airline itinerary, a letter explaining the trip, times etc., and the required fee. Immigration issues a letter which allows you out of and back into the country. Upon return you must give the document back to Immigration within five days of your return (we suppose so you can't use it twice). When you leave the airport in Cancun you'll still need to stop at Immigration first and fill out the little white slip like always, and you'll still need the copy of that plus your original letter to get back into Mexico.

Immigration says they need at least three business days to prepare the document ...but we always give them at least a week...it's Mexico after all.

[Libby]

Originally Posted by Tony&Cheri

We have gone through this every year. Our FM3 renewal has always taken 3-4 months and during that time we have always traveled. It's a simple process. You need a copy of your passport, proof of airline itinerary, a letter explaining the trip, times etc., and the required fee. Immigration issues a letter which allows you out of and back into the country. Upon return you must give the document back to Immigration within five days of your return (we suppose so you can't use it twice). When you leave the airport in Cancun you'll still need to stop at Immigration first and fill out the little white slip like always, and you'll still need the copy of that plus your original letter to get back into Mexico.

Immigration says they need at least three business days to prepare the document ...but we always give them at least a week...it's Mexico after all.

We've done this several times as well. But I think mayaplayagrandma's point is that they stop processing your FM-3 when you leave the country. So, if you were to go to the States to wait for your FM-3 to be ready, apparently you'd be waiting a heck of a long time. I've never heard this before, so I can't confirm.

[boone]

Question I have about banking...
I have an account at Scotia and have not been very happy with some of (one of) their employees and the way I was treated. This was the one on Constituyentes...never had a nasty person before in MX at all. Anyway, I have not seen on the CFE website that you can pay your electric from your Scotia bank account. Is that true or is it possible? I did email a rep. at Bancomer who I'm going to set an appt with next week. He was very nice and responded quickly to my email asking for what I needed to open an account. He said I need my passport, FMT, and CFE or other utility bill no older than 3 months. I have all that and will visit him...but, I want the ability to pay the CFE online which is the whole purpose of this adventure. CFE does have a link to Bancomer on their site. Anyone do this?
Thank you so much for your input.
Sue

[Tony&Cheri]

Originally Posted by Libby

We've done this several times as well. But I think mayaplayagrandma's point is that they stop processing your FM-3 when you leave the country. So, if you were to go to the States to wait for your FM-3 to be ready, apparently you'd be waiting a heck of a long time. I've never heard this before, so I can't confirm.

I don't think this is true - at least it never has been for us and we've never been told that any of the times we traveled. What may be true is that unless you're pushing it along, progress stops (which seems to be true about most government processes here), but it's not an official stop process or anything like that. Sounds like whoever was processing it used that as a great excuse for delay! Besides, a system like that would require far more sophistication than we've ever seen out of the PDC Immigration office!

~Cheri

[JudyBluEyes]

We just got back from Migracion a little while ago and for what it's worth this is how it went. We are renewing our retirement FM3s so I don't know if it is the same for others.

Yes, they are doing FM3s here in Playa. They were not too busy, I have heard that they no longer allow lawyers at this office, and we only saw one with multiple papers, so maybe that is why.

We tried to bring everything we would need, and when we checked in we found we were only short a few copies. Here is what we brought:

Passports and copies of all pages of our passports. (They actually only needed the pages with stamps on them.. )
FM3s and copies of all pages, including the cover.
Proof of an address here, electric bill.
Letter from our landlord, or a copy of lease.
Financial statement from our bank. (We just printed this off the internet.)
Application form and one copy.
Letter to Instituto Nacional De Migracion (Get this from the notary/copy place right outside Migracion)

First thing we noticed was the people working there now speak English. We brought a Mexican friend with us just in case because our Spanish isn't so great yet. The wait was not long, half an hour maybe. We turned in our papers, everything was stamped, and we were told to return next Friday to see if our FM3s were ready and to pay the fees. It was pretty simple and straightforward, and they were friendly. So that's how it stands... we'll see next week what happens, so stayed tuned.....

[PlayadelSoul]

Originally Posted by JudyBluEyes

We just got back from Migracion a little while ago and for what it's worth this is how it went. We are renewing our retirement FM3s so I don't know if it is the same for others.

Yes, they are doing FM3s here in Playa. They were not too busy, I have heard that they no longer allow lawyers at this office, and we only saw one with multiple papers, so maybe that is why.

We tried to bring everything we would need, and when we checked in we found we were only short a few copies. Here is what we brought:

Passports and copies of all pages of our passports. (They actually only needed the pages with stamps on them.. )
FM3s and copies of all pages, including the cover.
Proof of an address here, electric bill.
Letter from our landlord, or a copy of lease.
Financial statement from our bank. (We just printed this off the internet.)
Application form and one copy.
Letter to Instituto Nacional De Migracion (Get this from the notary/copy place right outside Migracion)

First thing we noticed was the people working there now speak English. We brought a Mexican friend with us just in case because our Spanish isn't so great yet. The wait was not long, half an hour maybe. We turned in our papers, everything was stamped, and we were told to return next Friday to see if our FM3s were ready and to pay the fees. It was pretty simple and straightforward, and they were friendly. So that's how it stands... we'll see next week what happens, so stayed tuned.....

Like I said, earlier, I really like this new delegado.

[Libby]

Wow, that's awesome Judy. I hope that guy is still around when we have to renew again in 5 months!

[JudyBluEyes]

We went and picked up our FM3s today. It took a little over 2 weeks for the whole process, but like I said before, we were renewing retirement visas. It was pretty easy today. Once it was established that our FM3s were ready we got a form from migracion and took it to the bank to pay our fees. We went to Banorte in Plaza Pelicanos, took about 10 minutes. Then back to migracion and turned in our reciepts and tres copias, waited about half an hour and we were done! And btw, everyone there spoke English, even the guys who were there last year but couldn't (or wouldn't ).

[OregonDeb]

Congrats !! Now that business is done we need to find a pool

[Libby]

Congratulations Judy! Glad to hear the process was relatively easy and stress-free for you!

[marissab]

Originally Posted by JudyBluEyes

We just got back from Migracion a little while ago and for what it's worth this is how it went. We are renewing our retirement FM3s so I don't know if it is the same for others.

Yes, they are doing FM3s here in Playa. They were not too busy, I have heard that they no longer allow lawyers at this office, and we only saw one with multiple papers, so maybe that is why.

We tried to bring everything we would need, and when we checked in we found we were only short a few copies. Here is what we brought:

Passports and copies of all pages of our passports. (They actually only needed the pages with stamps on them.. )
FM3s and copies of all pages, including the cover.
Proof of an address here, electric bill.
Letter from our landlord, or a copy of lease.
Financial statement from our bank. (We just printed this off the internet.)
Application form and one copy.
Letter to Instituto Nacional De Migracion (Get this from the notary/copy place right outside Migracion)

First thing we noticed was the people working there now speak English. We brought a Mexican friend with us just in case because our Spanish isn't so great yet. The wait was not long, half an hour maybe. We turned in our papers, everything was stamped, and we were told to return next Friday to see if our FM3s were ready and to pay the fees. It was pretty simple and straightforward, and they were friendly. So that's how it stands... we'll see next week what happens, so stayed tuned.....

Judy, where do I get the application form???

[jamnkats]

just ask the agente who staffs the front desk at la migra.

And FWIW, the kids' FM3s are going just as easy as mine did.

[PlayadelSoul]

Quite a few of the employees, there, have studied with us over the years. I always chuckled when I saw them play the "Me no speekie" game. It comes down to the delegado and his/her attitude to immigrants. In the current case, I think the new guy realizes that his office provides a service and, thus, understands the concept of customer service.


Here is hoping he sticks around.

[marissab]

Originally Posted by jamnkats

just ask the agente who staffs the front desk at la migra.

And FWIW, the kids' FM3s are going just as easy as mine did.

So, I am doing my first rentista. I think I have all the papers they need. copies etc.
Is this something I can do on my own?
Easily?

How much does it cost?
And you only pay once it is processed?

And if I have a copy of a cablemas bill not an CFE bill do you think that is okay? for some reason, I can't find my CFE bills and I won't get another one for a while.

THOUGHTS???
ANYONE???

[marissab]

Also, the form I have to fill out...will I understand it in my basic spanish??
Or is it in English too?

Just curious...

thanks

[JudyBluEyes]

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