Continuing the Mexican residency saga (See previous entry for first update HERE)

Anita and I are trying to get our Permanent Resident Visas (Residente Permanente)– we went home Monday with our tail between our legs after being turned away post haste at the INM office. We regrouped.

Below depicts current and previous titles of Mexican Visas

We were given a one page formal copy with 13 procedural items listed – briefly described as follows:

Heading: Change from Residential Temporal to Residente Permanente

Here it should be noted there was no distinction between FM3 and FM2, merely the new category title that was now substituted for both these older visa types. (This would indicate that your previous visa be it FM3 or FM2 would relate to this requested change.

Step 1: Go to www.inm.gob.mx Fill out the online form and bring it in. ONLINE Form Starts HERE.

Step 2: Original and copy of a valid and current Mexican visa (FM3 or FM2)

Step 3: A completed Formato Basico (available on line HERE)

Step 4: Copy of your complete U.S. passport (or other passport from your country).

Step 5: Write a letter explaining your desire to change to Residente Permanente. This will include your having had four years total previous residente temporal. In other words four years of previously living in Mexico. Wording provided to attest to these conditions under penalty of perjury. Tomorrow’s Blog entry will include an ACCEPTED copy of this important letter.

Step 6 (a and b): Supply financial information to prove you meet the requirements – originals and copies. This counts as Step 6,7 and 8

You must supply proof of funds in account(s) equal to 25,000 times Mexican minimum daily wage or about $125,000 USD or 500 times Mexican minimum daily wage or about $2,500 USD per month retirement income for a period of 6 most recent months past.

Step 9: Copy of a household utility bill (usually your CFE bill) in your name from your address.

Step 10: Copy of your Fideicomiso or Escrito (Title) of your house in Mexico. Or in the case of renting, supply a copy of the credentials of the landlord with your lease or a statement of how long you have lived there.

Step 11: 5 small photos; 3 front facing and two right side profile

Step 12: Pay 1000 peso (about $80 usd)  filing fee (to be paid at any Mexican bank).

Step 13: When you return for your card you will be asked to pay 3,815 pesos for the Residente Permanente.

Keep in mind Residente Permanente permits indefinite stays – come and go as you like, no renewals, and includes the right to work, with no approvals or work permits required. All very nice features.

Seems simple enough. But, wait. While these 13 steps (11 really) appear on an official looking document from the Secretary Governor of the Instituto of Migration, reports abound of differing requirements at different INM offices throughout the country – huh?

Some offices do not require the Basic Information Form, There are any number of differing quantities and angles of photos, Some offices have different standards of acceptability of financial information – ours for example: we were turned away demanding bank statements in Spanish (no need to convert U.S. dollars to peso however – “We know how to convert dollars to pesos. We need to know the column headings and descriptions in Spanish however.”).

Finally at the bottom of this form it states you will hear from them in approximately 20 days to receive your new visa card.

Monday at home we photoshop’d our bank statements replacing English terms like ‘Account Type’, ‘Previous Balance’,  ‘Combined Customer Statement’ etc. to Spanish. We rewrote our request letter to included wording that suggested we would be perjuring ourselves to submit any false information. Basically we tidied up all our submissions to more accurately reflect the desires of our local INM office.

Tuesday we returned to the INM Office with what we thought were everything outlined above. Each piece of paper, document or card was scrutinized slowly without comment.

A question came up about the dates of our bank statements – we provided a year’s worth of quarterly statements. There are differing reports on the length of time your financial records should represent.

We provided the receipt for our having each paid the 1000 peso filing fee.

After 20 to 30 minutes our papers were clipped together. We signed a document attesting to our receiving a NUT number and password. This number and password can be used to check on the progress of the process via computer.

We were asked for a phone number – we have none – we provided an email address. And we left to wait out the approximately 20 days.

A number of folks are concerned about their foreign plated vehicles. In the past with an FM2 and Imagrado status you could no longer drive your foreign plated vehicle. How this will be handled with the new Residente Perminente is to be determined.

With this permanent visa you have all the rights of the averae Mexican citizen save voting and owning land in the coastal and border zones.

Our understanding is these forms will go to Oaxaca City where they will be reviewed. Stay Tuned for further information on this hopefully final process to obtain permanent residency in Mexico.

Tomorrow we will discuss specifics to item 5 including some discussion about who is eligible to apply for Residenete Permentente.