el crispito

There are a few different types of visas for traveling and living in Mexico. As an American, you do not need one to travel into Mexico's border towns, but if you plan to go 18 miles (30 kilometers) or farther into Mexico, you need to have an FMT, also known as a "tourist card." That lets the visitor stay in Mexico (or make repeated entries and exits, for that matter) for up to 180 days. If you fly into Mexico, the fee (about USD $20) is included in your ticket price. If you cross by land, you have to pay this fee either to the agent at the border (in Tijuana, for example) or at a bank, once you are in the country.

The FM3 visa allows one to stay for one year, and it can be easily renewed each year for five years (after which one must re-apply). One can apply for an FM3 while one is in the United States, or he can 'upgrade' from the FMT to an FM3 after arrival in Mexico. The requirements for the application differ between doing it in the United States and doing it in Mexico, and interpretation of the requirements may differ from consulate to consulate.

Only those readers considering living long-term in Mexico will be interested in what follows, but for those folks, I hope it might give them a better idea of what is really required for an FM3 application (in the Guadalajara immigration office, at least, in September of 2007). When I looked things up online, the answers about the prerequisites only seemed to raise more questions, but I have now been to the immigration office and have found out exactly what they want. It should be noted that this is only half of the process. Officially, I have only submitted a request to apply for an FM3 visa, which means I have submitted all the paperwork, it will be reviewed for compliance with the regulations, and in about 10 days, they will inform me what I need to do to have the application processed and approved.

I will list what the instruction document says (typos and errors in grammar included) first, then I will relate what that actually means.

Fill out the application form, correctly and signed by applicant.

There is a form that one must get from the immigration authority (here in Guadalajara, it's the immigration office in the federal building downtown). It asks very basic questions, like the applicant's age, his address in Mexico, and country of origin. I filled this out while I was in the office waiting for my turn at the counter.

Original of the unexpired Migratory Document of the foreigner.

For me, this was the FMT that I got the last time I entered the country (in this case, flying into Mexico City as we returned from Buenos Aires). For nearly everyone applying for an FM3 within the country of Mexico, it will be the FMT that they got when they entered.

Original valid passport and submit a photocopy of each page, even if the pages are in blank. (You should submit BOTH the original and the photocopy to compare them)

Before going to the immigration office, I went to a papelería (paper store - these almost always can make copies for a fee) and had a copy of every single page of my passport made, including the cover. Yes, most pages were blank, and I had a big stack of copies as a result, but they will require it. You must not skip any pages or they will send you off to the papelería to try again. Bring along your passport to the office when you submit your paperwork, so they can verify that the copies turned in match the genuine article. After verification by the agent (while you wait at the counter), the passport will be returned to you.

Original and three photocopies of the receipt of immigration taxes payment of the corresponding fee of $444.00 per foreigner, for the concept of revision, exam, and study of the procedure, this payment shall be made with the form, key number 400001. Must be payable in Mexican pesos at any Financial Institute in Mexico.

(See how this can be confusing?)

There is an processing fee of MXN $444 for the application (distinct from the fee to be paid when one actually gets the FM3) that must be paid at a bank. It cannot be paid at the immigration office. We went to the bank with the form, filled out the form (again, just name and address stuff) at the counter, paid the 444 pesos and got a receipt of that payment. We were lucky in that the immigration office in Guadalajara has a copy center. We didn't have to stop somewhere else to get the three copies of the receipt, we did it as we waited to be called to the counter. They keep the original and two copies, and they let you keep one copy as your receipt of paying the fee.

NOTE. If your procedure is authorized, you must pay the correspondent fee.

This just means that if the request for an FM3 is granted, there is another fee. The aforementioned fee is only for processing the application.

Letter in Spanish addressed to the proper immigration authorities, the body of the letter must include your full name, current address, a request to change your immigration status and the reasons you decide it.

This is where it starts to get weird. Luckily, the woman at the counter told us verbatim what to write. I provide my letter here merely as an example; other applicants in other places at other times might have to write something completely different. It is advised that you ask someone in immigration what the letter has to say, and they will probably be very helpful.

I transcribed the following down by hand on a blank sheet of paper as the agent dictated it (and Larry and Charles repeated it as necessary). I turned it in just like that. It did not need to be typed.

Instituto Nacional de Migración

A quien corresponda:

Por medio de la presente me dirijo a ustedes, yo John Christopher Coen con domicilio en Avenida Cubilete [specifics deleted], Colonia Chapalita Sur, Zapopan, Jalisco 45050, de nacionalidad estadounidense, requiero mi cambio de características de turista a no inmigrante visitante rentista.

John Christopher Coen
19 septiembre 2007

Note there are really no reasons stated as to why I am applying. Perhaps that would be different if I were involved in a business. Then I might have to state the name of the business or the nature of the work I would be doing.

Proof of monthly income. The minimum total monthly needed is the equivalent of 250 times of the actual minimum daily wage in Mexico City.

Yeah. I don't know exactly how one would go about finding the current minimum daily wage in Mexico City [note: see link in comments below], but I'm presuming that 250 times that would be under USD $1500. Several sources I've seen cite this as the figure in dollars that foreigners have to have, although they never show their math. I suspect that the immigration office agents could tell you what this figure needs to be, but USD $1500 should cover it for the time being.

I took in printouts of the PDF files I download from the Wells Fargo site each month that are the only monthly statements I receive from them. It seems this is now very common - people apply with only computer printouts of their financial records - as the agent asked us (in Spanish, of course), "These are from the Internet?" They are obviously not statements mailed out from a bank; they are on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of unfolded plain white paper, but those are the only statements I can get. Banks in the United States are not going to mail their account holders in another country. I'm not sure they even still send out print statements when their customers are in the United States.

There's a little note that says that if you own property in Mexico, you only have to have 1/2 of that amount monthly, but then you have to turn in notarized copies of the deed or trust. I don't own property here, so I can't say anything more about that.

There is also a section at this point that talks about the requirements if someone else is acting on behalf of the foreigner applying for the FM3. More or less, the representative has to have identification and power of attorney. Again, I don't know about that stuff because I did it myself (with a fair bit of help from Larry and Charles, of course).

You must present a photocopy of valid proof of address of the foreigner, such as Gas bills, telephone bills, water bills or electricity bills. (No more than 90 days old)

Long-time readers may remember my writing about how the electric bill is used for all kinds of identification and validation purposes in Mexico. Here it is being used to verify that I live where I claim to live. Nevermind that the electric bill is not in my name (it is in the name of some person that lived here before us, and not even the last person to live here before us). The fact that I have the electric bill in my posession is proof enough that I live at the address stated on the bill. Otherwise, how would I have access to it? (At least, that is the thinking behind it.)

I went with both a photocopy and the original, again for verification purposes, and they returned the original to me before I left.

The agent reviewed all my materials and upon noting that they appeared to be complete, she gave me a document that replaces the FMT she took from me. It is more or less just a letter, albeit a very official one, stating that I am in the process of applying for a visa, and this is why, should any official stop me and ask for my FMT, I do not have one. It also says that I am to return to the immigration office a week from Friday, on the 28th of September, when I will be given further instructions.

My understanding is, on that day, I will be told whether or not I will be getting an FM3, and what I need to do to finalize the procedure. This will include getting photographs of a specific size (similar to, but different dimensions from passport photos) and paying the fee for the visa itself.

The fee for the visa itself is rather high - on the order of a couple of hundred bucks, if I remember correctly. Even so, it's cheaper than airfare in and out of the country twice a year.

[continue reading part two of three in this series]