visa familiar You know, this is REALLY strange because the two people at the counter agreed that it couldn't be done, then one went to the back to inquire further and came back with the same response. However, that form you showed me is dated Nov 8, 2012 and they told me the changes took effect Nov 7, 2012, so it must be current. I did have a form dated Oct 2012, but they could have told me to just print out the new form instead of sending us back to Houston. A friend of mine went to INM the other day and she waited 4 hours also, to be told her visa wasn't ready. I don't see any improvement, so far. Thanks for the tip. Will definitely argue further.
Tristan, you need to think this over carefully. You applied under the old law, which I think would have allowed the change you asked for (FMM to residente, based on family relationships), but I won't bother to look it up. One option, and this is why you need legal counsel, is to ask them if you could proceed under the new law, instead, as it clearly works for you. You may find it's necessary to abandon the previous application, officially, then re-apply under the new law. This problem is solvable, but at times you have to know more than those you're dealing with to get things done for your benefit: when I applied for permanent residency, based on points, they were reluctant to accept my application as they had never dealt with one before. I asked them to read my letter in which I explained everything they needed to understand about it, and then they agreed to take the case. As for effective date of the new law, I believe everything filed on or after Nov 12, 2012, is governed by the new law.
No, we weren't allowed to apply at all, so we have no application pending. There shouldn't be any trouble with starting fresh. I've dealt with these people for 11 years, so nothing surprises me. I speak fluent spanish, too, so I don't think there'll be any problem now that I have something to show them. Thanks, again.
I am just a guy but would have preferred to apply under the new law. But my "FM2" would have expired, and the grace period passed, so I would have no doubt created a nightmare had I waited. Hey V, you know I am a "stickler". Jaja
Then you can, as you said, start fresh. Some in your situation will run afoul of the new financial requirements for sponsoring a dependent member of the family into the country. Before you jump in, you might consider how strong a case you could make. The financial requirement is something like $2,500 USD per month income, from all sources. This could be managed, in my opinion, for those with less income than this, with a showing that you own your own home, that you have significant money on deposit, and that your living expenses are moderate (generating a family budget). Showing that you´re enrolled in IMSS, which would make it possible to add your child to the family coverage, could also help make the case that you can afford the extra expense. (If you were supporting the dependent abroad, you can use the expenses you were covering for that living expense to show that money would be freed up to support the child in Mexico.) In putting a case together, it´s important to put everything that could be helpful into the mix.
I suppose you're focusing on going from FMM to temporary resident, with permission to work. This thread has already mentioned two situations in which FMMs to temporary residents can be done in Mexico. I don't know if Tracey caught what I was saying about how her daughter's case could have been handled, allowing her to enter Mexico, and stay, on an FMM; then, convert to temporary resident with permission to work. It's convoluted, would have involved more expense, but her daughter would not have had to languish abroad, as she is now. My feeling is that INM was more apt to give permission to work in Mexico under the old system, where the potential employee is already here, than to give permission when that person hasn't even entered the country. (Not sure if everybody will follow this, but the notion is "why bring someone from abroad when you haven't tried to find someone here, whether Mexican or non Mexican?" I think the criteria will just naturally be more stringent. The fact is there is a human element in the making of legal decisions, and it has to be managed in the presentation of a case by anticipating how an application will be perceived on the other side. I would expect a case of this type to require a higher showing of unique qualifications than was the case, formerly.)
Improvements I don't really see any improvement in this new system. In fact, it's worse if you only need some quick information, because you have to wait behind everyone, regardless of why they're there. As I recall, the system was much better several years ago. I lived in Yucatan for two years and you would swear you're in another country. There were no lines of more than 5 or 10 people. It took about 15 minutes to get in and you sat down in front of an agent at her desk. They gave you a phone number to call to see if your visa was ready so you didn't hve to waste a trip and my visa was always ready in 2 weeks. I realize Cancun must have a lot more people to process, but the dignity and professionalism with which you are treated in Merida is totally absent in Cancun. Recently, my wife had occasion to apply for citizenship and had to correct something that INM had incorrectly placed in her file. When we tried to get it corrected, we were told it was impossible that the mistake could have been made and the agent wouldn't even look it up. He told me in front of everyone there that he "didn't want to be rude", which he was already being, and blew me off. We came back with a print out that SRE gave us and put it in front of his face. The guy just said, "I don't see how that could have happened", as the egg slid off his face.
Of course I don´t know what it was that you wanted to ask, so this may be irrelevant, but the woman who works outside, who hands out turns, now functions as the first ¨information¨ person in the system. She has replaced many of the functions that the former information desk performed, and is accessible without taking a number. As for me I rely little on the INM personnel for answers to questions about immigration, preferring to go to the law and regulations first, then the INM website to know what can and can´t be done, and the requirements for each. Staff can be wrong, wrongly informed, or indifferent, making them less than a fully reliable source of information. Take the question you had, earlier, where three people at INM gave you what appears to be incorrect information. The law, the regs and the online information from INM, including the online applications, are all in harmony on the question you asked about getting your daughter permission to reside here. That you were told something different doesn´t change the fact.
That's exactly right, but they never were any of those in Merida. Not everyone can read and understand exactly what immigration law means. They shouldn't have to rely on it. That's what the agents are supposed to be for. Admittedly, we ran into much of the same at U.S. immigration. However, someone told me once, it shouldn't be easy to immigrate to someone else's country. If it's too much trouble, don't do it. Despite what some people may think, you don't have a god given right to live in someone else's country. At the same time, Mexicans think they have a god given right to enter the U.S. illegally and stay.
It's true that you start dealing with bureaucracies and you encounter much the same problems, everywhere. I'm grateful here that I can deal with the people, face to face, and that I can go back as much as I like. I also like that the staff are all professionals (even if greatly undertrained). This contrasts with the U.S. Embassies and Consulates, where the most junior of diplomats are first assigned to handling the visa applications and become little tyrants, knowing there is no appeal process from their decisions to grant, or deny, a visa application. Here, I would be confident that, if I felt an error had been made, I could get an audience with the Delegado, himself. I like that, on this website, there is often a reasonable exchange of information on immigration, instead of just pissing and moaning about how bad it is. I cite as an example, the postings of Limejello. ToriB called me "Mr Positive" earlier on this thread, but actually I focus on how to get things done, rather than how bad it is, and this means I can move things along as necessary for me, and my wife. I suppose this is as good a time as any to "come out" and say I'm a U.S. licensed attorney. The legal training makes all this just a little more intelligible to me. Tristan, you sound like a reasonable person and I bet you can make this system work for you in regard to your daughter. If you'd like to meet and have a confidential, informal chat about it I'd be happy to take the time, looking at the ins and outs of the situation as it presents itself, now. It would be my pleasure.
