hey Kelly, sorry about all that crap! I think they are just covering their backs with all the problems they have going on at the moment. My fm2 is still not ready and I paid for it 2 weeks ago (it's been authorised, all they have to do is type in the little green book)! I was told on Thursday that they have half the amount of staff they used to, maybe they are just asking you for papers to bide their time and give themselves some breathing space. :lol:
An update on trying to register my FM3 obtained at a consulate in the U.S. and registering it here at the immigration office in Cancun: Trip #4 to Immigration: :evil: Trip #5 to Immigration: :banghead: Trip #6 to Immigration: :breathefire: ... and I still don't have my FM3 back and no end in sight to the runaround. I have given them everything they have asked for and they keep coming up with new reasons to make me come back. And I need to go to the U.S. Does anyone know the procedure for getting permission to travel while this is in process? They told me to buy my ticket for Saturday (tomorrow) and they would have my FM3 today if I brought my plane ticket to them today. I did that, and they turned me down cold and said don't come back for a week. And now I am out the money I spent on the plane ticket. :rant:
From memory, whenever Immigration took my FM3 off me for an update, they gave me a letter stating such, because legally you are required to produce your FM3 (or that letter) on demand. That letter is the one you use if you need to leave the country while they have your FM3. You didn't get a letter?
I had to get a special letter done up when I left the country while my FM3 was in process. Since the payroll company took care of it all, I don't know what was required. All I did was sign. However. Don't tell anyone I told you this, because they'll probably think I'm giving bad advice, but I know several people that just said they lost their FMT at the airport and then came back in on a new FMT and carried on with their FM3 as if nothing went wrong. If you want to do it the right way, you may want to contact kim for her contact to help you. I'm not sure I helped. But it was fun trying!
The downtown office is in chaos still. Heads have been rolling there. It's amazing anything is getting done. If they aren't making sense it's probably got nothing to do with your specific case and everything to do with the fact that people are being forced to resign and other people are being moved into that office. Basically I think that there are so many new people in that office right now that half the staff is still being trained. And at the airport they are very short-staffed and don't have enough agents to cover the current shifts. Terminal 3 is about to open and they won't have enough people in place to take care of it. All of this means that every INM agent you come across these days is being asked to work extra hours and to put up with a lot of extra crap at work. So if you are the one person who is actually polite to them all day you will benefit greatly.
Drewbert - Thanks. I don't have a letter, but they gave me a copy of my "solicitud de tramite migratorio" (one of the forms I filled out) that is stamped with a seal and the date is was received. So maybe this is the same as the letter you mentioned? Do you know if with the letter you can just go to immigration at the airport on the day of departure the same was as if you had the FM3? Elizabeth - I thought of that too. hehe. But there is a big old Mexican visa taking up one page of my U.S. passport that I'm thinking they will see if I'm sent to Immigration due to a lost FMT... and I'd be caught red-handed and that wouldn't be good... Rivergirl - Thanks for the explanation of why the office may be in chaos. But as far as politeness, I have been 100% polite throughout, to the point where it is almost painful to keep smiling and not get angry, and it hasn't helped, but I'm sure it hasn't hurt either. Everyone leaving there yesterday looked like they were going to blow up as soon as they walked out the door - an emotional release from being polite while frustrated - including me, and Kel when I ran into her there.
Gringa - The letter Drew speaks of is different from your stamped copy of your application. With the letter you can just go to the airport and leave. But make sure the letter gives you permission to both leave and to return, and you will have to show it when you return. I'm sure you were as polite as can be, knowing you. But everyday I'm hearing stories of how awful people are to the agents. Americans and Cuban-Americans especially often have such a strong sense of entitlement that they seem to often lack common courtesy for authority. And right now, at the airport, one of the bosses in particular isn't putting up with their obnoxiousness, so lots of them are getting in trouble and are not being allowed to enter Mexico.
If I'm correct, the letter is seperate from the document you already have gringa. In addition to that if I remember correctly you have to have the letter stamped when you leave and when you come back in and thats got to be handed back into immigration so that the know you came back. There might have been two letters, one that they keep at the airport, and one they stamp....but I'm foggy on it as it's been a while.
Ok, I have been on vacation but have had three visits to Imm since I last posted, all pretty frustrating, for a total of about 6 more hours. BUT......I am APPROVED and paid for as of today, they said to go back next week to pick it up. Yahooooooo, next step, citizenship! Just as a heads up for those going through the process as an employee, they are really cracking down on having everything "just right", including the "expediente basico" which apparently is a "new" thing required of everyone. My employer had included a letter stating the e.b. was in immigration which was all they had to do in the past, but the new subdelegado is asking for the "official" certificate saying they have the e.b.. My employer didn't have it, didn't know what it was and didn't know what to do and it seems that most people are in the same position based on the frantic cel phone calls outside imm which all seemed to revolve around "Necessito un EXPEDIENTE BASICO". I have never heard the word repeated so often. My employer has lots and lots of FM3 employees and are in constant contact with imm, so for them not to know about it was a weird thing indeed. Just FYI!
I'm so glad everything worked out for you, what a relief! Now you can forget about it til next year, although maybe you can get citizenship before then. That's what I want to do.
