Hola All, I'm Rob from the bookstore in Puerto Morelos. It's FM3 renewal time for us again, this will be our sixth one, which means we get to pose for mug shots again. Our FM3 is due for renewal in early March and unfortunately, the timing could not be worse. Joanne's mother is very sick in Canada and Joanne has been flying back and forth. I know that you can get a letter to get permission to leave the country while our FM3 is being processed. What I am unclear on is how I get the letter. Do I get it after I apply for the FM3 or at the same time. Do they need to make the letter for me? How long does that take? Timing is critical, we may have to leave in great haste. We usually pay our lawyer to do our FM3 for us, but we have found it very frustrating (and expensive) the last couple of years, so we thought we'd try to apply on our own. We may have picked a bad year to do so! Thanks for your help. Rob
One of my teachers just went through this same situation. She gave Immigration a letter explaining she would be out of the country while her prorroga was being processed, and they gave her a permission letter, which she showed Immigration at the airport. It was a relatively painless exercise and took a couple of days (in Playa). Since you are at 6 years, why not go FM2? Fewer questions asked, I have found.
We are out of the country too much, we travel and go back to Canada for several months a year. So we should present a letter asking for a permission letter?
The Immigration office in Cancun had a printout of things required in this situation. In my case, they said that would be too complicated and that I should just wait and renew once back. Of course, I didn't have a situation like yours. I know that TJ has had to do this, as he goes back and forth quite a bit. Definitely no problem getting this done. Good luck!
Rob - I'm currently reading a book I bought in your lovely store. I will ask my hubby, the INM agent, about this when he gets home tonight. But the others are right that you will be able to get a letter giving you permission to leave while stuff is in process. I do think it's better to start the renewal process, then get the letter and then leave, rather than leaving, letting the FM3s expire and then coming back an trying to fix it. In my experience they are not as good to you if you let stuff expire. My understanding is that you need to write a letter asking for the letter, that's the way they do things here...paper trails a mile wide. I will find out more if I can and will let you know later.
RiverGirl, Thank you for checking, I really appreciate it. Do you imagine there is a giant warehouse somewhere near Mexico City where they keep all this paperwork? (and copies of the paperwork)
Well there is a huge warehouse in Bonfil (south side of Cancun) where they keep some paperwork. But it had "problems" in Wilma, and lots of stuff got wet.
Rob - I got a little more info for you. Basically it's bad to let your FM3 expire AND THEN leave, they will hate you if you do that. And if you leave and then it expires while you are gone they will let you back in but it won't be fun. They will likely take you into the INM office at the airport and yell at you for a while when you come back. I think there's a 30 day grace period, or un-grace period from the sounds of it. So the best is to go talk to them in the main office. Explain the whole deal. If you can start the renewal process and then get the letter giving you permission to leave and re-enter that will be best. Those letters are normal, the agents in the airport see them everyday and won't give you any hassle if you have one. Hubby didn't know the process for getting the letter, he just knows the letter is what you want.
I have gottem the letter and it was painless can't remember if they wrote it or just told me what to write, but it is not a painfull memory :wink:
RiverGirl, Thank you so much for the info. We're hoping to start the process next week. We'll either learn how to do it ourselves or go crying back to our lawyer and never attempt it ourselves again. There isn't anyone out there who helps with writing the letters and filling out the forms is there? We heard there is a man in Playa that has an office right outside of immigration and will help with anything.
