Windknot wrote: There's not likely a detail which cannot be covered, but I'll hit the high points, as I understand them now, without doing any extra research. Others can fill in, clarify, and correct, as necessary. FMT allows you to enter and exit, one time, and remain for the period specified when you entered Mexico, which can be up to 180 days. Allows you to travel within Mexico, remain within Mexico, look for work, discuss business possibilities (without actually conducting business), and generally enjoy and get to know the country. Can be renewed within the country and, failing in that, by traveling out of the country and returning you can, in most instances, get another 180 days. FMT does not give permission to work. FM3 is permission to live in Mexico for up to one year in a "non-immigrant" status. It can also permit other activities beyond that allowed in the FMT, if requested and approved at the time of its issuance; for example, to work. For a full list of all the possible FM3s in Mexico, see the thread, "Navigating Immigration, Cancun". Most FM3s are obtained, in country. They can be renewed, indefinitely, so long as you meet the requirements of the visa, each time you renew. There are no limits to how often you may come and go from the country, nor how long you may remain outside Mexico. FM2 is permission to live in Mexico for up to one year in an "immigrant" status, the path you must have if you wish, ultimately, to become a citizen. In Cancun, it has been the practice to require people to remain in a "non-immigrant" status for five years, prior to allowing them "immigrant" status (a change from an FM3 to an FM2), but no where in Mexican Law is there such a requirement and, in theory, it would be possible to immediately apply for an FM2, after you had entered the country. The FM2s also can be used as a vehicle for permission to perform various activities, here, including work. The FM2 has an interesting drawback: you cannot be out of Mexico more than 18 months during any five year period. After a number of years in "immigrant" status (FM2), you can apply for permanent residency. (Exact number of years differs for different categories of immigrants: I'll leave it to someone else to look it up, or tell you.) I've only known one person who has this status, opting not to become a Mexican Citizen for fear of falling under the full weight of the Mexican Judicial System, should any bad luck befall him. The advantages of permanent residency are that you no longer have to make annual trips to immigration to renew; you can own property in the coastal zones, directly, rather than through a fideocomiso, or corporation; and, you are free to take any job in Mexico, without having to get permission of immigration. Mexican Citizenship, for a foreigner, apparently carries with it every right except the right to vote. A fairly respectable number of foreigners living in Quintana Roo have elected to obtain citizenship: a number of them post to this forum. I'm not going to go into any further detail, and I need to give the other posters a chance to correct any misstatements they may have found in what's been written, here, so far. I've intentionally not commented on things like import of cars and household goods, in part because I have no experience with it, and little knowledge of it. I've also not gone into detail about the time frame for moving through FM2 to Citizenship, for the same reasons. Others will know, or be happy to look it up for you.
I will leave all of the other errors and misstatements to others more involved in the processes at the moment but a naturalized Mexican citizen can most certainly vote.
