Last Friday I headed to Migracion with V's instructions handy. The guy at the desk to the right was quite helpful. He said it would take a few minutes if I was "in the system" but, if not, he would have to call Archives and they would have to dig out a hard copy and that could take a couple of hours. Of course, my FM3 number was not in the system and no one answered the phone at Archives. BUT, my old FM3 was so full of stamps, at my last renewal I got a new booklet with a new number. I asked him if he could check my old number which was easy to memorize. It was in the system and 5 minutes later I walked out of there with the case number added to page 5 or 6 of the FM3. Then I was off to the back entrance of the Registro Civil building at the NW corner of Parque las Palapas. There were 6 or more people waiting for results but no one in line at the window. The lady tried to tell me that I needed something else but when informed that I had what I needed according to the rules, it took maybe 3 or 4 minutes and I was out of there with my CURP in hand. Then it was off to the hinterlands to DFI. In the area of Ruta 5 and Lombardo. The taxi driver from the Parque drove right to the spot. Once there, the office described by V, was empty. Walking to the closest open office a gentleman told me that there was a hold on the new INAPAM cards until approximately March 1, and gave me a number to call to check. Now if I can only find where I put that number. V said the final step takes about 30 minutes so I am good to go come March 1 or so. I am busing back and forth to Merida each week at a cost of over $700, so a 50% discount would be greatly appreciated. Cheers,
INAPAM application process For those who might like to follow T.J.'s lead, and apply for an INAPAM card, here is the step-by-step for all you holders of an FM2/3 who are at least 60 years of age. This is one of the quickest and easiest of the many bureaucratic processes you will go through during your stay in Mexico, if you want to fully take advantage of all that is offered, here. To apply for your INAPAM card, you'll need the following, originals: your passport (you may or may not be asked for this, to prove you're at least 60 years of age); your FM2/3; your C.U.R.P. (Clave Unica de Registro de Poblacion, a unique personal I.D. number assigned you by the Mexican Government), and your proof of residence address. Your proof of residence address must be of the same quality as that used to secure your FM2/3; that is, proof of your actual residence in Mexico, which can be a paid utility bill, bearing your actual address, for a utility service which is billed in your name; or, if the utility account is in the name of another, then, in addition- a letter from that person, 1) signed under a declaration they are telling the truth; which 2) shows the address of the property; and, 3) names you as living there, with 4) the date on which you began living there- together with a copy of their personal identification. T.J. has recently told me that you will also need two photos: I'll leave it up to him to fill in the details on that requirement, when he has time. You take these, and go to the offices of D.I.F., Desarollo Integral de la Familia, just below Av. Miguel Hidalgo, Ruta 5, in SM94. When you enter, on the west side of the territory, you will immediately encounter an information/guard booth, where you will be directed to the back of the property, a distance of about 70 meters. If you look around and to the right, after your walk, you will find signs for INAPAM. There is a small office in which enrollments are taking place, easily found. I suggest you try to do this, mid afternoon, as the lines of applicants will probably be shorter, the rush caused by those trying to beat the rush being over. You will need to take a Spanish speaker with you, unless you have confidence in your Spanish, as the whole interview may occur in Spanish. You will be asked to produce all the originals I mentioned earlier, which will be scanned, eliminating the need for you to bring any copies. You will also be fingerprinted, all ten prints, and photographed. At the interview you will be asked many questions relating to the type of dwelling you live in, its furnishings, and equipment. You will be asked, with particularity, about who else lives with you, and who is to be contacted in the event of an emergency. At the end of the process, your originals will be returned to you, and you will be presented with a wonderfully official looking, Government of Mexico I.D. card with, not just one, but two photos of you, your C.U.R.P. number, your signature, your thumbprint, your full name, date of birth, address and phone number; and, the name and phone number of the person to contact in case you're found wandering the streets, unsure of who that person on the card is! [We won't know, until T.J. completes the process, if the formatting of the card has changed from the description I've given, here, which is of mine, obtained some months ago.] After all this, you're now ready to get out there and spend, using your new INAPAM card, which has no expiration date, meaning you only have to go through this process, once! (I asked if it was possible to get a new card, if you change address and phone number, for example: I was told it was possible, but not considered necessary, so far as INAPAM was concerned, establishing your eligibility for the card being a one time affair.) __________________ For those who may, as yet, not have a C.U.R.P. number, here's how you get one. GETTING A C.U.R.P. NUMBER To get your C.U.R.P., go to the Registro Civil, in Cancun, on a street which flows into the Parque de las Palapas, at the northwest corner of the park. The office which dispenses the CURPs is at the back of the building, on an alley, and is easy to find, once you've found the office of the Registro Civil. There is a window with a small sign above it, reading, "CURP." To get your number you present your FM2/3, and wait....... for about thirty seconds! The numbers are generated by a computer and, if there is no one ahead of you, it just takes as long as is required to type in your name on the computer. The office hours are 8 AM to 8:30 PM! As with many things, there can be a catch: you must have an INM case number entered in your FM2/3. To know if you do, look at your FM2/3, and find the page labeled, "Anotaciones de Registro Nacional de Extranjeros". You may see a number, labeled, "Expediente Num," followed by a number starting with, "CUN," and, if you do, that's good! GETTING A "EXPEDIENTE NUMERO" If you have a blank following this notation in your FM2/3, you can correct this by returning to immigration, Cancun, and asking at the desk inside, to the right, against the front wall, that your case number be entered. When they entered mine, it required they make a phone call, and wait for a response from the other agency, followed by entering the number in my FM3, once they had it in hand. It took about 45 minutes, in a busy INM office, for this to be accomplished while I waited. ________________ From this you can see that, even if you had to complete all three steps you could, by starting at around 12N (INM closes at 1 PM), have everything accomplished by about 3 PM, the same afternoon! Not bad, all things considered.
Well, yes... maybe. They said from March 1, so before leaving Cancun (maybe not forever, you never know), I tried... March 8 or 10. I have been told that the cards were not ready, MAYBE at the end of March. So I understood manana = at the end of the year :icon_smile:, and left without it. Maybe they will be there when I come back. Unfortunately, when you are over 60, it is forever and I should be a Mexican citizen for long too.
V, Jenleib and others. They for sure are back up and running. I saw some small color fotos and was told they are correct. But for some reason the guy who told me did not know the size. I got some over the weekend and went back to DIF about 20 minutes before they opened at 8:30. There were maybe 200 people waiting in line, well in chars actually but it functioned as a line. I was warned that they may or may not be open. Today they supposedly hand out th cards to people and don't take new apps. I will show up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to see how it goes. I got a pkg of infantil fotos at Soriana. They show you some sample sizes that are $16 for 8 fotos. I took the pkg of 4 of each of two sizes. I will post exact details of the proper size when I have my INAPAM in hand. The larger ones could be easily trimmed to match the size of my US Passport foto. The same height and a tiny bit wider, like 1/4" maybe. The smaller ones are about half that size. Wish me luck. This was quite simple when V did his and has been simple for me up till today, with the exception of a potentially long wait; maybe two long waits. I will keep you posted. As V said, the first step is Migracion, then you are off to get the CURP which is at Parque Las Palapas. Walk toward Yaxchilan on the street left of La Habichuela about 10 meters, making a right and there you are. This last step is a bit more difficult. The location is called DIF. It is in Region 94. Go north on Kabah from Lopez Portillo to the third big intersection, Talleres, aka Ruta 5. Hang a left. You will make another left on Calle 111. Look hard for street numbers and you won't see many. You can see 103, then you count 105, 107, 109 and then 111. Go about a block and you can park on the right and there is a fenced complex on the left. At the opening in the fence, go in and walk sort of like toward 11 o'clock. Cross a little thing that looks like a bridge to a white awning. The door to the right of the awning is your destination. Stay tuned.
When to go Not to get in your business, T.J., but my experience in dealing with big government agencies, here, is that it's often better to go in the afternoon. Everybody goes, first thing in the morning, trying to beat the rush and get in and out, quickly. (Have you seen the line at IMSS, of those waiting to get in at 8 AM, when they open to accept applications to enroll in the program? I went at 1:30 PM, and there was nobody ahead of me.) If you try going to the offices of INAPAM at around 2:30 PM, the lines may be gone. (I understand these are special times, because now there's a backlog: but, I still think the general rule will apply, regarding when it's best to go.)
I went back Wed about 12:15 pm, with all my originals and copes in hand and my fotos of course. The correct size of the fotos is 2.5 cm x 3.0 cm. V, we will have to consolidate all of your info, and edit in my small contribution and maybe Steve will make a Sticky out of it. There were two people in line ahead of me and they were together. The female clerk took about 3-4 minutes with the lady and then told me to "pasale" when the man did the obligatory Mexican thing of asking about 5 minutes worth of stupid questions, all of which the lady had already explained to his wife. This always makes me think bad thoughts and want to choke them out. My deal lasted about 2 minutes and I had no questions except to ask her name, which she wrote on a sticky and put on my file that I had brought. She said she would call me, probably next Wed, for me to come in for my fingerprinting. More later. Just an update. I did hear from my friend Eddie, in San Miguel de Allende and he mentioned having his, having gotten it in one stop in about an hour. Oh, well, this, like FM3 renewals, seems to have a cottage industry in place in Cancun. V, Eddie is the guy who was with me in Merida that you met on our last adventure.
Benefits of INAPAM I've mentioned before, some of the benefits available to holders of the Mexican Government sponsored, INAPAM card, such as 50% discounts on all ADO bus tickets, discounts at the large commercial parks such as Xel Ha, and free entrance to all national parks such as Chichen Itza; but, today, I experienced yet another area where you can benefit- it's tickets to Tigres Baseball games where, again, the discount is 50%. I'll be sitting, tonight, behind the dugout at third base, and paid just 40 pesos for some of the best tickets in the house- which, by the way, is very beautiful, right now. It looks like they've repainted, and perhaps replaced some or all of the seats; and, the grounds are immaculate, with the recent rains having benefited the grass, which is intensely green- overall, it will be a beautiful scene in the powerful, night game lights. Happy May Day, everybody! _______________________ Next day- The Tigres of Cancun won- in a game full of home runs, and frequent pitching changes, 12-8. Go Tigres!
