Just thought I would share my most recent drama with INM. I've had an FM3 for 4 years. In January it was time to renew and get my 4th Prórroga, which would renew it for a 5th year. But since I've been thinking I should file for citizenship for a while now, and one can no longer do that as an FM3 holder what I wanted to do was switch to an FM2 rather than renew my FM3. We spoke to the wonder lawyer Mauricio Mendoza. And being the pragmatist that he is he said to renew the FM3 and then after the renewal came through I should file to change to an FM2. He didn't think they would approve going straight to and FM2. So I went home from Mauricio's and filled out all the paperwork to renew my FM3. But then when we got to INM one of the 2 sub-delegados downtown (the folks who sign FM2s and FM3s) told us that she would approve my going straight to an FM2. We quickly rewrote the letters and changed the form so everything said FM2 on it and we turned in the paperwork. We were told to come back a week later. One week later we go in and tell them we are there to get the FM2. Someone in INM assumes (!) that it's been approved already and tells us to go pay the FM2 fee ($2536 mxp). So we do that, we go pay and make copies of the receipt. Then we go back and are told that we must come back another day for fingerprinting. So we come back this other day. And the agent (who is not one of the people we know there) says that they are not approving my change to FM2 instead they've renewed my FM3. She has my FM3 in her hand and it's open so I can see the final Prórroga is there and signed already. And I'm standing there with a receipt showing I paid for an FM2. At this point my husband pulls out his INM ID and nicely explains that this woman's boss told us that she would personally approve my FM2. And he calls the boss (the sub-delegado) on his cell phone. It turns out that the two sub-delegados in that office have different interpretations of the law. So one of them thinks it's fine to jump from and FM3 to an FM2 and the other one (the one who actually reviewed my file) does not agree. The mistake was that the person who told us she would approve the FM2 did not then follow up and make sure she was in charge of my file. After getting the sub-delegado on the phone we were told to come back today, another week later. So today I walked in there and was handed a nice new FM2 which says I have green eyes (they are hazel), but the rest of it is correct. Mauricio worked in that place for 6 years. His advice was to do what would work, even if it was more steps (get the FM3 renewed and then change to FM2). The moral of the story is that, even if you have friends in that office that's not enough to beat back the incompetence and inefficiency in their flawed system. I truly believe their system is so fragile that if you try to do anything non-standard, anything that's not sheep-like, and just like the rest, that you will have problems. In the end the way we did it worked, and was cheaper than doing what Mauricio told us to. But it took 5 trips down there. And if my husband didn't work for INM and if he didn't have sub-delegados on speed dial it might not have worked at all.
One interesting note. In the Mexican immigration law (we have the book here) it says that if you are married to a Mexican you don't need permission to work here. So a foreigner who is married to a Mexican can by law hold any kind of job without getting special permission from INM. You are supposed to TELL INM what you are up to, but you do not need permission. My original FM3 did not say this in it, it said I had to get permission to work as a separate step. This went against what the law says but that's what the FM3 said. But my FM2 says right in it that I am authorized to work at any activity, I just need to inform INM. So no more hassles with renewing permission to work for my own web firm (which is a pain in the neck). Now I can take any job I like without jumping through hoops. Those of you married to Mexicans should get your butts in gear and switch to FM2s pronto. Vamanos!
Thanks for the detailed account Kim. As you know I'm in a similar boat, it seems even with a wonder lawyer and an immigration agent as hubby things are not as smooth as they should be. Funnily enough we were told that I couldnt switch from FM3 to FM2 mid term, I had to wait for my current peroga to expire and apply next time - which seems to be the direct opposite of Mauricio's advice. Probably it was a busy day (isnt it always) and they just wanted us out of the office. Glad to see it all worked out for you. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, I may just stay on FM3 forever. Incidentally, I just ordered a replacement UK driving licence with a change of address. I took me 10 mins online, cost me $40 and took 5 days to arrive to my Mums. No queuing at Transito for a golden ticket at 7am in the morning!
Things were not smooth. In fact I was impressed with how screwed up it can get even when your husband works there. Mauricio didn't do anything actually, we just talked to him. And if we'd followed his advice things would have been smoother, taken longer and cost more. But I do think that Mauricio plays it safe, he recommends only what he knows will actually fly in that office. Which is good. The other thing about going with an FM2 and making it to Inmigrado status is that you can own property without a fideicomiso. So that's a big benefit for some folks.
If I wear a green shirt they look green. If I wear yellow they look yellow. If I wear brown they look brown. They never seem to look blue or purple or orange. And they haven't looked red since I gave up being a stoner.
I just love the way that you nonchalantly worked that in .... :wink: I think anyone else would have had to just tuck their tail between their legs and walk out or risk angering the immigration gods. Just goes to prove again, its not what you know.... but who.... Either way, congrats on getting it worked out.
