Done and done Received our FM3 cards yesterday after waiting about an hour. So to receive our Expediente Basico and cards it took 4 visits and wait times totaling about 2 hours. Not bad, one of the easiest renewals we've had in our 9 renewals. Question: When we inevitably renew this thing next year, do we need to get a new card/photo/fingerprint etc? Rob
ready for my close up... sheesh, I assumed the card would be good for 5 years. good biz for the photo salons and ink pad industry! Rob
Got some good news at INM, today. They said it wasn't necessary for me to apply to register with the National Registry of Foreigners, that that was done for me by INM, automatically, when they converted my FM3 to an FM2.
V- how much did you pay? Looks like $2800 for the FM2, plus $667 for the National Registry of Foreigners... did you have to pay both?
Uh, oh, looks like I better ask again, to be sure! Mat, as I understand it, the applicant has the choice whether to ask for an FM3 or FM2, and the five year rule is just the usual local practice, not something written into the law. I suppose it´s true, as Mauricio Mendoza told me the same thing.
OK, checked with INM, again, on everything I had a doubt about. Things went pretty well, and I was in and out in under ten minutes. They confirmed that I was registered with the Registro Nacional de Extranjeros, though I never paid the fee required for that process (as I recall), paying just the 2,800 peso fee for the FM2. They confirmed that it was, indeed, an error on their part to classify my wife "Visitante Rentista- Lucrativa," and that no such category existed. They said it would be sufficient to merely point out the error at renewal time. They noted the error they had made in recording my address change, in which they substituted "SM223" for SM23, and said they would make an adjustment to the way it was noted in their records, and no further action on my part would be required. The girl I dealt with, the "information girl," ran all over the office, consulting with various staff on each issue- which I appreciated, in that she didn't just give me an "off the cuff" response.
So I am confused completely about the FM3 vs an FM2. V, you said we can make the call as to which one we want; then what's the purpose of having both? There is too much confusion over how many years one MUST be on one before being able to apply for the other. One person said they were on their FM3 for 10 years, while someone else said they were told, "no and's, if's or but's, you must change from a 3 to a 2 after the 4th renewal. This all makes my head spin. Does anyone actually know the laws, rules, play-by-play whatever it may be?
Within the range of legitimate practice of immigration law here in Cancun you have the law itself, the range of permissible local variation under the law, and the authority given by the law to make case by case exceptions. No where in the law that I can see is there a requirement that you put in five years on FM3 before applying for FM2; in fact, when I applied for an FM3 the first time, I was asked by the INM agent working the desk if I wouldn't rather apply for an FM2. (This is, of course, at variance with the usual local practice of requiring five years on FM3 status, but permitted under the law.) At the time, I was more concerned with getting permission to work independently, so I considered this offer to be a mere distraction. Later, when I decided I was going to stay long term I asked at renewal time, for an FM2, which was granted. If there is action you want INM to take it is better, I suppose, to apply for it rather than to discuss it with them: doing so places the burden on them to decide what to do with your request, and they cannot just brush you off. If they accept your paperwork at the "tramites" desk, you're already 2/3s of the way home because they do an initial screening for merit at that stage of the procedure. As for "making" people convert to FM2 after four renewals this, too, varies but under the practices in place since May, last year, seems to be the norm. (I've mentioned before that I think some of the changes that have occurred are ultimately aimed at getting those who actually reside here, into the Mexican tax regime, and forcing them into "inmigrante" status takes them a step closer to that goal, as I see it.) _________________________
