Cancunscorpio I lived on the Gold Coast (worked in Surfers Paradise, very similar to hotel zone) and yes I was on a very very good wage working for the government but I also was very unhappy in my job and wanted a change. I spent four months travelling around Europe, America, Japan and here in Cancun last year.. met someone whilst i was here and decided that it was time for change and only live once so i gave it a go, we will go back to Oz in the next few years to live and start a family but for now I want to stay here and learn what I can. I am excited about getting my visa (been waiting since March for it) and learning spanish and how to cook mexican food it's all new and exciting ... We do have some amazing reefs in Oz and places to go but since being here my husband and I have done a lot of exploring here and have been to some amazing beautiful places...I am enjoying my life and get pleasures from the smallest of things. I do have my bad days here but they don't last long.... does that answer your question?
For those who are waiting on a renewal, unless you're planning to travel it hardly matters how long a renewal takes, as the permissions to live here, and work here, remain in place while the renewal is in process. My wife is planning to travel during the renewal process, so this will involve another procedure, not unlike applying for a renewal in its complexity, to get permission to leave and return while her application for a renewal is pending. (THAT'S a pain, even in my book, since it can be a product of how slow the INM is, locally, to process paperwork.) Not everyone can tolerate the ambiguity and waits that dealing with INM locally requires. I had not planned to accompany my wife to immigration, this time, because we'd been through the process so many times, and I felt she could handle it. But, as I reflected on how little patience she had for either of these potential frustrations, I knew I'd better go with her. When we arrived at the offices of INM and she saw the crowd of people milling about in the waiting area, she became paralyzed, and I new I'd made the right decision. Mexicans love setting up complex, bureaucratic frameworks for everything: INM is no exception to the rule. As for comparing the operations here to other places, it is slower, more transparent, and less corrupt than anywhere we've lived. In Kazakhstan, it was both slow and very corrupt, with nothing moving- no matter how long a wait- without "expediting fees" ranging upwards of $500; in other places the service was quick, sometimes just one day, but also required expediting fees of some kind. A few places would not allow you to deal with immigration directly, but would only accept paperwork/applications through agents, making the process that much more expensive. On balance, I'd rather deal with INM, Mexico.
@rawkus: put in my FM2 paperwork shortly before hearing about the new visas they'll supposedly have. As of yet, I have heard nothing from my lawyer about any new visas. Far as she and I know, I'll be getting my FM2 card.
As I was saying.... :icon_smile: Amazing numbers of people want to live in Cancun, and in the immediate vicinity of Cancun (Playa has its own INM offices), and it looks like the United Nations in the reception area, so we have to cut them some slack just for the volume of paperwork that has to flow through that office. Having everything in order, and ready, at the first visit can minimize the total process time, but nothing can reduce the number of trips to their offices the process requires to anything below three- except having someone else do it for you!, as Susan in Cancun and many others do. ________________________
Gringation; Thanks for the answer. I was hoping that the new visas would be given by now. Seems that the new kind is way more normal and skips a LOT of the hassle when applying for work etc.
Scorpio: Even ONE step forward in the Mexican immigration process would be reason enough to celebrate! ...and no, Im not celebrating until I actually see some steps in the right direction in the INM evolution
What changes? I've felt the changes coming this year wouldn't usher in a "new era", but were just attempts, in many cases, to standardize practice across the country. We'll see: certainly there were NO discernable differences in the procedures when my wife applied for her renewal of her FM3 (I cling to the old terminology, for convenience), aside from not requiring translations of bank statements, which has been reported. It will make a difference to some that five years in FM3 status is now clearly not required (reported, here, on this thread): Cancun INM had been requiring it, but it never was mandated by law, and many offices across the country had always allowed a choice of FM2 or 3 for persons newly arrived to Mexico. (Something we learned in the early days of researching Mexico as a home.) FM3 is still the more flexible status, but some will prefer FM2 for various reasons. (I asked for it, and it was granted, but my wife wasn't interested because she travels a lot.) There is a lot of hand wringing over a supposed backlog at INM, Playa. The long processing time mentioned by a couple of posters to this forum suggests there may be more of a backlog here, as well. Our past experiences have been of total processing time of anywhere from 4-5 weeks: we've never had the pleasure that some have reported of very short turn around times, like 2-3 weeks, over the two plus years we've been here.
V: 4-5 weeks sounds like heaven, compared to months and months and months... Have you been at the INM office lately? Whats your impression: Still the same or do they seem more organized?
They ARE "organized," according to their own lights. But, no, there's been no changes that are obvious in what you run into when you show up there, nor in the sequence they follow in processing the paperwork which involves three visits- if everything is in order! As for inordinate delay, I don't expect any change there, either: in my experience, at least, it's always been a slow process, but manageable. Of course, I'd like it better if it were less "chaotic," but, if you've got the time, even that can be dealt with. If I'm uncertain what's happening, or not satisfied with what I think I've just been told, I sit down and watch a while- watch the flow of work through the office, and watch who seems to be the most approachable among those working that day- and I've never had a problem you could speak of with INM. I would never "farm out" my paperwork (although I have sought advice from Mauricio on more than one occasion) because I enjoy making it a hands on experience, and seeing first hand how it goes. (For a detailed report of our latest visit to immigration, see my post of 7 July, this thread.) __________________________
