Last yr I didn't and it was handled by the lawyer. He can't forge an ID. And this yr, two different people didn't ask for it. So my point proven again, that they are not constant and it hold up the process. It's just annoying as I would lose my job if I gave people the wrong information over and over again... or the company could be sued.
Sequence of messages to applicant Several people have asked me, recently, what sense to make of the messages that appear in their cases, when they go online at the INM website for information about the status of their case. Here's an example of what you may see there.... 31/10/2011 El trámite ha sido registrado 31/10/2011 El tramite ha sido asignado 07/11/2011 El trámite ha sido clasificado 30/11/2011 Presentarse en una oficina del INM Some of these are easily understood; for example, the first is when they log in your application; the next is when the case is assigned to a case officer; then, comes the "clasificado" step, which I believe indicates the officer has made a decision about what is to be done with the case- whether to approve, deny, or ask for more information- though this is conjecture on my part. The last is easily understood, they are ready to see you in the office for the next step in the process. This is the one we all wait for! Notice the elapsed time- in this case, one month. The last message, to present yourself at the INM offices, usually comes in the fifth week after submitting your documents, in my experience. ______________________
I mentioned that it has been my experience that the notice to present yourself typically comes after the expiration of four weeks from the day of filing, on a renewal of FM2/3s. But, the two most recent cases of which I have personal knowledge both got their notice, "Presentarse", on the 23rd and 24th day after filing. One of these was the more remarkable because that period included the two weeks the INM offices were closed for the holidays! Go, INM Cancun! :mexicoflag:
In my case late last year, when I turned in my docs, they told me that the first notice would be available on the website in a week. When it wasn't I stopped by to find out why. At that moment they sent me to the far right counter, which essentially was my notice to appear, and two days later I had my FM2. This was not a renewal. If I remember correctly, they did the interview that day, gave me the payment info and told me to bring back the Banjercito receipts (there are two for an FM2) and my fotos. I already had the fotos but she told me they did not want till I had the receipt. I went straight to Banjercito but INM closed before I could get back so I did as instructed, coming back at whatever time I was told the next day. I turned in the receipts and the fotos. They fingerprinted me and had me sign various things. I was told to come back between noon and 1 pm the next day, which I did, getting my FM2 after signing a receipt or something. For the 100th time, it was 9 days from the date I walked in the door with ALL of the requisite forms and documents until the day I walked out the door with my FM2. The only glitch was I walked outside for a moment, put some papers in my INM folder went to my car and realized I did not have my backpack. Went back inside and it was nowhere. The guy at the far left counter, who handed me my FM2, got my autograph, etc. told me I definitely walked out with it. Retracing my steps, I found it where I left it, on a conrete planter, where I stopped to put the stuff in the folder, and walked off without it. What a huge relief that was. I can be quite goofy from time to time.
Had an experience on 1 Feb that perfectly illustrates this principle. I called the Social Security Administration, on the first day of the enrollment period, at 8 AM EST, and told them I'd like to request Part B, of Medicare. (I'd already received a notice, addressed to my Mexico address, telling me enrollment in Part A was automatic, in my case, but that I had to request enrollment in Part B.) The person on the other end of the line said, "Our records reflect that you rejected Part B because you have insurance." Do you think I argued with her about the impossibility of this being correct- that this was practically the first moment of the first day in which I could have made this request (based on my birth date), and that someone would have had to call that very day, before I had, and known all my personal details to have recorded anything in my file? Of course not. I'll just go forward from there, with my request, and see what happens. Same with IRS when I asked about the EIN on our fideicomiso. The agent said, "Oh, that number is for a business, not a trust." Do you think I even bothered to dig into it? No, and it turned out she was wrong. The point is simple, the people you deal with just can't possibly know everything about everything, nor can they do much for you if they lack the authority. Recently, I called the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City to report my foreign employment (required by SSA regs). The person on the other end of the line said, "You'll have to prove your employment." I asked how I was to do that, and he said by completing a SSA-7163 form, which he'd send me. In response I mailed them that form, filed last year, and a document that showed my case was under the general supervision of International Operations- in other words, that all was as it should be, and there was nothing that I needed to do. It's just not worth the trouble to argue with people at this level of authority: same with INM personnel. You just don't need to be their teacher, and go through the struggle with them.
