We got our FM3s three weeks ago. I've been meaning to post but have been very preoccupied with liquidating all our stuff. So much stuff. We've received so much great infomation from this forum it's only fair to share our experience. The process was amazingly simple and quick. We understand the difficulity is still to come when dealing with immigration in Mexico, but this is a summary of what we did in the US. We visited the consulate in Miami in person in April to make sure we understood the requirements. They simply gave us a list of requirements, which were basically copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, proof of income whether it be from investments, savings, or in our case, military retirement, and a background check. Everything is supposed to be notorized (have an apostille) which if strictly interpreted could have been difficult. It seems that official documents on letterhead are acceptable. In the end the only thing that was actually notorized was the background check we picked up at our local Sherriff's office - which was their standard procedure. The background check was only a record check and it was so stated. It cost us $5.00 I think. In the end, the consulate accepted all our documents with no questions. We had three copies of everything just in case. As it turns out, we needed two copies as they document husband and wife separately. We also had to bring copies of every page of our passports - every page even the empty ones. We went back to the consulate in May, about a month later with our documents. There was a line outside - a long line. We rang the bell and told the person answering that we needed FM3s and she let us right in. No line for Visas. Literally 45 minutes later we were finished. Paid our fees of about 185.00 each, and were told to return the next day. We killed time at the beach and returned the next morning. Same long line, same procedure to get in the door. We checked in, waited five minutes, then had our fingerprints taken, waited another five minutes and were handed our completed FM3s. This was at the Miami consulate for FM3 Rentista. Your mileage may vary at other consulates or when applying for other Visas. Actually your mileage may vary at the Miami Consulate, but everything seemed to be handled in a systematic way so I'm optimistic that you will find your experience consistent with ours. Prior to getting ours, I had no idea what an FM3 looked like so here's a pic - FYI.
Wow!!!!!! This is a first. I think the Miami guys need to go on a training mission throughout Mexico. I'd send a note to the State department in Mexico stating your experience. Maybe they'll listen to the suggestion. Glad everything worked out for you 2 and wish you the best luck. So, are you having a yard sale or something to get rid of all your stuff? Can I borrow your signs when you are done?
I had the same good experience getting my FM3 at the Mexican consulate in St. Paul, Minnesota - professional, courteous, efficient, friendly. Registering it in Cancun was a different story - but I was really glad that the approval was already done at a consulate so I knew it was just a matter of patience and time getting it registered.
We live in a deed restricted community with no garage sales allowed. We sold most of the furniture on eBay with better than garage sale results. That worked out fine. Some stuff brought better than expected prices for used furniture. The remainder we're selling off Craigslist.org until Tuesday, then it goes on the free section of Craigslist. Tuesday a hauler is coming to haul off anything that's left. (To be honest, we do have a few things we're storing - mostly family stuff we just can't dump.) Friday we fly and put this hassle behind us. When we moved to Belize in 1998 we shipped a car and a 20 foot container. Really wasn't worth the money and we've learned not to be so attached to our stuff in the meantime. This time if it doesn't fit in one of our nine bags, it's not going to Mexico.
Getting our FM3's in Atlanta was just as easy.....registering it here is the pain you are in for.....good luck
