Visa for living in Mexico

[inlimbo]

Has anyone gotten a visa to stay in Mexico longer than the tourist visa allows? From my understanding, I can only renew a tourist visa up to 180 days, and since I already have a 180 day visa I won't be able to renew it...but I don't think I qualify for the FM-3. Are there any other I2USers who went to Mexico to wait for the waiver approval and needed a visa other than the 180 day tourist visa?

[kitkat1]

Laura, an FM3 is a long and difficult process. In your case you simply have to cross the border and re-enter. Take a quick trip somewhere and get a new one upon entry - be sure to ask for 180 days again. Shouldn't be any problem (I did it several times). Good luck!

[Adriane]

If you want to, you can register your marriage in Mexico with the Registro Civil and then pay $380 to get a migratory visa-I think that's for 2 years. But you still can't work.

[jt22]

Hi. I got an FM3 twice and it was pretty easy. I did have to show my 3 last US bank account statements showing an income of $1500. per month though. I think it can be a Mex bank account also. And there are always form filling shops outside the immigration office that take your photos and help with the forms, then you have to go pay at Banamex. I filed as a rentista and that is when you have to show the income. There were other options and you can get a work permit at the same time if you want. Mexican immigration is 1,000 times easier than U.S. I will PM you tonite or tomorrow with more stuff.

[Laura]

Laura isn't married though, they are doing K-1.

[inlimbo]

thanks for the replies.

yup, we're definitely not married...I don't suppose the Mexican government has any options for fiances!? Well, I guess I will continue researching...I really want to avoid having to leave and reenter for various reasons. Does anyone know of someone who overstayed their tourist visa in Mexico and what the penalties might be?

Oh, and jt22, I'd like to hear more about your experience. I definitely can't meet the $1500 a month requirement, but I know that people sometimes get an FM3 through their employer...Do you know anything about that?

[kitkat1]

My FM3 experience (granted it was several years ago and things change often) took 9 months. FM3s must be sponsored by employers and you need to jump through all of the same hoops as in the US (if not more) including that the employer needs to prove that there isn't a Mexican available to do the job.

If I recall correctly, filing as a rentista is a different type of FM3 - it doesn't permit employment and intended for people who plan to live in Mexico permanently and who are sustained by reources or unearned income from outside of Mexico. .

A regular FM3 (not sure what they call each different one) also requires you to prove a minimum monthly deposit of $1000 (exact amount depends on location apparently) or 6 months worth of bank statements proving the same.

Laura, if I were you, I would just do a border run. It's very common among ESL teachers who are temporarily stuck in the FM3 waiting process.

[Laura]

Laura, you could go on thorntree.lonelyplanet.com and ask in the Mexico branch. There are some jerks there, so be forewarned, but there are also a lot of people who have lived/traveled in Mexico to decades.

I know I have read of people overstaying with few problems, other than maybe a fee when they leave, but I can't point to a specific instance.

I can understand not wanting to spend a couple hundred on a ticket to Juarez or wherever, just to take a taxi to the border and back. Seems like quite a waste. I hope you can figure something out.

[kitkat1]

BTW, it doesn't have to be the US/Mexico border i.e. CDJ. It can be anywhere. Just leave Mexico and re-enter. I'd pick the easiest, cheapest place to get to depending on where you are - i.e. if it's the Guatemala border, that's fine too.

[inlimbo]

i'll have to spend more time looking at the thorntree website....

KK, I thought about going to Guatemala over Christmas since we will probably be visiting family in Oaxaca, near Huatulco. I will look into that more. Did you ever do a Guatemala exit and re-entry? Also, are there restrictions on how long I have to be out of the country? A day? A week? Maybe we will try it.

[kitkat1]

No restrictions on timing - when you are re-entering, they wouldn't know when your last entry was (since you would have turned in your old FMT and they don't keep computerized records). Technicially you could walk over the border in Tijuana, for example, and then re-enter 5 minutes later.

I didn't do the Guatemala re-entry but people I worked with did that. I did Guadalajara - Dallas - Guadalajara because the flight was very cheap and I spent a few days in Dallas with friends.

[Dorothea]

It seems like there might simply be a fine for over staying your tourist visa, but I can't say for sure.
I do know that I lost my tourist visa the very first day we got to Mexico last summer, and lived there for nearly 5 months without it. Because Mexico is basically a non-computerized world they had no record of me having one... The guy at the airport just yelled at me and made me go buy a new one.
I guess I was technically an illegal immigrant for those 5 months!:bounce:

[ojos_de_alicia]

yea.. if u overstay they arent going to deport u... u just hav to pay a fine right?? to get a new visa? i think its like 45 $?

[kitkat1]

If you decide to do it, here's more info on border runs:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=57208

[inlimbo]

hmm...interesting. I'm tempted to try the 'oops, I lost my visa' route, although couldn't they just look in my passport and see when I entered the country?

Thanks for the ideas, everyone.

[demoniaco27]

when it happened to my wife leaving mexico city she was not allowed to board the plane , she was sent to the immigration office to pay a fine for overstay i cant recall how much was it, but i think it was 120 pesos for each day she overstay, as she overstaied like 3 months it was a lot , i did not have that much money , so i used the most succesful way of resolving problems in mexico , i bribed the immigration officer for 100 dollars and he placed the stamp in her documents, of course this will not happen with an american citizen i assume they will just let him or her go with a warning.it is incredible while you live there how much they hate gringos but incredible it is the most americanized country in the hole world....shame....my advice is that you come and go using the time they give you when you enter....do not involve in immigration documents you may easily end up wasting time and a lot of money as much of the time the immigration emploees start asking for money to approved your documents , but if you are american should not have any problems

[demoniaco27]

i forgot to say that i became as disgusting as the officer but it was the only way i found to resolve my problem..were stuck at mexico city airport for more than one day. i was feeling so bad that i promise to myself never bribe anyone again in my life.as well to never go to mexico again. what happened to me there when i was involved in legal immigration documents i cant just tell