| How Mexico treats its legal
U.S. visitors
May 7, 2006
The following is from a director with SW BELL in Mexico City.
I spent five years working in Mexico.
I worked under a tourist visa for three months and could legally
renew it for three more months. After that you were working illegally.
I was technically illegal for three weeks waiting on the FM3 approval.
During that six months our Mexican and US Attorneys were working to secure
a permanent work visa called a FM3. It was in addition to my US passport
that I had to show each time I entered and left the country. My wife's
was the same except hers did not permit her to work.
To apply for the FM3 I needed to submit the following notarized originals
(not copies) of my:
- Birth certificates for my wife and me.
- Marriage certificate.
- High school transcripts and proof of graduation.
- College transcripts for every college I attended and proof of graduation.
- Two letters of recommendation from supervisors I had worked for at
least one year.
- A letter from the St. Louis Chief of Police indicating I had no arrest
record in the US and no outstanding warrants and was "a citizen
in good standing."
- Finally; I had to write a letter about myself that clearly stated
why there was no Mexican citizen with my skills and why my skills were
important to Mexico. We called it our "I am the greatest person
on earth" letter. It was fun to write.
All of the above were in English that had to be translated into Spanish
and be certified as legal translations and our signatures notarized. It
produced a folder about 1.5 inches thick with English on the left side
and Spanish on the right.
Once they were completed my wife and I spent about five hours accompanied
by a Mexican attorney touring Mexican government office locations and
being photographed and fingerprinted at least three times. At each location
(and we remember at least four locations) we were instructed on Mexican
tax, labor, housing, and criminal law and that we were required to obey
their laws or face the consequences. We could not protest any of the government's
actions or we would be committing a felony. We paid out four thousand
dollars in fees and bribes to complete the process. When this was done
we could legally bring in our household goods that were held by US customs
in Laredo Texas. This meant we rented furniture in Mexico while awaiting
our goods. There were extensive fees involved here that the company paid.
We could not buy a home and were required to rent at very high rates and
under contract and compliance with Mexican law.
We were required to get a Mexican drivers license. This was an amazing
process. The company arranged for the licensing agency to come to our
headquarters location with their photography and finger print equipment
and the laminating machine. We showed our US license, were photographed
and fingerprinted again and issued the license instantly after paying
out a six dollar fee. We did not take a written or driving test and never
received instructions on the rules of the road. Our only instruction was
never give a policeman your license if stopped and asked. We were instructed
to hold it against the inside window away from his grasp. If he got his
hands on it you would have to pay ransom to get it back.
We then had to pay and file Mexican income tax annually using the number
of our FM3 as our ID number. The company’s Mexican accountants did
this for us and we just signed what they prepared. It was about twenty
legal size pages annually.
The FM 3 was good for three years and renewable for two more after paying
more fees.
Leaving the country meant turning in the FM 3and certifying we were leaving
no debts behind and no outstanding legal affairs (warrants, tickets or
liens) before our household goods were released to customs.
It was a real adventure and If any of our senators or congressmen went
through it once they would have a different attitude toward Mexico.
The Mexican Government uses its vast military and police forces to keep
its citizens intimidated and compliant. They never protest at their White
House or government offices but do protest daily in front of the United
States Embassy. The US embassy looks like a strongly reinforced fortress
and during most protests the Mexican military surround the block with
their men standing shoulder to shoulder in full riot gear to protect the
Embassy. These protests are never shown on US or Mexican TV.
There is a large public park across the street where they do their protesting.
Anything can cause a protest such as proposed law changes in California
or Texas.
Please feel free to share this with everyone who thinks we are being hard
on illegal immigrants.
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