Okay, I've been 'legal' for many years, but now I'm legal to stay in Mexico for another year.
This time, our second renewal for our third year in Mexico (That sounds confusing, doesn't it? How about: Our second time renewing the visa for another year, our third.), instead of using a facilitator, we decided to go half the way toward doing it ourselves. (One can actually input the information into their system and let them bring it up to work on it. We didn't go quite that far, but believe the Escritorio Publico probably made those entries for us. If not, we may try doing the whole kit-and-caboodle next year - but see below.)
So we prepared as much as we could ourselves (forms with English translations are available on line) and then went to the Escritorio Publico [EP] across the street from the INM [Instituto Nacional de Migración] offices. I should say I did as much as I could myself, because our visas aren't due for renewal until August 10th and Michael will renew his after the first of the month to split the cost of the visas over two months' income.
We have always had what used to be called an 'FM2' visa, the step below the equivalent of green cards, so that we could qualify for the green card as soon as possible and not be required to renew each year at 'great cost.' The cost of an FM2 is greater than the FM3 - which many expats have - but we thought: Why pay for an FM3 for 5 years, then an FM2 for 5 years before getting our green card. It was always our intention to stay in Mexico and there didn't seem to be a good reason to not just 'go for the gusto!'
Now INM is changing their procedures to follow the new laws, but it hasn't been announced just what the changes will be, so we're proceeding under the old regulations. Word has it that the new visa versions will combine FM3s and FM2s and only require 4 years before green card status. We'll see. We're hoping that our college degrees may give us enough extra points to qualify even sooner. As long as they don't require that I speak Spanish!!!
The cost for the Escritorio Publico is only $400 Mx pesos - about half of what a facilitator charges. For this the EP fills out the necessary paperwork, takes your pictures, creates a document that you take to a bank to pay for the visa (the usual procedure here in Mexico, be it a visa or any other fee that is due), and then tidies things up and sends you across the street to the INM offices.
While facilitators make it simpler for you, the process isn't very complicated and the EP charges include photos, which would be an additional cost if using a facilitator.
We (Michael came along) had filled out the form - partially in English, partially in Spanish, so they translated it all into Spanish, took the pictures, sent us to our bank of choice to make the payment, and then sent us with the finished packet to INM.
Once there, we took a number and waited a short time for an official to help us. Our papers were in order, so we signed a bunch of forms, forms were stamped officiously, and we were told to come back in two days.
Two days later we dutifully returned, took a number and waited for the officer at the visa window to call our number. Here's where it got a little complicated.
I had stood in line behind the only other person in line when we arrived. Then others lined up behind me. At this time, Michael figured out that I should have taken a number, so I did - which placed me behind the others who had lined up behind me taking numbers as they did so.
So I'm okay with that. However, while waiting interminably to be called, a couple of facilitators whose clients showed up after I did and took later numbers, approached the window and - miracle of miracles - their numbers were called out of order!!! And some of them must have shown up earlier than expected, because it took quite a while to get their visas printed and issued to them.
Luckily the other facilitator who was lurking around only approached the window after I had finished my business, because I had decided that I wasn't going to stand for this and would cause a scene. After all, someone had paid those facilitators plenty of money to stand around and wait to be called on their behalf. If it was taking a while to reach them, so what? If it hadn't been for Patty Garcia's clients who took so long, we all could have been out of there earlier. The other folks who were waiting with me seemed to take it all in stride, but I was getting a little incensed about it. Luckily, I didn't need to throw a hissy fit or get expelled or something. (Though the Federal policeman in our area was kinda cute!)
Although we can do the whole thing ourselves (getting our own photos for around half EP's total fee), it was certainly simpler to use the Escritorio Publico, knowing that this is what they do all day, the forms would be correct, pictures would be in the approved format and sizes, the paperwork for the bank would be correct, and life would be a lot simpler.
On the first day, we accomplished everything (including taking care of another EP client's payment at the bank) within an hour and 10 minutes. The second day took a little longer, but we'll know the procedure for our next time (for Michael's turn after August 1st).
Anyway, I'm legal again and renewing early didn't change my expiration date. One less thing to take care of before we head off for Santa Fe, New Mexico for the opera in mid-August.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Rain and Stuff
Are you tired of these weather reports? I promise to talk about something else today, but first -- the weather!
It really rained again yesterday - most of the afternoon until late into the night (well, early morning). You'd think I'd spent a great deal of my life in southern California the way I get enthused about rain. Oh, I did!
Most of the thunder and lightning was off in the distance last night, so I suppose another area got even more rain, but it was fine here. Rain in our little town tends to simply fall from the sky. No big winds to force the rain to strike at an angle - just straight down. And down it came last night. It does make it handy for leaving your windows open - without the winds to drive it into the house, we can enjoy the sound of the rain falling and the cool temperatures that accompany it.
We're only up to a little over an inch this month, but there's more predicted for the next few days - if the BBC Weather site is to be believed. We sure can use the water; our main presa is way low. It's going to take a lot of rain to raise it up to something approximating normal. We've heard that there has been some water rationing in other parts of town. Luckily, the section in which we live - La Lejona - has its own water supply wells, so we've not had a problem thus far. And all our houses have tinacos on their roofs, which hold a supply of water and provide water pressure to the house. Once the water comes back on, they automatically refill, using a float valve like that in a toilet tank. Our house also has a big cistern under the parking area - full of water - but without a functioning pump and valve to haul it up to the tinaco. I suppose we should look into that some day. Just in case....
But on to other things. Cruising, for instance. What else do we do? And a suitable subject from a place many miles from the nearest ocean and about a mile-and-a-quarter above it, eh?
We had a Panama Canal cruise preceded by a short Caribbean cruise that included a stop in Key West scheduled for next May on Disney, of course. As we looked at just how much money we needed to amass by the due date we began to reconsider.
So there was a deal on Norwegian on a ship we had previously sailed, the Star. Not one of their newest, hugest ships, but one that we liked when we sailed on her back in 2005. We're waiting to hear back from our travel agent re: what cabin she's managed to reserve for us and the total cost. We're hoping for an aft balcony (always wanted to sail looking at where we've been) or a mini-suite (that aft balcony cabin is still no larger than any other balcony cabin; the mini-suite is about 60 square feet larger and it's less expensive than the aft balcony.) It would be nice to see both sides of the Panama Canal at the same time from the aft balcony, but I won't complain if we are 'forced' to take the mini-suite. It's a tough call, but I'm sure we'll be happy with whatever she can come up with. And it doesn't sail until January 2014, so there's more time to afford it!
In the meanwhile, we've just booked a flight to San Diego (well, actually Tijuana) at a greatly reduced rate for next May, so we'll still be traveling somewhere. We think Billy Elliot will be playing in San Diego and hope to get tickets for that show. We were just in San Diego via Tijuana a couple of weeks ago for a performance of Wicked! Love that show. And on the trip we discovered that instead of crossing into San Diego at San Ysidro - where we waited for hours on our last trip - we could go to nearby Otay Mesa and cross almost immediately. There were agents waiting for customers. Now, the Red Car Trolley doesn't go as far as Otay Mesa, but Paula and Tim now know how to get there to pick us up.
We did a lot of shopping while we were in town: Target, Ross, and of course, IKEA! However, we did leave some things un-purchased, and we tend to order items on line and have them delivered to Paula and Tim's, figuring that we'll eventually pick them up. They're very kind to accommodate us. So we booked some extra baggage weight for the return trip to accommodate all the possible 'stuff' with which we may return.
Otherwise, life continues apace here in San Miguel. We'll be in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the opera season mid-August and there's still the Disney Hawai'ian cruise in mid-October (how could we ever give up on Disney???). So travel we must. We've just finished booking our shore excursions for the islands and have prepared a packing list, so I think we're doing fine. I suppose we should turn our attention to what we need for Santa Fe next.
We've just received some disappointing news about friends here in San Miguel, but I'll write about that later. They're having a party tonight and we've made Mexican Chocolate ice cream (with espresso and a bit of spice) as well as a Southwestern Coleslaw to contribute to the feast. There will probably be a large turn out, but I've promised Michael I won't try to bring enough to feed the whole group. You know potlucks - there's always lots to go around!
It really rained again yesterday - most of the afternoon until late into the night (well, early morning). You'd think I'd spent a great deal of my life in southern California the way I get enthused about rain. Oh, I did!
Most of the thunder and lightning was off in the distance last night, so I suppose another area got even more rain, but it was fine here. Rain in our little town tends to simply fall from the sky. No big winds to force the rain to strike at an angle - just straight down. And down it came last night. It does make it handy for leaving your windows open - without the winds to drive it into the house, we can enjoy the sound of the rain falling and the cool temperatures that accompany it.
We're only up to a little over an inch this month, but there's more predicted for the next few days - if the BBC Weather site is to be believed. We sure can use the water; our main presa is way low. It's going to take a lot of rain to raise it up to something approximating normal. We've heard that there has been some water rationing in other parts of town. Luckily, the section in which we live - La Lejona - has its own water supply wells, so we've not had a problem thus far. And all our houses have tinacos on their roofs, which hold a supply of water and provide water pressure to the house. Once the water comes back on, they automatically refill, using a float valve like that in a toilet tank. Our house also has a big cistern under the parking area - full of water - but without a functioning pump and valve to haul it up to the tinaco. I suppose we should look into that some day. Just in case....
But on to other things. Cruising, for instance. What else do we do? And a suitable subject from a place many miles from the nearest ocean and about a mile-and-a-quarter above it, eh?
We had a Panama Canal cruise preceded by a short Caribbean cruise that included a stop in Key West scheduled for next May on Disney, of course. As we looked at just how much money we needed to amass by the due date we began to reconsider.
So there was a deal on Norwegian on a ship we had previously sailed, the Star. Not one of their newest, hugest ships, but one that we liked when we sailed on her back in 2005. We're waiting to hear back from our travel agent re: what cabin she's managed to reserve for us and the total cost. We're hoping for an aft balcony (always wanted to sail looking at where we've been) or a mini-suite (that aft balcony cabin is still no larger than any other balcony cabin; the mini-suite is about 60 square feet larger and it's less expensive than the aft balcony.) It would be nice to see both sides of the Panama Canal at the same time from the aft balcony, but I won't complain if we are 'forced' to take the mini-suite. It's a tough call, but I'm sure we'll be happy with whatever she can come up with. And it doesn't sail until January 2014, so there's more time to afford it!
In the meanwhile, we've just booked a flight to San Diego (well, actually Tijuana) at a greatly reduced rate for next May, so we'll still be traveling somewhere. We think Billy Elliot will be playing in San Diego and hope to get tickets for that show. We were just in San Diego via Tijuana a couple of weeks ago for a performance of Wicked! Love that show. And on the trip we discovered that instead of crossing into San Diego at San Ysidro - where we waited for hours on our last trip - we could go to nearby Otay Mesa and cross almost immediately. There were agents waiting for customers. Now, the Red Car Trolley doesn't go as far as Otay Mesa, but Paula and Tim now know how to get there to pick us up.
We did a lot of shopping while we were in town: Target, Ross, and of course, IKEA! However, we did leave some things un-purchased, and we tend to order items on line and have them delivered to Paula and Tim's, figuring that we'll eventually pick them up. They're very kind to accommodate us. So we booked some extra baggage weight for the return trip to accommodate all the possible 'stuff' with which we may return.
Otherwise, life continues apace here in San Miguel. We'll be in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the opera season mid-August and there's still the Disney Hawai'ian cruise in mid-October (how could we ever give up on Disney???). So travel we must. We've just finished booking our shore excursions for the islands and have prepared a packing list, so I think we're doing fine. I suppose we should turn our attention to what we need for Santa Fe next.
We've just received some disappointing news about friends here in San Miguel, but I'll write about that later. They're having a party tonight and we've made Mexican Chocolate ice cream (with espresso and a bit of spice) as well as a Southwestern Coleslaw to contribute to the feast. There will probably be a large turn out, but I've promised Michael I won't try to bring enough to feed the whole group. You know potlucks - there's always lots to go around!
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