Our Immigration Experience - Part II
How we came to respect the Mexican bureaucracy.
In my last post, Part I of Our Immigration Experience, I talked about how generally simple and relatively easy the first step of the immigration to Mexico process was for us—getting our provisional authorization for a “permanent resident” visa. Today, in Part II, I am going to share with you what it was like to deal with INM and get our actual “permanent resident” card. Then, in my next post, Part III, I will finish up this three-post series by sharing with you our follow-up experience with SAT (getting the “RFC,” some say Mexican equivalent of the Social Security Card).
Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM)
So, our provisional qualification for “permanent resident” visas was authorized by the Boise, Idaho, Mexican Consulate, and affixed to our U.S. passports.
We knew we then had 180 days to go to an INM office in Mexico, present our provisional credentials, and hopefully be issued “permanent resident” cards—or else start the process all over.
Before we went to Mexico again, we decided that for dealing with INM, we would hire a Mexican immigration lawyer—for our peace of mind and just in case.
Now, a lot of folks with a lot of extra time on their hands don’t use either a Mexican lawyer or one of the many non-lawyer relocation specialists (facilitators) which are out there. However, we didn’t have a real address to give as our Mexican residence yet. While we had purchased a lovely new-construction condo in San Miguel de Allende, State of Guanajuato, we had not yet had our final inspection or taken possession due to the developer having experienced COVID-related delays, much less having even closed. We thought this was enough of a potential issue that it would make sense to enlist the help of a Mexican lawyer rather going to INM on our own or hiring a non-lawyer facilitator who might not be able to respond well to certain questions an INM official might ask.
The second decision we made was to avoid the logistical uncertainties of the San Miguel de Allende INM office and hire a lawyer in the neighboring major city of Queretaro, which would mean also that we would be going to the INM office in Queretaro instead.
The immigration and business law firm we hired in Queretaro—EXO Inmigracion— was fantastic. Queretaro, about three hours by car north of Mexico City on a good traffic day, is an up-and-coming, modern city and industrial hub with the presence of many foreign manufacturers and skilled jobs. We figured our law firm’s expertise in handling business visas for a great deal of foreign manufacturers’ representatives would make them thoroughly qualified to handle any issue that might come up in our case. One of these issues, as I alluded to, was what to put for our address. We hadn’t closed yet on our place in San Miguel de Allende, and we had not yet had our final inspection or taken possession of the place in San Miguel de Allende. Mario, the lawyer who worked with us the most, told us to put down our Queretaro hotel address, because that’s where we still “resided” on the day appointed for going to INM. We trusted him, and he was right.
The other thing we liked is that Mario had paid someone to stand in line for us at the Queretaro INM office so that we did not have to get up at the crack of dawn (or even earlier), take an Uber to an outer-lying, unfamiliar neighborhood where the INM office was located, and pray that we would be close enough to the start of the line to make the “cutoff” of applicants they would process that day. This was a relief, because, as Mario explained, you could never be sure how many applicants that the INM office would be willing to process on any given day.
Mario picked us up at our hotel in a late model BMW, navigated the formidable Queretaro traffic to the INM office out in some neighborhood, parked and then escorted us to a position somewhere in the first half of the line that had been forming for hours outside the INM gate on the sidewalk. He then handed some cash to a young man who had held our place in line. Mario’s partner, who had been our first contact at the law firm, had a lot of other clients that day but showed up and shook our hand and assured us that we were in good hands with Mario.
While we were not close enough in line to get a morning appointment, Mario stayed with us until he was sure we had made the “cutoff” for the day and received a number for a meeting that afternoon with INM officials. He then drove us back to the hotel to have lunch and wait, telling us he would pick us up and be with us for the afternoon.
Lunch came and went, and we drove with Mario in his BMW back to the INM office. While Mario could not stay with us for our appointment, we watched in the spartan waiting room as he spoke with the officials, gave them our application paperwork that he had filled out, and let them know that we were his clients. He told us he would be waiting for us when we were done.
They called my name before calling my wife’s, and I got the INM officer who was supposed to be able to speak English (since our Spanish ability is still too feeble to handle meetings with the government). She asked me next to nothing and smiled. I smiled and thanked her. By the time my wife was called, the English-speaking official had left for the day. But the body language looked like my wife’s official had been told we were together.
We waited some more on the hard steel benches that were the only seating available. We were then called to be photographed and fingerprinted. Then, we waited again.
Several minutes passed, with no ability to use our cell phones. Finally, our names were called together. We got up, went over to another official’s workstation, and were each handed a brand-new Documentacion de Residente Permanente (permanent resident card). We thanked the official profusely and let out a collective cheer and quietly said a prayer of thanks.
Outside the INM office, Mario took a picture of us (above) showing off our newly issued “permanent resident” cards. He then took us on a circuitous path back to our hotel just to avoid most of the heavy afternoon commuter traffic. He then escorted us to our hotel room and presented us with a very nice gift basket showcasing his firm’s investment in a coffee company. We thanked him very much and said our goodbyes.
So, to sum up this phase of the immigration process, it was a smooth and complete success. However, let me say this. Based on my 42 years of experience as a U.S. attorney, I am absolutely convinced that it would not have been so smooth if we had tried to do it ourselves (or even with a non-lawyer facilitator), given our issue of not yet having taken possession of our condo in San Miguel de Allende. It is one thing to get a temporary resident visa for Mexico (and keep renewing it). Indeed, that is an option and does not prevent you from owning property in Mexico. It is another thing to get a citizenship-track, permanent resident visa like we did.
I am not giving legal advice, however, and I am not your lawyer. Each person should do their own research and make their own decision what to do when considering being more than just a visitor to Mexico. In addition, each person should do their own research on property ownership in Mexico. While I know a lot about this subject, I am not your lawyer. It is not the purpose of this blog to give legal advice of any kind.
We are so grateful for our experience with INM. We found the officials at INM to be straightforward and very professional. But most of all, we liked and appreciated our law firm, EXO Inmigracion, who were well worth the extra dollars for our success—and our peace of mind.
Stay tuned for my next post, where I will talk about our very illuminating and pleasant experience in, of all places, Celaya, Mexico, at the Servicio de Administracion Tributaria de Mexico (SAT) where we applied for and each received a Registro Federal de Contribuyentes (RFC), the final documentation each “permanent resident” immigrant or individual foreign property owner will want to obtain.