Michelle Malkin » Letter of the morning

Letter of the morning

By Michelle Malkin • February 26, 2008 08:29 AM

From reader Mary:

Hi Michelle - I live in Chicago but own a parcel in San Felipe, Mexico (east side of Baja, on the Sea of Cortez) Thought you’d get a kick out of what I need to do if I want to retire there….legally. Here’s the info from the El Dorado Ranch Estates website:

WHAT’S REQUIRED TO OBTAIN AN FM-3 OR FM-2 VISA?

For those of you who either lease lots, rent houses, or have purchased property through a Fideicomiso Irrevocable, you must have an FM-3 Visa to be legal in Mexico. Once you have signed any sort of contract, you are no longer a tourist. I would like to say at the outset, that if you do not have an FM-3 Visa and you find yourself in a property dispute or other entanglement which puts you in the arms of jurisprudence, you literally have no rights as an “illegal alien”. This means your property, bank accounts, vehicles and personal belongings, are in jeopardy. The very minimum you need for owning or leasing property is the FM-3 Visa which is renewable every year for 5 years. The following is a list of items you will need to obtain your FM-3 or FM-2 Visa:

1. PROOF OF INCOME: $1,000.00 per person, or 1,500.00 per couple deposited into either a Mexican or American bank account. If not deposited into a Mexican bank, you must obtain a letter from your bank, translated into Spanish stating you have funds available in that bank. This letter must have an APOSTILLE from the Secretary of State’s office and is not the same thing as a notary seal. The letter should be signed and sealed from a valid notary of your state, but in addition, you must have Apostille from your state secretary’s office. You can contact the Secretary of State’s office of your home state for more information on obtaining the Apostille.

2. PETITION LETTER: Letter from you requesting a change of your characteristic (from tourist to resident);

3. RESIDENT LETTER: Letter from camp or development manager, or copy of current Mexico electric, water or telephone bill verifying your current address in Mexico.

4. FMT TOURIST VISA: Can be purchased at any Immigration Office or local airport in Mexico for a current cost of 250.00 pesos for a period of 6 months.

5. PHOTOS: Three front and two of the side, in black and white. A specific infantile size is required and you can get these photos only at the Copicentro stationary store in San Felipe or any other shop that is familiar with this size.

6. The necessary “Form #5″ (can be purchased in any stationery store in Mexico). You need three (3) originals for each visa applicant.

7. A current passport.

8. FM-1 APPLICATION: A form which must be carefully typewritten in Spanish. You can obtain this form at any Immigration office. We strongly recommend that the Immigration office or a visa service prepare this form for you (a minimal fee will be charged).

Take all these documents and letters to the Immigration office or visa service. Upon completion of your file, you will be asked to take the “Form # 5″ to the bank where the appropriate fees are paid and receipted. They will keep 1 copy, and you will return the rest to the Immigration office. Now you’re finished. It will take about 1 month for your file to go to Mexicali and be returned with your new FM-2 or FM-3.

ANNUAL RENEWAL FEES:

FM-3 Visa without working papers is 1,055.00 pesos; FM-3 Visa with working papers is 1,713.00 pesos; FM-2 Visa without working papers is 2,194.00 pesos; FM-2 Visa with working papers is 2,194.00 pesos. The same requirements for money in the bank, etc. are necessary, except for the application and photos.

You can do all the paperwork and running around yourself or you can contact one of the following visa preparation services: San Felipe Immigration Office, Yolanda at yetmaill@telnor.net or Lupita Mora Foudy on Mar de Caribe (577-1804) for assistance in filling out the required paperwork.

THERE ARE 3 CLASSES OF PERMITS: FMT, FM-2 and FM-3.

FMT: Is a Tourist Visa. If you stay MORE THAN 7 days in Baja (other regions in Mexico require a tourist visa upon entry) you will need a Tourist Visa. The cost is 205.00 pesos. Passport & I. D. required. This can be picked up at any Immigration office or at the airport.

FM-3: is a Visa for temporary residents up to 5 years or longer if desired. You can get your first FM-3 from your local Mexican Consulate in the states. It’s quicker and you don’t need the Apostille, but you must have your visa book in Mexico at any Immigration Office within 60 - 90 days (exact time will be stamped by the Consulate in your book) after the date your visa was received. If you don’t do this, your FM-3 isn’t valid and you will need to start over from the beginning.

FM-2: is a Visa for permanent residents. Requirements for FM-2 are the same but you must live in Mexico FULL TIME (residing no less than 9 months in Mexico).

For further information, concerns, or complaints contact the Secretary of Immigration office,
Sub-Delegado Local Lic. Ramiro Ulises Contreras, or one of the very helpful, English speaking assistants in that office at 577-1083.

The office is located at the Glorieta (traffic circle) on the right hand side of the street as you are heading out of town. If you have any further questions, please email us at info@eldoradoranch.com and we will try to answer your questions.

Just a helpful hint from long-time returnees: After you get your FM-3, before you leave the country, you may want to get it date stamped at Immigration. This will facilitate the renewal process and late fines if you return later than the one year expiration date.

Posted in: Immigration

Send to a Friend
Printer Friendly

comments (31)

trackbacks (1)

See what others have said

Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.

Trackbacks

A NEWT ONE

Trackback URL

Comments

#1

On February 26th, 2008 at 8:39 am, flmom said:

This letter should be sent to every open borders advocate in Washington.
#2

On February 26th, 2008 at 8:43 am, commonsensemom said:

What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander, no?
#3

On February 26th, 2008 at 8:46 am, MarcTheInfidel said:

And what do Mexicans need to own property in the US?

*crickets*
#4

On February 26th, 2008 at 8:50 am, Fineous Reese said:

So Hugo Chavez wants Spanish as the primary language and Mexico has a decent handle on regulating immigration. Are we humble enough to learn from those we’re supposed to be superior to?
#5

On February 26th, 2008 at 8:56 am, docflash said:

I dont know what paper work is needed to enter this country and don’t care.Just like all the ones that come here don’t care either.
#6

On February 26th, 2008 at 8:58 am, dan708 said:

Mexico’s government is one of the most corrupt on the face of the earth. If you grease the right palms, you can ignore all of those regulations.
#7

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:03 am, Marshall Russ said:

Ownership is a relative term. It does not mean the same thing as it does in the U.S. The problem is having standing in court in Mexico. If there is a dispute you need to have political connections and that takes money.And that does not guarantee things might not change the next day. Costa Rica would be a better place to retire after careful research.
#8

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:05 am, Snooper said:

Unbelievable.
#9

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:06 am, JohnnyNJ said:

…..And what does the great U.S. of A. demand of the 20,000,000+ Mexicans squating here; ZERO, ZIP, NOTHING, NADA.

Hello…..McCain, Obama, Clinton, Bush

Hello…..US House and Senate

Hello…..State Guvs and legislatures

Hello…..City Mayors(Sanctuary Cities)

And thanks to the states and towns that have actually attempted to crack down on our serious “Illegal immigration ” problem.
#10

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:09 am, longbow said:

Actually the best place to retire for a US Citizen, is the good ol’ USA! You have more freedom, more opportunity, more of “the good life” here than anywhere else. Plus at least for now the natives speak your language!

And for the most part you can be secure in your person and property, although the Dims are working hard to erase those advantages.

We need to show Mexico that we want to be a good neighbor - we should immediately put in place on their citizens, the same laws, rules and regulations that they put on ours.
#11

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:10 am, The Raging Republican said:

!Me casa, no es su casa!
#12

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:33 am, Marshall Russ said:

Geraldo is going to be on Laura Ingraham this morning selling his new book “HIS panic”. Should be some fireworks. I hope she has her spit screen up. Bill O’ let Geraldo off the hook last night for the most part. Geraldo is still trying to make the point that the crime problem with illegals has nothing to do with the fact that they are here illegally.
#13

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:36 am, On-my-soap-box said:

Pretty much the same process in Haiti. There is a difference on how our Haitian brothers and sisters are treated. After saving money all of their lives to pay someone for passage and then risking their lives to get here, the USA deports Haitians as soon as they set foot in this country.
#14

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:42 am, mlnicosia said:

Does that document say ‘illegal aliens’? I thought there was no such thing!
#15

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:57 am, pressto said:

I think those laws are great and we should implement them all immediately here.
#16

On February 26th, 2008 at 9:58 am, pressto said:

BTW forgot to highlight, this is just to be a Legal Resident in that country and not a citizen. There are many more hoops you have to jump through if you want that to happen.
#17

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:03 am, malkin_fan said:

On February 26th, 2008 at 8:46 am, MarcTheInfidel said:
And what do Mexicans need to own property in the US?”

All they need is to go to Bank of unAmerica and get a mortgage without any proof of income.
#18

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:03 am, Boomer said:

We need to remove our military from the quagmire in the countries of the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, South Korea, and Japan. Then we can redeploy them along our wide open borders just like our friends south of the border. I am astonished that our neighbor to the south will only accept applications in Spanish maybe we should do the same with requiring only English After all aren’t they the ones that lecture us on diversity just like their open borders allies in this country.
#19

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:05 am, JonR said:

Better go to the polls folks and vote out each and every pro-illegal immigration politician while we still have a country.
I understand that Clinton and Obama do no feel that English is necessary as a common language in the USA. What does that tell you?
#20

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:11 am, Republican (By Default) said:

Let me get this straight. If you’re there on a tourist visa, it’s basically voided the moment you purchase property. But you can’t get the resident visa until you’ve purchased the property. So once you sign there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to prove anything, and even if you could prove it no one will listen because you’re an illegal.

Who would be stupid enough to buy any property under those terms?

That does nothing but encourage corruption in the justice system.
#21

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:14 am, zorro said:

How novel. Real immigration requirements for legal residency. Impressive, very impressive. As pressto mentioned above, we should copy this immediately if not sooner.
#22

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:18 am, Speakup said:

if you do not have an FM-3 Visa and you find yourself in a property dispute or other entanglement which puts you in the arms of jurisprudence, you literally have no rights as an “illegal alien”. This means your property, bank accounts, vehicles and personal belongings, are in jeopardy.

This is were we dropped the ball.
We’ve allowed PC special interest groups like the ACLU and by their extension, La Raza, to define our nation.
#23

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:36 am, emjem24 said:

Double standards indeed. All this work just to live in this worthless country. I didn’t have to do this much work to get my student visa to live in Spain.

The Mexican government has a lot of nerve requiring all this hoop-jumping when they actively request that the US just look the other way while their nationals are violating our territorial sovereignty. Furthermore, the US and its citizens are just supposed to let Mexican citizens automatically leech off of social and healthcare services, kill our citizens and at the same time be treated just like legal, American citizens. How charming.

Thanks, Mexico… I’ll pass on retiring in your third world country if you don’t mind.
#24

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:58 am, andrew c said:

I have to say that they’re about 23 months faster and $500 cheaper than what it took to get my wife her green card. Maybe we should import some of their immigration officials.
#25

On February 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am, shooter said:

MarcTheInfidel said:
And what do Mexicans need to own property in the US?

VERY IMPORTANT- IN ORDER- YOU MUST;
1) WALK across any part of border ( or drive or fly or ride or??)
2) MAKE UP 9 DIGIT SS NUMBER ( you’ll need this for those pesky mortgage forms)
3) Find property
4) Ask for loan ( make up salary according to price of property)
4a) Congrats, you may now move in with 20 or 30 of your closest friends and family.
#26

On February 26th, 2008 at 11:26 am, TexasTiger said:

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:03 am, Boomer said:

We need to remove our military from the quagmire in the countries of the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, South Korea, and Japan. Then we can redeploy them along our wide open borders just like our friends south of the border.

Deploying the Army along our border would stretch our forces. Tactically, it would be wiser to deploy them along the Tropic of Cancer.
#27

On February 26th, 2008 at 11:32 am, Barry F. said:

Well, somone is on top of illegal immigration. Problem is, it isn’t our country that is on top of it.

Hello, Washington?! Are you awake?
#28

On February 26th, 2008 at 12:22 pm, hawkeye54 said:

Hello, Washington?! Are you awake?

No, Washington (along with too many states and localities) is sleeping with the enemy, business and poliitcal interests who have much to gain from continued illegal immigration. Power and riches are more valuable to many in gov than actually protecting the security of the nation and serving the needs of its legal citizens.
#29

On February 26th, 2008 at 1:01 pm, The Raging Republican said:

On February 26th, 2008 at 10:03 am, Boomer said:

We need to remove our military from the quagmire in the countries of the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, South Korea, and Japan. Then we can redeploy them along our wide open borders just like our friends south of the border. I am astonished that our neighbor to the south will only accept applications in Spanish maybe we should do the same with requiring only English After all aren’t they the ones that lecture us on diversity just like their open borders allies in this country.

Best comment evah!
#30

On February 26th, 2008 at 1:22 pm, fred5676 said:

In addition to the visa requirements, maybe we should also adopt Mexico’s police methods regarding illegal aliens. Ours sure aren’t working:

Police had three chances to identify Olga Franco (AKA Alianiss Nunez Morales) as an illegal alien before she killed 4 children in MN. And failed all three times.

In 1996 - Franco had a “no driver license” violation. http://media.myfoxtwincities.com/pdfs/mn001.PDF

May, 2006 - she got a ticket and paid a $187 fine for driving (on a lawn!) without a license.
http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail6162.cfm?Id=0,66690

January 2008, stopped by police, was a passenger with boyfriend, who had only a learner’s permit, driving a van. She had no license.
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/02/25/olga/

A month later, in February, 2008 - driving the same van, with stolen license plates, she kills 4 children.

Three chances - three failures. Pathetic.
#31

On February 26th, 2008 at 2:14 pm, graysonret said:

We have pretty strict laws regarding immigration here in the U.S. too. Trying to get legal residency takes lots of time and money…and never ending forms…if you do it legally. The difference between Mexico and the U.S. is that the former enforces their laws; the latter ignores them.