Mexico, ain't it a peach !!!
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    paul turner
    Posts: 7578
    Joined: Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:03 pm

    Mexico, ain't it a peach !!!

    by paul turner » Tue Aug 17, 2010 8:05 pm

    Americans working in Mexico....interesting story

    Before any more 'outrage' at the Arizona law . . .
    read what it's like from the other side of the fence...


    Received the following from Tom O'Malley, who was a Director with S.W.
    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 U.S. attorneys were working
    to secure a permanent work visa called a 'FM3'. It was in addition to
    my U.S. passport that I had to show each time I entered and left the
    country. Barbara'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):

    1. Birth certificate for Barbara and me.
    2. Marriage certificate.
    3. High school transcripts and proof of graduation.
    4. College transcripts for every college I attended and proof of
    graduation.
    5. Two letters of recommendation from supervisors I had worked for at
    least one year.
    6. A letter from the St. Louis Chief of Police indicating that I had
    no arrest record in the U.S. and no outstanding warrants and, was "a
    citizen in good standing".
    7. "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 & Spanish on the right."

    "Once they were completed Barbara 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 where 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 U.S. Customs in Laredo,
    Texas. This meant we had 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 driver's license. This was an
    amazing process. The company arranged for the licensing agency to come
    to our headquarters location with their photography and fingerprint
    equipment and the laminating machine. We showed our U.S.
    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 to 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 FM3 was good for three years and renewable for two more after
    paying more fees."

    "Leaving the country meant turning in the FM3 and 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 capitol or government offices, but do protest daily in front of
    the United States Embassy. The U.S. Embassy looks like a strongly
    reinforced fortress and during most protests the Mexican military
    surrounds the block with their men standing shoulder to shoulder in
    full riot gear to protect the Embassy. These protests are never shown
    on U.S. 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 the illegals
    If you ain't crashin', you ain't ridin' :-)
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  • 250LGlenn
    Posts: 4
    Joined: Sun May 11, 2014 12:07 pm

    by 250LGlenn » Sun May 11, 2014 12:25 pm

    I have spent 25 winters in Mexico mostly Baja--I tried to get an FM-3 once but to many hoops to jump and pay thru for me--We left 2 years ago as the thiefts were unreal--Nothing outside was safe unless you were watching it 24/7--I miss the fishing and the OLD days--Not going back ever--It's Arizona for me in the winter :D :D
    2014 CRF 250L--Many Mod's
  • kiko
    Posts: 11
    Joined: Sat Dec 16, 2017 2:42 pm

    Re: Mexico, ain't it a peach !!!

    by kiko » Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:48 pm

    The info in the above posts are somewhat void of facts. I lived in the US 53 yrs and now full time in Mexico 11 years. I have had FM3 visas and I now have permanent resident visa. Never a problem. I am eligible for dual citizenship now if I want to pursue it. Not a problem. The above posters may have received bad legal advice from Mexican attorneys. Attys south or north of the border, not much difference. My wife just received her permanent visa card and the process involved only 3 steps. Total time 1 hour for each step.

    My son works in Mexico, the tax laws in the US gift him 100,000 USD income with no Federal tax liability. He pays "0" Mexican income tax because his clients are based in the US. One example of many false narratives promoted in the above posts. Just trying to keep it "Fair and Balanced."

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