Thread: Get Your Copy: Process Required to work in Mexico

Received the following from Tom O'Malley, who was
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 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) of my:

1. Birth certificate for Barbara and I.
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 indication I had no
arrest record in the US 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 and 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 we
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 Governments 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 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 rate 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 companies Mexican accountants
did this for us and we just signed what they prepared. I 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# 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 Congressman
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 illegals!

Tom O'Malley

MMdupre

Welcome to Alipac
Thanks for this info its very improtant to know that Mexico has stricter laws then we do, (or at least inforcements) when it comes to living and working in thier country

Very informative. I had no idea what was involved to work and live in Mexico. If only it was like that here in the United States for Mexicans we would have it made.