“Hmm, this is interesting… I don’t understand what happened. Hold on a moment”, says our friendly neighborhood bilingual immigration officer.
About 20 minutes later he returns with a small stack of documents
“Normally”, he begins, “all US passport holders and green card holders are automatically given a 180 day visa when they enter the country. For some reason, you were only granted 30 days. But we can process your extension application here.”
“All you have to do is….”
– Fill out Form A, in Spanish. Provide an additional photocopy
– Fill out Form B, also in Spanish. Also provide a photocopy
– Provide duplicate copies of your passports and green card
– Write a letter, in Spanish, explaining that you want to extend your visa
– Pay the visa extension application fee at a local bank using Form C (400 pesos each)
– Sign the receipt that you receive from the bank, and make a photocopy
– Return to the Immigration Office with all of the above
– Wait a month (“or so”) while we send everything, including your passports, to Mexico City for processing. They will probably approve the extension
Ah, bureaucracy… one of man’s best inventions. We can’t wait around for a month or two hoping our passports come back with an extension, and we are only 1 week into a 4 week Spanish immersion course and can’t just get up and leave the country
After careful consideration of the work involved, the hassle factor, and various potential consequences, we decided to do what every reasonable person in the same situation would do: Absolutely nothing
Flashing back to our entry into the country, we did feel like something strange was happening with the woman processing our entry.
“How long will you stay in Mexico?”, she asked.
“60 days. We are going to Spanish school for a month and then we will visit a few monuments before leaving for Guatemala.”
She processed things very slowly, and several times looked at us for long periods with a look of expectation. Various long time Mexico expats suggested she was looking for a bribe, a fairly common occurrence or so I hear, although we either continue to be oblivious or it isn’t that common
Without a word, she passed our passports back to us. It wasn’t until a couple weeks later that we noticed that she had beautiful handwriting, and that she had written a big fat 30 in the box indicating maximum stay
Welcome to Mexico. 30 Days
I have no idea why we were given a visa with a shorter stay than is “normal”, and never will. It seems odd that our request for a 60 day visa was not only denied, but completely ignored. We made an effort to comply with the rules and regulations presented to us, in their full ridiculousness, but ridiculousness won over sanity.
Our plans evolved as we studied and then explored the country. We did our part to boost the local economies by frequenting various hotels, restaurants and coffee shops, and the numerous transportation companies, and we helped to build international relations by being good people, and developing friendships with the wonderful people we met.
With all of the hubbub about illegal immigrants in the United States, it felt a little strange to be one in Mexico. It was also a good topic of debate over drinks with friends. Why are some people forbidden to enter other countries and some are not? Why do many Americans think and act as if their ancestors weren’t immigrants themselves? Aren’t we all citizens of the world? Don’t we all hope for a healthy and successful life and a better world and future for our children and our children’s children?
4.5 months after we entered the country, we made our way to the border with a minor modification to our FMM… the same modification our entry officer would have made had we coughed up a few pesos
Minor Modification
The border crossing was uneventful. Nobody even looked at our FMM. Arm-in-arm with several other citizens of the world, we paid our exit tax, got our passport stamps, and crossed into Guatemala.
Thank goodness the Mexican authorities are not the great sticklers for compliance like many countries, including the U. S. I had an issue recently as I was flying back to the States from Mexico City.
I had neglected to bring my immigration form with my passport. It was 4 a.m. and I was told I would have to go to the immigration office to get the form reissued. Of course, the office did not open until 8 a.m., so I would have had to change my flights at a cost of $150. Ultimately, they just issued a temporary form at the ticket counter so I could board. Nice!
Thanks for sharing your airport story Mike. As we were figuring out what to do with our visa situation, I had heard some stories that didn’t end as nicely.
We heard that the airports were quite strict but the land crossings were more or less ignored, and I can confirm that the latter part appears to be accurate. It sounds like maybe the airports are flexible as well. I think the large income from tourist dollars greases the skids a bit
Excellent write-up and site guys!! I love your straight forward writing – including the costs, etc. at the end of each article – very informative, and your photos place me right in the moment. I am most fond of your write-up on Zihuatanejo, Mexico, where I grew up. Thank you for sharing and please keep up the great work! :-)
Thank you Sherry! We are quite fond of Zihuatanejo too.
We still have years of traveling to do, and I hope we can continue to improve the writing and photos along the way, while building a community of like minded people as well
Great website and articles you two! Quick question…….”we paid our exit tax, got our passport…” What is the “exit tax”? Penalty for overstaying?
Some countries charge you a fee to leave the country. This was the case here.
In many countries this is included in the purchase price of airfare. Other countries it needs to be paid separately.