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Has anyone else experienced this from immigration?


J.Miller

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I have just gotten off of the phone after receiving the notice from my lawyer's office that I cannot obtain my paper work (former FM3) for one year; I must go Permanente which will cost me another $4800 pesos. Having paid a considerable amount in early November and having been on Mexican "hold" for all this time I am now informed that further to this latest piece of ridiculous news, a refund on the original application will not be forth coming any time soon.

I realize that this is not the fault of my legal representatives but really. I wanted to apply for a two year set of papers in the first place and was advised that that couldn't happen I could only go for the one year. Does anyone out there know what is going on with immigration?

I am getting ready to go back to Canada for a couple of months and even if I had a spare four hundred dollars, I do not want to fork over another cent to this paper chase. I guess this is right up there with misery loves company but is anyone else causht up in this never ending foolishness and if so what are you doing about it?

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What renewal is your current FM3? If it has a 3 or 4 on the back, then you must go Permanente and your lawyer's office should have told you that from the beginning as the new INM rules are clear that after four years on a temporary visa, one must go permanent or leave the country and apply at a Mexican Consulate for a new temporary visa. I have been here four years on old FM3, applied for Permanente, and have had no problems with INM in this process. I have completed all the paperwork and am now just waiting for the new permanente visa to arrive from Mexico City.

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Apparently I had a #3 on my old FM3 and when I applied in November, I was told by my legal representative that I could not apply for any more then one year so I reluctantly did so. This was in early November and I have been on lone checking my status week after week since early January and my status had not changed.

So now I am expected to do what I wanted to in the first place (apply for Permanente) without a refund or even a promise of one. How can this be? I have paid a fairly hefty fee for something that I did not, cannot get and apparently I am expected to be OK with that.

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Immigration has changed their tune a few times and many who turned their papers in the months of November and December are having to resubmit as many did a were told by immigration but now immigration has changed their procedures. Here in Jalisco refunds do not come from immigration but must be applied for at the SAT office and can take a long time, my Guadalajara office has a law student and her tax law professor will now help us with the refunds as they seem to be very difficult, another attorney office helped us with some from last year and we are still waiting!

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Good luck Satinrose and to all others in the same predicament. If you get a hearing, let us know how you make out. As for me I feel as if I am between a rock and a hard place and though I feel that I should not be financially responsible for the indecision of the powers that be, there is not much that I can do about it.

I have been waiting on my documents so that I can make a trip back to Canada to visit my Mother who has just been diagnosed with cancer; and I have to be prepared to stay awhile. With my status here up in the air, leaving makes me very nervous. I suspect that I am about to throw good money after bad applying for Permanente and that I will never see a refund for the renewal of the fees that I "donated" in November. But I do love it here and I guess it is a case of put up (again) or go home.

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Here in Jalisco refunds do not come from immigration but must be applied for at the SAT office and can take a long time, my Guadalajara office has a law student and her tax law professor will now help us with the refunds as they seem to be very difficult, another attorney office helped us with some from last year and we are still waiting!

I am trying to get a refund of the $1,000 peso application fee we paid trying to apply for inmigrado 3 days before the cutover to the new rules. When we went in that day INM said to go away and return the following week and apply for permanente which also has a $1,000 application fee but uses a different clave and cadena.

INM in Chapala gave me forms to fill out to request a refund from SAT. Three weeks later I picked up an official letter with the original payment form and was told to go to SAT in Guadalajara off the Colon Glorieta on Lopez Mateos. Wrong building and I couldn't just walk in and get a refund, I first have to make an appointment at the Guadalajara Sur office on Av Americas for an RFC number. There is an option on the SAT appointment page for a refund (devolucion) but it requires an RFC so for now in a couple of weeks I'll make another trip to Guadalajara and see if I make any progress.

It would be a lot easier to just give up and let them have the money but why should I?

If anyone is interested in looking at how to make an appointment (cita) with SAT, check out https://citas.sat.gob.mx/citasat/Home.aspx?s=1

The real bureaucratic beauty of the site is that after completing the request for an appointment you receive an email requesting confirmation. You are not allowed to confirm right away, rather you must wait until a 48 hour window opens up between 2 and 4 days from today.

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Good luck Satinrose and to all others in the same predicament. If you get a hearing, let us know how you make out. As for me I feel as if I am between a rock and a hard place and though I feel that I should not be financially responsible for the indecision of the powers that be, there is not much that I can do about it.

I have been waiting on my documents so that I can make a trip back to Canada to visit my Mother who has just been diagnosed with cancer; and I have to be prepared to stay awhile. With my status here up in the air, leaving makes me very nervous. I suspect that I am about to throw good money after bad applying for Permanente and that I will never see a refund for the renewal of the fees that I "donated" in November. But I do love it here and I guess it is a case of put up (again) or go home.

I am also having a really hard time, taking forever and I do not know where I stand. My Lawyer pointed out that I only have to do this one time, and then the pain and expense are over. That is what is keeping me somewhat calm....that and a lot of deep breaths.

In your case, you can get a 60 day travel permit, that is what I did and it went smoothly at the airport both leaving and returning. What I wonder is if they are going to make you produce financial documents to qualify for permanente. They seem to have asked people for that who are in your situation, even though they should not have to. If that is the case, you might as well just go an apply in Canada for another four year temporary. The financial requirements are not as stiff and you would not need a lawyer.

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  • 3 months later...

It took 4 months but the direct deposit of the payment made to SAT in error finally hit my Bancomer account. This is where I made the $1,000 peso application fee payment for inmigrado status only to find out the changeover date moved up in November requiring another $1,000 payment for permanente status. Same amount but a different cuenta.

It required an all day trip to SAT in Guadalajara after setting up an appointment to acquire a RFC number. This number is required to receive any money from SAT, even a refund or devolucion. This in itself was not too terribly difficult but the GDL people couldn't close out the RFC online application without a CURP number. I didn't have one of those at the time. That missing piece caused all sorts of headaches trying to drive all over Guadalajara trying to get one. Once I got the RFC I had to go back to the jefa at the front desk and beg for a devolucion appointment. RFC and devolucion are 2 separate steps to SAT normally requiring 2 trips.

If you have a CURP and are due a refund from SAT you must make an appointment for an RFC online and then bring originals and copies of your passport, visa (permanente/temporal) and electric bill. In order to receive payment you must present your Mexican bank account number plus the interbank number which must be the Mexican equivalent of a routing and transit number so they can direct deposit your refund.

If two refunds are needed (husband and wife for example) both people need to go through this process. Even though I made payment for both of us and signed the original papers, SAT would not issue a refund for my wife unless she was there with the same information. A trip for another day...

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Is it absolutely certain that one must move to Permanente after a given period on FM3/Residente Temporal? I called the Mexican Consulate in Toronto and they said unequivocally that is not the case, switching to Permanente is voluntary.

Incidentally, my RT card has a notation: "Renovacion/Renovation 1" on the back. Does anyone know the significance of this?

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The 1 means that you have renewed once and are in your second year as a Residente Temporal.

In two more years, you will have to become Residente Permanente and will not have to provide financial qualifications. You will not be able to keep a US or Canadian plated vehicle in Mexico.

The only option, making it voluntary, is to leave Mexico and allow your visa to expire. Then, you may pay a fine and apply for a new Residente Temporal visa at a Mexican consulate in your home country. If you do that, proof of financial qualifications will be required and you will be able to return to Mexico with a foreign plated vehicle, on an Importada Temporal, for another four years; renewing for 3 after the first year on the new visa.

All of that assumes that nothing changes. :017:

It is generally not a good idea to give much credence to what you hear from a consulate. They smile, treat you nicely and seem very confident. Then, **it happens, and you get to pay the price.

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Apparently I had a #3 on my old FM3 and when I applied in November, I was told by my legal representative that I could not apply for any more then one year so I reluctantly did so. This was in early November and I have been on lone checking my status week after week since early January and my status had not changed.

So now I am expected to do what I wanted to in the first place (apply for Permanente) without a refund or even a promise of one. How can this be? I have paid a fairly hefty fee for something that I did not, cannot get and apparently I am expected to be OK with that.

The Lawyer is supposed to be the expert, isn't that why we use them? I would ask the Lawyer to take responsibility and pick up, at least, half of the cost.

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Twoheads - Posted 25 February 2013 - 11:46 AM

Apparently I had a #3 on my old FM3 and when I applied in November, I was told by my legal representative that I could not apply for any more then one year so I reluctantly did so. This was in early November and I have been on lone checking my status week after week since early January and my status had not changed.

So now I am expected to do what I wanted to in the first place (apply for Permanente) without a refund or even a promise of one. How can this be? I have paid a fairly hefty fee for something that I did not, cannot get and apparently I am expected to be OK with that.

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Your status won't change until November because what you did was renew your temporary visa for one more year--until November. Your legal representative might have been correct at the time to tell you that you could not renew your temporary for any more than one year. You had one year left on your non-immigrante to complete your time. It was just as the new law came into effecrt.

So you can go to Canada and return in November to apply for your permanente without showing financial. But don't let it expire. The cost will be $1,000 to transfer to temporary and then $3,815 to apply for permanente plus whatever your representative charges you for his fee.

Good luck

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  • 1 year later...

FYI, at the Chapala INM office today, I was told with confidence and authority that the current fine for overstaying a tourist 180-day visa is Mx 330, to be paid after trying to pass through the international section of the GDL airport. It was the same last year when my FM3 had expired. No hassle, just arrive a bit earlier.

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In the US, a permanent resident earns "permanent" residency status which, under normal circumstances, is not rescinded; however, the "green" card expires every 10 years and must be replaced. It costs $450 US and requires at least 2 trips to the center of their choosing and--as of last month--a 10 month processing time after your fingerprints and interview. According to the US, this card renewal allows new technology to be imbedded into the card (probably true) and updates expiring demographic info (employment, etc.) And in the US every January, or sooner if an address change takes place, you need to notify Immigration of your address and status.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mexico follows suit. It's a pretty decent income stream, in addition to the documentation update.

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Only minors have expiration dates of 4 years on their cards if they are over 4 and if under annually.

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