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Card pick up only on Friday in Chapala...


Betsy

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If you are supposed to pick up your new INM card in Chapala you can only do that on Friday...new rule for normal people...don't know about facilitators.

You can't check your status on line anymore, you have to go in, sign the sheet and wait. Tons of people there today.

I signed in and went grocery shopping, they called my name the very moment I returned...yay! I didn't know about the new "Friday only" rule but she did check and mine wasn't there yet . I applied the first week of November. What's up with that?

I also found out that you will only be granted two travel letters while you are in process. Third time no deal.

Could they make this any more inefficient? Sheesh.

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If you are supposed to pick up your new INM card in Chapala you can only do that on Friday...new rule for normal people...don't know about facilitators.

You can't check your status on line anymore, you have to go in, sign the sheet and wait. Tons of people there today.

I signed in and went grocery shopping, they called my name the very moment I returned...yay! I didn't know about the new "Friday only" rule but she did check and mine wasn't there yet . I applied the first week of November. What's up with that?

I also found out that you will only be granted two travel letters while you are in process. Third time no deal.

Could they make this any more inefficient? Sheesh.

Thanks for the information on the travel letters, too. When did you get fingerprinted? They told us when we did our fingerprints it would be about 3 weeks and only to pick up on Friday. We are going to wait a month and then go (hopefully, they will be there).

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I was fingerprinted during the first week in January, they told me to come back in 3 weeks . Today they said my card might be ready this Friday or next Friday, I don't think they know when it will be ready and it will get there when it gets there.

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I was fingerprinted during the first week in January, they told me to come back in 3 weeks . Today they said my card might be ready this Friday or next Friday, I don't think they know when it will be ready and it will get there when it gets there.

So true..we can only hope it is there when we go back as we drive from Joco.

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I applied in August of 2013 and still no card. Now, I can't check on line and have only one day?

You can go in anytime and they will check to see if your card is ready but they will only give it to you on Friday.

The agent told me " it ( the Friday rule) makes it easier for you and easier for us" . She said that, I swear. Ha.

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Agree with Wait.What? When you improve a service, you don't then step backwards.

That being said, knowing (not understanding) how the system works from the Federal level on down, there could be any number of reasons to which we are not privy.

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In addition to the Kafka-esque realities already mentioned this means that there is now typically several months gap between the time your temporal is approved and the time you actually get your card and can travel. In our case we were approved in early December (having applied for our temporals in Tucson, which took less than 24 hours - showing that the Mexican system is perfectly efficient as long as it isn't in Mexico :blink:) and we were just called in for fingerprinting a week ago.

The net effect of all of this idiocy is to strongly incentivize one to either just come in on tourist visas and skip dealing with the absurd costs, facilitator's fees on top of said costs and long waits at offices staffed by the worst sort of bureaucrats, or find a way to go permanente and be done with it (until the next rules change, of course). I advised friends from the U.S. who'd like to retire here to just do the tourist visa thing and also take a serious look at countries like Panama and Ecuador that seem to actually want retirees. What a shame that this has been so thoroughly bungled.

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I applied in August of 2013 and still no card. Now, I can't check on line and have only one day?

Yes, you can check online with the information provided on your tramite letter, which you should carry in lieu of an INM visa. Why do you say that you cannot?

As mentioned above, you can also visit INM on any day to determine your status.

You probably should do that, as a lot of time has passed in your case.

It is also possible that you might have failed to report to INM as directed online and maybe your application has been cancelled, making you an illegal alien. I hope not, but that could explain why you do not find anything online.

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The net effect of all of this idiocy is to strongly incentivize one to either just come in on tourist visas and skip dealing with the absurd costs, facilitator's fees on top of said costs and long waits at offices staffed by the worst sort of bureaucrats, or find a way to go permanente and be done with it (until the next rules change, of course). I advised friends from the U.S. who'd like to retire here to just do the tourist visa thing and also take a serious look at countries like Panama and Ecuador that seem to actually want retirees. What a shame that this has been so thoroughly bungled.

I think most retirees don't like a lot of changes especially when the changes don't seem to make sense except to hurt the foreign retirees.

Silvia on SMACoollist has posted that if people have a Temporal and have an INAMAP to make a copy of the card because if it is lost you can no longer get an INAMAP unless you have a Permanente. One more negative that goes against the foreigners. I doubt that the INAMAP was being abused by foreigners with Temporals but it does limit who can have one.

"Are you temporal and have an INAPAM card?Fri Jan 31, 2014 1:46 pm (PST) . Posted by:"Silvia Cadena" silviadcadenaHola

As you know, now days , ONLY Permanente Residents can obtain the Senior Discount card.

If you are a temporary Residente and already have an INAPAM card, I would recommend that you make a copy of your card.

If you loose it and dont have a copy, you wont be able to get a replacement.

If you loose it and have a copy, then, you will be able to get another one.

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Yes, you can check online with the information provided on your tramite letter, which you should carry in lieu of an INM visa. Why do you say that you cannot?

As mentioned above, you can also visit INM on any day to determine your status.

You probably should do that, as a lot of time has passed in your case.

It is also possible that you might have failed to report to INM as directed online and maybe your application has been cancelled, making you an illegal alien. I hope not, but that could explain why you do not find anything online.

I believe Betsy's original post said you could no longer check on-line. My comment was in response to that post not the more current ones.

I have not tried checking on-line based again on the original post, but will do so now I now know you can check any day with pick-up only on Friday.

I have been to the INM every month, my card is in the system, it's now in Guad doing heaven knows what. The señora assures me everything is fine, just muy despacho.

Thanks for your input and suggestions. I am learning to be patient.

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If you are supposed to pick up your new INM card in Chapala you can only do that on Friday...new rule for normal people...don't know about facilitators.

You can't check your status on line anymore, you have to go in, sign the sheet and wait. Tons of people there today.

I signed in and went grocery shopping, they called my name the very moment I returned...yay! I didn't know about the new "Friday only" rule but she did check and mine wasn't there yet . I applied the first week of November. What's up with that?

I also found out that you will only be granted two travel letters while you are in process. Third time no deal.

Could they make this any more inefficient? Sheesh.

Yes, you can only pick up you new permanente card on a Friday. You have to do it in person. Your abagado or facilitator cannot do that.

Ours took exactly 4 months from the time we applied until the day we went to Chapala for our new cards.

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We both applied for temporal visas on the same day through Spencer's office in mid-Oct, so we've just crossed the 4 month mark. I was told sometime before Xmas that my visa was at the fingerprints stage, but that my wife's was not. :-/ So I then went in on Jan 9th to be fingerprinted at INM. Based on what I'm reading here, I think I'll go back into the INM office next week to ask about the status of my visa and my wife's. Who knows, it might speed things up? I realize that the INM runs on manana time, so I don't get let it upset or frustrate me. At the same time, I didn't think that it would ever take this long.

Does anyone know the process for getting one of those "travel letters," and how that might take? I also remember seeing elsewhere on this webboard that those cost something like $80 US/per person/per letter. :-/ Fortunately, none of our close relatives NOB has passed away since we got down here. :-/

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