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Tourist visa implications...


DeborahM

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Posting for a friend.

Canadian ex-pat couple, tourist visa due to expire mid September. One is very ill right now, and unstable after a series of strokes, unable to travel, even to the border and back.

What are the implications of NOT being able to renew their visa, and are there any exceptions at all on humanitarian/medical grounds?

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Not much will happn if they stay beyond that date resulting in a small fine if flying out. Do they have a car with foreign plates as that is a more important issue? If they get an humanitarian visa the car can be resolved too. Certainly one of them will qualify for humanitarian visa.

I have successfully processed humanitarian visas. In San Miguel only one doctor can provide the letter. INM staff came to client to do finger prints. Plus INM does not charge for a Humanitarian visa. Please speak with Spencer. If he has questions he has my number. From my web site:

  • Humanitarian Visa for those in Mexico including with a Tourist Card who have poor health such as being blind, having dementia etc. This requires an examination and letter from one of very few doctors and this visa needs to be renewed annually.

They or you, may also want to notify Canadian embassy. We have their contact information as my husband is involved with them.

Best Wishes

Sonia

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We are doing the humanitarian visa in Chapala, have had good results. They are checking and doing visits to see that the person really is in no condition to travel and do not feel that people instutitionalized for addictions to qualify.

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  • 1 month later...

Did everything work out ok? I had the same situation - on a tourist visa and was too sick to travel. One time I had overstayed a bit, but nobody cared and i was able to leave the country without a hitch. This second time around, I paid quite a bit to an "immigration specialist" who was able to get a six month extension. He didn't need any medical verification to prove that I was indeed to ill to travel. I got my passport back with a new stamp...but...on my original and same FMM card that I filled out upon entering the country six months ago. Its my handwriting and everything. Did they white-out the old stamped date and I just can't see it?

And, is it normal to be able to get a 6 month tourist visa extension without having to provide any evidence of inability to travel? I sure hope my documents are legitimate.

PS: If you want the name of the immigration person who did this, and his costs (which were not cheap, but well worth it to me as it was still less than a round trip flight into the US and back, not to mention the misery it would've been to travel while being so sick.) PM me if you are interested in his info.

Edit: Had an attorney review my FMM card, passport, etc. Everything is in order and appears legitimate. Yay! He also says the price was very reasonable. If anyone desires the name of the service I used, please PM.

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Hud: I feel exactly that. Although, as long as the papers are legit (or appear legit enough so I am able to get my temp residency) it was still cheaper and less of a hassle than flying out of the country and flying right back in.

I wonder if the guy just held on to my passport for four days, used some great quality white-out and stamped a new date over the old date. It is the EXACT SAME tourist visa form that I filled out when I last entered the country!

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The fine when flying out with an expired FMM is typically ~ 230 pesos.

Why anyone would need at the most even a copy of one's passport let alone keep original for 4 days would cause me a lot of concern. Cloned passport or ?

Agree with HUD.

good luck

Sonia

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Yep, kept my passport for four days, didn't request any of the heaps of medical paperwork I have to prove I was too ill to travel, and did some magic and simply changed the date on my original card.

If you do get fined (and pay it) for overstaying a tourist visa, can it cause you problems trying to reenter the country? I was nervous about creating a situation where I couldn't return without a hassle, or not be able to apply for temp residency.

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Hud, I sure will. It was when my doc wouldn't write a script for meds I needed because of lack of clarity in a new law regarding opiates for people on a tourist visa, I was in a panic and went to the nearest immigration business I saw.

Edit: Had an attorney review my FMM card, passport, etc. Everything is in order and appears legitimate. Yay! He also says the price was very reasonable. If anyone desires the name of the service I used, please PM.

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Serendipity,

I think that you have been royally scammed and that you now have a forged immigration document, a serious felony that could land you in jail and deported, regardless of your condition. INM will not be very sympathetic to your situation when they discover that you have participated in a forgery and then offer it as genuine.

As difficult as it may be, I suggest that you leave Mexico by land, driving or walking across the border ASAP without stopping at INM. Then re-enter with a fresh FMM. Destroy that forgery now, if you are smart.

You have probably made matters worse. If you have any doubts, consult with Spencer.

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Gahhhh. I fear the same. I'll have to make an appointment w/Spencer, bring in my receipt from the immigration dude, and see just exactly what he did. I just don't see how he managed to get an extension w/o any paperwork of my medical condition, and how he returned the same card to me with a different date. Goddammit.

Edit: Had an attorney review my FMM card, passport, etc. Everything is in order and appears legitimate. Yay! He also says the price was very reasonable. If anyone desires the name of the service I used, please PM.

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Serenity, poor girl, doesn't sound like your life is too serene right now. As you've no doubt realized, panic mode is no state to try to conduct business in or make decisions. You say you did this because your doctor couldn't write you a scrip- but that is not what is required to extend a tourist visa- verification from an approved doctor that you are too ill to travel is.

If this "immigration specialist" that you went to has an office and gave you a signed receipt, and hasn't packed up and left, hopefully he will be the one raked over the coals, not you.

Good luck.

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Mudgirl, the story is more complicated than what I wrote - it was on a different thread. The script had nothing do with extending the visa. According to one doc, the Secretary of Health has informed him that those on tourist visas can no longer fill opiate scripts and must have a Curp # (you can't get a Curp w/a tourist visa). Spencer then found some official guidelines and gave us a citation that according to those guidelines, the curp is optional.

What makes it difficult is we have no link or citation to the Secretary de Salud where we can actually read this new "law". Just a "this is what I was told". Also, my doc called a pharmacy who said they hadn't heard of this law and did not require a curp.

Its very possible there IS a new law, but it simply hasn't been properly introduced, so right now we have conflicting laws as to whether the curp is optional.

My "panic" was the fact that I was/am in no condition to travel, and I needed the first available person who could get me an extension, if one existed to legally stay in the country until I am well enough to travel back to the US and apply for residency in a MX consulate (can't be done here in MX). This immigration guy has an actual office, business cards, front desk receptionist and isn't some hole in the wall. I wasn't in the condition to shop around for better prices. Of course, he can close up shop at any time and disappear, but I have his card and my receipt so in case I get hauled off to jail, maybe that would help. I was surprised that he didn't ask for any medical paperwork. Maybe he knows someone inside who skips the process and just does the stamping. Doesn't sound legal either way.

I took another look at my documents. Maybe they are ok. First, my passport has a new incoming stamp from GDL. Of course it has also the stamp from six months ago.

Also, now that I think of it, I do not recall that there was a stamped anything on my original FMM card when I entered the country the last time. Nor any handwriting in the 'official' section. Now, we have the new (first?) stamp in that box in the lower right-hand corner, along with some blue ink that checks the box in the "official" box that I have another 180 days with a signature, also in blue ink.

Either way, I'll have a lawyer review it.

Edit: Had an attorney review my FMM card, passport, etc. Everything is in order and appears legitimate. Yay! He also says the price was very reasonable. If anyone desires the name of the service I used, please PM.

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Sonia,

Is 230 pesos fine you mentioned for overstaying dependent on how long you overstayed?

For health reasons, I overstayed on a tourist visa (more than a few days, but will be under 6 months overstay) and will leave in a couple of weeks... will there be a place to exchange pesos after checking in with immigration?

I just want to make sure I keep enough pesos to pay... but don't want to be stuck with more than I need and no place to exchange. Will they accept USD for the fine?

Thank you....

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Last week program on Canadian TV showed a very serious problem with doctors over prescribing opiate scripts..addiction is endemic and various detox programs in place and alternative meds need to be used.

I don't know the motive or intent behind your post of this, particularly as this thread is about tourist visas.

It sounds like you have naively fallen victim to yet another one of the one-sided scare-tactic "investigative reports" regarding prescription opiates.

I can tell just by your brief post that you know nothing of chronic pain, nothing of how safe and helpful opiates can be if correctly prescribed and monitored, and absolutely nothing about how a person's quality of life can not only be improved by opiate pain killers, but that many people actually commit suicide because for whatever reason, they are not given the pain meds they deserve for a non-legitimate reason.

Pray tell, just how tough would you be if you had a vascular tumor explode in your vertebral canal, causing permanent nerve damage, with your alternative medicine of tea leaves, essential oils and a healing crystal?

There is no "endemic" of addicts. There will always be people who abuse drugs, alcohol, MdDonalds and cigarettes. You have no idea just how much misery you perpetuate when you make blanket statements such as this, to people who rely upon prescription painkillers to have a decent quality of life, manage their pain and not jump off a bridge. Its people like you who will make judgmental statements to a disabled person who uses pain meds without knowing the first thing about their medical condition. It is people like you who easily fall prey to these one-sided ''horror stories" that gather TV ratings, which in turn are yapped about (ie: your post here) and perpetuate the spread of misinformation that prescription opiates are inherently evil and are causig the population to wander around drooling and overdosing. Its people like you who make it so difficult for someone like me, who does not abuse drugs and takes medicine as my doctor prescribes, to get my meds without having to be shaken down by some FDA version of the Gestapo each month.

Please - before you spout off nonsense and make yourself look foolish on public forums, at least educate yourself on the totality of the subject of which you pontificate. Its one thing to just make yourself look woefully misinformed - I could care less. But its quite another when your spreading of misinformation is damaging to people who are legitimately suffering and have every right to legally obtain prescriptions to alleviate their pain and manage some semblance of a life worth living.

You are lucky and fortunate you have never been in severe chronic pain. Its very easy to mount that high horse and prattle incessantly about "alternative medicines" when you are the healthy one. I was once like you and believed if a person was "strong enough", they didn't need opiate meds. Then, I turned 17, matured a bit, and realized that just because I had never experienced severe pain, much less chronic pain, I should shut my mouth and not make rush opinions based upon something "A Current Affair" make have cooked up for ratings.

Now, back to the subject at hand - tourist visas. Is your evening so dull that you found the need to attempt to start a debate here on prescription med use? I'm sure there are many other activities that can keep you busy if needed. There are also many drug forums where you can debate this issue, but this is not the place.

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These boards are a poor place to air your personal problems, especially to strangers, then getting advice from same.

I concur. I don't air "personal problems" in the general sense, or seek advice for "personal problems". I will ask questions, like we all do, for good references for where to fix my car, a good eye doctor, immigration services, legal services, ask questions on what happens if you're involved in an injury car accident, or, to certain people's horror, comment on or discuss the level of cleanliness of Lake Chapala. We also post information on an experience with a business or service provider if I feel it is in the public interest for others in the community to know. If I feel comfortable, I will choose to include relevant "personal" information to make sense of the post.

I certainly have never asked for 'advice' regarding the general appropriateness of prescription medication for chronic pain. This is not a medical board. And Lakeside7's post was not 'advice' but an unsolicited opinion that is completely irrelevant to the subject of tourist visas.

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Last week program on Canadian TV showed a very serious problem with doctors over prescribing opiate scripts..addiction is endemic and various detox programs in place and alternative meds need to be used.

First of all, this is completely off topic.

Second, you are misinformed if you base your opinions on a government sponsored show about opiates. You are obviously not a pain patient living in complete misery, so your opinion is not based on facts at all. These people are not addicts. They are suffering and usually there are no alternatives. I don't want to go any further on this sidetracked topic.

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I'm going to start another thread specifically about pain meds. I would appreciate comments from THOSE WHO ARE AFFECTED...in other words, if you haven't experienced chronic debilitating pain, then please keep your opinion to yourself.

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  • 1 month later...

My brother has come in several times with a tourist card with his car. Upon exiting the country, he has the TIP removed but never handed in his tourist card. Now he plans to leave and then come back with a Permanente. Will he have any problems due to the fact that he never handed in his tourists cards when leaving?

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No Problem, as the tourist permit expires, or becomes invalid upon departure from Mexico. If he has been approved for Residente Permanente, that is confirmation that all is well. Of course, he should be sure to always indicate Residente Permanente on any FMM forms after being issued the card by INM in Mexico.

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