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2016 Permanent Residency Requirements


Smiles

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November 2016. I'm a retired American currently living in Chiang Mai Thailand. Have lived here for 8 yrs. and am now considering moving to Lake Chapala area. My SS income is 1,700. p/mo. Can anyone tell me if I qualify for a permanent residence visa, I've tried researching this online but come up with a numbered of different answers. Appreciate any helpful information regarding this.  Smiles

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There are different ways to meet the financial quaifications...monthly income or total assets on deposit for a specified length of time or a combination of both. Application must start in your home country at a consulate office and some consulate employees have different opinions about what is required. Welcome to Mexico...We had to have an employee refer to the Mexican Embassy website after being denied because we did not have enough monthly retirement income. She returned after a few minutes of internet searching and miraculously said she WAS able to grant us RP visas. So don't take the first answer you get if you know ahead of time what the actual requirements are. Your option is always to get the temporal visa which is renewed for a fee and after four years you can move to Residente Permanente. The financials seem to change every so often so check with the embassy website just prior to applying..Alan

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I pulled this from the Chapala Law website - Note dollar amount changes for 2017 will occur when the minimum wage changes (usually by Feb)

VISA REQUIREMENTS AT MEXICAN CONSULATES OUTSIDE MEXICO:
To qualify for the temporary visa they must show a monthly income of 300 times the minimum wage (for 2016 it is 73.04 pesos) or 21,912 pesos or $1,270 US dollars using an exchange rate of 17.25 to 1 (using December 31, 2015 exchange rate). This must be documented with 6 months bank statements. People who have liquid assets may qualify showing that they have maintained an average balance of 5,000 times the minimum wage (for 2016 it is 73.04 pesos) or 365,200 pesos or $21,171 US dollars using an exchange rate of 17.25 to 1 (using December 31, 2015 exchange rate). This must be documented with 12 months bank statements.

To qualify for the permanent visa they must show a monthly income of 500 times the minimum wage (for 2016 it is 73.04 pesos) or 36,520 pesos or $2,117 US dollars using an exchange rate of 17.25 to 1 (using December 31, 2015 exchange rate). This must be documented with 6 months bank statements. People who have liquid assets may qualify showing that they have maintained an average balance of 20,000 times the minimum wage (for 2016 it is 73.04 pesos) or 1,460,800 pesos or $84,684 US dollars using an exchange rate of 17.25 to 1 (using December 31, 2015 exchange rate). This must be documented with 12 months bank statements.

You can apply for visas for your spouse (gay couples included) and children at the consulate at the same time or we can do it when you are here in Mexico once the primary applicant has their visa. Remember that in order to do this we will need birth / marriage certificates and apostilles (legalized copies for those from Canada or non Hague Convention countries).

Please be advised that the consulates might have their own special rules. Processing time varies from a few hours to a few days on average. We can consult with you prior to your trip to the consulate and then prepare you for finishing the process here in Mexico as well as advise you how to properly fill out the FMM form upon arrival so that there will be no processing delays. Clients have reported that the consulates in Laredo, Texas and Las Vegas, Nevada are some of the easier ones to deal with as Las Vegas only requires US$1,000 per month to get temporary. While the law says you must give 6 or 12 months bank statements, many consulates only ask for 3 to 6 months.

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http://www.soniadiaz.mx/immigration---visas.html

Also note the law says you must apply at a consulate in a country in which you legally reside. Some consulates ignore this. Also, more and more consulates are not using the formula of x times daily minimum wage but rather a flat $1500 and $2500 income and same idea when investments are used. 

 

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34 minutes ago, Crazydog said:

Have the rules changed about renewal of residente Temporal?

We got our visa sticker in Vegas and the consulate guy said we had to renew it every 6 months inside Mexico and after 2 years apply for permanente....

The consulate gave you a pre-approval which you complete in Mexico. From time issued to date you must enter Mexico is 6 months. Once in Mexico you have 30 days to start process. That process can take 6 weeks or more depending which INM office you are using. INM is normally closed to the public for 3 weeks at Christmas. 

For a TR you apply for 1 year. After a year, you apply for 3 more. After a total of 4 years you apply for Permanent Resident.

saludos

Sonia

 

 

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I visited the consulate in Phoenix today and they gave me a sheet outlining their requirements (may be different at other consulates):  $2200 in monthly deposits from any source with 6 months of statements or $85,000 in investments with 12 months of statements.  Some consulates limit the monthly deposits to only retirement income from pensions or SS, Phoenix does not.

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Thanks for responding everyone!  Regarding Sonia's reply about having legal residence in the country where you apply. Yes, I'm a legal resident of Thailand. So, here's what I've learned, correct me if I'm wrong, I can apply at the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok for Temporary Residency (1,700 p/mo. SS) and once in Mexico, I need to finalize the process. After one year, I renew for another three years. At the end of the fourth year, I can convert to Permanent Residency without further financial requirements. If I've omitted something please let me know.  Thanks again everyone, Smiles  

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7 hours ago, Smiles said:

Thanks for responding everyone!  Regarding Sonia's reply about having legal residence in the country where you apply. Yes, I'm a legal resident of Thailand. So, here's what I've learned, correct me if I'm wrong, I can apply at the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok for Temporary Residency (1,700 p/mo. SS) and once in Mexico, I need to finalize the process. After one year, I renew for another three years. At the end of the fourth year, I can convert to Permanent Residency without further financial requirements. If I've omitted something please let me know.  Thanks again everyone, Smiles  

Correct

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12 minutes ago, Ready Or Not said:

Further on this topic -

After 1 year on a Temporal Res. Visa is it possible to apply for Permanent Residency & skip the 3 year renewal & Temporal process?

Yes but only by proving $2500 US of pension sourced income. No other financials will count. Bank statements and letters proving income need to be translated by a certified translator. As per here: http://www.soniadiaz.mx/immigration---visas.html

There is no big advantage in doing so but one can also go back to a MX consulate and apply as a PR with less than 4 years as a TR. They will consider the range of financials as per my web site.

I have processed several including my husband's to become a PR before 4 years. He was the first PR approved in SMA.

 

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On 11/13/2016 at 11:12 AM, Sonia said:

Yes but only by proving $2500 US of pension sourced income. No other financials will count. Bank statements and letters proving income need to be translated by a certified translator. As per here: http://www.soniadiaz.mx/immigration---visas.html

There is no big advantage in doing so but one can also go back to a MX consulate and apply as a PR with less than 4 years as a TR. They will consider the range of financials as per my web site.

I have processed several including my husband's to become a PR before 4 years. He was the first PR approved in SMA.

 

Thank you Sonia.   Do you know if the process to go to permanente from temporal can be completed in Mexico or do you have to go to a Canadian consulate in original home country?

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2 hours ago, Ready Or Not said:

Thank you Sonia.   Do you know if the process to go to permanente from temporal can be completed in Mexico or do you have to go to a Canadian consulate in original home country?

 

It can be done in Mexico, by your local INM office.

If you choose to try it in Canada,  the Consulate only starts the approval process... and you still have to return to Mexico to actually get your INM office to approve & create the new Residente Permanente visa.

Lots of detail on this, and other immigration issues here:  
(We have see the Table of Contents of the article, to click on the specific topic we want)

https://yucalandia.com/answers-to-common-questions/new-rules-and-procedures-for-immigration-visiting-and-staying-in-mexico/

 

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15 hours ago, Ready Or Not said:

Thank you Sonia.   Do you know if the process to go to permanente from temporal can be completed in Mexico or do you have to go to a Canadian consulate in original home country?

It is done locally in Mexico and process is basically same as a TR renewal except their are two fees (amounts posted on my web site) and the income translations are completed by a certified translator which Spencer can provide. It is not a difficult process but key is the income must be pension sourced.

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