Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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I heard once that these existed... but then I have also heard it is like a "unicorn". If it is possible, I think I would have a good shot at it because I...

have a Bachelors in English Literature and another in Education and a state issued professional teaching license to teach ESL and Language Arts. (thus proving I have credentials to work independently in a job they may have a hard time filling by a national)

My Spanish is advanced/near fluent.

I am married to a Mexican citizen, married in Mexico, and also have a son who is a Mexican citizen (I have dealt the the INM before and despite their hard outer shell they seem to like this idea that our son was born here and we married in Mexico).

I am asking because we are considering moving back to Mexico--- I am eligible for unemployment here in the U.S. and I read that I can live abroad and receive unemployment as long as I am available to work in the local job market. Then I thought well maybe that means I need to be legal to work and have a work visa in hand, but as I am typing this I realize that once I find a job that can sponsor me that should be suffiecient... but then I recall the first time I went job hunting some places wouldn't hire me until I already had a work visa in hand. That sounds kind of catch 22 to me, but it wasn't my experience with all of them.

So is this independent FM2 work visa possible?

robt65

Jun 3, 2011, 9:10 AM

Post #2 of 19 (4885 views)

Re: [babycakes] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Hi Babycakes,

With all the backup and documented paperwork that you evidently have, plus your command of the Spanish language, I would certainly give it a go. All they can say is no. I think it would behoove you to get your documentation "Apostiled" in the USA for several reasons. One it is much less expensive to have any document "Apostiled" by your local state government office than here in Mexico, and (two) it can also serve as a legal document in Mexico.

Don't be surprised though if you really have to fight for it, but I sure would with all the documentation that you have. Remember Mexico is still in many ways a very chauvinistic country.

robt65

Jun 3, 2011, 10:27 AM

Post #3 of 19 (4875 views)

Re: [babycakes] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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I have had an FM3 which allows me to work independently as an English teacher for several years. I would imagine that with your qualifications, you shouldn't have any problems getting an FM2 that would allow you to do the same. All you really need is a piece of paper that says you are qualified to teach English, and your teaching license does that. Of course, being fluent in Spanish will make your life here much easier, but it's not necessary to get the FM2 you want. I suggest you post an inquiry at ELT World, which is a website for expat English teachers, on the Mexico Forum, and the folks there will be happy to help you. Here's the link: http://www.eltworld.net/...5e15b275f68898bd0bbc .

Feel free to send me a PM if you have any questions.

(This post was edited by Rolly on Jun 3, 2011, 11:15 AM)

Jun 3, 2011, 10:34 AM

Post #4 of 19 (4874 views)

Re: [robt65] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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In Reply To

Don't be surprised though if you really have to fight for it, but I sure would with all the documentation that you have. Remember Mexico is still in many ways a very chauvinistic country.

Unfortunately, it's still true that machismo is alive and well in Mexico, but I don't think this will have any bearing on the ability of babycakes to get an FM2 lucrativa, so she can work as a free-lance English teacher.

Jun 3, 2011, 10:36 AM

Post #5 of 19 (4874 views)

Re: [robt65] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Quote

...I think it would behoove you to get your documentation "Apostiled" in the USA for several reasons. One it is much less expensive to have any document "Apostiled" by your local state government office than here in Mexico...

As far as I know, it is only possible to have the apostille seal placed on a USA document in the USA. No one in Mexico can do this for documents originating in the USA. In fact, it is the office of Secretary of State in the state where the document originated which places the seal of apostille on the document. In other words, if you have a master's degree from Harvard and a doctorate from UC Berkeley, you must have the first document apostilled in Massachusetts and the second in California. Same with marriage and/or divorce decrees, same with death certificates. This can all be handled by mail.

Canada did not sign the Hague Convention agreement re the apostille, so all of you Canadians are free from this bother.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

(This post was edited by esperanza on Jun 3, 2011, 10:37 AM)

Rolly

Jun 3, 2011, 11:21 AM

Post #6 of 19 (4854 views)

Re: [esperanza] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Canada did not sign the Hague Convention agreement re the apostille, so all of you Canadians are free from this bother.

Not quite free of this bother. In Canada the procedure is different because Canada is not a signatory of the Hague Convention; a Canadian will need to take your Canadian documents to a Mexican consulate in Canada where they will issue the necessary papers to substitute for an apostille..

Rolly Pirate

Jun 3, 2011, 11:24 AM

Post #7 of 19 (4849 views)

Re: [Rolly] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Rolly, that's really interesting. About a month ago, when we were in the process of having documents apostilled, we were talking with our Mexican attorney about this very thing. She said that Canadians were exempt from all this. Now I wonder whether she really knew what she was talking about.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Jun 3, 2011, 11:31 AM

Post #8 of 19 (4847 views)

"Since Canada is not a member Country of the Hague Apostille Convention, all official Canadian documents must be LEGALIZED in order to be officially accepted and be fully valid in Mexico. The six Mexican Consulates in Canada have the power to legalize Canadian documents issued within their respective jurisdiction.

The Embassy of Mexico in Ottawa has the power to legalize documents issued by Canadian authorities in any of Canada’s provinces or territories."

Re: [esperanza] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Jun 3, 2011, 11:38 AM

Post #9 of 19 (4844 views)

Re: [Casa] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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This makes it sound like Canadians have even MORE bother than people from the USA. From that page: "It is not possible to legalize Canadian documents received by courier from abroad (outside Canada)."

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Jun 3, 2011, 11:45 AM

Post #10 of 19 (4842 views)

Re: [esperanza] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Often times Americans do not realise how easy they have it ;)

Jun 3, 2011, 11:46 AM

Post #11 of 19 (4837 views)

Re: [babycakes] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Looks like you are getting some good advice. I would add that if you are really serious, you may want to get your educational diplomas, degrees, credentials and so forth accredited by The Acreditación Incorporación y Revalidación department of the SEP which is the Mexican department of education. http://www.sep.gob.mx/. This will make the task of proving your abilities to INM and potential employers much easier.

You can find info on the trámite here and here .

It may seem like a daunting task to get all the requisitos together and navigate the trámite but think of it as a warm up session before doing your INM trámite.

If you have read this forum for any length of time you will note that things in different INM regional delegations are often times handled differently.

Also immigration rules and procedures will be changing soon*. Therefore past or current experience with INM may be very different in the future when the new Reglamento de la Ley de Migración is published.

*no one knows exactly when this will be

Jun 3, 2011, 12:34 PM

Post #12 of 19 (4817 views)

Re: [Casa] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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In Reply To

The OP is interested in working independently as an English teacher so getting accredited by the SEP is not going to be that useful to her. From my experience it is not that difficult to get the permission from INM that she is looking for, and from what she has told us about what she has to offer to prospective students, she should have no problems either. Getting involved with the SEP bureaucracy is something to be avoided if at all possible!

(This post was edited by La Isla on Jun 3, 2011, 12:35 PM)

Jun 3, 2011, 3:29 PM

Post #13 of 19 (4778 views)

Re: [La Isla] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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In Reply To

I am glad to hear that your experience in getting approval was not that difficult to get. You are fortunate. As I mentioned in my post each INM office seems to handle things a bit differently. I have seen where such certifications are required by the INM. (An acquaintance of mine was told by INM that they needed the US docs accredited by the SEP or they could take a 4 week $1000 USD Teacher certification class here and get a teaching certificate from the SEP.) That is why I offered the OP the information that I did. The OP can decide what is best for them in their case. It would be a shame for the op to come down here thinking that getting approval will not be that difficult, only to be denied when they could have done something to help insure their approval when they were in the US. It will be interesting to see how things will be once the new reglamento of the new law goes into effect.

Jun 3, 2011, 3:37 PM

Post #14 of 19 (4774 views)

Re: [Casa] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Casa, thanks for your comment on my post. I live in Mexico City, and that's where I got my FM3. Which office did your acquaintance have all those problems? I used a lawyer for my initial application for an FM3, but I have many friends here who did the initial application on their own and had no problems. Of course, each INM outpost may treat applications differently, and within an office different people who work there may make make things easier or harder for the FM3/2 seeker.

Jun 3, 2011, 3:55 PM

Post #15 of 19 (4768 views)

Re: [La Isla] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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In Reply To

Which office did your acquaintance have all those problems?

This was a few years ago in Jalisco. Having personally done trámites in both Mexico City and Guadalajara I can honestly say I greatly prefer dealing with INM in Mexico City .

robt65

Jun 3, 2011, 4:28 PM

Post #16 of 19 (4758 views)

Re: [esperanza] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Hello Esperanza,

Yuo said . . . . . . "Canada did not sign the Hague Convention agreement re the apostille, so all of you Canadians are free from this bother."

If that is the case the I was mislead by the Mexican Government and the Canadian Government, as I, a Canadian (born in Canada) was required to get several Canadian documents (including a birth certificate, among others) Apostiled from Canada. The cost was outragous ($450 CAD per document). I also had to have some documents Apostiled in the state of Kentucky (at the state Treasure's Office, where the cost was $5.00 per Apostile). The cost in Kentucky was the same if I walked in and waited five minutes in Frankfort, or if I mailed it in and waited for about 30 days. The cost for waiting would have been more, as I would have had to have it overnighted for my purposes. . . . . . . . . . so . . . . "so all of you Canadians are free from this bother." . . . . . is not correct. I think I know what I was required to do for my FM2, and my marriage here in Mexico, as required by the Mexican government. By the way since I was born in the province of Quebec, I had to use an Apostile recognized by the Mexican government in Quebec and I had to have one of the those "listed" Apostile persons only. do my documents' Apostile. I sent the original douments by FedEx from Kentucky, USA to the Apostile in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and had them sent back three days later by FedEx to me in Kentucky.

robt65

(This post was edited by robt65 on Jun 3, 2011, 6:41 PM)

Jun 3, 2011, 7:07 PM

Post #17 of 19 (4730 views)

Re: [robt65] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Robt65, go back and read post #8 and subsequent posts in this thread. According to the links posted in #8, no apostille exists in Canada, although in-person legalization is required at the Mexican embassy. If you read my later post, you'll see that I mentioned (in slightly different words) that Canadians have to jump through even MORE hoops than US citizens do.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

robt65

Jun 3, 2011, 8:31 PM

Post #18 of 19 (4714 views)

Re: [esperanza] Can I get an Independent FM2 work visa?

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Esperanza,

That's very strange . . . I am sitting here looking at my Quebec documents with an Apostiled gold embossed seal on them. They were not done in Ottawa, they were completed in Quebec, maybe it's time for a Canadian History lesson here. All birth certificates in Canada are not the same. Up until a few years ago, in Québec, there were not any registered (municipal birth certificates, used as legal documents as we know them today. All Birth certificates in Québec at that time were done through the church, at least during the 40's when I was born. A few years back the provincial government changed the provincial laws (not national) and all were required at that time to get new birth certificates, mine was among those. I had to have both my "new" Quebec Provincial Birth Certificate, plus the Certificate of Birth from the Montreal General Hospital (where I was born, and which some years later burned down with all records destroyed in the fire) and my Baptism Certificate from the Catholic Church, as well as a copy of my Canadian Passport (which was issued in Ottawa, Ontario) Apostiled. Which I did from a list provided to me from the Mexican Government office “List of Recognized & Certified Mexican Apostils in Montreal, Quebec. Please do not tell me what I am holding in my hand at the moment, plus the receipts from both FedEx and the Apostils Office are not correct as they worked on the first try quite wel in the Mexican Immigration Office. All of this was completed while I remained in Kentucky, and never visited any Mexican Consulate or Embassy in person.

You also stated in your post # 9 . . . . . . . as you read it somewhere (sic) . . . . . . "It is not possible to legalize Canadian documents received by courier from abroad (outside Canada)."

While I respect your knowledge on several Mexican cultures and food and some of Mexico's rules, I also know, that I was not required to be in the Mexican Embassy in person (anywhere) to have the legalization Apostiled documents achieved. I believe the reason that most of this "Canadians have to jump through even MORE hoops, than U. S. Citizens do" (as you put it) . . . . was a result of all the impending change of requirements for Mexican Citizen's to have to jump through more hoops to get (at the time) a Canadian Visa, which may or may not be the same today. I can only relate what I had to do according to my Mexican Immigration Lawyers at the time with documents and instructions from the Mexican Immigration Folks when I was in Tamaulipas.

The problem here again, is that some people read a part of something, and then think that is gospel, when in reality it is not. The only thing for sure in México, is that nothing is for sure.

robt65

(This post was edited by robt65 on Jun 3, 2011, 8:41 PM)

Rolly

Jun 3, 2011, 10:19 PM

Post #19 of 19 (4699 views)