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holdrja

Feb 7, 2011, 2:31 PM

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We got our FM-3s at the NYC consulate this morning!

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A huge hurdle over with! We also showed them the draft of our 6 page menaje de casa, they were fine with it. We'll finalize the menaje the night after the packing people finish their job -- we need to know, how many boxes of different kinds of things. Then we'll go back into the city the next morning to get the menaje signed and sealed.

I'm writing up the whole story of how we did this, and posting it to the web boards, in case it helps anyone who has questions. Note that I know it isn't called an FM-3 any longer - but that's what everyone still calls it, including the folks at the consulate.

The temporary FM-3 that you get at a consulate is a plastic card that is fastened to one of the pages in our passports; it's not a little sticker, it takes up the whole page in the passport. It has an FM-3 number on it and that number will suffice for our movers to get our goods across the border (along with our menaje). The FM-3 attached to the passport is valid for 6 months. When we enter Mexico -- we must enter via a tourist card (TMM? I think they are called now) and then we will have 30 days from our time of entry to register the FM-3 in Guadalajara.

The Mexican consulate in NYC is at 27 E 39th St in Manhattan - right across the street from the Williams Club, where I've attended several functions over the years, as my undergraduate degree is from Williams. Funny how your priorities change -- I had never noticed the Mexican consulate before!

We first visited the New York City consulate on January 14th. We took with us a filled out printed form for each of us ( we did not use the online form) and the following items, as specified on the consulate's web site:
http://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/...;id=45&Itemid=73

Apply in person at the Consulate.

Valid passport in original and one photocopy of the pages containing personal information, photograph of bearer and expiration date/extensions.

1 front view passport size photos, no glasses. (We had 4 each, 2 front, 2 side -- just in case).

Payment of the Consular Fee: 134.00 US Dollars. Cash or Money order.

Proof of economic solvency: Applicant must prove a monthly income of $1,000.00 USD dollars, or equivalent in Mexican currency. (We had apostilled copies of 3 months of Frank's pension statements).

If the applicant will be accompanied by members of his immediate family, the minimum income required will be $500.00 additionally per month for each member 15 years of age or older. (Frank's pension covered this)

We also had apostilled birth certificates and marriage license with us, and copies of our car's registration, and copies of the deeds to the land we are building on. Also a number of backup items like our local bank statements, our Lloyd bank statements, copies of our Social Security cards, etc.

We got to the consulate at 8:30 am and had a brief 5 minute wait in line, where we were each given a number and sent up to the Visa office on the 3rd floor. We were the only people looking for visas to enter Mexico - no line. The 2 ladies in the visa office were very nice. They took our forms and started a file for each. They took our photos. and had us put a finger into an automated fingerprint reading device.
They asked us for several documents in addition to the ones on the list. They took copies of our car titles, and our Mexican deeds. But, they also wanted two documents that we didn't have: 3 months of notarised & apostilled bank statements showing that the pension payments had been deposited to our account; and a notarised letter from Frank saying that I was coming into the country as his dependent and that he would take care of me, since I was not showing any proof of a regular monthly income. (BTW - the consulate's web site has now been updated, to mention that you need those apostilled bank statements).

So, back home again. I did have the bank statements in the file with me, but they hadn't been notarised or apostilled. Frank wrote the "support" letter that afternoon, and trundled letter plus bank statements to be notarised; while I prepped the apostille application and payments (paid an extra $15 each for expedited handling). Two weeks later, we had the apostilled bank statements and were ready to go to the consulate again.

Same routine, but we got there at 10 am and there was a slightly longer line to get our numbers. Then, up to the visa office and back to the ladies. One of them was feeling kind of obstructive -- she wanted us to start all over again by filling out the forms -- but we reminded them that they had taken, and kept, all our papers last time. The nice one got up and went to the room next door, and came back with our papers. The grumbly one kept challenging the nice one, as they went through our papers (I don't know if she realised that I could understand her Spanish); and she did manage to ask for yet another set of papers, that were not on the required list. She wanted a copy of our apostilled marriage license -- whcih I had in the file. Voila! They made a copy of that, took our cash payment (make sure you have exact change), and we got our FM-3s. Wow. What a big step. And we did it all by ourselves -- no expediters, no lawyers, just a lot of patience, and papers. We intend to do the registration in Guad by ourselves -- but we will tackle that long before our 30 days are close to expiring, just in case...

It's been a tremendous help reading everything that people have posted about their own experiences with the FM-3. We hope this helps, likewise.

(This post was edited by holdrja on Feb 7, 2011, 2:34 PM)