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TijuanaMax

Jan 14, 2012, 10:12 PM

Post #1 of 17 (2028 views)

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FM2 Familiares

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Hi all,

I have been married to my wife who is originally from Mexico for a few years now. We decided to move to Tijuana within a few months. I currently have an FMM on my passport but eventually want to convert it to FM2 based on our marriage. Last week we registered our marriage in Tijuana, BC and should be able to pick up Acta de Matrimonio (Marriage Certificate) in Tijuana next week.

I am a small business owner in California and basically don't manage the daily business operations (semi-retired). My wife does not work in neither California nor Mexico. The proof of the income requirement for FM2 is my concern. Is it possible to show our bank statements in US for last 3 months? If INM accepts our bank statements in US, do they need to be translated? Do we need to have a bank account in Mexico? My wife just opened her bank account last week. I tried two banks (Banamex and Bancomer). They gave me a difficult time to open a basic account with FMM and asked me to bring either FM2 or FM3.

Thank you

Rolly

Jan 14, 2012, 11:02 PM

Post #2 of 17 (2010 views)

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Re: [TijuanaMax] FM2 Familiares

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Is it possible to show our bank statements in US for last 3 months? Yes, that's very common.
do they need to be translated? Maybe. Offices vary on that requirement. iF the TJ office wants a translation, they will tell you which official translator to use.
Do we need to have a bank account in Mexico? NO

And welcome to MexConnect.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

surebought

Jan 15, 2012, 9:02 AM

Post #3 of 17 (1950 views)

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Re: [TijuanaMax] FM2 Familiares

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For at least ten years, I lived in Ensenada without a Mexican Bank Account and I had a business. You should be able to live in T Town okay without one. About the FM3. Years ago my wife went to imigration in Tijuana to see about getting me my papers and when she came back, she said, "Why do you want an FM-3 for. It is going to be a real hassle. You just want to brag to all the other Gringos that you are legal and they're not." But I have to work so I am wide open to them. Seriously, if you don't have a real job and knowing what I know now, I wouldn't even bother with going into Sevicios Migratorios for at least six months. You are going to have to gather all this stuff up every year. Just renew the Tourist Card when it expires and you are going to be cool in Tijuana. They must have a file on me a foot thick of all the papers I had to file over the years to stay legal. And finally at the end(it took me 15 years), you can't vote or own property anyway. In this forum they talk all the time about all these big changes coming with Servicios Migratorios. They may make some changes, but the same people are going to run things at the local level. I hope people aren't expecting it to be any less time consuming. They like to go after the Chinese Restaurant owners, not the Gringos around here. I just heard yesterday that one of the agents here in Ensenada was eating at one of those Chinese Buffet places here. They probably let him eat free to overlook the cooks. Well, he had a massive heart attack and died right there in the Restaurant. He was kind of a mean guy, but he did do me a favor once, so I was a little bit sad about his passing.

P.S If you do move to T Town you must live in a place that has locked off street parking. I had two cars stolen when I lived there. I drove throw away cars then so it wasn't so bad.

YucaLandia

Jan 15, 2012, 10:22 AM

Post #4 of 17 (1928 views)

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Re: [TijuanaMax] FM2 Familiares

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Our local twist on submitting translations of bank or financial account statements: Identify key items. Circle the statement date, circle the account number, circle the beginning and ending dates., circle the beginning and ending balances, circle any deposits / credits / dividends / gains..

We've found if we make it easy for the INM agent to find key data, and not have to decipher all the different formats, they don't have to be formally translated.

If you are concerned, you can write on the Spanish translations of key terms:
Beginning and ending dates: Periodo
Account Number: Número de Cuenta
Beginning balance: Saldo Inicial ~ (del Periodo)
Ending balance: Saldo Final ~ (del Periodo) or "Valor Total de Portafolio" for investment accounts.
Deposits: Depósitos
Payment (that your account received - like a paycheck from an employer): Abono
steve
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Read-on MacDuff
E-visit at http://yucalandia.wordpress.com/

TijuanaMax

Jan 15, 2012, 8:46 PM

Post #5 of 17 (1856 views)

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Re: [Rolly] FM2 Familiares

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Rolly,

Thank you for your comments. In case, I translated the last 3 months of my bank statements and salary statements (I am a business owner and have no issue to create ones) into Spanish. If INM office wants those statements to be translated, I will find a perito in Tijuana.

Thank you

Rolly

Jan 15, 2012, 9:03 PM

Post #6 of 17 (1853 views)

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Re: [TijuanaMax] FM2 Familiares

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If they want translations, they will insist that you use an official translator approved by them.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

TijuanaMax

Jan 15, 2012, 11:13 PM

Post #7 of 17 (1837 views)

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Re: [surebought] FM2 Familiares

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surebought

Thank you for your help. I wasn't planning to apply for FM2 but may be interested in buying some property in Tijuana after a few years. In that case, I should acquire a Mexican citizenship. This is why I decided to apply for FM2.

My wife is from Tijuana and kept saying the same thing about the security there. She always tells me not to park on the street in Tijuana. I used to live in Guatemala for a while and used to hang around in Tijuana. I am not an expert but know where I should go and shouldn't. We rented a house in the private community with 24x7 security personnel.

TijuanaMax

Jan 15, 2012, 11:21 PM

Post #8 of 17 (1836 views)

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Re: [YucaLandia] FM2 Familiares

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YucaLandia

Thank you for your details. I printed out the bank statements for last 3 months and translated all of them. If INM wants those to be translated officially, I will just stop by Perito's office.

My wife told me not to bring all the bank statements because we cannot trust anyone from Mexican government. They are well corrupted according to my wife (I also know it). Instead, she asked me to use one of my bank accounts that meets the financial requirement by INM. If INM sees some large numbers in the bank statements, you will never know what could happen to you...according to my wife.

I have a few friends in Tijuana and Ensenada who are police officers. They mentioned to me that kidnapping had been decreased last year compared to 4 or 5 years ago. But it is still not comparable to US. I have to watch my back everywhere I go.

TijuanaMax

Jan 15, 2012, 11:24 PM

Post #9 of 17 (1835 views)

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Re: [TijuanaMax] FM2 Familiares

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By the way, what size of the picture do I need to submit for FM2? Some other sites mention an infantile size. What is it? Is it a photo of 4cm x 4cm (1.57 inch x 1.57 inch)?

surebought

Jan 16, 2012, 8:30 AM

Post #10 of 17 (1800 views)

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Re: [TijuanaMax] FM2 Familiares

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One thing I think I forgot to mention. A Mexican wife might keep you from being deported, but from my experience is no help at all in the Citizen department. Very few Americans survive here long enough to gain Citizenship. It took me 15 years to get past immigration, then its a whole other Ministry for Citizenship. Citizenship might not even work for owning property in your own name in Tijuana anyway.

Rolly

Jan 16, 2012, 8:36 AM

Post #11 of 17 (1796 views)

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Re: [surebought] FM2 Familiares

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Citizenship might not even work for owning property in your own name in Tijuana anyway.
Why? Nationalized citizens have full citizen's rights except certain elected offices.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

TijuanaMax

Jan 16, 2012, 8:39 AM

Post #12 of 17 (1791 views)

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Re: [surebought] FM2 Familiares

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That is what my wife kept saying. I would miss the States and will be homesick within 6 mo. I recognize that visiting and living are totally different. Well, I will try to work it out and see what will happen to me.

Alternative is that my wife can buy some property in Tijuana. I have been checking some houses in the private community in Tijuana. The price is kind of high, considering the wages in Tijuana. In San Diego county, it is possible to find a small house under $300K these days. But I see a price tag of $150K or $200K in Tijuana. Houses in Tijuana are even smaller without a garage...

Ustlach

Jan 19, 2012, 3:59 PM

Post #13 of 17 (1604 views)

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Re: [Rolly] FM2 Familiares

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I originally had an FM3 visa but switched to an FM2 three years ago. They accepted my US credit union statements a few times, when I needed to use them instead of my Mexican bank statements for proof of income. They were accepted untranslated until last year during my third FM2 renewal. Now they suddenly wanted them translated, but they did not say how or by whom.

I went home and ran my .pdf credit union statements through an online free-bee converter program, that converted the .pdf files into .doc files, which I could then edit with Microsoft Word.

I translated every single word and line on the credit union statements into Spanish, including extraneous information about dates and times for the weekly credit union Kaffee-Klatsch and the little advertisements in the corners for loan rates and one for the various hours of operation for their main office and all the sub-branches.

It was no fun. But they accepted MY translation with no problem.

I had failed to maintain a large enough balance in my Banamex account the three months preceeding my renewal and they picked up on that immediately when I went in for my renewal, saying I did not have enough income for an FM2. All my CU statements show that make the difference is the balance in an IRA which is enough to qualify for visas for the next 100 years.

I renew again in May 2012 and I am making damned sure I have enough pesos in my Banamex account at all times, from now until the end of April. It just sits there, over 35,000 pesos, just so I do not have to translate any more statements. I will start living on it as soon as I get my renewed FM2 until next January when I will have to start building it up again. The year after that I ought to qualify for Inmigrado, unless they change the rules.

I own a house here and I can live easily on $300 a month. Having to show this amount of income for the FM2 really bugs me, but it is one of the rules of the game. So I do it.

TijuanaMax

Jan 19, 2012, 8:30 PM

Post #14 of 17 (1564 views)

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Re: [Ustlach] FM2 Familiares

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Thank your for your insight. I still don't understand the actual term of "Income" for the visa purpose. First, I thought that I must have some money come into my bank account. Then it sounds I just need to maintain a certain level of cash in my bank account. Since I am a small business owner, I don't get paid regularly and withdraw some money from my business account after I report to my accountant for the tax purpose. I usually don't issue any salary statement for myself but just created for last 6 months with a seal of my corporation. But I am not sure that they are legitimate enough or not. Then I also translated those salary statements into Spanish as well.

In case that INM does not accept my salary statements, I just followed what you have done and translated my checking account statements into Spanish.

I am going to pick up a marriage certificate tomorrow and then stop by INM in Tijuana. I hope everything will go smoothly which I kind of doubt...

mazbook1

Jan 20, 2012, 4:38 PM

Post #15 of 17 (1490 views)

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Re: [TijuanaMax] FM2 Familiares

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If you plan on being a business owner doing business in México, that means you must get (to be legally in business) what is called an endorsement for whatever "actividades lucrativas" you will be involved in on whatever resident visa you get. A visa with this type of endorsement does NOT require any "out-of-country" proof of income, only copies of the latest tax returns your Mexican accountant has filed with Hacienda, the Mexican federal tax folks. They don't even have to show a profit (mine sure didn't show but a nominal profit after paying myself a small, tax-free salary, for the first few years, not even near what the folks with the rentista endorsement had to prove).

surebought

Jan 21, 2012, 7:57 AM

Post #16 of 17 (1432 views)

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Re: [Rolly] FM2 Familiares

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Tell it to the Notario. He is the one that makes the call. And most are real nationalists and they make good money with the Bank Trusts, so why should they change something that is going to make them less money.

mazbook1

Jan 21, 2012, 11:52 AM

Post #17 of 17 (1396 views)

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Re: [surebought] FM2 Familiares

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The visa endorsement "actividades lucrativas" doesn't in any way allow you to own property outright in the protected zone. You're still an "extranjero" and must have that "fideicomiso". Of course if you have a Mexican "corporation", that corporation can own property that is used solely for business purposes without a fideicomiso.