# Where to apply



## sillywilly (Apr 7, 2014)

We live in Victoria BC, Canada, If we want to move to Mexico when we retire, do we apply at the Mexican Consulate (Embasy) in Vancouver. or do we have to go to Mexico and apply there? If done in Vancouver, are they the ones that will approve or deny our application? and if for some reason they deny it, will we then be on their radar if we try to travel to Mexico and maybe get turned back at the border cause they might think we will try and live there illegally? If they are the ones who approve our applications, and if they do, are we good to go? and is that all that we have to do? or will there be more legal stuff once we arrive in Mexico that could result in not being able to live there year round? if so what? They would have no reason to deny either of us based on the money we will have in the bank, which is the route we will have to go as I will have no income and my common law wifes pension will only be $1900 (before taxes). But some on here have
suggested that just because you meet the requirements, you may still not be approved. Due to the higher incomes now required, we won't qualify under the monthly income, so will have to try the money in the bank route, but will have to wait until our house sells, then put at least $110k each, into separate accounts and wait a year, so we have the appropriate paperwork. We want to leave Canada as soon as possible after retiring, and waiting a year only to find out we are denied and then having to rethink our retirement seems like a waste of a year. Am I making this harder than it should be, or is it really this hard and frustrating trying to figure out what we should do when it comes to retiring in Mexico or choosing somewhere else. 
Below is what I am basing some of this thread on:

From the Embajada De Mexico En Canada" website
a) Economic solvency:
•Original and a photocopy of investment receipts or bank statements showing an average monthly balance of $109,010.00 Canadian dollars during the past twelve months; or 
•Original and a photocopy of documents showing that the applicant has employment or a pension with a monthly tax-free income of over $2,180.00 Canadian dollars during the past six months.


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## vantexan (Sep 4, 2011)

You can go into Mexico on tourist cards and you won't be turned away. You should discuss residency options with your consulate but if you have no other option than living on tourist cards, renewing at the border every 180 days, you can do that as long as you like unless Mexico changes the rules. Not likely because they like having people stay and spend.


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## cowichangang (Aug 11, 2012)

vantexan said:


> ...... they like having people stay and spend.


Maybe they like only tourist dollars, otherwise why would they have increased the monthly income requirement to such a high level to live there. It will just shut out a lot of wanna be expats from moving to Mexico. We can both live very comfortably on the lower income we will have when we retire, especially since we will own our home. Maybe some lifestyles require such a high monthly income ($2180.00 CDN), but not us, we get by fine spending much less now, and that's living Canada, which to those in the know, is not a cheap place to live. We currently have 2 cars, but in Mexico we wouldn't even have 1, Taxis are cheap if we need to go far. But now my concern is will we still be able to get a tourist card if we are turned down for a retirement visa, even if for no valid reason other than they have the power to do so as was suggested by sillywilly.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

It pleases me to no o see Mexico crackng down on two bit flakes who want to move and live here on peanuts. After 13 years of living in Mexico in both the Lake Chaoala área and San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, both places plagued by poverty stricken hangers-on, I am totally pleasd to see the country seriously tighten the rules for residency here. Now, one needs to demonstrate reasonable income flow from respónsible foreign sources to demonstrate an income sufficient to live decently here and no more living here for two deccades or more on temporary residency visas or driving about in foreign plated vehicles interminably without paying annual recompense to the states for using our highways. Cheap-assed foreigners coming here to milk the land can now find a home in Mississippi or Manitoba, You will not be missed.

There is always a place in te Mississippi pine forests or the Manitoba steppe for those of you umsuited for Mexico.. After all, there are worse things than cotton fieñds and blizzards.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

sillywilly said:


> We live in Victoria BC, Canada, If we want to move to Mexico when we retire, do we apply at the Mexican Consulate (Embasy) in Vancouver. or do we have to go to Mexico and apply there? If done in Vancouver, are they the ones that will approve or deny our application? and if for some reason they deny it, will we then be on their radar if we try to travel to Mexico and maybe get turned back at the border cause they might think we will try and live there illegally? If they are the ones who approve our applications, and if they do, are we good to go? and is that all that we have to do? or will there be more legal stuff once we arrive in Mexico that could result in not being able to live there year round? if so what? They would have no reason to deny either of us based on the money we will have in the bank, which is the route we will have to go as I will have no income and my common law wifes pension will only be $1900 (before taxes). But some on here have
> suggested that just because you meet the requirements, you may still not be approved. Due to the higher incomes now required, we won't qualify under the monthly income, so will have to try the money in the bank route, but will have to wait until our house sells, then put at least $110k each, into separate accounts and wait a year, so we have the appropriate paperwork. We want to leave Canada as soon as possible after retiring, and waiting a year only to find out we are denied and then having to rethink our retirement seems like a waste of a year. Am I making this harder than it should be, or is it really this hard and frustrating trying to figure out what we should do when it comes to retiring in Mexico or choosing somewhere else.
> Below is what I am basing some of this thread on:
> 
> ...


It also states on their website they accept a property in Mexico worth $109,010 CND instead of the bank investment account for 12 months. That would get you a pretty nice place in Central Mexico without an expensive bank trust needed 50 klm. from the coast or 100 klm. from the border.

Also only one has to qualify for a Residente Temporal and the other can come and get a Residente Temporal inside Mexico on a 180 FMM tourist card with proof of a common law relationship.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Hound Dog said:


> It pleases me to no o see Mexico crackng down on two bit flakes who want to move and live here on peanuts. After 13 years of living in Mexico in both the Lake Chaoala área and San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, both places plagued by poverty stricken hangers-on, I am totally pleasd to see the country seriously tighten the rules for residency here. Now, one needs to demonstrate reasonable income flow from respónsible foreign sources to demonstrate an income sufficient to live decently here and no more living here for two deccades or more on temporary residency visas or driving about in foreign plated vehicles interminably without paying annual recompense to the states for using our highways. Cheap-assed foreigners coming here to milk the land can now find a home in Mississippi or Manitoba, You will not be missed.
> 
> There is always a place in te Mississippi pine forests or the Manitoba steppe for those of you umsuited for Mexico.. After all, there are worse things than cotton fieñds and blizzards.


I trust these "two bit flakes" and "cheap-assed foreigners" you're talking about do not refer to any members of this forum, or your comments would definitely be a violation of Forum Rule #1: Please treat others here the way you wish to be treated, with respect, and without insult or personal attack. 

FYI I have been living in Mexico since 2007 on even less income that was required under the FM3/FM2 rules (because I was working as a free-lance English teacher), and I don't consider myself a free-loader living off the largesse of Mexican society. Perhaps you'd care to retract some of your comments in this post.


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## vantexan (Sep 4, 2011)

cowichangang said:


> Maybe they like only tourist dollars, otherwise why would they have increased the monthly income requirement to such a high level to live there. It will just shut out a lot of wanna be expats from moving to Mexico. We can both live very comfortably on the lower income we will have when we retire, especially since we will own our home. Maybe some lifestyles require such a high monthly income ($2180.00 CDN), but not us, we get by fine spending much less now, and that's living Canada, which to those in the know, is not a cheap place to live. We currently have 2 cars, but in Mexico we wouldn't even have 1, Taxis are cheap if we need to go far. But now my concern is will we still be able to get a tourist card if we are turned down for a retirement visa, even if for no valid reason other than they have the power to do so as was suggested by sillywilly.


Mexico gets millions of visitors. They aren't wasting resources targeting people. Asking about options doesn't put you on a list. Remember Latin America moves at a different pace with different priorities than very over regulated and uptight ****** countries. A major reason to move there to begin with.


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## sillywilly (Apr 7, 2014)

AlanMexicali said:


> It also states on their website they accept a property in Mexico worth $109,010 CND instead of the bank investment account for 12 months. That would get you a pretty nice place in Central Mexico without an expensive bank trust needed 50 klm. from the coast or 100 klm. from the border.
> Also only one has to qualify for a Residente Temporal and the other can come and get a Residente Temporal inside Mexico on a 180 FMM tourist card with proof of a common law relationship.


 I couldn't see either of those mentioned on the website I was looking at. Neither the owning property part or the common law part. You are referring to the new rules right?


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

sillywilly said:


> I couldn't see either of those mentioned on the website I was looking at. Neither the owning property part or the common law part. You are referring to the new rules right?


Keep reading it is there except the part about the "tramite" with a tourist FMM card inside Mexico under the "Vinculo Familiar" law.


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## vantexan (Sep 4, 2011)

Hound Dog said:


> and no more living here for two deccades or more on temporary residency visas


I'm looking at Nicaragua and especially Ecuador because residency is much, much more easily obtained and they are just more affordable. However when I read comments like this I'm tempted to, and probably will for the easy access, live on tourist cards in Mexico and tell every ****** expat I come across that I'm doing so.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

vantexan said:


> I'm looking at Nicaragua and especially Ecuador because residency is much, much more easily obtained and they are just more affordable. However when I read comments like this I'm tempted to, and probably will for the easy access, live on tourist cards in Mexico and tell every ****** expat I come across that I'm doing so.


Perhaps I'm mistaken, but didn't you give up on the idea of moving permanently to Mexico because your wife found even San Miguel de Allende too "foreign" for her and also too far away from her children? I can't imagine that Ecuador and especially Nicaragua would be even more to her liking.


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## vantexan (Sep 4, 2011)

Isla Verde said:


> Perhaps I'm mistaken, but didn't you give up on the idea of moving permanently to Mexico because your wife found even San Miguel de Allende too "foreign" for her and also too far away from her children? I can't imagine that Ecuador and especially Nicaragua would be even more to her liking.


See my "Living in Mexico....Strategy" post.


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