# Tourist Visa/Temp?



## asiac098 (May 7, 2016)

Hi all, just looking for some advice and for someone to point me in the right direction as there is so much info online. 

My husband, baby & I are planning on moving to Puerto Vallarta at the end of this year for a full year (maybe longer) my question is we are going to save up quiet a bit of money before we go but should we enter on tourist visa for 6 months and then leave and come back after a day and apply for another 6 months? 

Also, can we just get a one way ticket to Mexico? Will immigration be okay with that and just stamp our passports with the 6 month tourist visa? Can we apply for a temp residency card if we need to while there or should we do that now while in the UK? 

My husband actually wants to start a remodelling business there too so would he be able to apply for a business license under my Mexican step mom's name while there also? 

I am trying to weigh the options because I don't want to have to pay for a temp residency card if we don't need to and be able to show we have the sufficient funds to support ourselves for however long because we will be staying with my parents for majority of the time there. 

Thanks to anyone in advance who answers this!


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

You cannot work on a tourist permit, which is only good for 180 days and cannot be renewed in Mexico. You will need to meet the financial qualifications for a residency visa by visiting the nearest Mexican consulate or embassy in your present country of legal residence, outside of Mexico. You will also need to apply for a “lucrativa“ endorsement to the visa in order to work at a specific job. That may be difficult to obtain as a handyman or remodeler, as Mexico protects its own workers. I am not aware that a step-parent will have any benefit in the immigration process. Having a birth parent who is Mexican would help.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

asiac098 said:


> should we enter on tourist visa for 6 months and then leave and come back after a day and apply for another 6 months?


You can do this. It isn't guaranteed that they will give it to you, though.



asiac098 said:


> Also, can we just get a one way ticket to Mexico? Will immigration be okay with that and just stamp our passports with the 6 month tourist visa?


Yes, we buy one way tickets to Mexico all the time with no problem at immigration.



asiac098 said:


> Can we apply for a temp residency card if we need to while there or should we do that now while in the UK?


You must apply for the temp residency outside of Mexico. Some say that it must be done in your home country but I know of some people who have gone to other countries besides their own to apply. Since you are still in the UK, do it while you are there.



asiac098 said:


> My husband actually wants to start a remodelling business there too so would he be able to apply for a business license under my Mexican step mom's name while there also?


It is very illegal for anyone without either a residente temporal lucrativa or a residente permanente to work in Mexico, let alone start a business. Even if your step mom starts the business, if she pays even one peso to your husband, both could be in very deep trouble.



asiac098 said:


> I am trying to weigh the options because I don't want to have to pay for a temp residency card if we don't need to and be able to show we have the sufficient funds to support ourselves for however long because we will be staying with my parents for majority of the time there.


Mexico is struggling and doing whatever it can to protect its workers. If you want to come and earn Mexican pesos, you'll have to do it properly or risk the consequences.

I'm sure most of this isn't what you'd hoped to hear, but there it is.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

My friend just remodeled a house he recently bought. I was amazed at how inexpensive the workers worked for and did a good job quickly. The materials were somewhat cheaper quality than I would have used. Example: A custom welded 8 ft. high by 4 ft wide metal gate to protect the yard entrance for $2,000 pesos. Cut and welded together, installed and that included the metal and a decent latch. The painter painted it at no extra cost.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

I'm helping Canadians build a house here ..... only language and suggestions. The are paying Seguro for the workers which is required. We found Seguro plus the accountant massively increased the total cost


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## asiac098 (May 7, 2016)

Great, thank you so much.Yeah, facts are facts and I am just looking for answers and the easiest route possible for us so that helps a lot!


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

asiac098 said:


> Great, thank you so much.Yeah, facts are facts and I am just looking for answers and the easiest route possible for us so that helps a lot!


Custom fabricating things in Mexico doesn´t mean high cost as it does in the US. It means low cost as everything in not usually standardized sizes and there are hundreds of shops doing it in every área of Mexico.


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## asiac098 (May 7, 2016)

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying there..we're not custom fabricating anything?


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## asiac098 (May 7, 2016)

circle110 said:


> You can do this. It isn't guaranteed that they will give it to you, though.
> 
> 
> Yes, we buy one way tickets to Mexico all the time with no problem at immigration.


Just want to make sure because coming all the way from the UK, I don't want to get turned away. I thought maybe they'd like to know that you aren't staying indefinitely? Do you just ask to get your 180 day tourist visa stamped in your passport when you're going through immigration then?


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## asiac098 (May 7, 2016)

AlanMexicali said:


> Custom fabricating things in Mexico doesn´t mean high cost as it does in the US. It means low cost as everything in not usually standardized sizes and there are hundreds of shops doing it in every área of Mexico.


nevermind, I just realised you weren't responding to me  lol


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

asiac098 said:


> Just want to make sure because coming all the way from the UK, I don't want to get turned away. I thought maybe they'd like to know that you aren't staying indefinitely? Do you just ask to get your 180 day tourist visa stamped in your passport when you're going through immigration then?


There is no visitor visa in Mexico and so it is not a passport visa like in many countries (they do usually put a stamp in your passport, but it just shows an entry date). What they do is give you a tourist permit document called an FMM and it is valid for X amount of days - usually 180. Just ask them for the full 180 to be sure. This first tourist permit is essentially guaranteed if you are not on their watch list.

If after 180 days you leave the country and come right back to "renew" (the FMM is non-renewable) for a fresh 180 days there is always the small possibility that you will be denied because you have already used your 180 days. I did this "renewal" three times when I first moved to Mexico without a problem but that was in 2009 and their computer systems were not much good back then. Some folks are saying that the systems have been improved and they might be able to tell that you are trying to essentially renew a non-renewable permit. 

I have only heard of one case where they actually denied someone trying to do this and they just waited until the next shift at immigration and were given a new FMM for 180 days by the new agent on duty. So, I'm not trying to scare you - it's just that there is no 100% guarantee that the "renewal" will work.

I have never even been asked about a return ticket at immigration. They just ask how long you plan to stay.


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## RickS (Aug 6, 2009)

I have flown into Guadalajara (and Leon) one-way maybe 10 times in the last 3-4 years (including last week) from the US. I have never been given anything other than 180 days on my Tourist Card FMM.

I also participate regularly in several Forums regarding Mexico and the only time I have heard of anyone being denied a quick turnaround "re-entry" into Mexico was on the Belize border into the Yucatan and that may have been a 'special case' (ugly American or testy border agent?). Some folks just ask immediately for a new Tourist Card but the smart ones wait 'for the shift to change' just in case.


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