# Who´s On First (Thank you Bud Abbot and Lou Costello)



## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Once in a while, no matter where you choose to live, some events present delicious ironies of existence arising on the planet as a result of recurring human interractions with various institutions and, if you are old enough and have been around long enough to the point that you really don´t give a damn anymore , are highly amusing if randomly experienced and not ultimately harmful to you personally. 

I´ll make a short story even shorter and explain more later if anyone has an interest:

We have been customers in good standing with BBVA Bancomer for some 12 years with no controversy whatsoever and we have maintained some pretty subsantial balances there over the years.

I recently had a change of status in Mexico from "Inmigrado" (Residente Permanente) status to naturalized citizen and, in the process of granting me citizenship, the SRE (Secretaria De Relaciones Exteriores - the equivalent in the U.S. of the State Department), confiscated my permanent resident card issued by INM and issued me a document certifying my new status as a naturalized Mexican Citizen.

I entered the bank branch of BBVA Bancomer today to request certain utility bill-paying services - a service we have utilized for over a decade - and, they demanded of me, a customer for some 12 years, identification. I pulled ot their debi card but that wold not suffice s I showed them my Chiapas driver´s license and tat would not suffice so I showed them my officially approved document granting me Mexican citizenship and they had no idea what that was so we went off into the ether and that is where we stand at present.

More later.

.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

I guess you will have to go get your IFE card now.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

In Mexico, the only official ID's are Passport and IFE cards


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

GARYJ65 said:


> In Mexico, the only official ID's are Passport and IFE cards


That's only for Mexican citizens, correct?


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> That's only for Mexican citizens, correct?


That's correct


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

I feel for ya, Dawg ! Been there, done that. No fun.  Keep us posted.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


AlanMexicali said:



I guess you will have to go get your IFE card now.

Click to expand...

_
No kidding, Alan. That IFE card (federal voter registration document), it turns out, is everything not only at the bank but, as I just found out, at the transito office in Chapala where I went to have my expiring Jalisco driver´s license renewed and modified to indicate that my immigration status had changed from "Inmigrado"(permanent resident) to naturalized citizen. The license is maturing today, May 18th and is also no longer valid since the license I have indicates that I am an "extranjero" and it must indicate that I am a "Mexicano" and, believe me, thay are not kidding about this as, when you take the step of becoming a Mexican citizen you must swear fealty to the Mexican state in every aspect while present here in Mexico and every officially issued Mexican document you have in your possession must comply with this edict. 

When I addressed the oficial at the Chapala transito office and told him that I needed to renew my driver´s license as it was (1) expiring in two days and(2) I needed to change my status on the license to "Mexicano" from "Extranjero", he demanded my IFE card and was not at all impressed with the official document given me by SRE declaring me a Mexican citizen. I informed him that I had applied at IFE for a voter registration card that day but it would take two weeks for them to issue the card. I even showed him my confirmed and approved application. He informed me that I could not renew nor modify my driver´s license without that IFE card so that was it. Period. So, I must drive around now with an expired driver´s license indicating an improper residency status for a couple of weeks until my IFE card is issued which is feasible unless I happen to have an accident in which case, God help me. That didn´t seem to concern him at all so off I went, tail between legs. Thank God the Chapala Municipality has a pretty good public bus system. 

As I have recently found out, the IFE voter registration card is the national identification card in Mexico and almost all citizens own those cards as essential proof of identity and residency status. I can see that, until the local IFE office issues me that card, I will need to keep a low profile and any trips I may have planned to Monte Carlo will have to be postponed since I also cannot get my new Mexican passport without that IFE card. 

Such is life everywhere I have ever lived.


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