# Immigration / US & Non-US Citizen Couple



## djt42 (Mar 28, 2013)

I am a US Citizen, my husband is not. We are recently married. He has a 10 year multi-entry US visa and we have not gone the route of US immigration with him as we have been traveling back and forth between his country and the USA without incident and he really is not terribly keen on living full-time in the USA. He is closing in on 65 and doesn't speak English well at all and I am afraid at this age it will be very difficult to learn, and he is not extremely motivated which of course doesn't help. When in the USA he depends on my heavily for even the most basic things like ordering food at McDonalds. I am not particularly happy in his country long-term and so we have been thinking of other locations where we could both be comfortable. Most importantly, it needs to be Spanish speaking, with a moderate climate. 

We both like the Central part of Mexico, together we have visited several cities and feel this would be the best choice for us long-term. Now comes the hard part, the legal immigration to Mexico. I can prove around $2000 from early SS and he has a business in his country that he is about to sell which will free up other cash but just not sure what we need to do with it so we can prove the required monthly income. Also the fact that we are married but do not hold the same citizenship, will this be an issue? I have been trying to find a similar situation but so far have had no luck. Does anyone know how we should go about this?


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

The fact that you are married but hold different citizenships is not an issue should you seek temporary and then permanent residency in Mexico. My wife and I have lived here for 12 years full time and we both hold inmigrado status, now known as residente permanente under recent immigration law changes. She is a French citizen and I am a U.S. citizen. This has never been an issue in Mexico with INM.This year we will both separately apply for Mexican citizenship and she will hold dual citizenship with France and Mexico while I will hold dual citizenship with the U.S. and Mexico. 

Under the new immigration laws your monthly independent income may be a factor in that it sounds a bit light to meet new INM income guidelines. However, the sale of the business of your spouse may be a mitigating factor so, perhaps the thing to do is to come down here on a 180 day tourist visa with the thought of converting to temporary resident visas down the line if you qualify. Things are a bit muddled at INM with the recent changes in immigration law but they will iron out the problems attendant to the new law over time so coming down as tourists initially may work for you.

We live part of the year in West Central Mexico at Lake Chapala at about 5,000 feet. A splendid spring like climate almost all the time. There is a large English speaking expat colony there so Spanish and English are both widely spoken there. We also live at 7,000 feet in the Chiapas Highlands where any expat colony that does exist in very limited numbers is primarily European in origin so very little English is spoken. The Chiapas Highlands are more colorful and enticing in many ways than the Lake Chapala region but the climate is not as nice. That area is also isolated from Central Mexico near the Guatemala border so may not suit you.

Good luck.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

If you go to Mexico on a tourist permit, for up to 180 days, you must leave Mexico and apply for a resident permit in your own country at the Mexican consulate nearest your home. So, if you plan a longer stay, your inquiry should be made now at the nearest Mexican consulate.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

As Rvgringo says, you each will have to return to your own respective country to start the visa process. You can no longer do as Hound Dog suggests and enter on a tourist permit and convert in-country to a resident visa.

Each of you will have to show a certain level of income, the amount depending on whether you are going for residente permanente or residente temporal status. Your $2000 a month will qualify you for temporal but isn't quite enough for permanente. 

Depending on how much your husband makes on the sale of his company, he may qualify for residency by showing a lump sum in an account for the past 12 months - I believe it is some $94,000 for temporal and $120,000 for permanente.

Even if he doesn't meet those levels of holdings, he can put the money in an investment account and make monthly withdrawals of the appropriate amount for 6 consecutive months into a checking account and that will meet the monthly income requirement.


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## djt42 (Mar 28, 2013)

WoW, so couples must show $4000 per month in income! That must eliminate a lot of people who do not have good pensions or SS checks. From what I have seen when visiting Mexico I felt we could live there quite well on $1500-$2000 per month, perhaps I was wrong? The other benefit to Mexico was that we could drive there instead of flying. I am not the happiest flyer and I have family in Houston and was hoping to visit by vehicle vs by plane.

His business should net at least 100K and we could probably make this work such as transferring money into an account for 6 months but I would be afraid that they could change the laws in the near future making relocation again a big possibility. I don't know, maybe we should look into some of the other countries on our list then..

I do appreciate the time it took to explain things to me and we will do further research into both Mexico and other countries also!


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Ask farther; the income doesn't double for couples, one or the other is considered the dependent, and the income needs increase, but not by a factor of two.

If your husband gets enough from the sale of his business, he may be able to prove the level needed in a bank account as opposed to monthly income.

Regardless, you do need to visit the consulate in the US, and he in his country, to start the process, and get answers from the people who will be signing your applications.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

mickisue1 said:


> Ask farther; the income doesn't double for couples, one or the other is considered the dependent, and the income needs increase, but not by a factor of two.
> 
> If your husband gets enough from the sale of his business, he may be able to prove the level needed in a bank account as opposed to monthly income.
> 
> Regardless, you do need to visit the consulate in the US, and he in his country, to start the process, and get answers from the people who will be signing your applications.


I don´t think it increases financials at all. If one has a Mexican Consuls temporary visa to enter Mexico and go to the INM to finalize the Mexican Consul´s approval within 30 days and waits for the actuall Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente card and the spouse has a FMM tourist card then ths spouse can "tramite" from FMM to Residente Temporal inside Mexico at their local INM office under Vinculo Familiar. They will need proof of an address to get processed, both of them. Alan


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

[_QUOTE=circle110;1107553]As Rvgringo says, you each will have to return to your own respective country to start the visa process. You can no longer do as Hound Dog suggests and enter on a tourist permit and convert in-country to a resident visa._

This is true. When we came in in 2001 under a tourist visa we were able to convert to an FM 3 in Mexico in our community of residence. One of us still had to fly back to San Francisco to obtain a menaje de casa to import our household belongings which were then shipped down here via common carrier. Under the new rules, we would both have to leave Mexico to obtain temporary residency visas. However, the question of whether I would have had to have returned to the U.S. and my wife to France where we were citizens respectively is a good question. She was in the U.S. at that time under green card or permanent residency status so perhaps we could have both simply flown back to San Francisco for temporary residency visas or maybe she would have had to have flown back to Paris. This is an important question in your case since your spouse is a citizen of some other country but perhaps a permanent resident in the U.S. In our case, had she have had to have flown to Paris and I to San Francisco, it would have been inconvenient but no big deal. Only you know your situation.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

AlanMexicali said:


> I don´t think it increases financials at all. If one has a Mexican Consuls temporary visa to enter Mexico and go to the INM to finalize the Mexican Consul´s approval within 30 days and waits for the actuall Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente card and the spouse has a FMM tourist card then ths spouse can "tramite" from FMM to Residente Temporal inside Mexico at their local INM office under Vinculo Familiar. They will need proof of an address to get processed, both of them. Alan


Alan, are you sure that the financial requirements won't increase if someone goes from FMM to RT using "vínculo familiar"? That's like saying that two can live for the price of one!


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Isla Verde said:


> Alan, are you sure that the financial requirements won't increase if someone goes from FMM to RT using "vínculo familiar"? That's like saying that two can live for the price of one!


No I am not positive but have read this a few times in a few places recently. FHBoy is doing exactly this now, maybe he knows for sure. Alan


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

AlanMexicali said:


> No I am not positive but have read this a few times in a few places recently. FHBoy is doing exactly this now, maybe he knows for sure. Alan


OK. Let's wait to hear from FHBOY.


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## Lorij (Jul 8, 2012)

If you return to the states and visit the nearest consulate I do not think the income requirement will be an issue at all. I say this because I have just got my Residente Temporal from the consulate in Atlanta. I am not employed now I am graduating law school next year. We are not married but have lived together for 4 years. We provided bank statements from joint accounts thy had less than $10,000. We provided copies of his home and property owned in Puerto Angel, as well as papers showing his business he owns there in his name. I provided tax assessments for my property here in Alabama and we had 3 notarized statements from witnesses stating we so live together one was from our priest. He should 6 months of pay stubs. And that was that got mine without a problem! Good luck!


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## Lorij (Jul 8, 2012)

Much apologies for all the typos late night and replying from my iPhone


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## trpt2345 (Jan 15, 2012)

Lorij said:


> Much apologies for all the typos late night and replying from my iPhone


Not to worry. Thanks for your input. I am now in the process of renewing my visa, an FM 2 professional status which I have been told is very different this year. However my trip to inmigración last week before semana santa revealed that all I need to renew is a new carta de invitación from my employer and a new letter of petition from me stating why I want to remain in Mexico. I am in fact married to a Mexican citizen and do in fact have a job here so that may make my status different. Last year was nightmare but this year seems (knock on wood) to be pretty straightforward. I hope. I do in fact love it here.


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## cscscs007 (Jan 8, 2011)

Read about the Vinculo Familiar visa in INM website. No financials are mandated for using this route, and can be done in Mexico.


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