# Questions about temporary residency (1-3 years)



## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Hi again everyone,

I am trying to move to Mexico for 1-3 years, starting this August 2017. It will be myself and my 15 year old son (and possibly our little dog, but I'm not sure about that yet), and we will most likely be going to Puerto Vallarta. I would like to stay at least 3 years, however we could decide to come back after the first year, if our situation changes.

It sounds like we would need Temporary Resident Visas that we could renew for up to four years, if I'm understanding things correctly. Where do we apply for the visas, and how long does it take? I know there are income guidelines, and I do make more than $2000 usd per month (and can prove it with bank statements and/or paystubs), so I think we would be approved, if that is the only requirement. 

With regard to my son, does anyone know if there is a special process when only one parent is taking the underage person to Mexico and the parents are divorced? My ex-husband is friendly and supportive, so he will definitely sign any papers of consent (and maybe even visit us in Mexico), but I'm not sure where to start with that process either.

The idea here is for my son to have an interesting experience in another country for the last few years of high school (I'm planning to put him at the American School of PV so that he will end up with the equivalent of a US high school diploma), and for us to get away from the US for a while. I love Mexico and I'm kind of unhappy with our hectic lifestyle here in the US, and I'm lucky to be able to work remotely from Mexico, so I thought we would give it a try!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
RB


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

RainbowBright said:


> Hi again everyone,
> 
> I am trying to move to Mexico for 1-3 years, starting this August 2017. It will be myself and my 15 year old son (and possibly our little dog, but I'm not sure about that yet), and we will most likely be going to Puerto Vallarta. I would like to stay at least 3 years, however we could decide to come back after the first year, if our situation changes.
> 
> ...


Good luck. You can start a visa application at any of the Mexican Consulates. In Arizona they are located in Douglas, Nogales, Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma. I don't know the answer to your question about traveling with your son. The consulate could probably tell you though.


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Awesome, thanks! Any idea how long it takes? I want to start right away and I'm already thinking about all the big and little details.


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

If your flying, I recommend you check with the airlines as well as to what they need to let you board the plane. I'm thinking a letter from your ex-spouse (notarized?)


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Ok thanks, good idea about the notarized letter! My ex is very cooperative, so it will be no problem.

I just talked to the Mexican consulate here, and the lady said that the first step is to get a temporary certificate (or something like that) that is good for 6 months. Then you get it extended to 1 year, while you are in Mexico. And after that you can extend it up to 4 years. Does that sound right?

Also, she said that my ex-husband and I will need to appear at the office together to sign the papers. Which is fine, except that he lives in another state! But we can certainly arrange it when he is in town visiting.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

RainbowBright said:


> Ok thanks, good idea about the notarized letter! My ex is very cooperative, so it will be no problem.
> 
> I just talked to the Mexican consulate here, and the lady said that the first step is to get a temporary certificate (or something like that) that is good for 6 months. Then you get it extended to 1 year, while you are in Mexico. And after that you can extend it up to 4 years. Does that sound right?
> 
> Also, she said that my ex-husband and I will need to appear at the office together to sign the papers. Which is fine, except that he lives in another state! But we can certainly arrange it when he is in town visiting.



Whoa! That seems all wrong. The tourist permit is good for 180 days & cannot be renewed or extended or changed to a temporary residence visa in Mexico. You must start the application for a residence visa in your home country, and within six months of entering Mexico. Then, you finish the process with INM (Immigration) in Mexico, reporting to them within 30 days of crossing the border, and with proof of address, etc. Both you and your son will need visas, but he may apply in Mexico under family rules, having entered as a tourist, once you have your residence card issued by INM.


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Ok thanks so much! That sounded kind of wrong to me too, since what I was reading said to apply for the Temporary Residence Visa here in the US, before going to Mexico. I will try calling a consulate in another city and see if I get different information.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> Whoa! That seems all wrong. The tourist permit is good for 180 days & cannot be renewed or extended or changed to a temporary residence visa in Mexico. You must start the application for a residence visa in your home country, and within six months of entering Mexico. Then, you finish the process with INM (Immigration) in Mexico, reporting to them within 30 days of crossing the border, and with proof of address, etc. Both you and your son will need visas, but he may apply in Mexico under family rules, having entered as a tourist, once you have your residence card issued by INM.


I think she was told the 6 month preapproved Residente Temporal visa is the one the consulate attaches to her passport, not a 180 day FMM tourist card. So it does make sense. 1 year RT visa in Mexio with financial solvency presented to the Mexican Consulate and then a 3 year renewal inside Mexico at her local INM office.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I think you need to be clear in all this whether you're talking about yourself or your son. The path will, I think, be different for him than for you. If it's correct that "he may apply in Mexico under family rules, having entered as a tourist, once you have your residence card issued by INM." then you'd need to start at the consulate in the US and get a temporary resident visa, proving your income, a process that takes a couple weeks and probably 2-3 visits to the consulate. 

On the plane or at the border you both fill out FMM's, but when they are processed by immigration your visa is stamped (cancelled) and the half of the FMM you keep is marked "canje" (there's a "canje" checkbox on the form in the official-use-only section they fill out for that). Your son's FMM is not marked canje, his is just an ordinary tourist FMM valid for 180 days.

You then have a few days to report to your local INM (Mexican immigration) office. I forget how many it is, at least 5 no more than 15 - basically you want to start the process ASAP, because it takes altogether about 7 weeks and several visits to the INM. Your greencard will be good for one year, from the date you entered Mexico, regardless of how much time they take to give it to you.

Then after you have your greencard, you can start a second process to apply for a greencard for your son under family rules. That will likely take another 7 weeks or whatever.

Neither of these greencards is going to provide the right to work in Mexico. 

You should ask the consulate in the US when you are applying for your visa whether you need to apply for a visa for your son as well, in case I have this all wrong and he needs to come in on a "canje" visa the same as you instead of just coming in on a tourist permit. But it sort of sounds like they answered that question already, if you asked what I think you asked and if their answer was what I think you said it was.


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Ok this is great information, thank you! I will be sure to find out the exact process for both me and my son. Since we are planning to arrive in Mexico in August, the lady at the consulate said I should wait until around March to start the process, since the first visa is only good for 6 months. If I started it now it would expire in July, while we are still in the US.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

eastwind said:


> ...
> Neither of these greencards is going to provide the right to work in Mexico.
> ...


The only thing I would add to EastWind's comment is that you might have sufficient income to apply for a Residencial Permanente immediately if you wanted to instead of a Residencial Temporal. The advantage of the Permanente is that it never needs renewal and you would be allowed to work without further permission. The disadvantage is that you are not allowed to drive a non-Mexican plated car if that matters.


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Interesting! I think I probably do have sufficient income for that. However I'm not sure if I will be bringing my car or not...Is it possible to get around in Puerto Vallarta without a car? We are going down there over my son's spring break to visit the American School of PV and check out the area generally. After that we should have a better idea of what our life would be like there and if we would need the car. I have read that you can drive from the border all the way to PV on relatively safe toll roads, so taking the car might be an option.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

RainbowBright said:


> Interesting! I think I probably do have sufficient income for that. However I'm not sure if I will be bringing my car or not...Is it possible to get around in Puerto Vallarta without a car? We are going down there over my son's spring break to visit the American School of PV and check out the area generally. After that we should have a better idea of what our life would be like there and if we would need the car. I have read that you can drive from the border all the way to PV on relatively safe toll roads, so taking the car might be an option.


Living in Mexico without a car is much easier than living in the US without a car. Buses have more routes, are more frequent and are cheap. They are actually useful here in Mexico. In the US to use buses, you have to be either lucky to live and work on a route or be a masochist or desperate. In Mexico they are practical. If you want to make life easier without a car, find a place to live with everyday shopping for groceries etc within walking distance. It is not hard to do but does require consideration when looking for a place to live.


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Ok good to know, thanks so much for the info! Once I check out the school and the location of the school and possible neighborhoods we might live in, I'll have a better idea of whether we will need the car or not.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

RVGRINGO said:


> The tourist permit is good for 180 days & cannot be renewed or extended or changed to a temporary residence visa in Mexico.


Actually a 180 day tourist card can be converted to a resident visa in Mexico, but would require a family connection to a Mexican citizen, which the OP hasn't mentioned so.....never mind.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I think the OP is simply confused by what she has heard from a consulate. The consulate does not issue a visa; simply approves the applicant for a visa. Then the applicant must enter Mexico within 6 months and report to INM within 30 days of crossing the border. INM will process the application and issue the visa, a green card, in a matter of weeks.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I'm going to be pendantic here disagree with you RVGringo. Maybe it's changed since you went through the process. What the consulate did for me was put in my passport a big laminated sticker that completely filled one page of my passport book. At the top in huge letters it's titled "mexico visa", in all caps, with the word mexico in larger caps than the word visa. On it, it says the class of visa is "Residencia Temporal". But this visa is good only for one entry. The entry must be done within six months of visa issuance, or else the visa becomes invalid and you lose it. The visa is used (cancelled) when you make that one entry. You then have to apply at INM for your green card, which is not a visa.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

RainbowBright said:


> Is it possible to get around in Puerto Vallarta without a car? We are going down there over my son's spring break to visit the American School of PV and check out the area generally. After that we should have a better idea of what our life would be like there and if we would need the car. I have read that you can drive from the border all the way to PV on relatively safe toll roads, so taking the car might be an option.


 Getting around PV by bus is cheap and easy, but service is only til 10 pm. After that, you're at the mercy of taxis, and they're priced more for NorAm tourists than for locals. So far the taxi union has managed to keep Uber out of PV, because it's a lucrative all-night market. As far as driving your own car, depends on what your tolerance is for Mexican city traffic. PV isn't cdmx or gdl in that regard, but it's gotten pretty bad in the last 20 years and is getting worse.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

When you get here and visit INM (within 30 days) they can deny your 'Visa'. It is a very 'provisional' thing. Perhaps they should call it such. You are issued a provisional visa in the US - you still have to be 'approved' by INM (in Mexico).


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

eastwind said:


> I'm going to be pendantic here disagree with you RVGringo. Maybe it's changed since you went through the process. What the consulate did for me was put in my passport a big laminated sticker that completely filled one page of my passport book. At the top in huge letters it's titled "mexico visa", in all caps, with the word mexico in larger caps than the word visa. On it, it says the class of visa is "Residencia Temporal". But this visa is good only for one entry. The entry must be done within six months of visa issuance, or else the visa becomes invalid and you lose it. The visa is used (cancelled) when you make that one entry. You then have to apply at INM for your green card, which is not a visa.


I think the differences in what you two are saying are semantics.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

eastwind said:


> I'm going to be pendantic here disagree with you RVGringo. Maybe it's changed since you went through the process. What the consulate did for me was put in my passport a big laminated sticker that completely filled one page of my passport book. At the top in huge letters it's titled "mexico visa", in all caps, with the word mexico in larger caps than the word visa. On it, it says the class of visa is "Residencia Temporal". But this visa is good only for one entry. The entry must be done within six months of visa issuance, or else the visa becomes invalid and you lose it. The visa is used (cancelled) when you make that one entry. You then have to apply at INM for your green card, which is not a visa.


Well, if we are going to get pedantic, there is no such thing as a "green card" in Mexico -- that's a slang name for a permanent residence card in the US. 

In Mexico it is indeed called a "Visa de Residencia Temporal" (or Permanente). Here is a link to the gob.mx SRE website that explains all of the ways to get one:
https://www.gob.mx/sre/acciones-y-programas/visa-de-residencia-temporal
Notice that it is indeed called a visa.

Yes, RGRINGO used the wrong term for the document they put in your passport and it is indeed a single entry "visa", but the rest of what he said used correct terminology.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> I think the differences in what you two are saying are semantics.


Pretty much. Semantics and definitions, not process. I did say I was being pedantic.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I just looked at my Residente Permanente card, and it is still green.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

And what color is a temporal ?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Never had one, but I think they may also be green.
I have heard that the US card is actually not green.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

Gatos said:


> When you get here and visit INM (within 30 days) they can deny your 'Visa'. It is a very 'provisional' thing. Perhaps they should call it such. You are issued a provisional visa in the US - you still have to be 'approved' by INM (in Mexico).


I don´t think it really works that way. The Mexican consulates are preapproving foreigners and the ones that meet the legal requirements are given a 6 month visa in their passports. The local INM office is processing this preapproved applicant by swapping [canje] their 6 month visa for a more permanment visa if they follow the rules when entering Mexico. It is a done deal.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

My residente temporal card is also green. At least you'd have to call it green if you only had ten words in your color vocabulary. On this page and on my monitor it looks like the colors they call Beryl or (lol) Eton Blue. 

The title on the card looks like this:

ESTADOS UNIDOS MEXICANOS
SECRETARIA DE GOBAERNACION
INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE MIGRACION
RESIDENTE TEMPORAL

It's in all block capital letters, except with some of it in larger and some in bolder fonts, and with proper spanish diacritical marks, which I haven't figured out how to replicate yet on my keyboard. It doesn't have the word visa on the card anywhere that I can see. 

FWIW The wikipedia page for US permanent residency shows the three 3 designs that have been used for the card since 1946, and I think you'd have to call the oldest and the most recent green, but not the middle one, which is decidedly yellow. So I think the question 'what color is a USA green card' is an old trivial pursuit question that's no longer tricky.

The US green card is also not a visa, it permits visa-free travel.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

eastwind said:


> My residente temporal card is also green. At least you'd have to call it green if you only had ten words in your color vocabulary. On this page and on my monitor it looks like the colors they call Beryl or (lol) Eton Blue.
> 
> The title on the card looks like this:
> 
> ...


http://www.inm.gob.mx/static/Tramites_2013/visas_solicitadas/VISA_POR_UNIDAD_FAMILIAR.pdf

"VISA POR UNIDAD FAMILIAR
Artículo 8. Visa de residencia temporal o permanente solicitada al Instituto por unidad familiar.
Aplicable: Al mexicano o a la persona extranjera titular de la condición de estancia de residente temporal, de residente temporal estudiante, o de
residente permanente que solicita una visa para una persona extranjera con quien acredita vínculo de acuerdo a lo señalado en el apartado de
criterios de resolución de este trámite.
Forma de presentación del trámite
Formato Migratorio para Autorización de Visa, llenado de manera electrónica a través de la página de internet (Instituto Nacional de Migración | Gobierno | gob.mx), con
firma autógrafa del promovente."

It is clear the process to obtain a legal immigration status in Mexico is applying for certain visas, the same as in the USA. The card itself identifies the legal immigrant and their status.

The US "Green Card" is the same. It identifies the legal resident who applied for a certain visa to reside in the US and was qualified and processed and not only a visa free travel document but your proof of legal residency. Old FMM cards had the word visa printed on them. The new FMM cards have which visa box to check. So they also are visas. The INM resident card itself is not normally called a visa [ the INM refers to them as Documentos Migratorio ] but in the law it is called a visa in some sections of the INM law.

The immigrant with legal status is callled a Residente Permanente or Residente Temporal exactly what the INM immigration card states which identifies you as one or the other. The FMM tourist card identifies you as a legal tourist/visitor and the stay that you were given in days.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> I just looked at my Residente Permanente card, and it is still green.


As is mine!


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

OK, agreed -- it is green. I just had never heard to it referred to as a "green card" before this thread. 
Whereas the US permanent residency card is regularly referred to a "the green card", even on the USCIS dot gov website and other official government documents. But, alas, it isn't green or even greenish. My wife has one and I can't see any green on it.
Go figure...


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

circle110 said:


> OK, agreed -- it is green. I just had never heard to it referred to as a "green card" before this thread.
> Whereas the US permanent residency card is regularly referred to a "the green card", even on the USCIS dot gov website and other official government documents. But, alas, it isn't green or even greenish. My wife has one and I can't see any green on it.
> Go figure...


Nor me. I think we are breaking new ground calling the Mexican visa a green card. It is accurate, just not a common name. Maybe it should be "tarjeta verde" rather than "green card" though.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I started all this trouble and it simply proves that expats will argue about anything, on any forum, any time of day or night. However, as you now know, Mexican residence visas are, in fact, green cards.

Now.....Wasn‘t that fun?


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