# Introduction and Questions!



## Joeysmom05mendez (Aug 18, 2009)

Hello everyone, my name is Heather. I am an American Citizen who is married to a Mexican National. We have an adorable 4-year-old boy together. My husband and I are currently going Deportation proceedings (my husband crossed the border "uninspected" 9 years ago.) We have decided to take a "voluntary departure" rather than receiving a "Deportation" on my husband's account. Will are Planning on moving to Monclova, Coahuila in January. I would like any info you can give me on living in Mexico, and I am Specifically interested in the Mexican National Insurance. I would like to know the process to apply, and what kind of coverage and expenses I can expect for our family. Thank you everyone.


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## Joeysmom05mendez (Aug 18, 2009)

By the way, are there any Expat Members here that live close to Monclova?


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

The Mexican government introduced "Seguro Popular", which is a cheap health insurance intended for people not covered by any other social security institutions.

All the details can be found below (Spanish only).

¿Cómo me afilio?

Also, if one of you (most likely your husband at this point I suppose) works, then all your family should actually get insurance coverage from the IMSS if your employer is a private company or from the ISSSTE if your employer is the Mexican government.

Other state institutions have their own health schemes (the best being the Ministry of Defence).

It used to be that if you were in full time study you could claim ISSSTE coverage, but you would have to check this one out, because I am talking about some time ago regarding this, and things may have changed.

All of the above have some caveats, there is allot of employment in the grey or black market, where the companies, illegally, will not sign you up to the IMSS, or they will want you to work for them as a freelance or contracting person, in which case you are not actually employed by them and thus have no right to claim IMSS membership.

Many employers, legally established, tell you that they don't offer IMSS coverage. This is illegal and if you possibly can you should avoid such employers (easier said than done, specially during the recession).

You can also get private insurance, but the prices are insane when compared against the standard of living in Mexico (I never had private insurance in Mexico, in spite of have been a middle income earner at the time I was there).


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Both you and your child, as foreigners, will require FMT tourist immigration documents to enter Mexico. They are good for a maximum of 180 days. Within 150 days, you will have to apply for FM3 or FM2 visas, in order to remain in Mexico. You may apply as your husband's dependents, if he is working and earns enough. Otherwise, you will have to prove sufficient income and/or savings or investments to support yourself in Mexico. There are fees involved in making these applications and the visas must be renewed annually with continuing proof of income from outside of Mexico. If you can succeed in doing that, you may want to look into becoming a naturalized citizen after two years. It will be easier for the child, than for you. Do maintain your US passports in a safe place (yours and the child's) so that you may depart at any time. There are many cases where these situations just don't work out because of the cultural differences and the way many women are treated, especially if foreign, in a 'macho world'. If you wish to work in Mexico, you will need the permission of Immigration and must be supported by the employer in that separate application. Your husband, as a Mexican citizen, will probably not be aware of these continuing requirements. Be sure that you know them well and abide by them so that you don't become illegal yourself.
If you have an automobile, you will also have to temporarily import that yourself and may never sell it in Mexico. You will find other posts on that topic.


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## f3drivr (Nov 18, 2008)

You can get dual citizenship for your son by registering his birth at the Mexican consulate in the US. When we did it we needed to give them an original copy of my daughter's birth certificate which we did not get back. It had to be the larger one that shows the names of the parents, not the small wallet sized card. Both parents sign the document and they will give your son a Mexican birth certificate. If you haven't done it already you should before you go, the process only takes about a week.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Definitely do that and also apply for a Mexican passport for your son. All of that may help you to be able to stay in Mexico. However, be sure to also get a US passport for your child, in case you both want to return, with or without the approval of your husband's family or with or without your husband.


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## Joeysmom05mendez (Aug 18, 2009)

Thank you for the input. I am going to get the applets (I think that's what they are called) for both my son's birth certificate and my marriage license next week. After that Mario and I plan on visiting the consulate here in Little Rock to have my son's duel citizenship taken care of. I could be misinformed on this, but I have been told that as long as I have the applet on the marriage license that I will not have to claim an income, (please correct me on this if I'm wrong, I'm very new at all of this) Joey and I visited Monclova last month, so we already have our American Passports. As far as work goes, I'm not sure what we are going to do. My mother and stepfather are also moving to Monclova, and mom and I have talked about coming to the States monthly to buy clothes at dollar stores for little people than selling them on the open Market. Any one that knows a bit about this practice, I would like more info, please. My husbands job does not offer insurance, and I'm a homemaker. My son has ARKids first here, but neither me nor my husband have insurance, we cannot afford it. We do have a bit saved up in Mutual funds that we can borrow against, but otherwise, we are still trying to figure out how to support ourselves in Mexico. Once more, any Info you can give me, I'm listening. 

btw, how do I send PMs on here?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Smuggling is not a good idea. You would need an import license and, since most clothing is now made in China and Mexico has very high import duty on Chinese goods, that idea may not fly.
Click on the username of the person you wish to contact. Then click on their 'public profile' and follow the message instructions you find there.


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## Joeysmom05mendez (Aug 18, 2009)

We weren't going to smuggle, we were planing on paying the taxes on it all. My stepfather is a mechanic, so he is going to open a shop with his brothers. Mom and I were going to start with the clothes first, then later we wanted to try an Internet Cafe with a restaurant and let my husband run it b/c he is a restaurant Manager here, and mom and I don't have any management experience. Also, I have a work in progress that has been in the works for the last 3 years. I'm writing bilingual children's stories, then puting them on a disk and adding an interactive game, English/Spanish Narrations by my husband and myself, and real photos that I have taken myself. Do you think something like this may sell in Mexico?


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## El Toro Furioso (May 13, 2007)

Joeysmom05mendez said:


> I'm writing bilingual children's stories, then puting them on a disk and adding an interactive game, English/Spanish Narrations by my husband and myself, and real photos that I have taken myself. Do you think something like this may sell in Mexico?


They might sell for about $20 pesos a disc. If they are popular, the pirates will put you out of business in a month or two. Anything that you create on CD or DVD that makes money will get pirated almost immediately here. I feel for your situation. It isn't a good one. The earlier posters gave you good advice. ¡Buena suerte y qué le vaya bien!


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

RVGRINGO said:


> ...the visas must be renewed annually with continuing proof of income from outside of Mexico.


Just a little clarification on an exellent post. The income doesn't have to be from outside Mexico.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

It is hard to cover all situations in a short post, but your comment is correct in the case of a person who has obtained a working endorsement on their visa and has the ability to work in Mexico. Another situation would be one with major investments in Mexico, producing income or sufficient resources to support oneself.
The most common situation for an FM3 in the Lake Chapala area is the 'No Inmigrante Rentista' (non-immigrant pensioner), although there are other classifications.


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## Joeysmom05mendez (Aug 18, 2009)

How much would I have to invest in Mexico to get a return that would support us? Can you tell me in US dollars (I'm still learning about Pesos)?


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## f3drivr (Nov 18, 2008)

Mexican banks are paying very low interest rates right now just like everywhere else so it would probably not be feasible to try to live off of interest from Mexican investments. It would also be a bad idea to convert large amounts of money to pesos because the peso could devalue like it has in the past. When I went to Mexico in the early 1990's it was around 3 pesos to the US Dollar and now it is 13. Imagine if you had converted your life savings to Pesos back then. Fixed income investments in the US and Canada are paying very low returns right now as well. If I were going to try to live off of investments right now I would either buy property and live off of rental income or stocks in good solid companies that pay dividends. In today's economy there is risk no matter what you do.


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## Ana Hernandez (Aug 19, 2009)

ok, you have received some good advice, and some comments that I think people assumed things they should not. Now, as far as importing children's clothing to sell, it can be done, and done so cheaply without smuggling. I did NOT see the word 'smuggling' come up in your OP, and for the life of me can not understand how that would have been assumed by the wording of your OP. the duty on the clothing is very cheap and can be sold for a nice amount. Say you buy a child's outfit for 7.50 in the states, you can take it over the border, pay a small duty on it, and sell it in Monclova for around 12.00USD. Your profit would be a comfortable on. you have to take your gas driving back and forth, and duties into consideration. 

Restaurants seem to be doing very well in Monclova, as you saw when we were there on a research trip recently. If you will leave your money in investments here, and move ONLY what you need to Mexico as you need it, you will find that you will not lose money that way. I thought we had discussed this already. Keep all statements, as you will need them to prove you can support yourself as stated previously by another poster.

As for the CD ROM you are working on, your target market is NOT Mexico. what Mexican child needs to learn Spanish?! Your target market is here in the U.S. where pirating software is not only against the federal law, but can be pursued in the courts here for a substantial amount of money of which you will never see, but you will make your point when all is said and done. You could go out on a limb, and write. possibly childrens books? target the U.S. for your main market.

There have been other businesses we have discussed, all doing well in Monclova. You will do ok, and you need to stop worrying. you are going to have to go, make the best of it, and make it work. Listen to what Antonio, Luis, and others are telling you, and you will do fine.


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