From an American Working in Mexico

Americans working in Mexico

From the other side of the fence.....

Received the following from (Tom O'Malley) who was a Director with SW BELL
in Mexico City.

You remember I spent five years working in Mexico.

I worked under a tourist Visa for three months and could legally renew it
for three more months. After that you were working Illegally. I was
technically illegal for three weeks waiting on the FM3 approval

During that six months our Mexican and US Attorneys were working to secure
a permanent work visa called a FM3. It was in addition to my US passport
that I had to show each time I entered and left the country. Barbara's was
the same except hers did not permit her to work.

To apply for the FM3 I needed to submit the following notarized originals
(not copies) of my:

1. Birth certificate for Barbara and I.

2. Marriage certificate.

3. High school transcripts and proof of graduation.

4. College transcripts for every college I attended and proof of
graduation.

5. Two letters of recommendation from supervisors I had worked for at
least one year.

6. A letter from The ST. Louis Chief of Police indication I had no arrest
record in the US and no outstanding warrants and was "a citizen in good
standing."

7. Finally; I had to write a letter about myself that clearly stated why
there was no Mexican Citizen with my skills and why my skills were
important to Mexico. We called it our "I am the greatest person on Earth"
letter. It was fun to write.

All of the above were in English that had to be translated into Spanish
and be certified as legal translations and our signatures notarized. It
produced a folder about 1.5 inches thick with English on the left side and
Spanish on the right.

Once they were completed Barbara and I spent about five hours accompanied
by a Mexican Attorney touring Mexican Government office locations and
being photographed and fingerprinted at least three times. At each
location and we remember at least four locations we instructed on Mexican
tax, labor, housing, and criminal law and that we were required to obey
their laws or face the consequences. We could not protest any of the
Governments actions or we would be committing a felony. We paid out four
thousand dollars in fees and bribes to complete the process. When this was
done we could legally bring in our household goods that were held by US
customs in Loredo Texas. This meant we has rented furniture in Mexico
while awaiting our goods. There were extensive fees involved here that the
company paid.

We could not buy a home and were required to rent at very high rates and
under contract and compliance with Mexican law.

We were required to get a Mexican drivers license. This was an amazing
process. The company arranged for the Licensing agency to come to our
Headquarters location with their photography and finger print equipment
and the laminating machine. We showed our US license, were photographed
and fingerprinted again and issued the license instantly after paying out
a six dollar fee. We did not take a written or driving test and never
received instructions on the rules of the road. Our only instruction was
never give a policeman your license if stopped and asked. We were
instructed to hold it against the inside window away from his grasp. If he
got his hands on it you would have to pay ransom to get it back.

We then had to pay and file Mexican income tax annually using the number
of our FM3 as our ID number. The companies Mexican accountants did this
for us and we just signed what they prepared. I was about twenty legal
size pages annually.

The FM 3 was good for three years and renewable for two more after paying
more fees.

Leaving the country meant turning in the FM# and certifying we were
leaving no debts behind and no outstanding legal affairs (warrants,
tickets or liens) before our household goods were released to customs.

It was a real adventure and If any of our Senators or Congressman went
through it once they would have a different attitude toward Mexico.

The Mexican Government uses its vast military and police forces to keep
its citizens intimidated and compliant. They never protest at their White
house or government offices but do protest daily in front of the United
States Embassy. The US embassy looks like a strongly reinforced fortress
and during most protests the Mexican Military surround the block with
their men standing shoulder to shoulder in full riot gear to protect the
Embassy. These protests are never shown on US or Mexican TV. There is a
large public park across the street where they do their protesting.
Anything can cause a protest such as proposed law changes in California or
Texas.

Please feel free to share this with everyone who thinks we are being hard
on illegal immigrants.