FM3 visa

There hasn’t been much exciting to write about here in Armeria. Now that construction on the new house has been suspended things have settled into a slow, more relaxed pace.

Last week, I went to Manzanillo to apply for a FM3 visa. There is a group in Manzanillo called Manzamigos that helps foreigners in Mexico. I emailed them if they knew of someone that could assist me with the visa application process, thinking that they might suggest an English speaking lawyer who had experience with immigration. The president of Manzamigos, Nigel, responded with an offer to help and listed what he thought the current requirements were for the visa.

I got copy of my electrical bill (to show place of residence) and my passport (all pages). I had my California credit union email me 3 months of bank statements in PDF files. I burned the files to a CD because I have no printer with me. I went to a local Internet café and had them print the statements for me. The statements are to show I have enough monthly income to meet the current Mexican requirements. The minimum amount varies according whether or not you’re married, if you own Mexican real estate or the office you apply at. Nigel told me that at the Manzanillo office the minimum is $1,000 for a single person.

The only thing else I needed was 2” black & white photographs from the front and right side. Nigel told me there was a place at Jardin and Mexico Ave. that could do the photographs. I made an appointment to meet Nigel there and then he would show me the location of the immigration offices. Norma and I drove to Manzanillo and parked near one of the ships docked near El Centro for 6 pesos. When we walked to Jardin and Mexico Ave. we saw a Kodak store and went in to get the photos. A young woman clerk told us that they did not take photos and directed us to a photographer’s studio. We started to walk to the studio when I saw Nigel (yellow shirt, 6’ tall). It turns out that there are two Kodak stores at the same intersection and we had gone into the wrong one. So I was able to get the photographs (4 front and 4 right side) for 60 pesos.

Nigel told me that of North American foreigners in Manzanillo, 80 percent are from Canada. Nigel himself was born in Great Britain and had lived in Canada for 30 years before moving to Manzanillo 10 years ago. We followed Nigel in his car to the area where the immigration offices are located in the harbor master’s building. He told us where the offices were located and left us to try and find parking in the busy area.

We lucked out and found a place to park near the immigration offices. We went in and I got a number to wait in line. About an hour and a half later, I was given two forms to fill out. One was entirely in Spanish and the other was in Spanish with English hints. I was a little confused by the forms and frustrated by a ball point pen that didn’t work most of the time. A nice young woman from Ecuador who spoke English offered to help me fill out the forms. I was surprised to learn that the forms asked for two Mexican citizens as references. I was able to supply that information and then I was directed to go pay the fees for the application at a bank. The fees were 1,172 pesos and 444 pesos for a total of 1,616 pesos (about $147.16 USD).

The bank was about 6 or 7 blocks away and after paying I returned to the immigration offices where I gave them 3 photos from the front and 2 from the right side. Nigel had told me that I only needed 2 each but who knows if the requirements changed or they just saw I had extras and wanted an additional photo from the front. They told me to return on March 2nd to pickup the FM3 and to bring my January bank statement at that time.

Afterwards, Norma and I had lunch at a palapa restaurant on the beach near the immigration offices. We had beers and Norma had a sea food cocktail and I had shrimp with garlic, rice and salad. The view of downtown Manzanillo was great across the bay from the restaurant. Too bad I forgot to bring the camera.

Lately, I haven’t been doing much except cleaning the swimming pool and watering the plants. Watering the plants has been a problem though as there has been very little water pressure for about 5 days. The swimming pool is making me kind of popular here in Armeria as people want to enjoy the pool. The last two days, 8 friends of Norma’s have come by to use the pool. Yesterday, we had a barbecue of beef, beans and tortillas that turned out great on the poolside barbecue.

The weather here today is absolutely perfect as I sit typing this near a window looking out to the pool area. I was using the computer in the rig parked out in front of the house but it is nicer with more ventilation setting it up here in the house. I was having a problem with a very low signal to the wireless router which is still located in the rig and has to go through cement, bricks and rebar, but I fiddled around with the orientation of the router and did some tweaking of the Linksys-G and now the Internet connection is pretty reliable.

I rigged up a TV antenna from a FM radio wire and now have good reception of a local channel on the Vaio. I have spent a little time watching the Mexican novellas hoping it will help improve my Spanish. Norma is picking up some English and sometimes it gets too confusing when you’re trying to learn Spanish. Sometimes I tell her “no mas Englis” when she uses the English “you” because it sounds almost like Spanish “yo” and it makes it harder to learn Spanish.

You might be interested to hear that one of my favorite foods here is the Mexican breakfast of frijoles on a tortilla. I am in no danger of giving up meat however. I like carne asada and carnitas too much. But as I said before, I’m starting to get bored with just Mexican food. In this town the diet is even more limited, like you can’t find good enchiladas or goat stew. I’m lucky I’m not living in a part of Mexico where insects are a popular food.

Before coming to Mexico, I thought it would be easy to cook some of my favorites but when you can’t find the right ingredients it’s impossible, like to make a good steak you need aged beef cut thick. But they don’t age the meat here. I am eating a more healthful diet here, more fruits and vegetables and I’m getting more exercise walking and swimming so I think I have lost some weight.