- The following is from a director with
Southwestern Bell living in Mexico City:
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- 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 an FM3. It was in addition to my US passport that I had
to show each time I entered and left the country.
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- 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:
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- 1. Birth certificates for Barbara and
me.
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- 2. Marriage certificate.
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- 3. High school transcripts and proof
of graduation.
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- 4. College transcripts for every college
I attended and proof of graduation.
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- 5. Two letters of recommendation from
supervisors I had worked for at least one year.
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- 6. A letter from The St. Louis Chief
of Police indicating I had no arrest record in the US and no outstanding
warrants and was "a citizen in good standing."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- At each location (and we remember at
least four locations) we were 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 government's actions or we
would be committing a felony.
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- We paid out four thousand dollars in
fees and bribes to complete the process.
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- When this was done we could legally bring
in our household goods that were held by US customs in Laredo Texas. This
meant we 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- We then had to pay and file Mexican income
tax annually using the number of our FM3 as our ID number. The company's
Mexican accountants did this for us and we just signed what they prepared.
I was about twenty legal-size pages annually.
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- 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 3 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.
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- It was a real adventure and If any of
our senators or congressmen 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.
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- 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.
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- Please feel free to share this with everyone
who thinks we are being too hard on illegal immigrants.
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