I wil be traveling to Baja shortly from the UK, I have been advised by an expat friend that it is better to request a residency visa once I am in the
country, also I do not want to jump through all the hoops in the UK, then find that I do not want to stay there, though that is not likely but you
never know.
what are the issues, if any with upgrading the visitors visa once I am therewillyAirstream - 7-25-2012 at 09:35 AM
If you are driving across the border you can get your tourist visa at the crossing, it is about 20usd. It is good for 6 months and can be renewed. I
believe, not positive, that you can now renew at any immigration office and do not have to go back to the border. Once in Baja, you can get a Non
Inmigrante visa, old FM3, easily which is good for a year and renewable. Cost is roughly 2000 pesos. This would be your "residency visa".shari - 7-25-2012 at 10:04 AM
Hola Pilot and welcome to Baja Nomads forum....I believe you need to start with a FMM tourist visa anyway...you can contact Alonso in La Paz who does
alot of immigration visas for folks here...his email is alonsobaja@prodigy.net.mx and ask him any questions you may have.Riom - 7-25-2012 at 01:38 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by gt6pilot
what are the issues, if any with upgrading the visitors visa once I am there
You do have to wait until you're in Baja before applying for an FM3 (the residence visa) anyway, can't be applied for overseas. Previously you could
apply at Mexican consulates, but that stopped a couple of years ago.
When you enter Mexico, you'll get an FMM entry permit for up to 6 months. (It's generally called a "tourist visa" but is just an entry permit like
the I-94 in the US). You need to have that before you can apply for the FM3, since it shows you are in the country legally.
A lot of the guides to getting an FM3 will say "under NAFTA, US passport holders can now..." etc but a UK passport is treated exactly the same as a US
passport, for non-working visas. Although your local Immigration office will probably do a double-take and have trouble finding the name of the
country on their list!.
Rob (UK passport holder)
[Edited on 2012-7-25 by Riom]Katiejay99 - 7-25-2012 at 01:44 PM
I think you have to drive or walk across the border to get a 6 month tourist visa. I believe coming by air they will only give you 3 months. Once you
have that, you can apply for your 1 year renewable resident visa.
[Edited on 7-25-2012 by Katiejay99]bajagrouper - 7-25-2012 at 02:54 PM
Just to clear 1 thing, there is no 6 month visa.
The FMM ( tourist card ) is good for 180 days...gt6pilot - 7-25-2012 at 04:25 PM
Thanks for the clarificationBajaBlanca - 7-25-2012 at 05:56 PM
welcome to BajaNomads and be sure to stop by LA BOCANA and visit Les, British citizen too !
