Katiejay99 - 4-24-2013 at 07:44 AM
I was privileged to have the opportunity to sit down with a one on one discussion with Andrew Erickson, the U.S. Consular General from Tijuana as well
as with Benjamin Krueger, the Consular Agent of Los Cabos yesterday. They were visiting Todos Santos in a "Town Hall" meeting.
It was a great meeting where they use the "Chatham House" rules in so much as everything said by others is considered off the record. They also offer
private discussions.
There was a wide arrange of topics covered. The biggest thing that I got out of it is that they would very much like to hear from you if you are the
victim of a crime with significant personal loss, injury or threat of injury. They also urge you to file a police report because if they are the only
ones who know about it, their hands can be tied. They said that, for instance, if you have a shovel stolen, keep that to yourself, but if it is
significant, they would like to hear from you. They can help you personally as well as part of a group. They were quite sincere in this.
They also wanted to be sure that everyone knows that using a person claiming to be a US Notary here in Mexico is fraudulent and the document can, will
and has been tested in a court of law as being illegal. The only legal notary for a US Document needing a US Notary is through their office.
They do not do Visas. They can give you the information of who to contact for those.
Someone asked about dual citizenship. They said it this way: When you are in front of us, you are an American citizen - when you are in front of a
Mexican official, you are a Mexican citizen. They mentioned this in relation to Dual citizens driving cars with American plates. They warned that your
vehicle can be seized by Mexican authorities because the laws of Mexico state that as a Mexican citizen, you must drive a vehicle registered in Mexico
and have a Mexican drivers license. These are their laws and you must, as a Mexican citizen abide by them. If you lie to them you will have committed
a crime and could face jail time for that.
Someone asked about getting US Citizenship for a child born in Mexico. They do that. The rule is this: The American parent must have lived in the US
for at least 5 years and 2 of those after the age of 14 and the child must be less than 18 years of age. They call it the "Baseball Clause" whereby
the parent must have lived long enough in the US to have learned how to play baseball. If you fall outside the path of this, you can still get it done
for your child. It is called an Immigrant Visa and is handled through Ciudad Juarez. Once your child has this Visa, the second that they cross the
border into the US, they are automatically a US Citizen.
They highly recommend that those living in Mexico sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program through the travel.state.gov website. You can go
to that site to read up on that and their privacy policy. They use the information here as a communication system when tragedy strikes, like a
Hurricane or such.
They also handle passport renewals as well as lost or stolen passports.
The Los Cabos office requests that you call before arriving to be sure that Benjamin will be there because many times he must be present prior to
something being completed. Their phone number is: 624-143-3566. The email is caboconsagency@state.gov (this is a brand new email address for them). A
passport renewal takes 4-5 weeks. Mine has taken 5 weeks.
They were very serious in their commitment to being advocates for US Citizens and I was impressed by that and by them. They would very much like to
hear from you. They are committed to good relations between US Citizens and Mexico. There are over 250,000 American citizens on the Baja - North and
South. Trade between just Baja North and South and the US is around 31 Billion dollars a year.
Another item which was discussed was something a woman suggested related to another question asked. She suggested that everyone add a contact and
phone number onto their cell phone called ICE (in case of emergency) whereby someone would need only pick up their phone and push that number for
their emergency contact person to be called. I have put ICE-1 and ICE-2 on mine. This is important because, like me, there are many people living
away from family members here or alone and others have no idea who to contact on your behalf should you need it.
Of course they have other things that they offer. One of those is death notices as well as the consular report of death. They give you these in 20
originals. Also they mentioned that you will need the Mexican certificate of death as well. They told us that an autopsy is practically a normal
procedure here.
If you have the opportunity to go to one of their town hall meetings, I highly recommend it. This is an overview and a fuller account will be
published in the next issue of the Gringo Gazette.
[Edited on 4-24-2013 by Katiejay99]
Mulegena - 4-24-2013 at 09:04 AM
Thank you for the report, KatieJ.
A request, please. Can you expand on your statement that they don't do visas but give a referral?
Katiejay99 - 4-24-2013 at 09:12 AM
Yes, I can.
Visas for travel to the US by a non-US Citizen are handled through another agency, not through the Consulate office. They will tell you who to contact
for that. I hope this helps.
Also, if you would like to contact Mr. Erickson directly, he said that he answers all emails. He does not answer them normally on the same day. He
said that some do go to his spam folder, so if you have not heard back within one week, please re-send it. His email is: ericksonase@state.gov
I hope this helps.
Consul General
bajaguy - 4-24-2013 at 09:53 AM
When he was in Ensenada, he said he looks at/monitors this board for information/current activities.
DocRey - 4-24-2013 at 11:23 AM
I don't consider myself paranoid, but having the acronym I.C.E. on my phone doesn't appeal to me much. Could it be misconceived to mean Immigration
& Customs Enforcement? Are you affiliated with them in some way? If you're stopped by the Policia, might you be interrogated a little longer than
usual? Or worse, if held-up by a bad guy, might he think you're an oficial of sorts?
Belay my opening sentence, I think I may be paranoid. 
Vacation????
bajaguy - 4-24-2013 at 01:08 PM
Hey, Doc......sounds like you need a vacation to Ensenada and some more of that Tres Brewjas beer!!!!
Oh, and thanks for the gift!!! 
I.C.E. - mares
DocRey - 4-24-2013 at 03:29 PM
Hi Terry. Had a really good time at the brewfest. Wifie kinda loosened-up too ( no, not that way!). She said she enjoyed herself (wahoo!!!). There may
be hope after all.
Hope to come down more often & eventually do an RV trip.
You're welcome re: gift.