rhintransit
Super Nomad
Posts: 1588
Registered: 9-4-2006
Location: Loreto
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tis the season,FM3 renewal 'tax'
went in to renew my FM3 in Loreto yesterday.
my policy as a single female in Mexico is always to act polite, respectful, sweet and dumb...with my eyes wide open. the guy was very eager to help,
even offered to make one copy I didn't have. told me what I'd need, including the fee of 1672 pesos. which as I hope most of you already know was a
convenient 500 pesos high.
I just said, hum, did that go up? when he said yes and busied himself with the paperwork, I casually walked over to the (tiny) posted rates, and
said, sweetly puzzled, ???for rentista: 1172p??? looking at the page and running my finger down the sheet with my back to him. when I turned around
he was busily flipping through my FM3 and then mumbled, Oh, rentista, you're right.
I pulled out my 1200 pesos, graciously rounded the fee to 1180 when he didn't have correct change, and figured that was enough of a propina.
remember to keep your heads up this holiday season. as ever.
reality\'s never been of much use out here...
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gnukid
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4410
Registered: 7-2-2006
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But don't you have a form to go to the bank and pay... no one pays the office of immigraccion directly? Where were... it could be a simple mistake...
not fraud.
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rhintransit
Super Nomad
Posts: 1588
Registered: 9-4-2006
Location: Loreto
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in Loreto the migracion office collects the fees directly.
you can request to pay at the bank...if you like waiting in line for three or four hours, our one local bank is a problem...so most people pay at the
office.
reality\'s never been of much use out here...
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rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
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Interesting, since I believe that the payment of fees directly to the immigration officials is specifically prohibited (for obvious reasons).
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Phil C
Senior Nomad
Posts: 564
Registered: 3-27-2004
Location: N. San Diego County/ Loreto Centro/Lopez Mateos
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We just renewed in Loreto. We were given a form to take to the bank to pay 1172 pesos each. Return the form and wait a week. And wait a day, and wait
a few hours............
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CaboRon
Ultra Nomad
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Location: The Valley of the Moon
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It is interesting how fluid the fees are.... recently when registering my address in La Paz the agent requisted I go to the bank and pay five hundred
pesos more.... when I said I had already paid the entire fee in San Diego he pretended to look at my paper work and then said oh, you are right,
there is no extra charge.
Be polite, but be firm.
CAboRon
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rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
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Check out this web site for the rules. Nice to have a copy handy. GNU - expensive ice isn't it?
http://www.inami.gob.mx/pagina_ingles/principal-ingles.asp
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rhintransit
Super Nomad
Posts: 1588
Registered: 9-4-2006
Location: Loreto
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many acquaintances here in Loreto report they have been paying at the migracion office. the past three years they have told me, 'you can pay here.'
in the future I will insist on form and go to bank to pay. obviously that's the right course of action to avoid what looks like a big problem here.
I understand there is also a website where you can pay on line with electronic transfer, there was a poster, in Spanish, in the office on that.
reality\'s never been of much use out here...
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bajabird
Nomad
Posts: 205
Registered: 12-22-2004
Location: LA & BCS
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whats this about renewing? are we suppose to renew????? see yah this
weekend in LTO
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CaboRon
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3401
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Location: The Valley of the Moon
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajabird
whats this about renewing? are we suppose to renew????? see yah this
weekend in LTO |
A gringa here in La Paz recently decided she wasn´t going to bother with renewin any more , because she had been here several years already.. as
the story goes, about three months after the expiration they pulled her in to the offoce and said either pay a huge fine and renew or they gave her a
week to leave the country. I thought it was very kind of them to actually give her a week
CAboRon
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
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Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
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Bribes and graft are so ingrained in the Mexican way of life, especially the government, that almost nobody trusts anybody. That's why all official
type payment to the government goes through the banking system. ( Roberta, your guy would have paid your fee at the bank and collected himself 500
pesos )
Can you imagine, for instance, being able to get your fishing license at the drugstore/sportin goods store/supermaket,etc ?
The government will never see a cent and it will keep the print shops in business printing licenses.
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rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
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| Quote: | Originally posted by rhintransit
many acquaintances here in Loreto report they have been paying at the migracion office. the past three years they have told me, 'you can pay here.'
in the future I will insist on form and go to bank to pay. obviously that's the right course of action to avoid what looks like a big problem here.
I understand there is also a website where you can pay on line with electronic transfer, there was a poster, in Spanish, in the office on that.
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Good idea, since without the bank receipt you have no proof of payment.. and as someone has said the late fees are very high... last I heard
something like 1000 pesos per month... but don't quote me since I was only late once, ten years ago and they let it slide after a big lecture.
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rts551
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6699
Registered: 9-5-2003
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I am surprised at what seems to be happening at these offices. The office in Santa Rosalia has been nothing but helpful to me, including making
sure I have all the correct paper work (Except for that short period when everything went south to be processed). Never even hinted at something
illegal. 10 years FM3 and 3 years FM2.
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