Immigration – Dani Francuz Rose

This month’s post might be a little different than usual. Actually, at this point I’m not convinced this isn’t just a form of catharsis (if I write it all down, I can let it go, right? Right?) We’ll see what happens. In reality, I hope this will be more than just my venting about my last few months in paperwork hell. I would actually like for this to serve as a record in case I have to do some of these things again and perhaps also as a guide for anyone else that has to go through these incredibly tedious processes. So, all I can say is buckle up as I endeavor to take you on a journey of a thousand citas (or “appointments”).

Okay, you might at this point be wondering what the heck I’m even talking about in this post. To clarify (and to account for any absenteeism these last few months), Tucker and I have been absolutely elbow-deep in various administrative processes. It all started in January when Canadian immigration (which we applied for back in 2019) contacted us needing updated and additional documentation to continue their processing of our permanent residency status. They needed another “up-front medical exam” and a copy of my renewed passport.

Up-Front Medical Exam

While not the most complicated of our soon-to-be mountain of administrative tasks, getting a medical exam in a foreign country always comes with a few added challenges. For one, Canada requires the exams be performed by one of their IRCC-approved doctors, of which there are only 12 in Mexico. Super unfortunately, none of these twelve happened to be in Guadalajara. However, there was one clinic in Monterrey, which we knew we’d be driving through in February while on another paperwork errand. The next (and probably somewhat obvious) issue with medical exams abroad is the language barrier. I had to call and make our appointments in Spanish and, of course, all the background questions and instructions throughout the exam were also en español. I learned quite a few new words throughout this process (como altura, vejiga, aguja, y radiografía), and I even made a joke about Tucker needing a paleta after his scary, scary blood draw.

Happy to have an excuse to visit Monterrey, honestly

Passport Renewal

The next request from Canada was for my renewed passport information. This was a tricky one because they needed me to renew it 6 months before it expired! When you live abroad your passport is your main ID, so to change it before we renewed our Mexican residency would have been impossible. We also knew we’d be going back to the border in February, so for this one, I actually appealed to Canadian immigration and asked for an extension. I was somewhat successful.

I think they’re just as sick of me at this point…

Mexican Residency Renewal

Of course, we also knew that in February our Mexican residency status would also need to be renewed. Everyone who applies for temporary residency in Mexico is given one year at the start, and after those first 365 days, you have the option to renew for 1, 2, or 3 more years. Since getting our initial residency cards was a fairly straight-forward process, I (perhaps) naively thought the renewal process would be even easier. We’re already in the system, no?! However, a series of extremely unfortunate events had us going back and forth to the Immigration Bureau 5 times (often having to wait weeks in between citas due to the new Covid procedures, thanks a lot Omicron). Unfortunately, one of the main reasons for all of these trips was a confusion with my apellidos (“last names”).

Reimbursement at SAT

In Spanish “apellido” refers to your family name or last name. In Mexico everyone has 2 apellidos – their paternal surname and their maternal surname. My name actually follows this structure pretty well, nombre: Danielle, apellido 1: Francuz, apellido 2: Rose. So, when the bank processed my payment that’s how the documents were filled out. However, in the eyes of the US (i.e. in my passport) and thus to the Immigration Bureau, I actually have 2 nombres: Danielle Francuz and 1 apellido: Rose. This discrepancy was a huge one in that I had to pay twice and later file for a reimbursement at yet a different office. I’ve now been to the SAT office (Mexico’s version of the IRS) twice to receive instructions and then my very own Mexican tax ID. I’m now in a “virtual line” for a third appointment where I will need to get my electronic signature before hopefully (finally) getting the reimbursement. Fingers crossed!

Import Permit Re-do

Of course, that wasn’t the only problem we had with the residency renewal…another issue came about because in order to straighten out the name debacle and successfully renew our residency cards within the new Covid procedures, we actually went past our initial residency cards’ expiration dates. Fortunately, the office assured us this wouldn’t be a problem with immigration because everyone was given leniency with the new digital cita process; however, very unfortunately, the Banjercito office (at the US-MX border), which issues import permits for foreign vehicles, did not have the same leniency in place. This meant that while we could remain in Mexico beyond our cards’ expiration dates, our car could not.

For this reason, we had to drive back to the border (before the expiration date) not exactly knowing what we would be able to do without the new residency cards to tie the permit to. Turns out there wasn’t anything we could do. You have to have either a tourist entry or a residency card to get an import permit (both of which were impossible for us as we were in limbo with cards on the verge of expiring and a scheduled appointment in another month). We also couldn’t just drive in Mexico without the permit and/or an expired permit because if we got caught, or when we came back to get a new permit, they could impound the car. Therefore, we opted for door number 3: drive the car across the border, store it for 6 weeks while we get our new residency cards, and fly up at a later date to re-do our permit and drive back down. OMG.

Police Certificates

If that wasn’t enough, while we were dealing with all the chaos of our Mexican residency renewal, Canada asked for MORE documents. With our updated location (i.e. Mexico) we needed to provide a police certificate verifying our legal/non-criminal status in yet another country (they already have these forms from us for the US, Poland, and China). However, completing the background check process in Mexico was yet another new experience for us, and it led us to another new office: the Fiscalía General Del Estado de Jalisco. Here, it took us a scouting mission, a few phone calls (en español), 3 citas, and a trip to another office (for a permission slip of all things) to finally get our fingerprints taken. Although, “fingerprints” is not really the right word. In Mexico, they take prints of your fingers, your palms, and the sides of your hands, it was actually really interesting. I’m also happy to say that I am officially NOT a criminal in Mexico. Tucker’s still waiting on his results…

Passport Renewal (for real this time)

Okay, so now it’s April. We’ve got our renewed residency cards (good until 2025), got our car with its rightful import permit back in GDL. Our appointment to try again for the reimbursement is pending, police certificates are in process, medical exams have been sent to Canada…time to renew my passport (still several months early, but what Canada wants, apparently, Canada gets). Much like all the other processes, this one took me 2 attempts. Forms, photos, payment methods, etc. everything the website says differs from the actual requirements in person, on the day. However, I have now successfully crossed this off my to-do list as well, and the new passport should be shipped sometime in the next 2-5 weeks. Praise be!

And with that, I think we’re done, or at least very nearly. I do feel a little better getting all of this off my chest. I also feel extremely proud that we were able to juggle various forms of bureaucracy from three different countries all at once. Sometimes I think people see my travel photos and have the idea that Tucker and I are on a perpetual vacation, but I’m here to tell you it isn’t easy to live abroad. Of course, for me, it’s worth absolutely any amount of paperwork! This is my life now. 🙂

It’s hard to believe it’s already May, but when I look back at everything we accomplished in the last month, I can’t believe it’s only May! At the beginning of this year, I firmly decided to stop waiting for whatever “new normal” will eventually present itself, and started the process of moving to Guadalajara, Mexico. The first few stages went extremely smoothly: we got our visas from the consulate, flew to GDL, received our residency cards, found an apartment, all while working full-time (remotely, of course). However, the final stage of the move was a complicated one. We had planned to fly back to the US, get our vaccines, pack our car with the rest of our stuff, and drive the 32 hours from Orlando back down to GDL – all in less than a week, during a global pandemic. Here’s how it went:

First, a little more on the logistics of this particular endeavor…

Driving our car across the border and down into the inner states of Mexico meant that we’d have to get an import license for our car. The import license required a lot of paperwork (like copies of our residency cards, US driver’s licenses, passports, proof of Mexican car insurance, etc.) It also meant that we had to renew our registration in FL and update our US car insurance policy without actually being in the US (thanks Mom and Google Voice). With crossing the border, we also had to have a list of what we were bringing across (in English and Spanish) as well as up-to-date copies of our dog’s vet records for customs.

We did what we could in advance from GDL, but the week we spent back in the US was crazy! We were lucky enough to get an appointment at Walmart for the J&J one-shot vaccine (absolutely perfect for our circumstances), and we got the jab about an hour prior to the national pause. Whew! We also made sure Jenn got her yearly vaccines and check-up, and then started the process of stocking up on US-specific goods (like Everything Bagel seasoning and our preferred brands of socks and underwear) before packing our little car to its gills. Did I mention that during this week of planning and preparing, appointments and vaccine recovery, questions and more questions, Tucker did not take a day off work! He did, however, take a day off for the drive.

One heck of a road trip…

We drove from Orlando, FL to Baton Rouge, LA on the first day. It took just a little over 10 hours, which was longer than expected due to heavy rains. Jenn thoroughly enjoyed the ride in the backseat on a pile of pillows, dog beds, and blankets. Day 2 was from Baton Rouge to Laredo, TX (right at the border). This was also a little over 10 hours (a bit of a delay again thanks to Houston traffic), but we enjoyed both legs with region-specific favorites like Café du Monde beignets and Whataburger patty melts. Aside from worrying about sitting in a car for three days straight after getting a vaccine with blood clot tendencies, we didn’t think much of days 1 and 2. The border crossing and drive across Mexico was our biggest unknown, and no amount of Googling was helping us feel prepared.

Around 6am on Day 3 (the only day Tucker requested off from work), we went through the McDonald’s drive-thru (our goodbye to the US) and crossed International Bridge II, which connects downtown Laredo (US) to downtown Nuevo Laredo (MX). We went through the first of many gates/checkpoints around 6:30am, before sunrise, when there were only a handful of other cars. Each car was eventually directed into a space that reminded me of where you vacuum your car after a car wash. Very intimidating looking guards came over, opened all our doors, checked a few boxes/suitcases and asked us a few questions like where we were going, what items did we have with us, etc. They were also surprised by our little perrita who promptly barked at them when they opened her door. Once they had ensured we weren’t smuggling goods or people across, we were free to drive through another few gates into Mexico.

It was thorough yet efficient, but as we’ve been told again and again, it’ll be much more difficult going the other way. Luckily, we won’t have to do that for a while! Once we were officially in Mexico, our first stop was at the Banjercito (import license and general immigration office). I stayed in the car with Jenn while Tucker handed over our documents and got the stamped form we needed in order to drive on with US plates. After showing this form to another guard at the next checkpoint (just as you’re leaving Nuevo Laredo), we were officially on our way – eating our McMuffins and calculating mph into kilometers, perfectly content.

The next 11 hours were uneventful and absolutely beautiful. We took mostly toll roads, which are newer and very well-kept. We drove through the Sierra Madres Orientals, Monterrey, desserts, canyons, and many little towns/rest areas. We never felt unsafe; there were plenty of gas stations, convenience stores, and clear signage all the way down. The only slightly challenging part was navigating the passing zones (and the fact that some drivers will pass regardless of zone). Overall, we drove through 5 US states and 5 Mexican states, 1,963 miles, over the course of 3 days, and I’d gladly do it again (although maybe not for another year or two).

And now we’re here (semi-permanently, or so it finally seems)

That first night in our own beds with all our stuff in the same apartment was magical! It didn’t take long to put everything away and feel truly at home, but there were (and still are) some things we’re getting used to. First, every time I’ve come back to Guadalajara, I have had to adjust to the altitude/climate again. We’re at about the same elevation as Denver, and in combination with the dry-season (and likely over-exertion) on this particular re-entry, I felt the familiar feeling of altitude sickness that seems to haunt me whenever mountains or plateaus are involved. Jenn is also adjusting to life A) in a high-rise building (with scary elevators) and B) in a city with a couple million inhabitants, but for her, the pros definitely outweigh any cons – so many new smells, a bird watching window, and her own room! Haha! Other than that, everything has been the usual fumbling along until we’ve figured it all out, which is exactly what I love about being an expat!

Ultimately, I’m pretty proud of how well this all came together, and if I had been pining for an adventure, I definitely checked that off the list early in 2021. Now all that’s left to do is settle in and enjoy la vida en Mexico!

Dani Francuz Rose

Tag: Immigration

Crossing the Border and Settling in

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