Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

May 01, 2006

So, You Want To Work In Mexico...

I often get tips from someone called GD, and they are usually very good ones. Most often they are links to articles on the Internet, but this time he sent me what is purported to be a forwarded e-mail by an American working in Mexico. I cannot verify the veracity of what is below, but if it's true, then the hypocrisy of Vicente Fox and Co. is absolutely nauseating:

From the other side of the fence.....

Forwarded to me from friends of Tom O'Malley who was a Director with SW BELL in Mexico City.

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. Barbara's was the same except her's did not permit her to work.

To apply for the FM3 I needed to submit the following notarized originals (not copies) of my:

1. Birth certificate for Barbara and me.

2. Marriage certificate.

3. High school transcripts and proof of graduation.

4. College transcripts for every college I attended and proof of graduation.

5. Two letters of recommendation from supervisors I had worked for at least one year.

6. A letter from The St.Louis Chief of Police indicating that I had had no arrest record in the US and no outstanding warrants and was "a citizen in good standing."

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.

All of the above was in English that had to be translated into Spanish and then be certified as legal translations with our signatures notarized. It produced a folder about 1.5 inches thick with English on the left side and Spanish on the right.

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. 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. We paid out four thousand dollars in fees and bribes to complete the process. When this was done, we could legally bring in our household goods that were held by US customs in Laredo Texas. This meant that we had 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 driver's license. This was an amazing process. The company arranged for the Licensing agency to come to our headquarters location with its photography and finger printing 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. 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.

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 had prepared. It was about twenty legal size pages annually.

The FM 3 was good for three years and renewable for two more after paying more fees.

Leaving the country meant turning in the FM3 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.

It was a real adventure and if any of our Senators or Congressman 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. The US Embassy looks like a strongly reinforced fortress and during most protests, the Mexican Military surrounds 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.

Please feel free to share this with everyone who thinks that we are being hard on illegal immigrants.

Tom O'Malley

**This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let me know at what level you would like to participate.