Nov. 22-28, 2012  Immigration
 This is a compilation of several emails from Alan in Mexico.

Today I went to Pichilingue and got the TIP - Temporary import permit. No hassles at all. Passport, w/ Visa, Documentation and Engine Serial number plus $50 USD.
Rhapsody is now legally in Mexico.  Interestingly I could not find the engine serial number anywhere visible on the engine. Probably buried somewhere behind some pump or something. Anyway I found the number or at least a number in amongst the papers, so all is good.

Went to a meeting today with the US Consul General  for Baja North & South.
An interesting man. He's been in the State Dept for 30 years and just got back from Afghanistan.
He is now based in Tijuana, so went from one crazy place to another.  One thing he said was that we should register with the State Dept.  First, then we get emails with their alerts and reports on the status of different areas. He thinks they are really good, because they put a lot of thought into them and are very conservative about what they say, so they really mean it when that say something like don't go there.  For instance, Baja Sur is one of the safest places there is, but Juarez is one of the nastiest places.  The other thing is we give them our contact info so they can contact Chris & Audrey in case of an emergency or disaster.

An interesting point he said was that the US is finally, for the first time ever, realizing that Mexico is actually important to us. Much more than any other country, including Europe and the Middle East. This started with Bus Senior, but it is a long slow process.. He threw out some numbers re: the amount of money flowing across the border.  It was staggering , way more  than any other country. Something like $9 Billion every day.....

Most of the people in the meeting were ex-Pats that have been her for 10+ yrs. So I stood up to put in a plug for the sailors and short term visitors. I said we were going to be in Mexico for about a year. His response to me was to be always aware or your surroundings and realize that it will not always be as nice as it is in La Paz.   Admittedly this is all State Dept Company Line, but he seemed pretty straight forward. At one point he said he was not legally allowed to say anything negative about any other part of the US Govt....but he doesn't think much about the customs and border people. He has nothing to do with immigration, so could not comment on the Visa situation.
Overall he seemed like a good man.


The deal is they changed all the rules and forms (again) and no one is sure exactly what they are yet.
We currently have Tourist Visas, which are only good for 6 months.
the question is how do we renew them for another 6 months plus the 3-4 months until March 2014. Do we have to leave Mexico, go to a Consulate and re-apply?  Can we do it in one day, or do you need an appointment that could take up to 12 days? Or can we just leave for a day and re-enter the next day? ie: fly to Tijuana, spend the night in San Diego and fly back the next day.
Apparently there is an alternate way to get a Visa, (Called 'Regularizing') but it involves getting a hearing with no guarantee you will actually get it .




Update from Laura
I went to the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles and was told that as long as we leave Mexico every 6 months we are OK.  Apparently we just have to cross some border, anywhere, and have our passport stamped.  Then we are free to come back for another 6 months.  We'll see how that actually works.  Kaiser wants me to come back in 4-5 months for an follow up MRI so that will work out perfect for me.  Lan will have to leave by May 8 to be legal.