Our Temporary Residence Experience Part 2 of 2

 Our Final Part of Getting Temporary Residency

If you read the first part of getting our temporary residency, you know that once you get into Mexico you have 30 days to finalize it. We had an appointment scheduled for May 4th at the INM. We went to Yucatan Expat Services the day before to bring the payment and sign the paperwork that they did for us.

Here is a breakdown of cost as of May 2020. Prices are always changing so be sure and double check to see if my numbers are still accurate.

For one year as a temporary resident in Mexico the INM charges $4,739 pesos per person($240 USD) Renewing the temporary visa for longer is more money.

Yucatan Expat Services charges $190 USD per person and they can be paid in USD, Pesos, or through Paypal(be aware, you will pay the amount PayPal charges for transactions). They are the least expensive that we have found after doing research. Most were charging in the $220's. If someone is charging more than that, you should definitely go with someone else because they are taking advantage!

On May 4th our appointment was scheduled for 10:30am. We had to arrive about 15 minutes before. We weren't sure where to park so we parked about 2 blocks away. When you arrive it looks a bit intimidating because there are a lot of people sitting around. The way it works, though, is the guard will call out appointment times and if you hear yours then you can go inside. You must sign in with your name, arrival time, and nationality to the counter on the left. Then you must go to the counter straight ahead and you will receive a little ticket with your window number. On to another room where you sit down until they call your name-or until the person at your window leaves.

It was a little different having children and not just yourself. Whichever parent signed in your child's passport, has to sign for all of the paperwork for the visas. Each child is assigned their own window-but worry not, it's all in the same room and all the windows are next to each other. As the signing parent, you can stand next to them when they need your signature. The hubby signed both children's passports so he got to do all the signing for the visas.

Since we hired Yucatan Expatriate Services, they had given us our paperwork all filled out and you just hand the attendant that, plus your passport and FMM(the paper they give you when you enter the country). They will ask for your signature(firma) on certain papers and then they will take your fingerprints and your photo-front and both sides. No earrings or other jewelry and hair tucked behind your ears. Then you are good to go! They printed out our visas, handed them to us, and we were done! 

When you leave you need to find your name in the sign in book and write the time you left.

The question is... did we need Y.E.S to help us? The first go round? Yes, I think so. We had no idea how anything worked and didn't know how to schedule an appointment etc. It may be possible that we could get a friend here, when we renew, to help us with the paperwork and schedule an appointment and go to the offices ourselves.

Overall it was smooth and there were no issues. 

So there you have it. We are now legal and won't have to do this again for a year.  😁

~Bee