We got our Temporary Resident Visas on the 26th of March at the Consulate General of Mexico in Sacramento, CA and we are so excited about that!! We worked with a really lovely woman at the Consulate, but I forgot her name. We also talked to her the first time we went in in December. She works at counter #11 though for visas and if you get the pleasure of working with her it will make the process easy. But really, everyone there was very nice and helpful. The longest part of the whole day was just the waiting.
The actual processing was easy. We had to bring 2 copies of our bank statements showing either $20,000 or more average balance in our savings account for the past year or a pension or income of $1,100 or more in our checking for the each of the past 6 months. We also had to bring 2 specific passport photos each and a completed application for our Temporary Resident Visa. You can find the Sacramento Consulate website here.
The applications are hard to find a copy of but we found one on the website of Sonia Diaz, the woman we are using in San Miguel to expedite our visas at the immigration office there. Of course you should always check directly with your Consulate/Embassy for current requirements as every Consulate has different requirements on what to bring and their financials. The Mexican Consulate in Sacramento was great to deal with. We had heard very good things about this one, and horrible things about the one San Francisco. Good thing that parking is right out front and free at this Consulate. We took some time waiting for the Consulate to open, but we were there at 8am sharp and are glad that we were. We might not have been able to get the visa in one day otherwise, as it can get very busy. We had to go in and get a number first off then sit in the area for visas for a few minutes and then we were called to the counter right away. We were the 1st ones there. She looked at all of our information then she took it to the Consular and we had to wait a good long time before being called in and told to go to the cashier and pay for our visas, $36 each cash only! This is non-refundable even if you don’t get the visa. We returned with the receipt and were fingerprinted. Right after that we were told to come back in 2 1/2 hours to find out if we had been approved. We grabbed a bite and got back at about 2:30pm and had to wait about another hour for our name to be called and we got the visas!! Having the visas finally really locks our move in for us. I even got a bit teary after we received them. This has been a long time coming.
We just sold the last of our possessions, the car. Glenn was sad as he loved that car. But we got pretty close to what we wanted and we will just Uber it till we leave. So now we really are down to just our three suitcases each. Yippee.
Hasta Pronto!!
UPDATE:
OCTOBER 29, 2018
Sonia Diaz was a tremendous help to us when we arrived in San Miguel de Allende. She helped us with everything regarding residency cards, insurance and my INAPAM card (for discounts for people over 60)!! We just saw Sonia at a housewarming party and she let us know that she is one of the authors of a new book called “The Move To Mexico Bible” available on amazon.com. This is another valuable source for anyone thinking of making this exciting, big move. Check it out.
2 Comments
Thanks for sharing your journey, I am embarking on a similar one and hoping to move to the Yucatan in early 2021.
A move to Mexico is always a good plan. Our move was the best decision ever. We have several blog posts about Tulum, Merida, Playa del Carmen, Isla Holbox, Bacalar, Valladolid, Celestun, and Campeche which I hope you enjoy. Just look for them under “Destinations” “Mexico’s Yucatan” and good luck with the move!!