Friday, February 4, 2011

FM2 renewal, address change, citizenship

Ok guys my spell check is acting all crazy so good luck reading this one. lol
I was suppose to go check into my FM2 renewal on Monday but I forgot to bring my papers to work with me. So today was the big day. I let my student go a little early and I headed out of the school around 1130. I only took one wrong street and was quickly able to right my path. (this is a major acomplishment here by the way) When I pulled up to my normal parking garage it was full. I actually didnt panic but did call the hubby to ask if he knew of another one close by. The only one he could think of we usually dont use because its so busy that cars are always backed up the street trying oto get into it. Well today I was one of the cars that was backed up the street. I was parked and inside the immigration office by 1230 (I made excellent time concidering the traffic here that time of day). I immidiatly asked a gaurd if I needed to get a number (fecha) or if I just needed to go through the information line. He gave me a number and pointed to the side of the room I would be waiting. I noticed that they were on number 33 and I was holding number 76 in my hand. I hadnt had the time to pump (milk for Lily) before leaving the school so I figured I had plenty of time to do that now. I went down to the public restroom and took care of buisness. On my way back up I noticed the area that I needed to go to ask about citizenship and realized it was only 1 o'clock. I was pretty sure my number wouldnt get called for at leaset another 30min or so, so I stopped in. After asking a couple people I was sent to a room that had three desks in it. There were people already at two of those desks being helped and the other worker was on the phone. Once he got off I explained to him in my best Spanish what I needed and after only a short time I left with a list of things I would need. It seems that there are different lists for almost everyone. He needed to know what type of FM2 I was on (mine is familiar) if it was my husband who was supporting me, where we got married, and if I had Mexican children. After typing all this info into his computer is when he pulled up the list and had it printed off in the other room. I will put the list on a different post because I want hubby to translate it first so I dont get anything wrong.
Then I headed up to the immigration stuffy room. They had by now closed the door and stoped giving out numbers but the gaurd recognized me and let me in. It was now 115 and they were only on number 49. So I texted back and forth with the hubby and played suduko (I actually dont like the game because I cant beat it but I keep playing it because I cant beat it). When I finally got to the desk the guy that was helping me was so nice. (they usually are but I was a little nervous since I was alone) As a reminder and also a correction of what I thought previously, I put that I was from Estonia on my renewal (before I thought it was on the address change). The form was on a touch screan computer and apparently my fingers are to fat to pick the right country. He told me that I basically have to resubmit all my paperwork and that I dont have to pay again but just show them a copy of my pay reciept. This was a huge relieve. He also gave me a document that had a list of all that I needed to bring in and a sworn statement kind of thing saying I knew that I had screwed it up. This list I will also type up later after I can get conformation from the hubby that Im understanding it all correctly. The good thing is that he said that once I turn in the papers that I will get my FM2 very quickly because its just a little change and they were expecting it anyway. So I have a feeling it may already be there they just cant give it to me until I refile all the proper papers. Because he was being so nice I went ahead and asked him about our birth cirtificate ordeal with Lily. I asked him if it really would never be a problem for her or for me. He said now and that I could always prove that I was legal and that my papers were just in process. But that it really should never even come up. I even asked if it would be a problem with her US stuff and he said no as long as I wait till I get my FM2 back to file here. Which I was planning on doing anyway.
I then of course headedout to my truck but needed to stop at the ATM before hand. As I was walking down this busy city streat feeling as comfortable as if I were in St. Louis I had one of those wow my life is so odd moments. Not sure if any of you have them but I know I do. Its like I normally just go about my day and dont even think aobut it but sometimes its like something slaps me in the face and makes me look around. And then I think wow, I never would have known Id bee here even 5yrs ago. Its not a bad feeling or anything, just a wierd one.
Any way my next post will be chalked full of real information and not just the story line. :)

8 comments:

  1. That room IS stuffy!!! Good job, girl, you are so confident.

    Keeping out of the way of the blockades????

    You BETTER come down to Joco and visit. That's all I have to say. . .

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my dear Amanda, you go girl! I love you! You rock! You are my assimilation-super-hero! You went to la Oficina de Migracion all by yourself? And you pumped too?? Ay muchacha, eres muy valiente! Y lo hiciste todo muy bien! You are awesome!! I can only hope that one day I can handle Migracion by myself as well as you did! I'm so happy that I got tears in my eyes reading this post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks guys I have to go back and turn in my papers to reapply tomorrow. So that will be a whole new post. Then we are ready to apply for my citizenship as soon as we get Lilys US papers done. Then I think we will be done with paperwork for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi! Just wanted to say I've been reading your blog! I also live in Mexico...Puebla to be exact and it's nice to be able to relate to a lot of things you go through. Thanks for sharing! I have lived here over ten years and am also married to a Mexican.
    Karen

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so glad to have found your blog! I'm an American, planning on moving to DF with my fiance, and our two kiddos... I LOVE that you pumped in public! Yay for the mommy's milk!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi there,

    I randomly stumbled upon your blog, and I'm glad I did. I live in Guanajuato and I just went down to INM to renew my FM2 this week too! The next thing I have to do is figure out the whole citizenship thing, so let me know if you have any pointers!

    Take care,
    Sarah

    ReplyDelete
  7. Karen-Hey glad your reading, I just looked at your profile and saw you have been here for 12 years. You know you should be writing a blog to help us newbies. :)
    Rall- I have a book on my blog called The Trick to Living in Mexico. Its an e-book written by a lady who lived here for quite some time. It explains a lot of stuff that would help you. I know I wished I had read it before I moved. The blogg world will help also of course. All us gringas down here are pretty ready to help each other so shoot your questions at me and Id love to help you out.
    Sarah- Keep reading, as soon as I get a chance I will finish writing about getting my FM2 renewal and start writing about the citizenship and how it goes.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love that! When you are just so comfortable and used to living there then BAM you realize, holy moly i'm in mexico!

    ReplyDelete