Interview with Milly Arceo: Immigration Specialist in Riviera Maya and owner of Legally in Mexico
Sac-Be: How have things changed with your business during this Covid-19 situation?
Milly: The immigration offices have been operating every day as they normally would, everything remains the same, if you are in Mexico or not and you have to renew your residency as soon as you can, Right now there is a grace period from March 30 until further notice, that means that if you were in Mexico or abroad, you can still renew your process.
In case of having an appointment to do fingerprints you can go. If you have to fulfill an official requirement you can do it. The grace period applies for requirements too.
What things are you having to help people with the most currently?
Since April, there is a program to extend tourist visas and obtain 180 days again. Right now they are only renewing expired tourist visas from May and June and it’s mandatory to prove a cancelled flight reservation. Although the procedure is personal, I help by doing all the required letters and you only go to the immigration office, 10 business days later. The new tourist visa must be be collected personally.
Here is all the information if you want to do it yourself
a flight cancellation (this is a new requirement)
a pdf format for humanitarian reasons
Choose Regularización and then regularizar por razones humanitarias:
letter explaining the reason why you could not return to your country (it has to be done by computer and not by hand)
original passport and copy
original tourist visa and copy (it should be expired to apply)
If you entered by land your tax payment of 575 pesos
All these documents are required and the immigration office won’t accept your application to renew your tourist visa if you’re missing any of them.
What advice do you have for those who are on a tourist visa that is expired or soon will expire?
I'm always updating on my Facebook page: Legally in Mexico, all the migration news, Many times the current information changes from day to day, for example right now in June they are renewing tourist visas expired between May and June.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start the process for Temporary or Permanent Residency?
I just wrote an article about which residency is best for you, temporary or permanent. Everything will depend on your situation. Here is the link to this article. And here is another link to a video interview I did recently.
In order to start TR or PR people must be out of the country and visit the Mexican Consulate correct?
All residencies must start at a Mexican consulate (outside Mexico), it doesn’t have to be your country of origin, it can be any country. The only visas that can be started in Mexico are per family unit or job offer.
What are some of the things people should be aware of when choosing which Consulate to visit?
It really does not matter so much which consulate you go to, if you have what the law requires you should have no problem at any of them.
How are Consulates different in one state to another state or in different countries?
My recommendation is to request the requirements from the consulate that you want to visit, since each consulate varies in the monthly amounts that the law requires, even though the law specifies the amount, it may vary by the exchange rate.
Do Americans have to return to the USA to start their Residency or could they go to somewhere closer such as Belize?
As I mentioned before, you can go to any Mexican consulate you want as long as you have what is required by law.
Some Americans, like ourselves, were scheduled for their interview at a Mexican Embassy in the US, in our case Miami, we had to cancel our trip and our interview due to COVID-19. What advice do you have for them? What if they are required to quarantine for 14 days and can’t afford or don’t have a place to stay for over two weeks in order to have a meeting with the Mexican Consulate?
I would recommend that you wait for things to be calmer and gradually return to normal, perhaps in two more months quarantine will no longer be necessary if you travel to another country (hopefully).
Update: Miami is open now as are a lot of Mexican consulates.
For people who are considering buying property in Mexico and just want to come for 1-6 months a year what do you recommend they do? Why is having a TR or PR helpful to them?
If you have a property in Mexico, nothing better than having a residence for tax and legal purposes.
Do people run a risk coming back and forth to Mexico on a tourist visa too many times? If so what?
Yes, there is a risk, since this last year at the airport they have become very strict and several foreigners who have taken advantage of tourist visas have been deported.
If the information is available online – why is it recommended that someone use a service such as yours? How do you personally help your clients, and what can they expect from hiring you?
If you have patience and understand some Spanish, you can do it alone, I know many people who have done it alone, including my husband, who I met because he needed to go to the immigration office around 7 times… well but that is another story. I have many other clients who started it alone and got tired of going around the immigration offices so many times that they end up hiring someone.