work permit for a South African

[grace]

I'm a South African and have a job offer from a school in Mexico. They would like me to start ASAP and come over there on a visitors visa and they will apply for my work visa once I am in the country. They are telling me one thing and the embassy here in South Africa is telling me that I need the work visa before I leave South Africa.
Does anyone know if I will run into trouble trying to have a work permit issued while I am in the country? Or if I will have to leave the country to activate the visa - as this could be a problem if my closest friendly border is SA!

[Penguins_Pet_Pumpkin]

I have no idea myself, but I think if it was me, I'd probably take the embassy's word first. Although you might try finding something online that describes the types of visas and the requirements and regulations. Good luck!

[sparks]

That type of job is not like going to work for IBM or Microsoft where you have a contract before you leave your country. For a teaching job in a relatively small Mexican company ... you won't have the job until you are there and the papers signed. It's common to change from a Tourist Visa to a work Visa once you are there/here

[gkloken]

Originally Posted by grace

I'm a South African and have a job offer from a school in Mexico. They would like me to start ASAP and come over there on a visitors visa and they will apply for my work visa once I am in the country. They are telling me one thing and the embassy here in South Africa is telling me that I need the work visa before I leave South Africa.
Does anyone know if I will run into trouble trying to have a work permit issued while I am in the country? Or if I will have to leave the country to activate the visa - as this could be a problem if my closest friendly border is SA!

You should normally get it before you leave SA, however Mexico is one of the friendliest countries towards South Africans actually to anyone coming to Mexico and extremely helpfull. Cuba Jamaica Belize, Caymans and several others are friendly towards SA's and you do not require visas for them.
The Mexican immigration offices will refer you to the closest country which is Belize or Cuba with direct flights to it.
Cuba signed a treaty with SA in March 2004, but most visa companies does not even know about it and are not always up to date.
So do not despair. The school will apply and get it done for you.
With the international laws changing in most countries it is just wise to get all your papers and documentation in your country of legal residency or origin .

[grace]

Just need to be sure before flying half way round the world. wouldn't want the gov to put their boot to my bum. thanks for the heads up.

[synthia]

Welcome to the expat forum, grace. Are you a qualified teacher or going to teach ESL? If you've just been offered a job, they are probably trying to fill an empty position right now, in a school year that is underway, so certainly wouldn't have time to get a proper visa.

Have you asked to talk to other teachers at the school? Do they have anyone there who did the same thing? They don't have to be South African, just anyone who came in on a tourist visa and got a work visa. You might be able to get some information on Dave's ESL Cafe. It's for ESL teachers, but the visa experience should be the same.

In some countries, people working on tourist visas, at least initially, is the norm. Your own embassy is never going to tell you to do anything other than follow the letter of the law, no matter what the reality is. In parts of China, the norm is for teachers to come in on a tourist visa and convert.

You could check the Mexican Embassy and Consulate web site to see if they mention conversion of visas.

Unfortunately, if you get in trouble, Mexico jails illegal workers, I believe.

[rosi_gonzalez]

hi grace i am also a south african seeking employment in MEx. I move there next feb can you please tell me exactly what is required when going to the consular??Is it true that $50 per day is required?

[Steve Hazzard]

Originally Posted by grace

I'm a South African and have a job offer from a school in Mexico. They would like me to start ASAP and come over there on a visitors visa and they will apply for my work visa once I am in the country. They are telling me one thing and the embassy here in South Africa is telling me that I need the work visa before I leave South Africa.
Does anyone know if I will run into trouble trying to have a work permit issued while I am in the country? Or if I will have to leave the country to activate the visa - as this could be a problem if my closest friendly border is SA!

Without knowing all the facts in your situation, I would want to have my Work Visa BEFORE I left SA to work in Mexico! Political situations can change quickly; in my opinion, I would not want to rush to Mexico to work on a Travel visa only to discover problems with obtaining a Work visa and the necessity to return to SA; too risky.