Marrying a Mexican Citizen

[sigler311]

Hey, I have been dating my Mexican girlfriend for about a year(I actually met her while she was studying in the states) and thinking about getting married here, my question is....

Once we get married I will be issued an FM2 and will have to wait 2 years in order to apply for citizenship and the application may take up to another year to be approved. Am I right on this?

Another key question, during this two years that I am living here on my FM2, am I allowed to work freely in mexico like a mexican citizen or would I still have to find a company willing to sponsor me and have to go through the whole work visa route.

Thanks!

[RVGRINGO]

Once you are married, no matter where, you will have to apply for an FM3 or FM2 as the spouse of a Mexican National. If you are her dependent, financially, it should be fairly easy. If not, you may have to show independent resources from outside of Mexico to support yourself during your two year wait for naturalization, which will require that you are reasonably capable in spoken and written Spanish, etc. Remember, when you marry a Mexican, you marry the entire family; the entire extended family, and they may have certain expectations of you. Proceed cautiously.

[maesonna]

Originally Posted by sigler311

Another key question, during this two years that I am living here on my FM2, am I allowed to work freely in mexico like a mexican citizen or would I still have to find a company willing to sponsor me and have to go through the whole work visa route.

From one who has BTDT, you will not be able to work freely until you get a company to sponsor you*. If you do achieve this, you will still have the same FM2 visa, but your status will change from “economically dependent on your spouse/foreign income” (as the case may be) to “authorized to work for Company XYZ,” and this change of status will be documented with an annotation in your visa booklet.

*Or if you can successfully get permission to work independently. I’ve BTDT, too.

[f3drivr]

Are the income requirements lower when applying for a fm2/fm3 as the spouse of a Mexican national?

[sigler311]

Thanks for the answers RVGRINGO and maesonna, what a bummer that the immigration laws are so strict, now with that out of the way, just to decide if this is the right choice or not

[RVGRINGO]

Originally Posted by f3drivr

Are the income requirements lower when applying for a fm2/fm3 as the spouse of a Mexican national?

I don't know, but I really doubt it. FM2 income requirements are more than for the FM3 by about 50%.

[sigler311]

If someone help me clear the air...

so if I marry my girlfriend, it doesnt automatically start me on the road to citizenship, I need to apply for a spousal FM2, which has strict income requirements. If I cannot obtain an FM2, even if I am married and living in Mexico, I would have to live off of Tourist Visa's, is this correct?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by sigler311

Hey, I have been dating my Mexican girlfriend for about a year(I actually met her while she was studying in the states) and thinking about getting married here, my question is....

Once we get married I will be issued an FM2 and will have to wait 2 years in order to apply for citizenship and the application may take up to another year to be approved. Am I right on this?

Another key question, during this two years that I am living here on my FM2, am I allowed to work freely in mexico like a mexican citizen or would I still have to find a company willing to sponsor me and have to go through the whole work visa route.

Thanks!

[maesonna]

Originally Posted by sigler311

If someone help me clear the air...
so if I marry my girlfriend, it doesnt automatically start me on the road to citizenship, I need to apply for a spousal FM2, which has strict income requirements. If I cannot obtain an FM2, even if I am married and living in Mexico, I would have to live off of Tourist Visa's, is this correct?

Spousal FM2 or tourist wouldn't be your only choices. Other options would be a self-supporting FM2 (i.e. supported by foreign income if you have any, or else working for a Mexican employer or independently), or an FM3.

[RVGRINGO]

Nothing is "automatic" just because you marry a Mexican. You must still meet the immigration requirements for some specific status. A tourist permit has no income requirements but is only good for a maximum of 180 days; and they don't have to give you that if they don't feel like it. It is not renewable in Mexico and requires that you leave the country.
Mexico is a wonderful place to live if you have financial resources from outside the country. Mexican wages, if you could manage to get permission to work, are a tiny fraction of US wages and, unless you could 'pass for Mexican', you might find life quite difficult in the workplace. There is also a nickname for 'gringo' husbands; "The Wallet". You really need to visit, meet the girl's family, study the situation in detail, and evaluate the options very carefully. I have strong feelings about this because of a similar situation in my wife's family which turned out badly. There are now children who can never cross an international border until they are 21, as a result. Please be aware of all of the implications.

[AdePuebla]

I talked to this lawyer about getting legalized here in Mexico (i'm on FMT) but i was talking like fm2 or fm3 getting on the path to citizenship. well he misunderstood and thought i wanted to get citizenship NOW. so he was telling me that his friend is a Juez in a little pueblo and they could fill out the paperwork that we've been living here for two years and get us an address there etc... i dont know, do whatever they need to do and put my application for citizenship.
wow... gotta love mexico, anything is possible! Obviously i didn't do that. I think i'll skip the lawyer when i apply for the fm2. I'm not that scared doing it myself after someone i know did hers last winter and it's not as bad. I was kind of worried about the financial issue but she said they accepted hers and her husband was only making around 200 pesos a day at the time.