Expat News 🗞 November 13th
México Visa Runs are over, new changes in perpetual travelers plus New Renovation Videos
In this issue of Expat News by Expat Rebel, México is tracking tourist stays now and limiting how long you can stay based on your past travel history, plus New Mexico Beach Home Renovation videos. 📰 - Chris
Changes In México Tourist Visa
México has changed how they handle residents posing as vacationers.
INM, México division on immigration is
Random checkups is occuring more on airports, buses and even streets asking for your resident card or tourist visa. This is a major change because before now they almost never checked for this documentation once thru immigration at the border or airports.
Carry your resident card or tourist visa with you at all times. If you don't have it you'll highly likely be held.
If you are living in México on a tourist visa where you stay for six months and leave for a minimum of 72 hours to visit another country and right back to México, well, those days are over. You will need to legalize right away by applying for residency or only staying in México part of the year.
INM did a major overall of their computer system during the pandemic. In the past, they really couldn't get good track of people coming back over and over. Well, now they can.
I've heard stories of couples going to the US for their "visa run" and coming back like normal, but at Immigration being given only two weeks on their tourist visa instead of the expected six months like in the past.
It's up to the Immigration Officer on what they will do to people doing "visa runs". There are no real public rules about it yet, well, at least not yet. Like a lot of things in México it's vague on how it'll actually be implemented and it's, again, up to the Immigration Officer.
They will look at your travel history and decide if they think your a perputual tourist and how abusive they think you are about it. Some people are getting a month or denied entry all together depending on their travel history and how the Immigration Officer feels about it.
So, if you're doing this get residency now or only stay part of the year in México and go enjoy nearby Belize or elsewhere.
Look at the requirements to be a resident. You may easily qualify.
If you are currently in México and have overstayed your tourist visa and you've been here in 2019 you can apply for residency with no questions asked. If you're outside of México this program won't work for you. It's to help people that didn't travel because of the pandemic and want to stay. You don't have to prove income or buy property or get a work visa from a Mexican company or anything. Just pay some fees.
Who knows how long this program will exist before they drop it but most likely it won't be much longer as these new immigration rules start taking affect. If you have arrived since 2020 or this year you do not qualify for this program.
If you qualify for that then get some help and apply for it right now.
If you want to stay in México apply for residency next time you come back. You'll be surprised how easy it is.
Mexico Beach Home Renovation Vlog
The finishing touches to our renovation are being put in place.
Beach Yard Tree Lights Installed
Stream Room Works and Sidewalk Done
River Stone Drains Added to Pool Deck and Sidewalks
Beach Fence Renovation
Renovation Cleanup Begins
New episodes will be coming out before the next newsletter next week so be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel and click on the bell notification so you don’t miss any episodes.
Recent Videos
Recent Stories
Latina Culture History: Selena 🎤 - fun show
Mexican Moms Review 🇲🇽 - a great way to learn about Mexican culture and have fun
Bad Expats 👎🏼
Members Newsletter Updates
Mérida & Yucatán Beaches México Guidebook - Leave a comment if you want a resource or connection and I’ll add it.
Playa del Carmen Guidebook - updated from my last visit. It’s very detailed and has many recommendations in it.
Ask Me Anything thread for members, ask me a question and I’ll answer right back.
Becoming An Expat Now - paid-member comment thread answering your questions
Renting Furnished Houses and Condos in Mexico - I have a big update to this coming out soon, basics are here now.
Hiring Taxi Drivers in México - my advice on getting a good (real) rate
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Learning Spanish
I highly recommend the Mexican Moms Review YouTube Channel as it teaches about Mexican culture but there is a lot of Spanish as well to learn from. I learn Spanish while learning about Rock n’ Roll in Latin America. Highly recommended show as well. It rocked. 😆
If you want to learn Spanish and enjoy all of Latin America and Spain then start right now. Get our recommended Spanish Audio and PDF Class and get working on your Spanish, it takes time so why not start now.
Virtual Mailbox
The day after I decided to leave the US and see the world slowly I got a mail forwarding service, aka a Virtual Mailbox. I need a place that could receive my US mail and scan it so I could read it from anywhere in the world. Now nearly four and a half years later I just love how easy it makes my life.
I get an email when I get mail. I click on the link and read my mail. I save the PDF files for banking and tax stuff for my account in DropBox and then I’m done.
My favorite Mail Forwarding Service
Watching TV via VPN in a foreign country
When you are physically outside the US or Canada (or your home country) Netflix, Amazon Prime and other streaming services have different catalogs depending on the country.
For instance, Frasier is one of my favorite shows, I’ve seen all the episodes three times, yes all 11 years three times. So Frasier is only available on Netflix US and not Netflix Mexico. So I have to use a VPN to look like I’m in the US for me to watch the show on Netflix.
When I turn on my VPN and hit refresh I now get Netflix US and can watch that plus many other things.
Get our recommended VPN and watch what you want no matter where you are located.
My Business Courses
I’m retired from clients and only involved in my company. So these courses are my advice on being an entrepreneur and business owner.
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P.S. Check out the extra subscriber options for people that want some help getting their questions answered about being an Expat or moving or visiting the Yucatan of Mexico.P.P.S. The basic newsletter with all the news and this exact email is free and perfect for you if you don’t need any help with your questions. Still want to support the newsletter than upgrade to a paid subscriber.