Job Discussion Forums

[bobbyb]

Hi guys, I was living and teaching in Mexico for a few years but had to return to the States for personal reasons. I'm ready to go back and teach there again. My FM3 has expired but I still have my RFC will I have to go through the new process to get a work visa? Thanks in advance for your replies.

[notamiss]

Yes, you will have to go through the process. Your RFC only affects your relationship with Hacienda; it cuts no ice in your relationship with IMN and your visa status.

There is a new system in place now, FM3 and FM2 have been replaced by temporal and permanente visas – but not respectively – these don’t exactly correspond one-to-one with the previous categories.

The bigger change, though, is that (unless you are immigrating as the family member/spouse of a Mexican) you have to apply for your visa at a Mexican consulate outside Mexico. No more arriving as a tourist and then, when you get a job, switching to a resident visa without leaving Mexico.

[bobbyb]

Thanks for the quick reply. My next question then is if I get a work visa here in the States, say from my previous employer, and when I arrive can I go work for another school without leaving?

[notamiss]

Just speculating here, based on others’ experience and how it used to work under the old system (of which I don’t know how much has been transferred to the new).

For your former employer to sponsor you, they have agree to do the corresponding trámite for an employer sponsoring a foreigner. If they have never sponsored a foreign employee under the new system, they have to go through an onerous process to register to do so. If they are already registered, it won’t be as hard for them, but you would have to ask them and they would have to agree, and they would then send the necessary letters to the consulate where you are applying for the visa.

It seems unlikely to me that they’d agree to do this if you didn’t then go and work for them. But suppose they agree, or suppose you do work for them for a while and then change jobs.

At that point, under the old system, you would go to IMN with letters from the old and new employer and apply to register a change of employer (keywords: Cambio o Ampliación de Actividad Autorizada).

And how would it work under the new system? I don’t know if it would be similar. Here is the link to the INM FAQ to get you started: http://www.inm.gob.mx/index.php/page/Preguntas_Frecuentes_POT.

[bobbyb]

Thank you notamiss very helpful