Job Discussion Forums

[Phil_K]

Does anyone know what immigration requires in the case that I want to change from my FM2 (or whatever it's called now!) independent, to being a partner in a legal constituted company (S.L. de C.V.)?

Of course, I can ask at immigration, but I wondered if anyone had the information in advance.

[Enchilada Potosina]

May just be a case of notifying them since you're on an FM2 independiente or it could come under a change of activity which, if you're married to a Mexican, you shouldn't be charged for.

[notamiss]

It might all be different in November when the big changes come, anyway.

I don't recall what status you currently have; inmigrante or inmigrado? If the latter, you might not have to do anything. If the former, you might have to change your calidad from what it is now (profesionista? t�cnico?) to inversionista. But I�m just guessing.

[Phil_K]

Thanks for the replies. Notamiss, I am currently inmigrante but in my last year, so I'll be able to apply for inmigrado next April. (But I can't wait that long!)

However, the reason I asked the original question was that I needed a dollar bank account, and in Mexico the only way to open one is as Persona Moral, which means incorporating. (BTW, it is now very easy to do - if anyone needs info about that, I'd be happy to help - but the notary fees make it a little expensive, so I've looked for other options). It seems that I can buy in pesos and sell in GBP, as I believe GBP can be paid into a peso account (I think) - just off to the bank to find out!

By the way, if my income comes into a Mexican bank account from England, can I be rentista?

[notamiss]

Some more inspired guesses based on no inside knowledge whatsoever:

Do you really need a dollar bank account? (You may not want to expose your personal business details to us by answering that, I understand.) What about an account like Ixe Cambios? Looking at the web page for that account, I see that it�s a peso account for personas f�sicas but it allows you to do transactions all over the world interacting with different currencies. (Of course, there may be hefty fees� one would have to investigate further.)

Rentistas have to prove they will receive a steady income, by showing that they have done so previously up to the present. Usually with statements showing regular deposits to the account over a period of time. But can you do that when your business is just starting up? Probably a good place to check for more information is at the forums like Mexconect and Expatforum where the majority of participants are rentistas.

[MotherF]

HSBC has a cuenta flexible for personas fisicas that allows for GBP or Euros to be deposited into it, which are immeditely exchanged into pesos at the rate of the day of the transacion. There are a lot of small rules about how much you can have deposited at any given time, based not only on raw number amounts but also based on your banking history. Those rules are a lot more complicated than most bank reps seem to understand when opening your account so read the fine print.

[Phil_K]

Thanks for the suggestions. The HSBC option seems the best for me. Notamiss, no, I don't need dollars, as long as I can have GBP deposited in my account. It's just that in the business I'm interested in is normally done in dollars at both ends for simplicity, but there is no reason why it has to be. I just have to hedge against currency fluctuations and commissions in my quoted prices.