Job Discussion Forums

[speckledyak]

Hi everyone,
I'd like to apply for an FM3 to teach in-company classes, but I'm not clear about what documents are needed. For previous jobs in a school and university I had to bring my apostilled TEFL certificate and degree certificate. Are both of these documents necessary across the board for English teaching jobs in Mexico City?
Also, if I didn't apply for the work visa now, and did a border run instead, would this complicate an FM3 application in the future?
Thanks!

[Tretyakovskii]

Others may have a different point of view on this but I always think the stronger you can make your application, the better, whether what you're proposing to do is offer to teach "in house" to companies, or otherwise. Do you still have the apostilled TEFL and degree you mentioned, or is the problem that you no longer have these available?

With the aim of strengthening any future application for an FM3, I would also try to get hold of some very good recommendation letters from those former employers you spoke of. While not required as part of the application for an FM3, they can strengthen the application, in some cases. When I applied for my first FM3 in Mexico, I included a letter of reference, and a letter from a prospective employer/client which expressed their belief that I was peculiarly qualified for the work I was seeking: I felt that letter played an important role in the success of my application.

Routine applications for FM3 go through routinely; but, to make your application as strong as possible just seems prudent, to me.

[speckledyak]

Thanks for your feedback. The problem is that I don�t have the certificates on me, so I would have to ask someone back in England to get them apostilled and send them over. (I guess photocopies are fine, right? At least, that�s what I used before.) I have less than three weeks before my FMT expires.
What I meant about future complications is that if I later wanted to apply for an FM3, it might look quite suspect if they checked my passport and noticed I�d left and reentered the country the same day.

[speckledyak]

Another thing is that I may start studying in a couple of months. Maybe it would be easier to get a student visa, as I guess I would only need a letter from the school, rather than having to deal with apostilled documents. But again, I�m worried about the issue of the passport stamps.

[Tretyakovskii]

There are some details missing from your posts that will affect the advice people may offer. But, based on what I now understand, you will have to leave the country, or apply for an extension of your FMT, before it expires. (If it was originally for the full period allowed, you will not be able to extend it.) Alternatively, if you had an employer who was prepared to immediately apply for an FM3 on your behalf, so long as that was filed before your FMT runs out, you could stay in the country. You would only be required to leave Mexico if immigration subsequently denied the FM3 application.

Leaving Mexico and returning on an FMT is not normally a problem, as I understand it from those who've done it. Here, some will tell you you have to stay out of the country for 48 hours, others will say you can return next day; perhaps, as you've suggested, you can return the same day. If you're working on an FMT, and you're planning to return to Mexico to continue that work, you probably already understand that's illegal. Perhaps that's why you'd like to legalize your situation here, now. With the help of an employer, this may be possible: how possible, without the documents, is something an employer who deals with these things will probably have an opinion on.

Getting the process started to get your documents, as you did before, is something you could start now, knowing that it will take some time to get them, if you'd like to have them.

I wouldn't consider the student visa route: it doesn't solve the problem of your working here without permission, should that be the case now, or in the future, and just represents time and effort wasted that could be directed to getting to solid ground.

[Samantha]

If you are hoping to do "in-company classes", almost ALL employers will want official receipts, which means you have to have a tax account, which means you have to have your work-endorsed FM3. The employers require the official receipts for income tax deduction purposes.

Also, larger corporations that provide classes for employees tend to go through English schools (who have hired, or will hire, teachers for this purpose). Saves them time and headache on several levels. So try first with English schools that offer classes to businesses. You will sort out with them what they will require to get you up and running, because each situation will be different. If you don't have them with you, get at least the copies of your certificates.

Leaving on a FMT run and returning right away won't be a problem. They don't even ask for FMT's to be turned in at the border crossings. The airlines are required to collect them mostly because they owe the FMT money to the Mexican authorities, that they have collected on the airline tickets, and things have to match up. So far there is no real tracking system for tourist cards. That might change, just like everything else with Immigration.