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browniea
Joined: 22 Jun 2006
Posts: 18
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico
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 Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 6:57 pm Post subject: I hardly know anything about the school..is this normal? |
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Hi Everyone,
I have accepted a job in Guadalajara, Mexico and I am leaving the states on July 15 and starting work on July 17. Im just starting to get a bit worried because I really don't know much about the school that I'm going to be teaching at. Is this usually how it goes? And I'll just learn when I get there?
Also is it pretty normal to go down there without your housing arranged? My school will set something up for me initially, but then I need to look for something. I'm a bit worried about that. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 7:42 pm Post subject: Re: I hardly know anything about the school..is this normal? |
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| browniea wrote: |
| I am leaving the states on July 15 and starting work on July 17. |
Do they want you present to start the paperwork for your visa on the 17th, or do they want you to start teaching on the 17th? If it's the later, you might want to contact some of the other teachers at that school and ask them if they've had any problems with teaching illegally. It sounds like they want you to teach without a work visa - which is illegal, of course.
Some immigration offices in Mexico are very lax about enforcing visa requirements, while others are very strict. You might want to check further into this. |
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TheLongWayHome
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 1016
Location: San Luis Piojosi
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| browniea wrote: |
I have accepted a job in Guadalajara, Mexico and I am leaving the states on July 15 and starting work on July 17. Im just starting to get a bit worried because I really don't know much about the school that I'm going to be teaching at. Is this usually how it goes? And I'll just learn when I get there?
Also is it pretty normal to go down there without your housing arranged? My school will set something up for me initially, but then I need to look for something. I'm a bit worried about that. |
Does the school have a website? Check it out, or better still call the school and ask to speak to a native teacher that's already there, that way you can get the lowdown on the visa situation. As ls650 said, it sounds like you'll be working on a tourist visa for a month or so until your FM3 comes through. I know here in SLP it's not a huge problem but in Guadalajara it might be different. |
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Samantha
Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 2038
Location: Mexican Riviera
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| Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Guadalajara is different; you are right. INAMI there will levy a fine dating back to the day you first set foot in the school, plus they are particular about documentation. |
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snorklequeen
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 188
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 6:36 am Post subject: |
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will she be fined, or will be school be fined?
how did you guys know from her description that she probably would not be working legally at first?
i'm asking so i and others inexperienced with the ways in Mexico can try to avoid the situation, by recognizing the red flags
if you guys have other red flags you want to share, please feel free to add
thanks,
Queenie |
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Ben Round de Bloc
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1946
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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| snorklequeen wrote: |
will she be fined, or will be school be fined?
how did you guys know from her description that she probably would not be working legally at first? |
It would all depend on how local immigration wanted to handle it. The school could be fined. She could be fined and/or deported. Immigration officers could even cart her and/or the school owner off to jail if they wanted to, but I doubt that would happen.
As for the tip off that she probably wouldn't be working legally, she's arriving on the 15th and starting to work on the 17th. Even if all the paperwork were prepared and ready to submit when she stepped off the plane/bus/burro/whatever, no immigration office is going to get through the paperwork of a work visa application in only two days. Technically, to be legal a foreigner must have a work visa before starting to work.
Granted, it is possible to get a work visa before arriving. However, even if she's done that, which I doubt she has, it would still have to be registered at the local immigration office to be legal. That process probably wouldn't be completed in only two days either.
| snorklequeen wrote: |
| if you guys have other red flags you want to share, please feel free to add. |
Here's one. 
 |
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TheLongWayHome
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 1016
Location: San Luis Piojosi
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 12:13 pm Post subject: |
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| snorklequeen wrote: |
will she be fined, or will be school be fined?
how did you guys know from her description that she probably would not be working legally at first?
i'm asking so i and others inexperienced with the ways in Mexico can try to avoid the situation, by recognizing the red flags
if you guys have other red flags you want to share, please feel free to add
thanks,
Queenie |
It's not common practice in Mexico for language schools/immigration to process your FM3 before you arrive. The normal procedure is to enter the country on a tourist visa, requesting the maximum number of days (180).
Technically you're not supposed to start work until you have your FM3 but a lot of times this just isn't practical for the school so you work on a tourist visa until your FM3 comes through. Universities can be strict about you not starting until your FM3 is ready though it really does vary from place to place.
The fact that a school is willing to get you an FM3 is a good sign as a lot just don't bother. You'll need to start the process before your tourist visa (FMT) expires. If they just gave you 90 days at the border you can ask immigration for another 90 whilst still in the country. Getting the FM3 ends up costing around $2000 pesos, some schools will pay for it or refund you the cost once you've completed a year with them. |
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Samantha
Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 2038
Location: Mexican Riviera
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:03 pm Post subject: |
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| The original poster must be planning to work in a language school if she has been given a start date of July 17th. The semestered schools and universities are on vacation right now. All language schools are not created equal so just as the schools interview a teacher (or whatever they did in this case) she should be asking as many questions of them, or more. Without asking questions, you can't hope to have answers. If they haven't interviewed her and discussed the job situation in detail that could certainly be a big clue about things to come. Would you accept a job in this way in your home country? Not likely. |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:11 pm Post subject: |
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| The OP needs to talk to other teachers at this school and find out if there are problems in that area with a) working illegally, and b) obtaining an FM3. |
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Ben Round de Bloc
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1946
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Samantha wrote: |
| The semestered schools and universities are on vacation right now. |
�Ojal�! At the state universidad aut�noma where I work, our current semester doesn't end until July 31st. Then it's back to work on August 22nd for us. |
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Samantha
Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 2038
Location: Mexican Riviera
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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OMG! Only 3 weeks off in the summer? I thought the teachers at the Tec had it rough going back on August 7th! But they get about 6 or 8 weeks off at least. I guess on the plus side you are working in the air conditioning.  |
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MELEE
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2583
Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Our semester ends July 14th and we come back to work on the 31st. The students who are entering first semester start on July 31 for their curso propedutico which here, all students must take (I know at some places only students with lower enterance exams scores must take the course) the rest of the students come back on October 2nd. |
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snorklequeen
Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 188
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 3:25 pm Post subject: Red flags |
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thanks for the red flag laughs, Tim!
cheers,
Queenie |
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ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Samantha wrote: |
| I guess on the plus side you are working in the air conditioning. |
I have only two weeks vacation, the same as MELEE. And there's no air conditioning here in my office, which is currently 33c.  |
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Samantha
Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 2038
Location: Mexican Riviera
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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I can't imagine!  These are important details that need to come out more often to give an accurately balanced picture of what things can actually be like in 'paradise'! |
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