Ricardo Vera Lira, the newly appointed Guadalajara delegate of the Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM), was formally introduced to the lakeside community at a public meeting held Thursday, August 22 at the campus of the Instituto Terranova.
With less than two months at the helm, and no prior experience as an INM official under his belt, he arrived with Chapala INM office chief Juan Carlos Galvan and a large entourage of Guadalajara office staffers in tow.
Following brief welcoming remarks, Lira ceded the meeting to English-speaking assistant Doris Michel ,who presented a power point slide show on the basics of Mexico’s Ley Migratoria and standing immigration permit procedures.Included was a walk-through of the animated on-line users tutorial posted at www.inm.gob.mx/index.php/page/Manual_tramites, a nifty tool for people who have a fairly good handle on Spanish. Otherwise the content was essentially a rehash of what has been amply covered in previous local INM information sessions.
The central bone of contention that arose during the question and answer segment revolved around the steep boost in income or investment requirements put into place with full implementation of the immigration law and complementary guidelines that went into effect in November of last year.
After some in the audience suggested Mexico could see a mass exodus of expat residents unless the income bar is lowered, Chapala Secretary General Nicolas Padilla stepped up in front of the crowd to speak on behalf of Mayor Joaquin Huerta.
With a strong command of English, he expressed the mayor’s concern that the dicey income factor might drive away enough foreigners to put a significant dent in the local economy. “This is important because we don’t have factories here. You are a big economic power,” he said. He stated that Huerta hopes to get other lakeshore area mayors on board to petition congress for legislative reform to ameliorate the situation.
As on other occasions, the INM officials deflected beefs concerning the quagmire related to temporary and permanent importation of foreign plated vehicles, a matter that falls within the province of the customs and treasury departments.
Vera and his staff relayed their full disposition to look into specific individual problems with INM procedures, particularly cases that appear to have become entrapped in red tape. Several names and case file numbers were taken on the spot.
They noted that any personal concerns, complaints and suggestions may be communicated directly to the Guadalajara office via email to either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
During an aside with the Reporter at the end of the meeting Vera said that he is amenable to the idea of scheduling a follow-up meeting that would bring together officials from various state and federal agencies to clarify overlapping legal issues frequently faced by foreign visitors and residents.
On a separate note, Galvan acknowledged that the Chapala office in particular is catching up on a considerable backlog of paperwork arising from a sudden surge in applications from persons seeking a change from temporary to permanent resident status without waiting through the entire four year period that allows for automatic qualification for the switch. He explained that those cases require meticulous review of proof of income documentation by inner office staff and that even a minor glitch may prolong the approval process. Most applications are studied and resolved, start to finish, within four weeks time.