The Lake Chapala Society (LCS), the Instituto Nacional de las Personas Adultas Mayores (INAPAM) and the Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM) are teaming up to guide the LCS membership and the expat community at large in getting through important and often cumbersome government accreditation procedures.
In that vein, officials from INAPAM, the National Institute for Senior Citizens, and the INM immigration agency, will appear at a special members-only meeting scheduled for Friday, March 27 , 10 a.m. at the LCS campus. Representatives of the Canadian and United States consulates will also attend the event.
The meeting will focus on the issuance of INAPAM affiliation cards that entitle senior citizens to multiple benefits in Mexico and some other countries, such as free entrance or discounts on admission to museums, a 15-percent discount on Aeromexico airplane tickets, discounts on public transportation fees, hotel lodging, purchases at restaurants, pharmacies and many other businesses, and medical exams at clinical laboratories.
“The purpose of the initial offering of this valuable card is to reinforce the value of LCS membership and its relationships with local and state government,” observes the organization’s president Ben White. “If successful, the initiative will be expanded in the future to include all lakeside residents.” Also on the agenda, is the delivery of INM “green cards” to expats who have recently qualified for temporary or permanent residency and a brief explanation of the agency’s amnesty program for foreigners living in the country without proper legal status.
INAPAM applications
To qualify for an INAPAM card expatriates must be at least 60 years of age and hold valid residente temporal or residente permanente INM status.
To obtain the card this month, members must stop by LCS service office between March 13 and March 19 to pick up an application form. The form must be completed and turned over to LCS office by 2 p.m. on March 20, along with single copies of the applicant’s passport, immigration document, telephone or electricity bill as proof of domicile and two infantil size photographs taken at a professional photography studio (instant photos are not accepted).
The final step is to appear at LCS on March 27, 10 a.m., with the original passport and INM visa in hand, for finger printing that goes on the INAPAM card.