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My father is considering a move to La Paz. He technically has about $400 in income per month, what he nets from his rental home. He has been living off a lump sum payout he got when he retired a year ago and is holding off on social security until next year. His bank statement shows $1625 monthly coming in from his renter and then in a separate transaction he pays out about $1250 for the mortgage on the rental home. Would they see the $1625 and consider it income or will they properly deduce he has a payment to make out of it?
I believe the incoming amount is all that INM will concern itself with. Bank statements, translated I believe, are what will be required to demonstrate financial stability.
check this web site, I got a FM3 Visa in two weeks, you need to check the income requirements now, but they a lower than the income you stated.
Required income of, and it may be a little more now, $1000 a month, a US passport, three months of bank or investment statements and proof of income, and three photos. I found someone that specialized in the service in Lake Chapala and paid $175, than later I had it renewed when I lived in San Miguel de Allende, for about $300 and got it in 1 week.
My father is considering a move to La Paz. He technically has about $400 in income per month, what he nets from his rental home. He has been living off a lump sum payout he got when he retired a year ago and is holding off on social security until next year. His bank statement shows $1625 monthly coming in from his renter and then in a separate transaction he pays out about $1250 for the mortgage on the rental home. Would they see the $1625 and consider it income or will they properly deduce he has a payment to make out of it?
Your father has more than enough income to qualify for an FM3. Any type of income from a country outside of Mexico is considered. They don't look at his net income. He might have a hard time living on $400 a month but you wrote that he does have a lump sum payout to supplement his income and he can also show that statement to immigration.
FM3 is the work visa, I think you're looking for something else?
An FM3 is to live year round and it has different designations such as rentista (retired), etc., and what you are thinking of, an FM3 with a work permit. I think under the new rules for one to get a work permit, he will have to leave Mexico and apply for a work permit at a consulate office. No more work permits will be initially issued in Mexico.
Your father has more than enough income to qualify for an FM3. Any type of income from a country outside of Mexico is considered. They don't look at his net income. He might have a hard time living on $400 a month but you wrote that he does have a lump sum payout to supplement his income and he can also show that statement to immigration.
An FM3 is to live year round and it has different designations such as rentista (retired), etc., and what you are thinking of, an FM3 with a work permit. I think under the new rules for one to get a work permit, he will have to leave Mexico and apply for a work permit at a consulate office. No more work permits will be initially issued in Mexico.
He has never lived in Mexico. He is in San Diego and has been retired for 18 months and is bored. He knows some people in La Paz who run fishing boats for tourists and he's thinking of moving there so he can work part time with them and to stretch his money as well as he would like to wait for social security until 67. We discussed his situation in depth and I think he'll have no problem financially doing it, but just a question of if he could get the FM3 with work rights because he won't do anything illegally. He probably will move back to the US by the time he's 67-68 so he really doesn't need an FM2 .
I am sure we could do some shuffling of his funds if he needed an income as he has assets, just would be easy to prove renters pay him monthly for his rental condo so if that is acceptable he could start the process right away.
He has never lived in Mexico. He is in San Diego and has been retired for 18 months and is bored. He knows some people in La Paz who run fishing boats for tourists and he's thinking of moving there so he can work part time with them and to stretch his money as well as he would like to wait for social security until 67. We discussed his situation in depth and I think he'll have no problem financially doing it, but just a question of if he could get the FM3 with work rights because he won't do anything illegally. He probably will move back to the US by the time he's 67-68 so he really doesn't need an FM2 .
I am sure we could do some shuffling of his funds if he needed an income as he has assets, just would be easy to prove renters pay him monthly for his rental condo so if that is acceptable he could start the process right away.
He can collect SS and live outside the U.S. if he is concerned about that.
I think getting a work permit is an additional $300 a year and it isn't that easy to get. His employers have to prove that a Mexican can't do the job. Most foreigners here who work don't have work permits. They can't earn enough to justify one. The pay is low in Mexico. Why do you think Mexicans cross the border illegally to work in the U.S.?
If he has any kind of retirement accounts, savings, 401K, investments, etc., any of those prove income. If he can prove $12,000 USD in any or all accounts, he doesn't have to show any monthly income. Mexico just wants to make sure that the foreigner has enough income for a year to live on and not become a burden to Mexico. All he needs is a total of $12,000 a year which can be accounts plus his monthly income, $7200 in an account plus $400 a month will qualify.
He will love it in Mexico and not want to move back. It might take him 6 months to get used to it but he will learn to love the laid back, easy going,"manana" attitude. Plus, if he is single, there are plenty of American single women living in Mexico who would love to meet him. What does he look like?
Mexico's not for everyone. I'll suggest that most expats who either think seriously about making the move or who've made the move ... are sorry they did. It takes a special kind of person to move lock, stock and barrel to a different country with different culture, customs, language, currency, etc., etc. The best advice given is to rent a place for maybe a year to see if he or anyone else planning such a move likes it. Health insurance is also something he may need to provide for. Government schemes in Mexico don't typically provide the coverage easily obtainable private coverage does. Pre-existing conditions may be a barrier, however. Maybe someone else has said this already and I've overlooked it ... but check to see what the regs are in Baja California Sur. They're different for Baja California (the northern part) than they are for much of the rest of the country, and I'm not certain what the Baja Sur requirements are. They could be less. Maybe the same. Baby steps first.
Mexico's not for everyone. I'll suggest that most expats who either think seriously about making the move or who've made the move ... are sorry they did. It takes a special kind of person to move lock, stock and barrel to a different country with different culture, customs, language, currency, etc., etc. The best advice given is to rent a place for maybe a year to see if he or anyone else planning such a move likes it. Health insurance is also something he may need to provide for. Government schemes in Mexico don't typically provide the coverage easily obtainable private coverage does. Pre-existing conditions may be a barrier, however. Maybe someone else has said this already and I've overlooked it ... but check to see what the regs are in Baja California Sur. They're different for Baja California (the northern part) than they are for much of the rest of the country, and I'm not certain what the Baja Sur requirements are. They could be less. Maybe the same. Baby steps first.
The OP wrote that his father was interested in living in Mexico for a few years. I did not read that he was planning to purchase property and he will be living in an area that is fairly close to the border. Most of the expats I know of who have moved back to their home countries did so because of age and family, not because they didn't like living in Mexico. Some with low incomes couldn't afford to live in Mexico.
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