Almost exactly two weeks after we turned in our renewal paperwork, we received notice that we should appear at the Torreon office as soon as possible. Stupid me . .. I actually held out hope that our visas were ready. Miracles do happen, right? Well, the visas weren't ready, but the powers that be had decided it would be OK to pay at the bank like we had always done.
Given the cynical nature of my thoughts regarding Mexican bureaucracy you may think we were only called back to Torreon for the money, but there is a shining gold star in all of this. For the very first time we were given the opportunity to pay for two years meaning we would not have to repeat this process until November 2014! What a gift!
Also, we were told that buried deep within the new manuals just received from Mexico City, there was indeed a form called Permiso de Salir y Entrar. For a small fee (about $35.00 each) we could have one of those so that we could leave the country before the new visas appeared which we learned would not be before the 15th of January. I swear they read my last post about Christmas in Texas and decided they should get high behind.
We made a dash for the bank and spent about an hour getting our money together. With no warning we would be able to pay for two years, plus the fee for the Permisos de Salir, we were on short notice to come up with a significant amount of cash. We managed!
Back to the office just in the nick of time. You aren't going to believe what happened next. We were invited to attend a luncheon and show on November 29 at the Marriott Hotel in Torreon. The theme: International Day of the Migrant.
I really didn't had no desire to attend anything put on by Migracion.
Thanks, I said. I'll just take my Permisos de Salir now and skip the party on Thursday.
Lo siento, he said. The permisos will not be ready until Thursday.
I sighed. Can you hear the sigh? It was long and breathy.
See you on Thursday, I said.
Given the cynical nature of my thoughts regarding Mexican bureaucracy you may think we were only called back to Torreon for the money, but there is a shining gold star in all of this. For the very first time we were given the opportunity to pay for two years meaning we would not have to repeat this process until November 2014! What a gift!
Also, we were told that buried deep within the new manuals just received from Mexico City, there was indeed a form called Permiso de Salir y Entrar. For a small fee (about $35.00 each) we could have one of those so that we could leave the country before the new visas appeared which we learned would not be before the 15th of January. I swear they read my last post about Christmas in Texas and decided they should get high behind.
We made a dash for the bank and spent about an hour getting our money together. With no warning we would be able to pay for two years, plus the fee for the Permisos de Salir, we were on short notice to come up with a significant amount of cash. We managed!
Back to the office just in the nick of time. You aren't going to believe what happened next. We were invited to attend a luncheon and show on November 29 at the Marriott Hotel in Torreon. The theme: International Day of the Migrant.
I really didn't had no desire to attend anything put on by Migracion.
Thanks, I said. I'll just take my Permisos de Salir now and skip the party on Thursday.
Lo siento, he said. The permisos will not be ready until Thursday.
I sighed. Can you hear the sigh? It was long and breathy.
See you on Thursday, I said.
