Lea and I have our Residente Temporal. It is valid for 12 months and can be renewed four times. The fifth year we will switch to Residente Permanente. The process took 4 weeks to the day. Two weeks for the application and two weeks to process in Mexico City. We are now “official” residents of Mexico. We have our “green card” (yes they are green here.)
Now, we turn our attention to going back the US to pack our container, fetch our dear Simon (our soft-coated wheaten terrier. It has been quite the ordeal sorting out all of the legal requirements for getting him here. Lots of conflicting information. But, after lots of work, meeting with the customs officials and lawyers, we are finally sorting it all out. We also got great advice via the “Mexico Amigos” closed list for Merida on FaceBook.
We return to Minneapolis in a week to pack the container, get Simon “inspected” and have the veterinarian and the USDA certify him. Once that is done, we will drive to Houston so that he will only be required to fly one 2 1/2 hour flight. Of course, his mom, Lea, is a nervous wreck over the ordeal. We are hopeful all will be smooth sailing. We can’t wait to now move into our house and begin a more normal life. We have been living out of suitcases since September 16. It will be slightly more than 2 months as vagabonds.
The house “punch list” has been completed and now the contractor has 14 days to complete the house. We will see if this really happens. Here in Mexico the term “finished” is one of the most relative terms in their language. Here are some definitions for finished:
acabado: Finished, complete, discontinued, played out
terminado: finished, completed, over, done, up, closed
completo: full, complete, entire, finished, thorough, total
afinado: keyed, finished, true
cesado: closed, finished, lost, cut, up, landed
So, as you can see, we are not sure if we will ever be finished since we will be played out by the contractor until one of us wears down. But, all in all, it will be done enough to move in. This is the good news.
7 Responses
dear lea [and jeff, too, but…], simon will be as happy to be with you as you will be to be with him. all will be fine. xo leslie
Thanks Les–she and he will be fine–but Lea has a tendency to be cautious…
all the best Jeff
Jeff- thank you for sharing the continuing journey – what a testament of faith, hope, perseverance- love hearing the update ps and am living vicariously through you! Robin
thanks Robin
Congrats on the paperwork! We know that nagging stress quite well. And don’t worry about Simon – I am sure he will be fine. Our pooch had a four day journey on his own (including a night in the KLM Amsterdam animal spa!) and he leaped out of the crate no worse for wear! Good luck to you and Lea with the last bits of packing, Anne
Thanks Anne. We realize Simon will likely be OK, but he is such an important part of our family, it is hard to relax about it until he is finally with us.
Congrats on the paperwork! We know that nagging stress quite well. And don’t worry about Simon – I am sure he will be fine. Our pooch had a four day journey on his own (including a night in the KLM Amsterdam animal spa!) and he leaped out of the crate no worse for wear! Good luck to you and Lea with the last bits of packing, Anne