Thursday, January 20, 2011

FM3 in Manzanillo

Yesterday was my day to head to Immigration in Manzanillo but I couldn't drag myself out of bed early with these cold mornings we've been having. Got there about 9:30 and found 20 people (numbers at least) in front of me. That was with a stop at Farmacia Guadalajara in Cihuatlan to have pictures taken, cheaper and faster than most other places.

With 20 people in front of me I knew I had a few hours to wait so grabbed the camera and started walking the area. Immigration is at the harbor entrance so lots of activity, boats/ships coming in and out, people fishing or just doing what I was doing - killing time.

After 2 hours I was surprised to see only 5 numbers in front of me so took a seat. How easy the FM3 process has become I couldn't believe. They only wanted a copy of the first page of my passport and proof of where I live. They didn't make an issue of my change of address or suggest I use the Internet to apply. I had both my electric bill and a 'constancia de domicilio' issued by the local municipio, they preferred the constancia. The only hang up was the fotos were passport size and not 'tamaño infantil'. They said I could bring in the new pictures when I return. I dropped by Farmacia Guadalajara on the way back and they made up new fotos for no charge.

I walked up to the banjercito (government bank) like I always do to pay the $1285 pesos and found another long line. An Ensign in the Navy was getting the ships payroll or maybe for the whole Naval Base. That was another 30-40 minutes when it usually takes 5. Anyway, I return in a month to get the new card since they no longer issue books.

Immigration in the Port Captains building

Port entrance

Port from the breakwater

Downtown Manzanillo from the breakwater

Banjercito heavily guarded while issuing a ships payroll
The construction of the house finished in April 2011 and I'm pretty much settled in. As of March 2014 I'm in preparation for rain mode for this coming summer. That includes sealing and painting things and dealing with drainage issues from last year.

Sparks Mexico Web
Manzanillo Information
House building in Pinal Villa

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