Visas

I think two weeks ago, all Fulbrighters in Mexico received an email from the Mexico City office saying we were required to register our Visas.  Derrick, who is at a University in Chiapas, was told by his school about this requirement.  He asked the Mexico City Office, and then they informed all of us.

The process is complicated: a cashier's check (more or less) from a specific bank for a specific amount (that we won't get reimbursed for and possibly don't have to pay) as well as several legal sized pages of typed paperwork (note: legal pages in Mexico apparently have trouble printing correctly because the margins are set funny or something).  Attached to this email is a list of offices where we can register for our state.  Bad news: there's nothing listed for my state.  There's nothing even close!  There's an office in Guadalajara where my educational materials are, so I could maybe kill two birds with one stone?

Long story short, the second page of state offices was omitted from the attachment.  There is actually one in Mazatlan, which is 3 hours away.  Problem being, of course that nothing official is done easily in Mexico.  There are specific (limited) hours of operation.  Necessity to pay seems to vary by state.  And if they decide things aren't "just-so" today, you'll need to come back another day.  Well, let me tell you that this girl is not going to travel 3 hours or more by bus to get somewhere so they can tell me I didn't do something just right.

Turns out, it's optional.  We think.  Our Visas say multiple entries, so that seems pretty straightforward to us.  I think at least half of us are choosing to not register.  If something comes of it, we plan on playing dumb.  Considering I just went to Tucson for the weekend and no one questioned anything on the way there or back, I feel pretty good about it.  We'll see in the upcoming months.