Mexico Embassy in Bangkok

[Jamin123]

Anyone know if US passport can apply for the temporary residence visa at the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok? I heard mixed reviews that it has to be done in home country. They didn’t rely to email.

[Darkside Gray]

Can get 6months on arrival or a brit can!

[lopburi3]

As said any entry can be up to six months and an hour trip/return across border gets another (forever).  Most people do not bother with official residence from my understanding.  Also believe requirement vary by Consulate used, even in USA.

Edited May 13, 2021 by lopburi3

[DBath]

I would imagine you can just go to Mexico directly and arrange it, depending on which country you’re from. I recently looked into immigrating to Chile as an American citizen and one can do the same thing there.

 

My wife and I ultimately decided to immigrate to Spain and just submitted our paperwork to the Spanish Embassy - Bangkok last week.  So, I’m not sure how it will work for Mexico, but if you wanted to try to apply for the residency visa from here I would imagine you could. However, if they’re not replying to any emails or not answering their phone, you’re a kind of dead in the water. I ran into that problem when I tried to apply for residency in Portugal, they would never respond to my emails, so I finally gave up on them. 
 

 

[lopburi3]

The temp residence visa I believe has to be obtained from Consulate and as said conditions can vary but normally about $1,900 per month income required.  As said normal tourist six month stays are common.  Below video covers this at about minute 13:

 

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

The temp residence visa I believe has to be obtained from Consulate and as said conditions can vary but normally about $1,900 per month income required.  As said normal tourist six month stays are common.  Below video covers this at about minute 13:

 

Showing money in the bank in home country is also possible. I don't have the current amounts but something very roughly like 27K usd for temporary or over 100k for permanent.

 

Yes either temp or perm residence must begin outside of Mexico.

[wpcoe]

On 5/8/2021 at 5:43 AM, Jamin123 said:

Anyone know if US passport can apply for the temporary residence visa at the Mexican Embassy in Bangkok

 

Unless it has changed since I applied & received my Residente visa in December 2019, yes, you can.  (I'm a US citizen with US passport.)

 

The folks at the Mexican embassy in Bangkok were very friendly, polite and helpful.  That said, they are very strict with the documentation they accept to prove income or savings.  No statements downloaded from the internet.  Must be original statements on bank/brokerage forms and/or (I think it is "and", but my case was unique) a cover letter with original "wet ink" signature from bank/brokerage official.

 

Once you are approved, they fingerprint you and put the visa in your passport and you have 180 days from the date they do that to enter Mexico.  Then, within 30 days of arrival in Mexico, you must go to INM (Immigrations) to exchange your arrival card (the one you get on the plane) for the laminated Residente card.  Due to Covid, it took me over five months to get the card in 2020, but I understand they've totally automated the process and you can get the card on your initial visit to INM.

 

5 hours ago, DBath said:

I would imagine you can just go to Mexico directly and arrange it,

 

No.  For a Residente visa, the process must begin at an embassy or consulate outside Mexico.

 

One other thing:  I don't know if the Bangkok embassy will process the application if you are not a resident of Thailand.  I had a series of retirement extensions that showed them I was a Thailand resident, but not sure if that were necessary.  They might not issue a visa for someone in Thailand temporarily, e.g. as a tourist.  If they are not answering your e-mail, try calling.  I know I talked to them on the phone more than once.  (They are fluent in Thai, English & Spanish.)

 

¡Buena suerte!

Edited May 13, 2021 by wpcoe

[Jingthing]

46 minutes ago, wpcoe said:

 

Unless it has changed since I applied & received my Residente visa in December 2019, yes, you can.  (I'm a US citizen with US passport.)

 

The folks at the Mexican embassy in Bangkok were very friendly, polite and helpful.  That said, they are very strict with the documentation they accept to prove income or savings.  No statements downloaded from the internet.  Must be original statements on bank/brokerage forms and/or (I think it is "and", but my case was unique) a cover letter with original "wet ink" signature from bank/brokerage official.

 

Once you are approved, they fingerprint you and put the visa in your passport and you have 180 days from the date they do that to enter Mexico.  Then, within 30 days of arrival in Mexico, you must go to INM (Immigrations) to exchange your arrival card (the one you get on the plane) for the laminated Residente card.  Due to Covid, it took me over five months to get the card in 2020, but I understand they've totally automated the process and you can get the card on your initial visit to INM.

 

 

No.  For a Residente visa, the process must begin at an embassy or consulate outside Mexico.

 

One other thing:  I don't know if the Bangkok embassy will process the application if you are not a resident of Thailand.  I had a series of retirement extensions that showed them I was a Thailand resident, but not sure if that were necessary.  They might not issue a visa for someone in Thailand temporarily, e.g. as a tourist.  If they are not answering your e-mail, try calling.  I know I talked to them on the phone more than once.  (They are fluent in Thai, English & Spanish.)

 

¡Buena suerte!

That original signed bank statements thing could be real problem depending on a person's specific situation.

 

[wpcoe]

9 hours ago, Jingthing said:

That original signed bank statements thing could be real problem depending on a person's specific situation.

It was a problem for me until I happened to get a credit union supervisor who could think outside the box and came up with a solution that was acceptable to the Bangkok Mexican embassy.  She knew a colleague who happened to have a rubber stamp with the name and address of the credit union.  He printed off the internet monthly statements and stamped and signed 12 of them with his management title and then FedEx'd them to me.

 

Another problem I had was that my account was in the format of John Q. Adams, but my passport said John Quincy Adams.  To the Mexican embassy those were not equal, so I had a bank letter issued with my middle initial, then I submitted a name change to my full middle name, and had a second letter issued with that.  Since the account number & balance on the letters with two "different" names matched, the embassy accepted them.  (All the stamped/signed monthly statements all still had just my middle initial.)

 

It was frustrating and anxiety-inducing, but in the end, it all worked out.  The embassy staff were never arrogant or antagonistic.  They were sympathetic to my situation but had no flexibility to waive any of the (ridiculous) requirements.  They simply collect the documentation and forward it to Mexico City for a "yea" or "nay," and they knew what worked and what wouldn't work.

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, wpcoe said:

It was a problem for me until I happened to get a credit union supervisor who could think outside the box and came up with a solution that was acceptable to the Bangkok Mexican embassy.  She knew a colleague who happened to have a rubber stamp with the name and address of the credit union.  He printed off the internet monthly statements and stamped and signed 12 of them with his management title and then FedEx'd them to me.

 

Another problem I had was that my account was in the format of John Q. Adams, but my passport said John Quincy Adams.  To the Mexican embassy those were not equal, so I had a bank letter issued with my middle initial, then I submitted a name change to my full middle name, and had a second letter issued with that.  Since the account number & balance on the letters with two "different" names matched, the embassy accepted them.  (All the stamped/signed monthly statements all still had just my middle initial.)

 

It was frustrating and anxiety-inducing, but in the end, it all worked out.  The embassy staff were never arrogant or antagonistic.  They were sympathetic to my situation but had no flexibility to waive any of the (ridiculous) requirements.  They simply collect the documentation and forward it to Mexico City for a "yea" or "nay," and they knew what worked and what wouldn't work.

That's a great and useful report. I have read several reports over the years of incredible complications over the issue of details of names dealing with Latin American bureaucracy. 

[DBath]

23 hours ago, wpcoe said:

 

Unless it has changed since I applied & received my Residente visa in December 2019, yes, you can.  (I'm a US citizen with US passport.)

 

The folks at the Mexican embassy in Bangkok were very friendly, polite and helpful.  That said, they are very strict with the documentation they accept to prove income or savings.  No statements downloaded from the internet.  Must be original statements on bank/brokerage forms and/or (I think it is "and", but my case was unique) a cover letter with original "wet ink" signature from bank/brokerage official.

 

Once you are approved, they fingerprint you and put the visa in your passport and you have 180 days from the date they do that to enter Mexico.  Then, within 30 days of arrival in Mexico, you must go to INM (Immigrations) to exchange your arrival card (the one you get on the plane) for the laminated Residente card.  Due to Covid, it took me over five months to get the card in 2020, but I understand they've totally automated the process and you can get the card on your initial visit to INM.

 

 

No.  For a Residente visa, the process must begin at an embassy or consulate outside Mexico.

 

One other thing:  I don't know if the Bangkok embassy will process the application if you are not a resident of Thailand.  I had a series of retirement extensions that showed them I was a Thailand resident, but not sure if that were necessary.  They might not issue a visa for someone in Thailand temporarily, e.g. as a tourist.  If they are not answering your e-mail, try calling.  I know I talked to them on the phone more than once.  (They are fluent in Thai, English & Spanish.)

 

¡Buena suerte!

Bad assumption on my part, regarding Mexico. When I was researching other SA countries to migrate to a while back, some of them would allow you to apply from ‘onshore’, Chile was one I believe, but it’s been a while...

We decided to forego migrating to Portugal, for various reasons, but instead have opted for the non-lucrative residency in Spain. Having Thai retirement residency you can apply for temporary residence in Spain in Bangkok at Spanish Embassy, then complete the 1-year residency application once you arrive and get a residency card and setup bank account and get a tax ID. Since, I’m here on an A-O, so I was able to do from here. This may vary depending on which country you’re planning to migrate to, not sure. 
 

A few things that were cumbersome were having to get our marriage certificate Apostilled (we married in Hong Kong), which I chose to do through a service. And same had to be done through the US State Dept. For our FBI Criminal Background Check, which can now take up to 12 weeks. Thirdly, we had to get a Thai criminal certificate at RTP in Bangkok and have it Legalized at the Thai Consulate (they have a branch location at Klongtoie (sp). 
 

Spanish embassy accepted my application last week for processing, even though we’re still waiting on the Apostille of our FBI certificates. They only did this, because I went there well-prepared with all the other documents and they told me I should find out if we’re approved or not in a couple of weeks. I’m sure they’ll still require the Apostilled FBI certificates, but at least everything is in process. 

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by DBath

[Jingthing]

///

Thirdly, we had to get a Thai criminal certificate at RTP in Bangkok and have it Legalized at the Thai Consulate (they have a branch location at Klongtoie (sp). 

///

Could you go into detail about that process?

Could that be done remotely?

When you say Thai Consulate do you mean the Foreign Ministry?

Edited May 14, 2021 by Jingthing

[Phillip9]

On 5/13/2021 at 1:49 AM, lopburi3 said:

As said any entry can be up to six months and an hour trip/return across border gets another (forever).  Most people do not bother with official residence from my understanding. 

 

Land borders between the US and Mexico have been closed for a year due to covid and no one knows when they might reopen.  

[lopburi3]

7 hours ago, Phillip9 said:

 

Land borders between the US and Mexico have been closed for a year due to covid and no one knows when they might reopen.  

It does not have to be USA - any border works if open - and a short flight would also work.

[wpcoe]

8 hours ago, Phillip9 said:

 

Land borders between the US and Mexico have been closed for a year due to covid and no one knows when they might reopen.  

 

Not saying you're wrong, but sometimes the official stance and what actually happens in real-time can be different.

 

I continue to read reports on a local Yucatan Facebook group of folks driving across the border south in to Mexico all the time.   Pretty sure the northbound crossings (into the USA) are happening as well, as folks have pointed out that a pre-trip Covid test is required by the USA only for arrivals by air, and that arrival by land border crossing doesn't need any test. 

 

"YMMV"

[DBath]

22 hours ago, Jingthing said:

///

Thirdly, we had to get a Thai criminal certificate at RTP in Bangkok and have it Legalized at the Thai Consulate (they have a branch location at Klongtoie (sp). 

///

Could you go into detail about that process?

Could that be done remotely?

When you say Thai Consulate do you mean the Foreign Ministry?

Apologies for the delay, I usually receive an alert for replies, but didn't this time for some reason...

 

For the the criminal certificate I needed one for Thailand and one for the US. I'm only detailing the process for the Thai police certificate, but let me know if you have any questions about the US one...

 

I went to RTP in person (pretty sure this is required, unless you hire an agent or someone to do for you) with an application I was able to find online. I also took two blank FBI fingerprint cards with me, so I could capture and send to the FBI (you can download these from there site), not sure if this applies for you or not, but if so, be sure to print them in white "cardboard" paper. I took with me everything I thought I would need, based on the research I had done online, but as it turned out they (RTP) only seemed to want copies of our passports (bio pages and stamps pertinent to our Thai residency).

 

There were a couple of things I had to get additional copies for:

- Our marriage license (from Hong Kong)

- Some of the passport pages (good to make copies of every page before you go, just in case)

If you need additional copies of anything, there is a copy/print shop about 100 steps or so from the RTP administrative office. No way to make copies inside at RTP. They can direct you how to get to the little print shop, if needed.

 

It took about 30 days to get or Thai police. Applied first week of April and went to pick up May 3rd. You can pick it up in person or provide them details on where to have it sent to you. We opted to pick it up, because we had to go to Bangkok for a denntal appointment that week anyway (we live in Hua Hin).

 

Once you have the certificate, you must take to the Foreign Ministry - again, in person (either CW or the branch at Khlongtoie) to get it 'legalized'. Cost is 400 baht I believe, and they can do same day, at least they did for us. It took them about 3 hours, so we dropped it off in the morning and came back that afternoon and picked it up. 

 

Hope this helps...