The Visa Process

In high school Spanish class we watched a movie about the inneficiencies of Cuban government processes. The plot follows the trials of the family a of a Cuban worker who has recently passed away. In honour of his dedication to his work, the family decides to bury him with his worker's card. They find out only later that in order for his widow to get a death certificate and collect his pension, she must have this card. So the nephew goes off to get the body exhumed. Unfortunately, this can't be done without a death certificate. The man goes from desk to desk at various government offices getting papers stamped only to be sent to another desk with another requirement.

The process to secure a student visa in Mexico is not much different. I thought I was way ahead of the game by getting my visa from the embassy in Ottawa. This way I would only have to register it when I got to Mexico. Little did I know that the process for getting a visa and registering a visa is the same. To give you an idea of the requirements, here's a list what has to be submitted:

1) A cover sheet with personal information (2 copies)
2) An online form requesting a visa (2 copies, legal paper)
3) A letter of intention you write yourself (2 copies)
4) Your passport and 2 copies of every single page, including the blank ones
5) A registration letter from your school (2 copies)
6) Photocopies of the ID of the person who signed the registration letter from your school
7) Proof of financial solvency with copies of your debit cards and visa cards
8) Apartment lease (2 copies)
9) The landlord's ID (2 copies) or the landlord's immigration papers (2 copies)
10) A utility bill from your apartment (2 copies)
11) A payment stub from the bank (2 copies)
12) 3 front photos and 2 side photos
13) An online form where you describe everything from the shape of your eyebrows to the shape of your chin
14) A copy of every single page of your visa, if you got one in advance, from your home country

Once you're able to put this package together, you have to go to the migration office. It is only open to the public from 9-1 and by 8:30 there is usually a line of people waiting to avoid the crowds. On my first trip to the office I came at 10am - BIG MISTAKE. I waited two and a half hours before they called my number. They then proceeded to stamp every single sheet of paper I brought and return all my copies to me. The next step is to call the office in a week's time to see if you have a notification of a problem. They will tell you yes or no, but not what the problem is. You have to line up again to find that out. It's quite the process.

Foreign exchange students who were here last term told us horror stories of the process and warned not to expect the document until the last week we were here. They warned that the Mexicans would come back to you with ridiculous requirements of how signatures were not the same length in two places or that the way the address is written on the utility bill is not identical to the way it is written on the lease. They even told of one student who had been trying to appease their absurd requirements for weeks and was now on his last day in Mexico. He was told his visa would be ready that day, but when he arrived, he found there was another problem with his application. He threw his papers up in the air and ran screaming in frustration from the office. My first thought was, oh well, you've allready studied here, who cares if you get your visa? But it does matter... you can't transfer your credits back to Canada without it. This may be the greatest adventure of my whole trip :)