Actually so far it hasn't been all that bad! I went online and filled in the required forms for renewing our FM2's - here is the link for that form: http://inami.gob.mx/index.php/page/Solicitud_de_Estancia
Of Course our printer died, we took it to the repair shop and were told it would be cheaper to buy a new one. But a friend has/had an old one that he didn't use anymore so we got that. Then the trouble started. This older printer doesn't support Windows 7, so after 3 unsuccessful attempts to install the software I gave up. I installed it on our older computer, you know, the one that could go into catastrophic heart failure at any minute. Well it held up, did its duty, and our forms are all printed.
note - I've heard Firefox isn't working well so I did use a computer that has Internet Explorer.
Also, for all sorts of other processes, Application, Renewals, etc friend Steve has done a fabulous job of spelling it all out step by step http://yucalandia.wordpress.com/living-in-yucatan-mexico/moving-to-mexico-fmm-fm2-or-fm3/
Under “* ¿Qué desea hacer?”: Choose: “Extender la estancia”
Under: “* Especifique”: Choose: “Refrendo de inmigrante”
Since this is for Renewal you have your current FM2 card and it should have all the info you need; NUE, and CURP. Apellido is your last name, and Nombre is your first and middle name, exactly as it is on your card.
Well, like I said, this is for renewal only, so you should be able to figure the form out, it really is quite simple and basic.
The hard/harder part came when I was trying to find the Form online to be able to pay the fee before going in to start the paperwork process. I have heard that this really expedites the procedure if you are pre-paid. I couldn't find it, and the friend who had done it before didn't bookmark the page, but did send me a scanned copy of his form thinking that might help me in my search - It didn't, so what I eventually did was to go online and find a site that would take a PDF form and turn it into a WORD doc. So that is what I did, I now have the payment form as a WORD doc that can be filled in and used as needed. WooHoo.
OK, so we show up at INM at 9AM on a Tuesday, 6 December, the line is out to the street, we wait - after about 45 minutes we get to the desk, and thankfully I do speak Spanish, because the nice guard was able to explain, and more importantly I was able to understand, that he was telling me that because of the number I was about to receive (65) I probably wouldn't get in today and would have to come back another day. Now had I not been able to understand all this I could have spent hours waiting to finally be turned away. Anyway, Thanks to the nice guards advice we went home and plan to go back again, but much earlier.
OK, It is now Friday, 9 December - In our hope to get in, we, like MANY others have shown up more than an hour before opening and queued up on the sidewalk. At 7:45 we were in line at INM, which opens at 9.
At about 8:45 they opened the gates and allowed us on to the INM property where we queued up once again to sign in to the log book and receive our first ficha (numbered ticket), We received #20.
The numbers start to be called at 9 and then you queue up in front of an agent in front of a computer where you say what you want - she inputs info and then gives you another ficha, in a variety of colors depending on what your needs are, different colors designate different rooms once you actually enter the building, this time we were Red #16. Once the hour was past 9AM Tom walked the 3 blocks to the Bank with our vouchers to pre-pay our fees, I waited for us to be called into the building.
About 10am we were called in to the building. It was a short wait once inside the building.
We approached an Agent that we have seen many times before. She starts going through our paperwork, everything is order, it's looking good, we're moving right along.....THEN, SCREEEEEECH! Halt! Bam! Our Financial statements are 6mth year to date statements from the company that issues our pension; these are the same statements we've used in years past. The statement shows the amount we receive monthly, AND the YTD amount. No Good! They want a statement that shows exactly how much, in each of 3 consecutive months. Great, our pension funder doesn't offer that type of statement - long explanations ensued. She accepted our documents, but asked that we get the type of statement she wanted and get it back to her, before 1:30. Great! So home we raced, poked around in our pension webpage, then our bank webpage, finally we print out several things, create the type of doc she wants, and high tail it back up just in the nick of time! She's happy, we're happy, all is right with the world!
By this time it is 1:30, we've been involved in all this since about 7:30 when we left the house - so far we've had coffee, and I now have a headache, we're crabby, ok more that crabby, and we're really hungry. Off to lunch.
OH, and she said to not bother checking back until January because in all likelihood nothing will happen before then. It is the Holidays, and their offices are closed QUITE a few days during the Holidays, which include 5 days in early January for All Kings Day.
This new system is really working!