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NoVaDamer

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Everything posted by NoVaDamer

  1. Mexico is professionalizing all of its government functions, slowly. Those paper FMM forms were practically useless except as an excuse to "fine" visitors when they lost them. Now they are using facial recognition at the airports, they have computerized the data from the forms (not at the land border, but elsewhere). They are only offering tourist visas to tourists, which is a change. The wild west days of just crossing the border and staying as long as you like are numbered, as the government is even checking bus stations for overstays. Why? Because that is what the federal government is for. No government wants foreign visitors who are too poor to live there, or are exploiting a visa system. The point is not that US expats are wanted or not: regardless of where you are from, every person who resides in a country consumes government resources (traffic, crime, electricity, sewage, etc.) Some of those costs are born by the resident, some by the society. The government is suspicious of digital nomads and others who work on the internet. We can debate about whether the Mexican government should be suspicious about such residents posing as tourists, but there is little doubt they aren't tourists, they are working, and Mexico is not getting to tax their income. So most governments want residents who bring more into the country than they "cost." The US is notoriously difficult; Canada uses a "point system" I believe to determine whether someone merits admission. Mexico is just joining the club.
  2. I can't recommend a Mexican bank, as I don't have one. I get my OPM retirement sent to USAA bank, and just access funds via ATMs here (charges are reimbursed) or use their direct transfer services for larger payments. There are other financial institutions (like Schwab) that have similar arrangements. I strongly recommend researching the concept of banking here in Mexico. Some accounts are not insured, and there are several claims of employee or institutional fraud dealing with expats. There are also the issues of currency devaluation and compliance with US requirements to notify the IRS about any foreign accounts.
  3. NOAA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, just identified that the Western Hemisphere is entering a La Niña current (the counterpart of the more famous el Niño) for the next several months. We were n La Niña earlier this year, then the trend dissipated, and now it has strengthened. Here the map with the global effects: Lakeside is on the edge of the warm and dry region over central Mexico, so look for higher than usual temperatures and less rainfall.
  4. Like Bisbee Gal, my wife and I have flown to/from the States eight times during the testing requirement, and our testing has been closely checked each time. There is also a US government form you have to fill out which attests to your test (redundant, no?). Some airlines have it online, or ask you the same questions online when check in. So they might accept that rather than ask you for a hardcopy of the test results. If you wonder why they would take your word for it, it is somewhat unreasonable to expect ALL the airlines flying to the States to know ALL the different labs and which are "ok." The last two times we went to Soriana, they did not have the necessary items (I don't know what they mean, swabs?) to do antigen testing, so we had to use Go labs in Riberas. Soriana remains the cheapest, easiest solution in my opinion, but you need to have a back up plan.
  5. We've had USAA Banking for about 40 years, living overseas twice (Germany and now Mexico) with excellent service the entire time. Rarely need to call them, as we use their extensive online services, but when we call their 1-800 number, we get quick service, too. I would note that nearly all telephone service systems (banks, airlines, brokerages, car rentals) are experiencing extreme delays because they had to let people go during the pandemic, and can't bring them back fast enough. Airlines report 8 hour wait times, if you get through at all. I have several friends that have dropped their USAA insurance, which is different than USAA banking. Apparently USAA insurance rates aren't as good as they once were; I thought they were great once-upon-a-time, but only have rental car insurance with them today. Maybe those are the problems you heard. I would only add that before switching, I would check to see how the phone service at other banks is. You could simply call them and see what the wait times are, for example,
  6. Ajijic Electronics told me to check in next Tuesday, as they are doing a demo of the new locations and want to make sure they will work for us.
  7. To be clear, this has nothing to do with Shaw satellite TV. DISH TV in the states changed satellite feeds for local stations only in Cincinnati and Little Rock. If you were in either location, the change was transparent, as DISH chose a satellite easily accessible from those locations. Those of us with DISH TV here lakeside were not so lucky. We will have to pick another stateside location for our local channels, once the options become available from Ajijic Electronics. If you have DISH TV but it is not Cincinnati or Little Rock, you are not affected. If you have Shaw, please enjoy your programming while they change their satellite constellation.
  8. Sometime next week Ajijic Electronics said they'll have the new addresses for the new locations: looks like Lexington (KY), Springfield (MO) and Cheyenne (WY-not sure if this is the right one, but it's somewhere out west). Those of us who lost local channels can then choose for the new ones. This was the first channel outage or major disruption we've had in four years, so seems like no big deal to me.
  9. For those interested in the current state of stem cell research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7367472/
  10. When I've used it recently (past few months), the actual lane(s) where you pull into the long-term lot were closed, indicating it was full. One time there were cones in the way, the other time you could pull up to the gate, but the machine would not issue a ticket. I have seen every kind of irregular parking by people inside the long-term lot. I don't know if/how they regulate it. I believe parking on the upper levels of the garage used to be also discounted, but I may be wrong.
  11. I also recommend going on FaceBook and searching for groups with the term "vaccine hunters (state or city)." We used that back a month ago, when vaccines were scarce, and still had an appointment in 15 minutes for J&J!
  12. Yes, it's a big white building, and there's always a few people hanging out in the courtyard. Don't be confused if there is a line. Walk straight in past the tree and look for where the "teller" windows are and see where that line starts (there are multiple offices here). We went around 1030 in the morning in the middle of a month and had no line. Here's an old pic from Goggle Streetview:
  13. Mostlylost has all the details. My wife and I renewed our Chofer licensias on Monday. The place you pay (Recaudadora Estatal on Calle Degollado) and the place you renew (Secretariat de Transporte)are in different (but near) locations; some Mexicans were walking back-n-forth. The office for the renewal is just off the malecon in Chapala, behind the Red Cross building. You drive down Ramon Corona and at the Yacht club (on the right) or Lupita's restaurant (on the left) you turn left and drive straight into a large parking lot; the office is on the left. You make an appointment for the renewal; the first person you see confirms your appointment and checks all your paperwork. We arrived 25 minutes early and were allowed in; my wife had a paperwork problem, so she came back an hour later and they let her in again. Your paperwork must be complete and current. For example, your CFE/TelMex bill needs to be recent (say 45 days), with all pages (even ads), and your name on it. There is a window on the side of the building where they will make copies, and I believe they can help find a proof of residence (Comprobante). Both actions cost a small fee. After the first docs check, you move further inside the building where another person double-checks the docs and enters the data into a computer system. It includes several electronic fingerprint readers and a photo. At this point you get your original docs back and turn your paperwork over to a third person, who escorts you to wait outside (next to the building). They come out and call your name and hand you your renewed license. No test (not even road signs) was required. It took me 20 minutes start-to-finish. good luck!
  14. @lcscats, we mostly agree here. My point is posters often throw out the phrase "it's illegal" which scares some users. In any case, it's not illegal to use the receiver. I agree countries are as touchy about gear as they are about signals. I don't know for sure, but I would bet bringing in a dish for personal use is no problem. I did note this site which has the customs duty/etc data for doing so, so I guess it's ok. https://customsdutyfree.com/customs-or-import-duty-for-set-top-boxes-internet-television-satellite-receiver-to-mexico/
  15. The satellite signal goes wherever it goes (some are more targeted than others, as demonstrated by Shaw's changing satellite reception footprint). It is illegal for a company to market their satellite signal across borders, without the consent of the other countries. That is why there is such a thing as Dish Mexico and Dish USA, offering different things. If you have a Dish USA receiver and account, and you access a Dish USA satellite signal in another country, you have not broken any law. If Dish USA were to become aware you were accessing their signal in another country, they might (probably would) cancel your service, as it would conflict with their obligations under international law (which is one reason one doesn't call them for customer service!).
  16. Thanks; I'll try that! For the refund, there are two options. One is to go ahead and fly, then afterward go on the airline website, search for customer service, and submit a request for refund of the tourist tax. It takes some time and aggravation, but generally works. I fly Delta all the time, so I went one step further. I contacted Delta and had then change my place of residence (in their database) to Mexico, so I automatically don't pay the tourist tax when I book with them. This was a drill which required sending them a photo of my permanente, but was worth it. Good luck!
  17. Bisbee Gal has it exactly right! I was concerned about how to know whether the US would accept my local lab results. Some of you may have heard about how Hawaii has its own special list of which labs it will accept. The verification is done at the check in counter by the airlines agent. She didn't have a list of approved labs; she simply looked at our hardcopy form, found that is said antigen test and negative, then said ok and gave it back to us.
  18. I'm in Ohio and will get mine on April 1st (no foolin')
  19. We just flew back to the States to visit the grandkids and get vaccinated. Here's our experience and some tips: We checked out various options for rapid antigen testing, and chose to use the clinic in the perking lot in front of Soriana for about 489 MXP each. You go into Soriana and go to the checkout, tell them what kind of test you want (for the States, you need the PCR or the antigen, not the antibody test). The antigen test is the cheapest and quickest. The checkout lady gives you a receipt, and you walk over to the clinic.The woman there has you fill out a simple form,and for the antigen test, she sticks the swab pretty far up one nostril (one time). That's it. She said the results would be emailed in 2 hours, but we had not received them at four hours, so we drove back and she printed a copy for us and sent them to us (not sure what the hold up was, probably just Mexico). We did this the afternoon before our flight. For our flight, we had to process thru immigration as usual, then check in and show our ID papers, immigration form, negative Covid test, and an attestation form which is something you can download from your airline. Its just a form saying you had a negative test and you sign and date it. Also, while checking in, you have to access the Mexican government website on your phone and fill out the Covid survey (which has been the case for several months). You have to show this to the security people before going to your gate. Once we got to the plane, no one on the US side asked for any paperwork wrt Covid; that responsibility is all on the airlines. When looking for vaccinations stateside, I strongly recommend you access facebook and search for "vaccine hunters (state/city)" where you are going. Join the largest, most active community you find. I did so, and within 12 hours of arriving I had a confirmed appointment for a single-shot J&J vaccination, based on tips posted by my new vaccine-hunting Facebook friends! Good luck!
  20. This may not help yu this time, but perhaps in the future. I rarely find good customer service at AeroMexico. I recently cancelled a flight and they gave me an eCredit only good until the end of the year. Anyway, I try to schedule most of my AeroMexico flights via Delta (their partner) and Delta is good at refunding the tourist tax.
  21. We've been visiting for almost ten years (living here for four) and the change just in that time has been noticeable. Quite correct about increasing car ownership by Mexicans, and add to that many of the drivers (regardless of age) are new drivers which makes it more interesting. I second the idea of being strategic about when you go out, which is something I always did NOB, but did not expect at lakeside. Also, think about the relative issues. Yes, it's been 15 minutes across Ajijic at times, which is a crawl. But no one cares if you're late. roll down the windows and take in the sights. It's only a bother if you let it bother you (unless, of course, if you need an ambulance!).
  22. Just to second lakeside7's point, the requirement to file FBAR is not eliminated by achieving dual citizenship in Mexico (or anywhere else), only by formally and legally renouncing your US citizenship. The IRS has successfully charged several such case. Also, because the FBAR is only a reporting requirement (and has no tax implications of its own), the IRS views avoiding it (by manipulation of totals) or simply ignoring it as a criminal matter, so the OP is quite right to want to get it right!
  23. The way las cabanuelas was explained to me, it's a Mexican folk version (like Poor Richard's Almanac) of predicting the weather for the year. The weather on January 1st predicts January, January 2nd predicts February, January 3rd predicts March, and so forth. Anybody else heard this?
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