Expats in the electronic age. Living full-time in Mexico!

Sunrise a few days ago

One of the greatest things that the tech-age has brought for expats is that everyday tasks that used to be a challenge are much simpler to complete.

Affordable and quite reliable telephone service is available over the internet.  With a service such as MagicJack, a low annual rate of less than fifty dollars gives service to and from Canada and the USA without long-distance charges.  Expats can easily keep in touch with family and friends using their telephone number from their home community.

Hidalgo Avenue in Centro, early in the morning 

Internet Banking, of course, is easy with debit cards and credit cards. However, the island’s ATMs are currently experiencing a problem with cards being cloned. It’s a worldwide problem, apparently originating in Venezuela.  

We’re fortunate because we have a local bank account where we keep a small amount of cash, and can pop into the branch for more pesos as we need them. Our RBC account in Canada allows us to transfer money over the internet directly from one bank to the other.  

Fun colour combination

Shopping online is available in most countries, but here it’s a big advantage, bringing a wider choice of items directly to our little island in paradise. Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Costco, and big local chains such as Liverpool offer delivery to the island.

E-books have really made our lives easier.  In our previous travels to other countries, we typically had one suitcase with nothing but English-language novels to occupy rainy days or cool evenings. 

With our electronic readers, we can be anywhere in any country, and as long as there is an internet connection, we can purchase a new book. Best invention ever, for travelers.

Door-to-door furniture salesman

Passports will soon be renewed online for Canadians. For us, that would be a big bonus.  No more trekking into the Consulate Office in the hotel zone of Cancun to submit our applications. 

And in case you are wondering why the photographs, which we normally choose to illustrate the article, have this time around absolutely nothing to do with the article. A picture of a debit card, n ATM, or an internet phone would be a bit boring.  

Great mural, no design committee rules

So, instead, we’re posting a sampling of recent random photos of life on Isla.  

Enjoy!

Hasta Luego  

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas

For the iguanas - should be Lazy Lizard Lounge!

This guy likes our loungers - the sign is for him!

Isla Mujeres Mysteries series

Or

Death in the Vineyards

Bureaucracy - gone international. Lawrie’s turn to write

Heading to Canadian Consulate in Cancun.

No…not Mexico, but in Canada and the USA.

It’s time. Time for us to renew our passports, and since we live year-round in Mexico, we decided to renew them from here. First, we travelled to the Canadian Consulate in the hotel zone of Cancún to obtain the proper forms. We were told we could not use the quick renewal process, requiring only two new photos and our old passport. This service is available to Canadians living in Canada, the USA, Lebanon, Guinea, Cape Verde, Gambia and Senegal. It is not available to the estimated 500,000 Canadians living full or part-time in Mexico. We are given the long form to fill in, requiring two new photographs, a qualified guarantor such as a lawyer or doctor, our birth certificates, and our old passports. 

A week later: okay, got it all. We returned to the Cancún Consulate and paid for two passport renewals in exact cash; no change available, and no credit cards accepted. The Consul checked our forms for errors and told us to send the completed forms and the receipt, with a pre-paid return envelope included, to the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City. Done.

Filling out the request for new birth certificate

Then we waited. I emailed the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City twice. “Did you receive our applications?” The first reply was: “We don’t do visa applications.”  Really? Well, that is certainly a useful, or perhaps useless, piece of information.  “Again, did you receive our applications?”  No response. 

And we waited some more. Two and a half weeks later, the Consul in Cancún phoned to say there was a problem with my passport application. My birth certificate was no longer valid. You can probably feel the steam coming from my ears by now. “Not valid? I have had my birth certificate for 70+ years, and now it’s no good! Did I exceed the best-before date?” 

Apparently, the Province of Manitoba, in their infinite wisdom, decided to change to a more secure form of birth certificates. The bureaucrats merely neglected to publish the information, as I discovered in an internet article written in 2009 discussing a similar situation. Lynda, who was born in British Columbia, Canada, does not have to replace her birth certificate. It’s an old, folded, faded piece of paper much like mine, but still valid. The Consul said they would hold our passport renewals in Mexico City until my new birth certificate arrived.



UPS in Cancun - birth certificate arrives

So, back to the computer I go.  I obtained the necessary forms online from the Manitoba government, downloaded, printed, and filled in the appropriate spaces. But the Manitoba government will not accept a scanned copy. The completed form must be faxed. With much searching around on the island, I located an internet business that had an antique fax machine, disconnected, but available for use after a warm-up period. Off goes my application, along with my credit card information to pay for the $100.00 speedy approval and expedited return courier service. Wow! They did an eighteen-hour turnaround. The new birth certificate was on its way.

The courier special delivery envelope, with one thin sheet of paper, got as far as US Customs in Louisville, Kentucky. And there it sat – for six long days – waiting to be processed through US Customs. Finally, someone decided that my birth certificate was not a matter of US national security and cleared it through. 

Birth certificate headed to Mexico City

Back to Cancún again. This time to the UPS courier office where we picked up the envelope, cut it open, and addressed a new courier envelope to the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City. Luis at the UPS office was terrific, very helpful. UPS had my birth certificate delivered the next day in Mexico City. 

At 9:00 in the morning, I called the Consular Section in Mexico City. The French-Canadian woman, working at the Canadian Embassy in Mexico City, answered in French. It took me a few attempts before I was able to communicate what I wanted. “What was the expected delivery date of our new passports?” 

The reply…15 working days. We’ll see.  

For once, both Canada and the USA have out-bureaucratized Mexico!

And then one final frustration: today's email from the Canadian Embassy, dated August 30, 2012

Dear Canadian citizens,

As of September 17, 2012, Canadians living in Mexico, who meet specific eligibility criteria, will be able to apply for a new Canadian passport through the simplified renewal application process. 

 

Our passports are already 3/4 of the way through the renewal process, and the rules have changed.

Hasta pronto

Lawrie & Lynda

                Grab your copy today!

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Or

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky