#1107 – The Expat Files: Navigating Mexico’s Immigration, Real Estate, and Cultural Challenges

Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.

[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now that I wonder Hello there all you ex-pat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Yep getting more and more flack about this Mexican tourist visa stuff You know what I'm talking about mention it in the last couple of shows Getting lots of emails and complaints about that then again for people who listen to this show I can hardly have sympathy for you when you complain about Mexico cracking down when I've been saying

[00:48] By the last 11 years on this show almost 12 now You've got to go for residency in whatever Latin American country while the getting is good I hate to say I told you so so I'm not gonna say it But when you're caught in the middle of a visa snafu like so many people are especially in Mexico now Don't you think it would have been prudent to just apply get it over with? Especially you gringo guys and gals who own property down there or who've got a long-term rental And for you new listeners out there who aren't up to date on the situation Let me highlight this with a few excerpts from an article that just came out This comes courtesy of the english language news reg called mexico news daily. Have you heard of it? It's a must read for gringos and expats in mexico because it's got all the latest In english and only about one in a hundred gringos in mexico can speak spanish

[01:36] Well enough to have a decent conversation with their cleaning lady, but you knew that already, right? The title of this article pretty much says it all title a mexican visitor's permit no longer guarantees you an 180 day stay With a subtitle side bar that says with some travelers given less than 30 days at the immigration person's discretion Let me read just a little bit of this and i'll paraphrase It says once it was all but guaranteed that a visitor entering mexico a us visitor would receive a permit to stay for 180 days It was automatic most would always get this 180 days the maximum length of time allowed under current mexican immigration rules But with the current immigration caravan panic and crisis Many aspects of the current immigration policy have been changed over just the past few months with more and more travelers reporting

[02:22] They were allowed 30 days or even less to complete their travels in mexico Then it says immigration agents will also ask visitors for documents like hotel reservations return flight data and prepaid tour bookings To prove that the purpose of the visit is actually what the visitor is claiming. That is it is strictly a vacation or tourism visit Then it says for example guy corchesny a mexico city-based recruiter of foreign english teachers Who also works on immigration issues says that he gets at least 20 calls a day from gringo visitors Claiming that they expected to get approved for the usual 180 day stay but received as few as 10 days With no recourse to extend the permit He goes on to say earlier this year One of the best options for gringos and expats coming with expired documents was to get temporary residency

[03:12] Through a pandemic amnesty program, but that program was for people whose travel documents expired But only if they were issued prior to 2019 more recent arrivals do not qualify for that emergency program Then it says many americans have flocked to facebook to discuss the changes and share their personal experiences and disasters Though the majority report they still are receiving the standard 180 day visa Still many are reporting the receiving less than that and have been frustrated by reports that many of the local immigration offices No longer give out extensions for any reason Some travelers have even said that they've been advised by travel agents and immigration agents to overstay their permits and pay For a new one at the airport along with a fine once they leave though

[03:57] This may be feasible for some the option presents the risk of detention and deportation If at any point authorities ask undocumented travelers to prove they're legally in the country In other words, some might get away with it and some not There are even reports for example that people who arrive in cancun for a 15 day vacation And after leaving the airport once they arrive they check their documents They find the immigration officer has only given him permission to stay in the country 10 days So what do you do then? Well, you're gonna get fined when you leave which was really not an issue in the past But now there'll be a black mark in your record in the computer files forever Which may in the future prevent you from ever getting into the country again Meanwhile, we've got this report from an on the ground listener in mexico who doesn't have residency But it's been living there for years now with his wife

[04:45] He's a guy that's very used to doing border runs every 180 days, you know to stay legal or quasi-legal He's been doing it so long He's developed a pattern of hacks that until now have worked well for him and his wife sometimes involving small bribes You know mordita at the border i've been there over the years I've dished out a few hundred bucks to immigration slugs at various borders myself Hey, if you've lived down here long enough and don't have residency in any particular latin country, you'll identify with this Though what you're going to hear now from mr G in mexico about immigration changes he does admit his personal hacks have a shelf life They won't last forever In fact, he just did a successful mexican tourist visa border run to guadamala and back And here are some of the more interesting highlights of that trip He says johnny, I just made my usual ohaka to guadamala drive and it was business as usual

[05:33] And I got my new 180-day visa at my particular favorite lax and lenient crossing At talisman just north northeast of tapa tula And as usual he says the same happy to get his bride money guadamalan Immigration guy and the mexican immigration folks were casual as usual And there were even some guadamalan truckers who bought me breakfast at a mom-and-pop shop on the guadamalan side Most people are very nice and way cool However on the immigration front things are changing and what was different this time Was the mexican immigration guy asked how many days I wanted rather than the usual automatic 180-day stamp So I tried it out my well rehearsed age old tale of the old retired surfer dude in a van living on the pacific And that seemed to be fine for them this time But just a word of caution the talisman border stop is one of the most lenient laid-back crossings

[06:23] And this may well be the very last time I get my magic 180-day dream stamp So definitely time to plan ahead and probably head further south of south of the border Oh and johnny another usual item on my fun run down the steamy mexican coastal highway Was that I encountered the same particular band of about 10 Crooked federali cops who set up roadblocks about a hundred miles off the border near the chiappa's oaxaca state line It was early sunday morning and I was driving home and almost at the very same spot They nicked me for a bottle of tequila a few years back They sized me up and told me to pull off the road for a routine inspection You know what that means, right? Yep more dita time as I was pulling off I said to myself these guys are not getting any money out of me Not this time and believe it or not

[07:09] It turned out to be the same feral orc like slime ball in charge who nicked me the last time So according to him we were old buddies and he immediately told me his name was arturo and gave me a friendly fist bump Meaning nothing to worry about. We're cool buds routine deja vu all over again But this time I never cracked a smile I dredged up the most formal spanish I could manage and put on what my wife calls my junior high school principal's face and said No to his request for some cigarettes and coffee Which I have to assume stifled any more expensive requests All the while I was cocking my head to keep an eye on his partner who was sifting through my van accessory box way in the back Then arturo the guy with the weird orc ears wanted to search my backpack and I said i'd show it to him myself and I did

[07:56] So well in the end they let me go and the age gringo who did his delight as I pulled out unscathed this time Since it easily could have gone the other way All right, me johnny. Just a little side note Personally i'd say he got off easy tis the season, you know, we're right around christmas time the holidays This is the time the cops press you hard and heavy for bribes and are not ashamed to give you the line that it is Navi that you know christmas time And that means every gringo they stop should be in the christmas spirit Ho ho ho after all the cops do need to give presents to their wives children and mistresses Yes, it's true. Even cops on their piddly salaries have mistresses Now they don't have separate families living in separate houses that they support They don't make that kind of dough But everyone i've ever met is married with kids and does have a mistress or girlfriend somewhere sometimes more than one

[08:43] often in different towns Which makes it easier to pull off and sometimes, you know after giving a little thought to this I can see why they're always asking for bribes and mortita Imagine juggling a wife kids family and a mistress or two on the average cop salary of around 500 to 600 bucks a month Yep, they make around twice the average grunt or minimum wage salary though 10 or so years ago They only made around three to four hundred a month slightly more than minimum wage And because of all the citizen complaints and gripes about cops being lazy ass slugs always asking for money By consensus almost all latin american governments figured if the cops made more money Maybe they'd actually work and quit asking for bribes So as a result just a few short years ago country by country All the cops got a raise and their salaries practically doubled overnight and everyone was happy for about a month or two

[09:32] But as you well know human nature is well human nature and expenses always seem to slightly exceed income No matter how much you make isn't that funny? So the result of that experiment well The cops remain slugs as lazy as they ever were and they still hit people up for bribes, especially around christmas So let me warn you be on the lookout in the month of december You're about twice as likely to get hit up for bribes mortita Always with a smiler mostly with a smile in the guise of a christmas donation And they'll ask you with genuine smiles on their faces. It's happened to me a number of times But back to mr. G's email He says johnny what marred and otherwise spot-on Successful visa run was getting home and hearing that our friendly neighborhood garbage man got shot four times Even once in the forehead while intervening in a fight. His wife was hamming with a hot-headed neighbor

[10:21] So we have to line up a new garbage guy Yeah, I know it sounds callous and actually our little enclave of gringos here in the off the gringo trail camp Is collecting money to help him stock up on colostomy bags? Ouch And the moral of that story. I think you know the moral don't be a hero Don't do it john wayne and step into a local argument And johnny, I know all this and two pesos will buy a cup of coffee Well used to buy a cup of coffee So it's time to sign off But it looks like I will be heading to guadamala soon myself Going north to the ussa seems lunacy right now and after being here in may eight years Who wants to go back to that emerging medical police state? So johnny best wishes happy holidays and glad you're laden with stem cells now As for me i'm five weeks post stem cell injections myself and feeling definite progress so far

[11:10] Though I know they say it takes usually three months to get full regeneration after stem cells We'll keep you posted by the way. I do agree porta viarta is a dump Anyway, señor johnny via con queso Well, thanks for that. Mr. G. Always appreciate good boots on the ground intel By the way, mr. G said he agrees that porta viarta is a dump Now that all depends on your definition of a dump because it's not a dump in the traditional sense That is stuffy dirty putrid or offensive visually or to your olfactory apparatus It's just like cancun overrun with gringos and to the uninitiated that might sound fine However, it comes with a hefty price monetary and otherwise that means first world expensive Very hefty real estate prices and worst of all they've molded it into their cockeyed version of the tropics

[11:59] That means for one thing all the medium low and high-end franchises and strip malls are everywhere Along with the rolls rice lamborghini and maserati dealerships. I kid you not Personally, I wouldn't live there for anything But it is a great place to go for a short vacation and get your stem cells done By the way, speaking of gringos piling into certain cities, especially in mexico Beware of smiling happy gringo real estate guys trying to get the in on a good deal I can't give you a strong enough warning about this I've known so many gringos and expats who've been ripped off in real estate scams. Hey early on. I almost got sucked in myself Though in every single case I know it's been on the gringo tourist trail I've never known a gringo or expat to get ripped off in a real estate deal off the trail

[12:46] I'm sure there have been cases, but I haven't heard of any personally Not as long as you have a latin lawyer independently check out the title at the municipality Though that's not to say you won't get ripped off in a rental contract But that's not like getting ripped off when you're actually buying property If you somehow ended up with a bad rental contract Then you might be on the hook if you want to leave or get out from under it before it expires That's not good, but it's not the end of the world Oh, and I know lots of gringos and expats who've lost their rental deposits. That's happened to me a couple times I always figure here in latin america if you get your rental deposit back consider it a gift It's like lending money to family or friends if you get it back consider that a gift too But if you buy into some fake or unbeknownst to you bankrupt land or real estate project or an underfunded one Then man, you could really take a hit. So why am I mentioning this now?

[13:34] Because there's so much of that going on especially in two places Costa Rica and mexico with columbia and panama tied for third place in that hall of shame And these gringo rip-off scenarios exactly track the flow of gringos in certain districts and areas The more gringos the more real estate rip-off scenarios For example, just received a report the other day about some really nasty real estate scams going down in san miguel alliende I'm sure all you guys and girls who've been in and out of mexico know about that place It's high end loaded with gringos again a beautiful place, but i'd never want to live there Now i've known about this and other scams for a while now But I thought this would be a good time to mention it since listener greg sent me this urgent real estate fraud article heads up This new article coming from the local newspaper the san miguel post

[14:21] I'll read some highlights here just enough to scare the hell out of you It starts out by saying in san miguel de allende a horrible fraud scheme is happening and people are being left without money or a home It's happening in condo developments that use heavy promotion in billboards around the city Sellers collecting payments from buyers without delivering then it says today is a first of a series of articles on different real estate scams Happening right now in san miguel de allende The following information is publicly available in the public registries in san miguel and the court notice boards if you care to check Then it says for the last 20 years san miguel de allende has changed more than any other city in the area from being a charming Pueblito a little town it has transformed into one of the most profitable real estate markets in the country

[15:08] Nevertheless developers are taking advantage of this by defrauding buyers For example a very popular development called artis tanto on the periphery of the city in its original plans It featured gorgeous common areas surrounded by beautiful townhouses It's sold out fast with presale contracts that demanded buyers deposit anywhere from 20 to 60 percent down at the full price Regardless of all the hype artis santo hasn't had any real development since the beginning of the project The lots where most of the homes would have been constructed or had just started being constructed have been broken into That means little or no security and construction hasn't even started for the majority of homes that had been sold out To make matters worse and even more complicated Artis santo has a mortgage from a mexican bank that was supposed to be used in the development of the project

[15:57] But the money was diverted and not used for the stated purpose As of now the main mortgages is overdue and the property is in default But it's not only the main bank pursuing artis santo There are 400 defrauded buyers pursuing them too. You heard that right 400 pissed off owners most all of them Absentee gringos and expats but sadly because this is mexico many of those gringo buyers who've filed cases in court Their actions have been dismissed for incorrect filing procedures or because they took too long Filing the initial notifications or they just had a bad or incompetent lawyer who fumbled the ball Thing is as it turns out the real estate agents and developers who sold these properties are still around yep They're still in business. Some of them hawking other similar properties

[16:44] They claim there are solutions But the solutions will be more costly than the problems in other words The owners or supposed owners are being asked to kick in even more dough because the developers initially underestimated the costs Then they say they can finally finish the project Where have we heard that one before? The problem is bankruptcy laws in mexico are not the same as bankruptcy laws in the states That's why so many gringos who buy into projects like that Especially gringos and expats who don't speak spanish are at a loss in more ways than one by the way I'm not saying you should never buy into a project like that There are lots of good ones out there But my advice is to never buy into a project unless there's quite a few houses already standing houses completed Then you could knock on a few doors and talk to some of the owners All right with more the same then comes this article from the english language yukatan post

[17:33] That covers news up and down the mayan riviera, you know kankoon talum playa del carmin kazamel meridia And so on the title this article is Fire beware. There's massive real estate fraud prevalent in meridia yukatan And here are the highlights. It says the explosive growth of so-called investment lots in yukatan Primarily targeting americans has sparked a discussion about whether the purchase of these lots are a good investment or a monumental fraud You know the saying location location location with many of these companies in charge of selling the lots offering properties 10 minutes from the beach or five minutes from a large shopping center or mall or university at affordable prices Often with little money down in payment plans by the developer With the promise to gringos and expats of becoming a profitable instrument of savings and a high capital gain

[18:23] In the very near future. Those are the marketing promises that hook the buyer But the truth is these so-called investment lots according to data collected by reporters from the central grupo mega media Journalistic investigation unit these properties are in many if not most cases Old property is located in the middle of nowhere without paved access roads and devoid of basic services like water and garbage pickup In practice, they're worth nothing and that's why locals in the know are calling them junk lots But it's a booming business the sale of these lots and their target mostly absentee american clients Though it's obvious to local people in the know that the real estate bubble is close to bursting Meanwhile local authorities remain passive on the issue Since when lots get developed and sold they collect municipal taxes on buy and sell transactions

[19:15] So local government officials don't want to see a slowdown Oh and get this reporters from central nine television visited several of these investment lots They estimated that there are more than 40 projects of this type underway in just meridia alone TV nine news reports. They are all in effect in the middle of nowhere far from population centers Far from access roads and in most cases not paved with most not having minimal urban services like electricity drinking water drainage Collection and so on Furthermore they report that most of the lots are not Municipalized that means they won't be able to receive basic services from the municipalities to obtain these services without government help The owners must establish a condominium regimen though This means paying very high fees for construction and maintenance of services most of which are not outlined in the original purchaser

[20:03] construction contracts All right, me and johnny again. I've seen this so many times some developments to disguise their Deficiencies will raise an attractive front facade with a beautiful guard check and manicured entrance often with a wide paved Concrete boulevard street running directly down the center of the project for 200 meters or more That's the hook looks great from the road So prospective clients will drive through and after they pass through the beautiful entrance arch There'll be a nice complete model home or two or three in a nice information and business office Oh, and they'll have a manicured clubhouse style pavilion on site One of the ways they hook buyers is offering just five or ten percent down with most projects offering their own financing I say beware of projects where you put down ten percent or less and there's no interest on the financing

[20:54] The thing is you could find these kind of projects everywhere in latin america But 90 of them are in mexico and costa rica with some of them being referred to as green ecological projects With many clients mostly europeans and americans getting hooked on the green thing And all they end up getting is a lot in the jungle with no infrastructure But that's not the only way many absentee gringos get scammed Everybody seems to be looking for a green project that'll kick out a nice rate of return I'm always getting inquiries from gringos and expats asking me about so-called green projects. They're seeing advertised There are all kinds of agricultural projects out there that promise if you put in five ten or twenty grand It'll kick out ten twenty thirty percent a year. I've seen avocado and teak farms set up this way coffee and macadamia nut plantations And you know what after a few years when they're supposed to be putting out a good return

[21:42] I don't know if a single one that's turned out is promised most of them just go out of business or somehow fade away Hey, i'm not saying they're all scams But man if you get involved in something like that, it's all about due diligence But basically buying into a percentage of an agricultural project where you do nothing but put in the dough and expect a big return Man, i'll tell you gringos with a few grand are suckers for that stuff By the way for all you guys and girls out there who are still dead set on having your plane be in mexico I wonder if you're paying attention as to how many gringos have become collateral damage over there even in the resort towns Well, did you see the recent report that came out from the united nations bureau on disappearances? I didn't even know there was such a bureau Not that i'm any fan of the united nations. I think they're a thoroughly corrupt organization But I don't know if you saw this but just this sunday the president of the u.n committee on disappearances

[22:32] How would you like to give a talk about that on your kindergarten kids career day? Anyway, the report said there's almost a total lack of concern amongst government officials in mexico turning abductions and disappearances of people Data shows in the last couple years 95 000 people have simply disappeared without a trace with new clandestine grave sites turning up almost every week With about 52 000 cases where bodies have been found but not formally identified due to lack of government brain power I mean manpower the report goes on to say drug cartels in mexico frequently bury their victims in clandestine graves or dismember and dissolve their remains so Bodies will never be recovered or identified And finally the report says the situation in mexico reflects the image of a society overwhelmed by the phenomena of disappearances

[23:20] Government inaction lack of will lack of enforcement and systematic impunity, but hey, let's get that plane b rolling and move to mexico, huh? great idea Meanwhile back in the alti planos of central america, you know, mexico is not central america It's considered north america like canada in the us look it up. You'll see that's true Anyway, i've been traveling in the last month or so and had the opportunity for better or for worse Of taking various kinds of transportation including the latin american version of uber So just a couple days ago. I got into an uber The driver a young latino guy spoke no english had just a couple of two three straggly chin hairs You just wanted to yank off But man could this guy drive you heard me say before you have to be a real offensive Driver here in latin america to get anywhere if you don't drive offensively, especially in a city

[24:09] What would normally take you half an hour will take an hour maybe more Scringles and expats learning to hurry you drive offensively or get off the pot and let someone else drive And when I mentioned drive offensively i'm talking about ladies too You better learn or you'll feel like you're in the center of a constant war. In fact you are it's us versus them It really is Anyway, i'm in this uber the young guy can really drive man. You can tell some people just have a knack for it They call it a don down here don if someone has a knack for something If someone's a great cook, they have a don don for cooking if someone's an extremely lazy low IQ slug He's got a don for government work. I know it sounds like the don in don carlioni It's the same spelling but different and similar at the same time. Anyway This guy had a knack for driving and he was so calm and collected one hand on the wheel

[24:54] He was weaving and threading the needle like i've never seen anyone do it before Total control like a latino mario andretti and normally when guys are driving kind of crazy like that you get uptight tense I do I even tell drivers to back off slow down sometimes But this guy he was really in the groove what they call in the flow, right? And for all his recklessness, I couldn't help but admire him and I asked him how old he was he said 22 How long you've been driving? He said nine years. I said, whoa That means you started driving when you were 13. He said, yeah I said, how long have you had this car? He said three months and I said three months How'd you learn to drive so well? He said well his aunt has a big cafeteria restaurant And she has a long-standing government contract to deliver meals to certain government schools I said you have a license. I hope and he said now. Yes, of course back then I didn't have one

[25:43] I wasn't old enough didn't need one He said I learned to drive fast and with food in the back and that's tricky You've got stops to make and you can't let the food hit the floor. You're out of a job I said, wait a minute. You've been driving since you were 13. Did you ever get in trouble? You must have got pulled over by the cops. What'd you say? He said yeah, like everyone I get stopped once in a while I said tell me about it. What's your advice to a gringo? He says you're just extra nice and polite to a mental cost you maybe 10 or 20 bucks works every time I tell him I left my wallet at home Then they know they're going to get a payout And all the while I was thinking what would happen to a 13 or 14 year old kid driving a car up in the states Getting pulled over the reason why i'm bringing this up is because I just did a phone consult with a guy from minneapolis He's a retired county sheriff And he told me one of the top if not the very top reason why illegals get caught and deported up in minnesota

[26:32] Is when they're stopped for a traffic offense And if they don't have papers or badly forged papers They call immigration and deport him at least they used to do that until biden came in and now They impound the car and give the guy a citation and a court date and they're supposed to show up on their own Recognizance. Yeah, right and that rarely happens Anyway, he said latinos who would drive at least latinos that had only been in the country for a short time They'd break all kinds of traffic laws laws. The average american would never try to skirt He says when there's no cross traffic, they seem to think it's okay to run stop signs in red lights Hmm. I wonder where have we heard that before if there's no cross traffic, it's okay to go Because that's how they drive in latin america He said they'll whip past school buses make u-turns where they're not allowed

[27:18] They're just doing what they did in their home country Funny thing is this retired sheriff told me he's got his plan b going and he's gonna move to panama He's got some retired cop friends down there and he told me he's already made up his mind once he gets down there He's not gonna drive You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america If you need some help with your own plan b we can schedule a one-on-one phone or skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week-long expat insider seminar in central america Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan b send me an email the expat files at gmail.com No spamos