Mexicos last hope...

[The Johnny]

Sounds pretty easy. Least you don't have to tell Homeland Security how you fuck your wife... Mind you longest you'll get on a none working none student visa to anywhere from anywhere is 3 - 6 months anyways.

The belts and shoes thing eh?

Just like every other airport / embassy in the world then eh? It's pretty much also SOP to make a very early advance appointment with ~any~ embassy. Luckily I can dodge that till 2016, but I already got my appointment booked for renewing my passport.

If your expecting to wander over to the EU to work or visit, and expect it to be nice and easy, enjoy being wrong, from what I hear from people going the other way than I did, its JUST AS ANNOYING 'HARD*' & EXPENSIVE.

You can't wander about from one country to the other easily, specially if you have plans of staying. Mind you, just head to the UK and attempt to claim some sort of amnesty, I hear that works great.

Also 'Green Card Lottery' is for when you are trying to obtain a work permit, which, afaik you don't need for a tourist visa to enter the USA, even from Mexico. I asked my neighbors, since they mostly come from there, and their relatives visit pretty often, so I don't see it being that big of a song and dance.



*filling out forms is relatively difficult yes.  . .

Well yes, the visiting visa i agree its usually 3-6 months, but the difference is that the USA makes it a big hassle, compared to what ive seen of other countries. This goes along with DP comment, that you need a bank statement to show you can actually afford to spend money while visiting, and you arent just on a one-way trip so to speak. Also, they do some sort of risk assesment, at some point after highschool when i was in a band, i applied to visit, but since i wasnt studying they called me high risk and denied it.

I think the belt/shoes thing is USA protocol for embassies only, if someone knows for sure, correct me. Airport security in the USA figures its like that, but not the last time i took an in-country flight within Mexico.

The UK ive heard is horrible with immigration. Look, just my overall point is that the USA makes a big hassle for people to visit or stay, and my fuzz with it is that theres equally interesting countries that are easier to go to.

Theres a small technicality with crossing the border legally by ground, its much easier, idk why that is, but ive seen it firsthand; its terribly different to get a permit to fly to New York or anything that isnt California, than crossing the border with your car thru Tijuana, specially if its a one day permit thing.

[The Johnny]

Lopez Obrador is the SOCIALIST might be candidate. He lost 4 years ago to conservative PAN party by about 3%... a lot of people called fraud, made a big fuzz, but then nothing much came of it.

He probably will run for 2012 for PRD or a coalition with Green and PT.

BTW, working illegally is a win/lose position from the capitalist/immigrant point of view. Teabaggers, of course, that are ideologically driven, dont care about money or logic...

Ok, so then I encourage you to move here and gain American citizenship. Doesn't matter anyway, America is fucked.

Theres a thing called the "Green Card Lottery" which is just ridiculous.

Look, to get a tourist visa, they make you jump thru fucking hoops, such as making an appointment to get to the embassy 6 months in advance. You have to get there 2 hours early. You have to go into a 2 mile line of people. YOU HAVE TO TAKE OFF BELTS AND SHOES and pass thru 3 security checkpoints. Then you have to fillout forms, wait for another 2 hours. Talk to an immigration agent. THEN you get a 3 month permit to travel.

Fuck that. Fuck that in the A. For that much hassle id much rather go to Europe. x10000000000000000

I did some reading on the process because I'll eventually want my son and his mother to come visit the states from mexico.  Is it true that you need to be able to provide proof of income in some form, like a minimum bank balance, in order to get a tourist visa to the states?

In fact, I may have several other questions you might help me with, as soon as I can remember the rest of them.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hold on, i mean, you are married and have a son, i wouldnt expect it to be so hard to get her over to the USA.

Surely you can expect a lot of paperwork, but im 90% positive she can live with you in a relatively short ammount of time.

I know a lot of people that partied across the border and dated American girls, then they eventually got married, had kids, and they could stay. Not entirely sure if one can work straight away do.

[Disco Pickle]

Yeah, from what I can gather, you should be pretty good, its the working that's the sticky point.

that the USA makes it a big hassle, compared to what Ive seen of other countries.

Yeah. Yes, yes and quadruple yes. Its a pretty dehumanizing, not to mention bloody expensive process. My main point of contention is this.

I know this wont apply for most people, but, I ended up overstaying a 3 month B/D visa, then filing a USCIS - I-129F, after we got married, which had a 150$ filing fee on it. Now, with this, all I get is a placeholder in a que, and the chance to spend double that on the next lot of forms and so on, for about five levels of forms.

The   part? How, does a person who is not able to work, legally earn the money for the forms when you cant work to earn the money without the forms. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

All in all, its looking at a 3 - 5 year wait and about 3000$ on forms to get the chance to POSSIBLY get into that "Green Card Lotto" you mentioned.

My point is, how, could someone of below average income in Mexico, or from anywhere else for that matter even hope to afford this shit? it's bad bollocks man. Catch 22-tastic.

Surely you can expect a lot of paperwork, but im 90% positive she can live with you in a relatively short am mount of time.

I know a lot of people that partied across the border and dated American girls, then they eventually got married, had kids, and they could stay. Not entirely sure if one can work straight away do.

Fingers crossed I hope it all works out for ya Pickle.

Again, its the working that's going to be a pain in the arse if she does ever decide to relocate. That and the constant threat of being deported for breaking any laws, leaving the county, the mind killing waiting times and the generally fucking shitty attitude people have towards immigrants is flaying my soul alive. D:

Also, having your wife and kid in a different country must fucking suck.

oh no, it's worse than that..  she backed out of the engagement when she got pregnant after I had already begun filing paperwork with an immigration lawyer and given him a shit ton of money to get her a fiance visa.  She then tried to convince me to move back to Mexico and try and find work and live there.

=/

I might have done it except that I don't have a degree in any field I am proficient in, I just have the knowledge and work experience to actually DO the job. 

Mexico doesn't like giving out FM3's to people without degrees from what I understand.  Word on the street is that if a Mexican can do the job, they don't want a foreigner, so they like to attract people with a specialty.

alternatively, if you invest $100,000 in their market (donate it maybe? I was never clear on exactly who it goes to) they'll GIVE you a work visa.

so yeah, we're not together.  She's kind of ruined it by basically saying she thinks she'd be miserable if she came here, and wants me to go there and try and support a family as an American immigrant to Mexico, with no official college degree, in a job climate worse than here.

Ive decided to stay here and keep my engineering job and support my son from afar for now. 

shit sux, but what you gonna do..  bitches is crazy.

[Disco Pickle]

aw, fuck man, sorry to hear that.

All my neighbors seem happy as hell to be here (we live in the poorer end of the town, so all bar one of our apartments are mexican people. For what its worth in my experience I've found irl americans are nothing like the TV show kind, the xbox live kind, or the horrible kind that vacation in your country and bitch about it constantly

From what I hear, Mexico is far more terrifying.

I loved the place.  D.F. was a little intimidating and I wouldn't want to be a gringo wandering the streets at night, but Veracruz and Isla Mujeres/Cancun were awesome when I lived there. 

Like anywhere else, there are parts of town you shouldn't go, and just watch your ass in general.

I had no complaints, except the taxi drivers who assumed because I was a whitey that I didn't speak spanish, or know the city layout and would try and drive me around for 30 minutes for a 5 minute ride.  Those silly fuckers always made a funny face when I called em out in spanish and only agreed to pay what they charge other mexicans.