In recent decades, immigration to the United States has reached historic proportions. Many observers liken this large and sustained wave of immigration to the Great Migration at the beginning of the 20... read more

You are entitled to bring/take/send the following items, depending upon your FM status (immigration status). 1. FMT (Tourist) Under the FMT you can bring in: -Articles for your personal use, such as... read more

Health is a major concern for all of us, as it has such a huge impact on the quality of life. This index explores different areas of health care and healthy living options for people living in Mexico. ... read more

INDEX Labor Law The Work Relationship Employee Privileges Benefits Safety Work Schedules Salary Termination ... read more

Myth #1: "Americans don't vote again until 2008." WRONG. Americans go to the polls on November 7, 2006 to elect all 435 members of the House of Representatives, 33 Senators and 36 Governors. For ... read more

What's the Plan Man? We all have a "Plan" that distributes the property we own when we pass away. The difference is that some of us are familiar with our plan, others are not. Those with foresight hav... read more

How safe is tourist travel in Mexico? This question rates among the most controversial on any Internet forum about Mexico. Crime is a complex subject woven deep in any country's social fabric. The foll... read more

The two cultures - Mexican and U.S. - come together in a thoughtful way in this interesting novel, which is set in both countries. The story concerns a group of Mexican illegal immigrants who travel north in May each year to work in the cherry orchards in northern Michigan. They are from the village of La Purísima in Michoacán. It's a community inhabited solely by elderly people and women and children during the picking season when all the men head north on what has become their annual rite of passage. It's perhaps more than that. read more

This is a well-organized and clearly presented compilation of data about this country that any newcomers - and some old-timers, too - could use. read more

This was intended to be a straightforward article on driving to Nogales from Guadalajara and back, with information on tolls, distances, hotels, restaurants, etc. However, a young Chicano in a brand new truck changed all that on our return journey. Hence, the use of the word "accident" in the title of this piece. Our little escapade has been a salutory learning experience and perhaps I can pass on a few things we learned to people who might face similar difficulties some day. read more

I'm filled with admiration and respect for The Insider's Guide. Its 368 pages are so complete and comprehensive and so well thought out and so well organized. Teresa Kendrick and her colleagues have done a wonderful job of providing and packaging a full authoritative range of information, not only for long and short-term residents of the Lake Chapala area but also for those many people who seem to be contemplating coming here either to live as permanent retiree-residents or as snowbirds. read more

So you are an American in Mexico, married to a Mexican citizen and want to move to the U.S.; maybe to work, visit family, go to school or some combination. This short description is the required proces... read more

All foreigners to Mexico who apply for and receive an FM3 permanent residence document are carefully instructed by the Mexican officials that the newly documented resident has the one-time right to imp... read more

Mexico's ornate old churches are beautiful and romantic settings for weddings. Saturdays there always seem to be three brides at the charmin... read more

FM-T Tourist The basic entrance immigration status for tourists is the FM-T. It is valid for a maximum of 180 days and is issued at your point of entry into Mexico-either at a border crossing or an ai... read more

This is a topic that some people do not like to face, as it makes them think about their own mortality. Unfortunately, if we want to take care of our loved ones or a favorite charity, we must face this... read more

- The main objective of Social Security is to guarantee the right to good health, medical assistance, the protection of the means of subsistence and the necessary social services for the collective and individual well being, as well as the assignment of a pension that complies to the legal requirements that should be guaranteed by the state.

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When Immigration or IMSS decide to make changes to rules and or requirements, these are usually very minor, such as income amounts, and the cost of the actual documents. However, over the past two mont... read more

Traveling to Mexico   Planning a trip to Mexico? Coming to see if this is where you may want to retire? Actually moving to Mexico? Everyone has their own reason to visit this beautiful part of the w... read more

Here are two widely varying topics. Marriage, everyone loves to talk about. Divorce, not a very popular topic. Fortunately, or unfortunately, they are facts of life. Many people come to us inquiring ab... read more

Immigration's prices are normally due for increase every January. Although they failed to increase the rates for services in 2005 and 2006, we are not so fortunate this year. These are the taxes that ... read more

In the past several years the basic requirements for immigration to Mexico have not changed, but the explanations of these requirements are somewhat unclear. We see this confusion everyday, so we are g... read more

In an effort to educate as many people as this column can reach, we touched on many legal issues surrounding our lives in Mexico. Our office deals with many issues that we are faced with each and every... read more

It would seem we owe a big thank you to all the readers of this article. I think the greatest compliment to us is when we have members of the community asking us to write on a specific topic. Some of t... read more

We talked about this subject a few months ago, but in the past two months we have worked with three cases of people being ripped off for their deposits. Two were deposits on purchasing a house, and one... read more