My name is Felipe. I´m an immigrant.After living in Mexico almost a decade, building a house, marrying a native, becoming a citizen, and having no plans to return to the United States ever, a light bulb finally lit up in the mental attic.
This old boy is an immigrant.
We went to our online dictionary to see the difference between expatriate and immigrant, and it says this:
An expatriate is someone who is voluntarily absent from his home country. Well, that applies, and yours truly has considered himself an expat since moving south.
But an immigrant is someone who moves to another country in order to settle there. Sounds like an expat is keeping his options open. And an immigrant has made up his mind.
Yours truly is an immigrant. Mind´s made up.
Now it´s difficult to get a grasp on this notion. Don´t immigrants eat matzah balls? Don´t they dance the Barynya?
Don´t they hail from places like Minsk or Killarney?
Don´t they look goofy?
Like this guy to your left?It seems that almost all Americans who have moved to Mexico think of themselves, as we did, as expats. You never hear the word immigrant.
And looking at Gringos who live in Mexico, you see they keep their U.S. license plates on their cars. I imagine you´d find U.S. driver´s licenses in most of their wallets.
Their cars are insured with inexpensive tourist coverage they buy up north of the border.
Many think becoming a Mexican citizen is spooky, so they live here with visitor visas. Or even tourist visas.
Clearly, they are expats. And that´s okay. They are voluntarily away from their home country, but they have not really decided to settle here. They don´t dance the Barynya.
We do dance the Barynya, and we´re gonna make some matzah balls this very moment. Swimming in salsa. ¡Andale!
30 comments:
Each time I spring the question "Are you an expatriate or an immigrant?" upon Estadounidense foreigners, I'm met with a look of shock and disbelief. That is, after I have been corrected (Who are these people, anyway, who would dare correct me?) that they're unquestionably *expatriots.* They can't even spell the word correctly.
It is amazing to find Estadounidenses living in Mexico longer than either of us, who have near-perfect command of the language, who have no ideations about returning to the Mother Land, but who are shocked at the very idea of becoming a Mexican citizen. You practically get the impression that they'd sooner change their gender than adopt a second nationality. Ni modo.
My Texas driver's license will expire next year. Can you give me any good reason why it should be renewed? I mean, my Michoacan driver's license is perfectly good.
Ah, Ms. Rose, it does not surprise me that this subject pulled you out of the woodwork.
I got my Michoacán DL the first year I was here, and my Texas license ran out a couple years later. No problem. Did not renew it. The Mexican license is good on both sides of the border.
I peek on Mexico-related forums populated by Gringos now and then, and it astonishes me how complicated so many folks keep their lives down here by trying to juggle things on both sides of the border. I see constant hair-pulling and fretting.
I have found that the more you cut loose from up there and the more you live totally down here, the simpler life becomes. I recommend it.
There is an irony. I am a middle-of-the-road man politically, but it appears that the majority, likely a huge majority, of Gringos living in Mexico are left-wingers, many of whom harbor strong anti-American sentiments. Yet they keep one of their feet planted firmly in U.S. soil.
I, on the other hand, am wildly pro-American but here I am, almost totally Mexican. Go figger.
I did it for one reason only: It´s just easier. I´m quite lazy.
As Ram Dass would say:
Just let go.
as an imigrant wannabe...i was dissappointed last year when they changed the requirement from 5 years of fm3 to 5 years of fm2....since i have 4 years left after getting my fm2...it is now a race against father time..
of course i could marry a guapa like you but the current esposa would undoubtedley protest
finally...i did not know my mexican drivers license was good in the north...is that true in all 48??
Memo, of course a Mexican DL is good anywhere up north. What do you think your average Mexican uses when he, for instance, flies to the U.S. and rents a car?
Ah, Felipe. You and Jennifer, being the bright children of the Enlightenment that you are, have perfectly parsed the legal and psychological distinctions between being an expatriate and an immigrant. My great-great-great grandfather became an immigrant when the Hanoverian pretender to the throne decided that the Highlands needed to be cleared of those pesky rebellious Scots. He was undoubtedly happier to leave the Old World than to arrive in the New World, but, onc e there, I am certain he was more than happy to set down roots. No fine cafes on the Left Bank for him -- what most of us think about when we hear the term "expatriate." In our hearts, we want to sit in Harry's Bar with Beckett, Dos Passos, Fitzgerald, and Stein as we discuss where we will live next. Because I think that is the soul of the expatriate. Romantic wanderlust. As for me, I am neither immigrant or exapatriate, at this point. If being an expatriate is dining on "the moveable feast," I am simply a glorified tourist picking over the cold cut tray.
Steve, you will be elated to learn there is a Harry´s Bar in San Miguel de Allende. It beckons you with oysters on the half shell, New Orleans-style.
I'm steering clear of this one except to say, I never intend to go back to the USA. There are financial reasons not to give up the FM-3 also. Like, I don't have the money to buy a Mexican car so I have the old 98 Pathfinderwith US plates and probably will til I'm six feet under.....etc. So, I'm into my 8th year of an FM-3 but I think of myself as a citizen of Mexico. Who cares? I guess I qualify as an immigrant. Unless someone picks my pocket and finds out I have an FM-3...It's really whats in your heart, not your pocket.
I suppose that some "hang on" thinking that they will need it at some time as they are airlifted out to some hoity-toity medical center to try and squeeze out more life out of an already dreary life. Or perhaps the possible stigma of being considered a Mexican... You know the ones, the ones that I always question why they are even here… if it so social questionable...(Probably be cause they got tossed out of the country club for some repeated indiscretions)
We were indoctrinated at an early age to believe that the only civilized country in the whole world was the US of A. Which possibly contributes to the “hanging on” factor.
If you decide to live here then by all means, do so with some fortitude....
Cars can be made Mexican. Life is so much easier. Ahhhh. . .
Expatriate or an immigrant? Much ado about nothing me thinks. In both cases a bunch of red tape to obtain a label and status - for what - impress friends?
I was born in the United States - not my choice. I relocated to Mexico - my choice. On that basis which am I more a part of?
It seems the label immigrant rather than expatriate has a certain elitism attached to it. We are here rather than there regardless of the label, and I doubt being an immigrant rather than an expatriate makes you any better a person (this is a generalization - nothing personally directed amigo).
I gotta stand with Babs on this one - Home is where the heart is, or wear you currently hang your hat - the rest is nonsense.
Constantino, I think it´s an unconscious fear. They don´t want to listen to Ram Dass.
Of course, I could be mistaken. It sure happens.
Señor Calypso, I would vote that expatriate sounds more elitist than immigrant, not the other way around. Expatriate has a certain pizzaz to it which immigrant lacks to my ears.
But you miss my point, I believe. I'm not talking of words or labels or anything high-falootin' but practicality. Moving here 100 percent simplifies life. It´s the lazy man´s way.
Well it sure does sound more elitist. Expatriate sounds adventurous, carefree, "cool". The word immigrant has certain stigma, for the reasons we all know. I guess being one or the other is all about commitment, like getting married, you either sign the paper or you don't. It is your choice, it is all good, but it certainly makes things easier. I am an immigrant.
Ale, I just went downstairs to have some cereal, thought of a great analogy, only to come back upstairs and see you have beat me to it.
Let me put my own spin on it:
Though I was not addressing the citizenship issue specifically, but also other aspects, in the post, that seems to be what it has come down to here at the moment.
Besides making life far easier to live in Mexico, becoming a citizen might be compared to a marriage certificate. Some people, almost always men, say: "Let´s just live together. Why get married? It´s just a piece of paper." They are, of course, only interested in regular meals, clean shirts, and nookie.
However, women know better. The marriage certificate is far more than a piece of paper. And anyone who actually gets married (as opposed to just shacking up) well knows, it brings a huge attitude change. Life gets better (well, unless you marry the governor of South Carolina).
Getting married is fun. (God knows I´ve done it often enough.) Becoming a citizen is fun too. You get to vote. You get to wave two passports around. You never have to fret about when your visa expires. You´re just a regular person again.
And you still get your nookie.
Ale, you always impress me. Your English, which is not your first language, is better than some of the Gringos who pass through here. I hope someday to speak Spanish as well as you speak English, but that´s not likely. You have a gift of youth that has long passed me by. I wish you well.
"Señor Calypso, I would vote that expatriate sounds more elitist than immigrant, not the other way around. Expatriate has a certain pizzaz to it which immigrant lacks to my ears."
To your ears I can't argue other than to say perhaps you conjure up negative connotations to immigrant because of the 'illegal' often attached, which never works for me being a libertarian I prefer 'undocumented'.
It is just that so many immigrants seem to sport a resentful attitude about those who have not made the effort they have. I think the Mexican that has immigrated into the U.S. far more dislikes their undocumented brethren than even the staunch American red-neck that wants the BIG wall put up fast (East Germany comes to mind here - especially now that you apparently have to pass through U.S. Border Patrol to get out of that country).
Being a libertarian I resent anyone throwing up qualification and expenses to obtain some egalitarian status of acceptance.
I am a citizen of the planet earth and may even be slighting some unknown neighbors at that.
Ah, Señor Calypso, you remain in the ethereal realms of principles and political theory while I am speaking solely of the far greater everyday convenience and ease of living in Mexico as a bona fide Mexican.
(Maybe someday your One World will come. I, hand in hand with you, would welcome it, but I wouldn´t put money on it ever happening.)
Funny you should mention that Mexicans who legally emigrate to the U.S. probably look unkindly on their brethren who steal across the border. I really don´t know about that. Could be.
But I know that my sister-in-law dislikes those illegals who go up there, stay a while and return with big trucks, a few English words peppering their Spanish, and what she considers a very snotty attitude toward their paisanos here at home who have never made "the trip." Her attitude amuses me. I wonder how common it is.
But back to the matter at hand: That if one intends to live in Mexico for the remainder of one´s days, it makes sense to become a Mexican.
I communicate face-to-face rarely with Gringos here, but I do pay attention to forums where I read of little constant annoyances with car registrations, insurance, Gringo driver´s licenses, visas, how you should not say this or that because "we are guests here." The little worries seem interminable for these permanent "guests."
All of which can be eliminated by becoming a real Mexican. And becoming just another regular José.
I can´t describe adequately the glee I felt at voting against AMLO. Given the close vote margin, I may have been the Mexican who put my main man Calderón in Los Pinos! I hope so.
Unquestionably, foreigners who cling to their FM-3 status like a static-filled nylon slip, insisting "It's for the car," never move beyond the status of a non-immigrant. Never mind that they'd still have a good five+ years on their temporarily-imported foreign-plated car under the FM-2, an immigrant status, they refuse to budge, fearful that the 18-month limitation on being absent from Mexico would be just too burdensome. Living from renewal to renewal of what is essentially a year-long tourist visa isn't a move toward permanency.
Hanging out at Mailboxes, Etc. like a Cargo cult worshipper of John Frum, waiting for packages from the MotherLand, joining Democrats Abroad, and engaging just a little too vigorously in charitable works are signs distinguishing the expatriate from the immigrant.
Actually, I went to the new Mailboxes Etc. in Morelia last week to see what it was all about, only to discover it quite pricey. I would love to get CARE packages from the Motherland conveniently. Fruitcake from Collin Street Bakery, whatever, all that good stuff available in Gringolandia. But I don´t want it at the Mailbox price.
And I´ve always voted Democratic, but I don´t want to schmooz with others simply because the vote the same way.
And I once was interested in charitable work, but it never happened, and I got lazy. And married.
But being a citizen sure makes life easy here, he said, dwelling on that point, yet again.
To Babs:
At yucatanliving.com there is an article about how to make your gringo car Mexican. It is a complete hassle, but possible.
More generally, it'd be interesting to see how many Mexicans in the USA consider themselves expats vs immigrants. As many hang on to the mother tongue, cuisine, and culture, they too seem to have a foot on the other side.
Perhaps it's human nature that it's difficult to give your self up completely to something else.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
Where I often feel like an expat from California, and not really a Bostonian, a status with which the "true" Bostonians would likely agree.
Soy inmigrante rentista, I have imported my car and been issued Michoacan placas, I have Michoacan operator permits for a car and cycle, my banking is at the local HSBC office and don't beleive all you hear, I changed my status from FM3 to FM2 after my segundo prorroga. Life is truly good here.
Kim, I imagine Mexicans living in the U.S. (the minute minority with papers) are simply quite happy. My wife would love to live there.
Yes, making a big switch from one world to another is difficult.
Some comments here may have flown a tad over the wire. You can live here in two ways: as a permanent guest or you can become a Mexican citizen. I don´t think assimilation happens, ever. The cultures, the mindsets, are too different.
Most live here as guests forever, and there is nothing wrong with that, though there are lots of little inconveniences to it. I do not understand clearly why people do that to themselves.
There is a tendency on the part of folks in my situation, I believe, to giggle at the permanent guests. It´s certainly my tendency (Do forgive). It´s hard to avoid in part because we know how their lives would improve if they´d just go the whole nine yards.
But they don´t, and that´s okay. But we do have fun with them.
Ric is a fellow here in Pátzcuaro who is chugging along the route to doing it right, but I think he´s planning to stop at the Immigrant level which comes after a spell with the FM2. He came down about, I believe, three or so years ago with his Gringo car, immediately bought a condo (generally an error, but it worked out for him, luckily), got an FM3, then got an FM2, made his car Mexican and with time will be a flown-blown Immigrant, leaving lots of the little headaches behind him.
Becoming an Immigrant pretty much does what becoming a citizen does, but it falls a bit short. You cannot vote, for instance, and there are some other things, but it offers a far less complicated life than does being a permanent visitor.
Ric demonstrated that you do not have to have an FM3 five years before getting an FM2.
Perhaps Ric would be kind enough to share with us the degree of difficulty he faced getting his Gringo car Mexicanized. I would be interested, and I imagine others would be too.
Guess that makes me a super elitist. For I am, all at once, a Mexican by birth and therefore already a citizen, and I will be an expat as well since I hold a certificate of U.S. citizenship, as well as an immigrant once I move to Mexico and formalize my Mexican citizenship with a Mexican certificate of citizenship and whatever else they require of me.
Confused? Yeah, so am I. Seems I will have to jump though yet another set of Mexican hoops to prove my loyalty to the nation of perverted legalities. Holy Haysooooos!!! It never ends.
Heck. All I want is to live out my golden years in peace, but no! Who really knows what will happen once I get down there. Some one even told me at a consulate here in Texas that since I am a Mexican by birth, I cannot obtain an FM3. Then what? Do I just evaporate and disappear?? That same person also told me that my window for declaring my dual citizenship may have already passed. Who hires these people?
I will throw myself at the mercy of the authorities in Queretaro and let them handle it. I bet someone in the building will know what to do with me. For my husband we shall go the FM3 route for sure, buy him a Mexican pickup at Ford de Mexico down the road, and forget about it. (Or maybe since he married a Mexican citizen he can go the fast track...????) Dios mio!!!
Being an elitist ain't no fun at all!
ml
Importing the car was easy. I sent my title to a very trusted Mexican friend who visited the oficina de aduana and paid my import fees of about $4549.00 MNP. I then took the "pedimento" to the local oficina de renta along with my title, paid an addtional $798.91 MNP for the placas (includes 2008 tenencia of $93.91 MNP). Start to finish time 8 days.
Wow, ML, sounds like you´re gonna have fun. Lots of complications awaiting. Be patient.
Ric, thanks for the rundown. Sounds pretty simple. I had a good amigo here, who has since died, who did that switch in Pátzcuaro about six years back, and it was a real headache. Appears the system has improved considerably. Actually, my amigo did not find it all that complicated, if I recall correctly. It simply took a long, long time for the office to get around to doing it.
Again,
There's a very detailed article at yucatanliving.com about how to import a US car to Mexico. Pain in the ass, but it can be done.
Saludos,
Kim G
Boston, MA
You can live here in two ways: as a permanent guest or you can become a Mexican citizen. I don´t think assimilation happens, ever. The cultures, the mindsets, are too different.
As I was reading the comments, I was thinking this same thing, Felipe. I have 10 years in Mexico, and while one day I may become a Mexican citizen, I will never be Mexican. I am American not only by citizenship, but by culture. The best I can do is adapt to this culture. Like you, I believe that assimilation is not possible.
-Lynda
"De ninguna manera volveré a México. No soporto estar en un país más surrealista que mis pinturas." -Salvador Dalí
Lynda, it is said, and I sure believe it, that there are no two peoples more different living side by side anywhere in the world. The U.S.-Mexico border is a stark dividing line.
I do not know if you are married to a Mexican, as I am. It sure gives one a clearer view of what´s going on around us every day. I never cease to marvel at it, at its ongoing screwball nature. Always interesting if often frustrating.
Love that Dali quote. Never seen it before.
Not married, but living with a Mexican man for 5 years. Life certainly is never dull or routine. In a relationship with someone from the same culture, it's easy to assume certain reactions, outlooks, feelings, etc from the other person. But one thing I've learned in a relationship with a man from a culture with some vast and significant differences from my own - it is best to assume nothing.
I love that Dalí quote as well. I first saw it last month at the "Rodin...Dalí: Del Mito al Sueño" exhibit that was in Leon. At the time, I don't think my boyfriend really understood why I loved the quote so much.
Later that afternoon, in the span of a few hours, we saw: A clown, wearing a cowboy hat, leading pack-laden burros through the center of Guanajuato; A lone cow, eating the grass growing between the cracks in the cement of the parking lot for a high-end swanky hotel; A transvestite, dressed like a hooker, hitch-hiking on a small dirt road up in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere with no homes or businesses in sight, in the middle of the day; A life-sized shrine to La Virgen de Guadalupe, at the entrance to an hourly motel.
Each time, I turned to my boyfriend and said, "I think THIS is what Dalí is talking about"
By the way, I love your blogs - for the content, for your observations/opinions on life in Mexico (sans rose-colored glasses), and also because you are a very talented writer.
-Lynda
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