Since I was in the neighborhood, I paid a little visit to the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, this week.. Seems there have been some changes in their requirements to obtain visas and permits to enter the country.. I previously reported that you could get visas with a notarized certification of nationality instead of a birth certificate.. That has changed and the birth certificate is required.. The notarized statement is no longer acceptable.. I'm sure that this will not affect any of the ones who are making this ride with us.. just passing this information along FYI.. There will be some other changes coming along in April.. The local Consulates will be allowed, by the Mexican government .. to issue and cancel visas and permits.. The current system allows them to issue those documents now, but the stop at Immigration in Mexico is mandatory to validate the documentation.. You also are required to stop at their Immigration facility when you exit Mexico in order to cancel the visa and permit. After April 1st, the documents can be issued, canceled and validated at your local Mexican Consulate.. which will eleminate the Immigration stop in Mexico.. of course, the Customs inspection stop will still be required.. Visits to the Border towns will not be affected, as I understand it, but the American INS are also changing their re-entry policies.. hmmm.. That one is a little bit unclear, at this point.. Regards Bill Walker Irving
