Expats Like Us
A podcast series exploring life as a U.S. Expat in Mexico. Topics include preparing to move to a new country, navigating your new home and finding your passion as a retiree.
Expats Like Us
Answers from a U.S. Consular Agent in Mexico
Ever wondered what it takes to assist American expats and travelers in a foreign land? Today, we offer you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at US consular services through the eyes of Heather Andersen Cayer, a dedicated US consular agent based in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Heather shares her journey from working in tourism and bartending to becoming a pivotal figure in consular services since 2016. Her stories reveal the often overlooked yet critical role these agencies play, from issuing emergency passports to providing support during crises, showcasing the immense relief they bring to US citizens abroad.
Our discussion takes you through the nuanced distinctions between US consulates and consular agencies in Mexico. We break down how consulates, operating under the embassy’s umbrella, handle a broad range of services, including visas, while consular agencies focus on emergency and routine services. Discover the specific roles of consulates and agencies in Quintana Roo, Yucatan, and Campeche, and gain insights into the challenges posed by the visa application backlog post-pandemic. Plus, we offer essential travel tips, emphasizing the importance of adhering to local regulations, carrying proper identification, and the need for travel medical insurance.
Finally, we cover practical advice on navigating the Mexican healthcare system and planning for unexpected events abroad, including obtaining a US death certificate and dealing with legal matters. Heather's personal anecdotes provide a realistic glimpse into the expat experience, from initial excitement to a balanced view of life in a new country. As we wrap up our first season, we reflect on the idea that home is defined by the memories we create and encourage you to explore the world for personal growth. Join us and learn how proactive planning and understanding consular services can make your international adventures smoother and more enjoyable.
We are incredibly thankful for engagement and stories from our listeners, who have found their own sense of 'home' across the globe. Stay tuned as we continue to share the wisdom and wanderlust of those who've charted their unique international courses. We'd love to hear your comments and questions. Email them to expatslikeus@gmail.com
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I get it Like. I can get the anxiety that you can feel and a lot of times I can see it coming on our on our cameras. I can see someone Okay, I can see they've lost a passport because they're. You can see they're freaking out. Hey, it's okay, just calm down, we're going to get you home. You know what? We can get you an emergency passport in 24 to 72 hours. Don't worry, you're going to be okay. And I can visibly see them kind of go like they feel like I'm like this is, honestly, of all the things that could happen to you, this is like the least. This is the least bad thing that could happen. We are not in the business of keeping us citizens out of the U? S. We will help you get your passport and get you back to the U S. Welcome to expats like us exploring the world of U?
Speaker 2:S expat life in Mexico. Welcome to Expats Like Us exploring the world of US expat life in Mexico. In each episode, we'll meet new people and hear their personal stories. We'll also learn more about the expat life and get a few tips on everything from making your move to settling in and living your dream. Let's dive in. One of the most important things for US citizens living or traveling abroad to know is that the US government offers some services, even though you live or travel in a different country as an exprat abroad. You may not even be aware that the US consular agency is there to turn to until a situation arises where you need their help. A consular agency focuses primarily on providing services such as issuing passports and providing assistance during emergencies. Today, we are thrilled to be talking to Heather Anderson-Caye, a US consular agent who lives and works in Playa del Carmen, mexico.
Speaker 3:Hi Heather, how are you doing?
Speaker 1:I'm great, thank you. It's hot, but it's air conditioned in the office, so we're doing well.
Speaker 3:Okay, great, hey, first could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to work at the US Consular Agency in Playa del Carmen?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I've been in Playa del Carmen since 2004,. So it's been almost. It'll be 20 years on July 4th. I very intentionally kind of chose July 4th as being an American independent spirit and wanting to head off into the world and I thought I'd try it for six months to a year, see how it went. And I've been here for 20 years and I worked initially in tourism in Playa del Carmen, worked for a Mexican salary for a Mexican company, and then, I think, 11 years into that job, I was also bartending to make ends meet, because I don't know if you know that Mexican salaries can be very low.
Speaker 1:And then this opportunity someone actually three or four people sent me. I didn't know anything about the US government or the presence of the consular agency. I had never had cause to use it, and several people said you would be so great for this job. They're hiring for a concierge or agent in Playa del Carmen. You should apply. And I had been volunteering in multiple charities in the area, which is, I think, why people kind of suggested that I apply and I applied for the job in 2015. It took, I was accepted, I was offered the position and then it took almost a year, 10 months for me to get the required clearances and, believe it or not, at that time, it was pretty hard, probably for anyone else, to actually pass the clearances in glial carbon at that point, so maybe that's why I went to the top of the list. I'm not sure, but I've been working for the agency since 2016, april, and so I just passed, I think, my seven-year mark.
Speaker 2:Great Congratulations, thank you my seven-year mark.
Speaker 3:Great Congratulations, thank you. So what exactly is the difference between a US consulate?
Speaker 1:and a US consular agency. Okay, the way that I always think of it is, the embassy is a country's kind of mothership. That's the big one. That's the big one, and underneath the umbrella of the embassy, for example, in Mexico, there are nine consulates and the nine consulates are located in various locations in Mexico. Now, sometimes they have been there since nine consulates and the nine consulates are located in various locations in Mexico. Now, sometimes they have been there since the 1800s, some of these consulates, and since they're far away, tourists will start to appear and things will start to happen to US citizens in locations that may be far from a consulate. So that's how they determined how to open agencies. And so, from the nine consulates that are under the umbrella of the embassy, there's also nine consular agencies, and there is one agent, an agent without an agency. She's in Cozumel. My colleague, terry so Quintana Roo, has the highest, I think the highest number of US citizen travelers, visitors to this area, and so we have two consular agencies, one in Cancun and one in Playa del Carmen, and one in the agent that works in Cozumel that handles emergency services.
Speaker 1:What an agency does is different from a consulate or an embassy. We handle, you know the same things that a consulate or an embassy might handle, but we do not handle anything that's visa-related. We don't have the training, we don't have the staff, anything that's visa related we don't have the training, we don't have the staff and we only handle emergency services for the most part and some routine services we can lead you to how to renew your passport. We don't have here in Playa del Carmen. We do not have routine services anymore. We used to have appointments that you could make to renew your passport, but now Mexico has initiated Mission. Mexico has initiated all mail-in for adult passport renewals. So that's what we handle. That's the difference between the agency and the consulate no visas.
Speaker 2:So where is the nearest consulate at?
Speaker 1:You know if I did have visa issues.
Speaker 2:Where would I have to go to?
Speaker 1:You would have to go to Merida, the consulate in Merida. However, if you're in Mexico and you want to apply for a visa, you don't necessarily have to go to the one that's nearest to you. If you wanted to, you could, but you can look online. You can check the wait times for visa appointments. Basically, before you even get a chance to have an appointment, you have to pay online to get your visa and fill out the form and do all of the requirements they require, and then you start the waiting period for when you get it.
Speaker 1:In Mission Mexico the backlog is quite extensive. Mexico is a very busy mission for visas and also after the pandemic, there was that three years where nobody was doing anything, and so there's a lot of backlog they're still working through. So you can check. You can check and go to any any of the visa issues, but if you do have visa issues, you would want to go through Merida here, and that's in the Yucatan, which is about three and a half hours from Playa del Carmen, and Merida's consulate. Their consular district is three Mexican states it's Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo and this is one of, I think, probably the busiest consulate in probably the world maybe.
Speaker 1:I think they have 9.7 million or 9.6 million US citizen tourists coming to their consular district every year and a pretty small team of people that work it. But most of the tourist stuff is concentrated in kind of in Quintana Rowe area. Merida is getting more tourists but a lot of times Merida's tourists are a little different than the tourists that will come here. They're maybe a little bit more worldly travelers, more accustomed to traveling and a different type of traveler. But we do see a lot of work. It's called special citizen services. Those are things that could happen to a US citizen. Anything that could happen to a US citizen we handle. Okay, what? Anything that could happen to a US citizen, we handle.
Speaker 3:Okay. What would be the website if people wanted to go on to make appointments?
Speaker 1:Well, to make an appointment. Actually, you can find all of this. All of it is under the umbrella of the embassy's website, which is mxusembassygov. So, if you want to add that in later, it's mxusembassygov G-O-V like Victor, not B like boy. Okay, and then you just they actually have everything routed through there and it kind of funnels you to the right location.
Speaker 2:What types of issues do you find most Americans most frequently need assistance from you for?
Speaker 1:Well, here in Playa del Carmen and this is what we're here for Someone just asked me this question today. They had had an incident at their hotel and I think, for example, a drunk person was knocking on their door and they were terrified and some of the ideas people have about Mexico. They were like, what are you? You know, are you going to come get me? And I was like, well, you know, this isn't like the. I don't have a helicopter that I can fly you to your, you know your hotel. And I'm like, if you're in trouble, call 911. We are here, we are guests in this country, and the U S government has no legal or law enforcement authority.
Speaker 1:So what our role is is to lead us citizens who have chosen to come to Mexico to the resources that are available to them locally, meaning, if you're here and you're in trouble and you're in danger and you're scared, don't call me. Call 911, please, please, call 911, because I can't help you. I have a stapler and a pair of scissors. I'm not going to be able to do much to protect you against something terrible happening to you. And also, this person I was just speaking with he was pretty upset Like what, what are you even doing here? What, what, what good are you?
Speaker 1:I said well, you know. Do you know where to call if someone dies, like? Do you know what funeral homes are reputable funeral homes? Do you know what happens if you get arrested? Do you know what lawyers to call here? You know it doesn't help to call a US lawyer. It doesn't help to call a US funeral home If the incident occurred in Mexico. You have to deal with the Mexican resources that are available. So that's what our role is. Our role is to say, oh, we've handled this a million times, no problem, here's who you need to call. I have the list right here and these are the procedures. This is how it usually goes. It's basically just kind of like having a friend that can tell you what you need to do and how things work.
Speaker 2:A friend who knows the area really well, exactly and with the right people.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. We maintain lists of contacts. I have three cell phones the duty phone, the emergency phone and my work phone, and then, of course, my personal phone, and on all three of those phones I have a wealth of contacts phone. And then, of course, my personal phone, and on all three of those phones I have a wealth of contacts. And if I don't know the answer to something, which is very possible I can usually find someone who will give me the answer and I'll get back to you. So basically, it's just kind of walking you through it, holding your hand in some cases and trying to tell you what to do, especially in cases of death, and you're grieving and you don't speak the language and you don't know what to do. You know we can. That's what we're here for at the consulate. We can lead you in the right direction.
Speaker 2:And I suppose help calm people down once in a while.
Speaker 1:I get it Like I can get the anxiety that you can feel, and a lot of times I can see it coming on our on our cameras. I can see someone okay, I can say they've emergency passport in 24 to 72 hours, don't worry, you're gonna be okay and I can visibly see them kind of go like they feel like I'm like this is, honestly, of all the things that could happen to you, this is like the least. This is the least bad thing that could happen. We are not in the business of keeping us citizens out of the us. We will help you get your passport and get you back to the US.
Speaker 2:And I suppose people you know a lot of people in the US, especially, like you said, in Merida. It's a little more sophisticated traveler, but people who come to Cancun for spring break or to you know they have a built-in level of nervousness, I'm sure.
Speaker 1:Right I mean. Well, a lot of them can be very, very young too, and a lot of people it may be their first time ever traveling outside the US, so they don't know what to expect. And I think, because Mexico is so close and because so many people here speak English, in this tourist serving tourist communities, I think people sometimes forget they're not actually in the US A lot of times. We have a lot of cases, for example, of people who board flights to fly down into Cancun with marijuana or guns and they end up getting arrested. I'm a US citizen, like I know, but you're a US citizen who broke the law in Mexico, unfortunately. So that's that's one important thing to say. Please don't bring marijuana or guns in your luggage. It's not permitted in Mexico. It is illegal in Mexico. So even if you're from a state where it's legal or you have a medical marijuana card even that I mean medical marijuana I think we've had cases, but people still get arrested for that. And then, even if you were able to get out of it or you're not put in jail for however many years, you still have to lose your vacation, the money that you've spent, and you have to deal with that rigmarole and hire an attorney and follow the laws of Mexico.
Speaker 1:My suggestion to everyone if anyone is listening today, hopefully they will read the travel information that is every single country in the world. The US Department of State has very expansive information on travelstategov G-O-V and it says international travel. You click on that and then it says learn about your destination and you click on that and you type in the country that you're visiting. For example, if you typed in Mexico, it would show you all the passport information how long your passport has to be valid for certain warnings for certain states. You go and you look it up and then, secondly, it's called STEP, s-t-e-p, like taking a step. It's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program and that is a way that you can log your stay to receive any kind of alerts or information that might change while you're traveling. You can let us know.
Speaker 1:I'm going to be in this area from this time to this time. I mean, obviously we will have your email address, we'll have your phone number or something. We won't necessarily be reaching out to you at all, but in the event that something happens, there's a hurricane or whatnot, we'll know you're in the area and we're going to try to reach out to you to make sure you get this information and you'll automatically get updates and alerts for anything that's going on in that area. So I highly recommend reading your travel information. Meaning do not bring guns and drugs into the country. Also, mexico is something that people don't know. Mexico does not allow you to bring e-cigarettes or e-liquid into their country. So people say, oh, I've gotten away with it. I'm like, yes, you probably have gotten away with it, but you could be stopped.
Speaker 2:And don't come crying to me when you do get in trouble.
Speaker 1:Well, they won't necessarily arrest you for something like that, but they're definitely at least going to confiscate it or maybe fine you. Customs may fine you, but they definitely will probably take it and throw it away if they find it. And even if you get away with it and they let it go, it's still the point is it's not legal and we tell you that. So please read that information, because there's a reason that we do it, probably just so we can go back and say see, I told you. No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 3:So if you're here on vacation, or maybe you live here as a permanent or temporary resident, is there a certain identification that you're required or should carry on yourself?
Speaker 1:Well, technically, I think, the Mexican law is that you should always be able to prove your legal status in the country. So me personally, living here, I have a resident card. I always carry my resident card. In the old days we used to have color copies because we were so scared of losing it. Now it's not so much of a hassle. If you lose your card, you can get a replacement. In the old days they made you start all over, so it was like terror to not carry your resident card. But now I always carry my resident card.
Speaker 1:I don't always have my passport on me because I have other forms of ID.
Speaker 1:I have my resident card and I have my credentials for being a consular agent, so I make sure I always have those and my driver's license, of course, if I'm driving. But my passport I keep a copy of it on my phone, that way in the event they were to ask me. But I can prove my status in the country is legal, but with my resident card. So what I suggest to people if they're traveling within Quintana Roo, if you're close to your hotel you're traveling out and about, don't carry your passport down the street because it worst case scenario. You've got a copy of it on your phone. Maybe take a copy of the entry stamp as well that proves your residency. Take a picture of the page where they stamped you coming in and then your bio page and then, if they really want to see it, you can say, okay, well, my hotel is here, let's go to my hotel, I can show you it. So that way at least you're covering yourself and you're not exposing your passport to unnecessary risk of being stolen or lost.
Speaker 2:So does that change at all if I'm going to be traveling from Quintana Roo to another state? My wife and I are going to San Miguel, and we're passing through several states on the way there.
Speaker 1:I always say, when you cross state lines, always have your passport with you. Okay, I mean, I don't know if that's Mexican law, I know that Mexican law. You're supposed to always be able to have your passport. Me personally, I wouldn't feel safe crossing state lines without having my passport with me. Right, okay, that's good. But if you go to the beach, don't just leave it on the beach, so please.
Speaker 2:Don't leave it sitting on the bar at the resort.
Speaker 1:Yeah, people are like well, I went snorkeling and I left my Rolex and my wallet and my Hermes bag. I'm like what?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's usually too long.
Speaker 1:I left my Rolex and my passport on the beach and then I came back and it was stolen. I'm like no way, Really, but I hid it in my shoe, so how did anyone ever find it? Right, exactly, I've heard people putting them inside diapers, acting like it's a dirty diaper or something. I'm thinking to myself, but then someone might come along and throw it away. Don't do that.
Speaker 2:So does your agency provide any assistance with, like medical emergencies and stuff if people suddenly get really ill or break a bone? That happens all the time.
Speaker 1:I'm really glad you brought that up because I would like to stress to US citizens because we don't seem we're one of the only countries in the world that seem to travel without being insured and I want to stress to people the importance of getting travel medical insurance, even if you have insurance in the United States, if you have, for example, medicare Medicaid that only covers you when you're in the United States, if you have, for example, medicare Medicaid that only covers you when you're in the United States. I think maybe in the future there may be some they may be making changes to the, to the rules that you may be able to get healthcare in Mexico as a retired person on Medicare. But for the moment I would suggest and my, my, my own parents are the number one people that I have taken by the lapels and shaken a little bit to say get the medical insurance, because basically, the, the policy, the protocols of private medical care in Mexico is you pay up front for any services. Now the health law Mexican health law is is they say that you cannot refuse service to someone. If it's a life and death, if it means they're going to die, you cannot refuse service. But once you're stable, they can kick you right out to the, to the general hospital and once you're, you know, but up front. If you go there with a broken leg or a broken arm or whatever, they can say, no, you need to pay me. Okay, we estimate it's going to be $5,000 or $10,000. You've got to pay upfront and if you don't have the ability to pay, they're not going to give you service. And Americans are outraged about this and they don't understand that. I think that's because they want to make sure they get paid Now, later on.
Speaker 1:If you have, even if you have insurance, a lot of times they won't work directly with your insurance companies. There are some hospitals and doctors that will, and if you live here and you have health insurance, my suggestion would be to reach out to various hospitals and say I have Aetna health insurance or I have Blue Cross, blue Shield. Would you work with this in the event that something happened to me, or would I have to come up with $50,000 upfront to be able to get treated at a private hospital? Otherwise, you go to the general hospital, which is very inexpensive and they're not bad doctors. It's not bad medical care. It's different from what we would be used to seeing in the US hospital and they have very few resources, very few supplies. A lot of times you need someone to advocate for you to go and like, say the doctor will give a list of like supplies that they need for you and your friend or your loved one will have to go, purchase these things and bring them back to the hospital. So, yeah, it's very different. My suggestion is just get the health insurance as far as us paying for it.
Speaker 1:When people say, well, don't you have medical, can't you pay for us to get treated, and I'm thinking to myself OK, in the US, does the US government pay for your medical care? It does not, you know, unless you have certain medical coverage for your job or whatnot, it certainly does not have the funds, the funding available, to pay for medical care outside the US. In certain extreme cases that are life and death cases and this is something that would happen once in a blue moon If someone is unaccompanied and they are going to die if they don't receive an air transfer or they don't receive medical care, we can offer loans to assist in that case. That it would be a loan to the person to assist them. But it's not an automatic thing you have to apply for it, or the family member that would be your next of kin that if you're not able to sign for it yourself, they would have to take on this on themselves and sign for the loan.
Speaker 1:But as far as just giving money, giving air transfer, the US government unfortunately cannot assist in medical cases. It's the responsibility of the US citizen. Unfortunately, one of the hospitals I know for sure in this area that does often work directly with insurance companies is CostaMed. So if either of you have insurance companies, you may wish to reach out to these just in advance to say what would happen if I needed to get surgery. Do you guys work directly with such and such agency? It's not a bad idea to get your ducks in a row and make sure you have all this information in a place that everyone can easily access it.
Speaker 2:Are there any health facilities like CostaMed or anybody around here that actually work with US insurance?
Speaker 1:I believe CostaMed is one of them. I know that CostaMed, I believe that CostaMed is one of the ones that does directly work with I think Blue Cross, Blue Shield is one of them. They have a list of other ones too, but it changes so often. That's why I would recommend that you reach out and we have on the website of the embassy, the mxusembassygov, that website if you look for local resources, you'll go through and you'll have a list of all the hospitals and doctors in this area. So it's kind of easily compiled and you can go in there and contact them to see if, by chance, this were to happen. That way, if you have a kind of a go bag or if someone if you're not able to speak yourself your spouse or your friend or whoever it is that accesses can say, oh, they've already spoken with them and they'll take them at that hospital, so you can reach out to them. The patient services managers at all the major hospitals here do have English speaking people. The general hospital does not really have English speaking people.
Speaker 2:And I do know from just from friends and stuff that I know who have had a family member or somebody in the general hospital. It's, it's, and you, you, you kind of alluded to it. It's not the experience that you get in the US in a hospital.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, they're nice and they are good doctors. A lot of the doctors actually work in the private practice as well and they donate their time there or they work, you know, also in the general hospital. But it's a national public health system and they have a massive amount of local people who it's their primary medical care and they are underfunded, they're understaffed and they are underfunded. They're understaffed and they're overworked, so it can be loud in there. It can be different from what you're used to. I mean, for some people they could be shocked by it. But I've had other foreign service officers that are colleagues of mine who've said if you think that that's different from what we're used to, you should see what it looks like in the Philippines or they, you know they'll say other countries you know as well.
Speaker 1:Mexico has, in general has a really excellent healthcare system and they have excellent doctors and good education and caring people and just in general it's just they're overworked and understaffed. So if you have the, I mean, the best thing about it, I think, is if you have no other means, you're not going to go into a debtor's grave. If you go to the hospital general, you can afford to be treated there, right, even if it's probably maybe, maybe you want top tier medical service with round-the-clock care and like a jello that comes every three hours or something.
Speaker 1:You're not going to get it there, you know right but at least they're going to save your life if they can, if they can.
Speaker 2:That's good to know. So if someone is visiting here or you know lives here, like we do, and you know you lose your passport or you lose your residency card I know that you guys help with that how long does it take to replace that? And again, in which? In what way do you help with that? How long does it take to replace that? And again, in what way do you help with?
Speaker 1:that Okay. Well, basically, if you live here and you lose your passport and you still have a copy of your birth certificate and you have another form of ID and you don't have any plans to travel, you can replace that by making an appointment either Cancun or in Merida, because Playa del Carmen only has emergency services we don't have routine services now or in the other consulates or any other place in Mexico. You make an appointment online and you can go and replace your passport with a full passport. That takes right now, around six weeks maybe six to eight weeks, but people are reporting it's coming back around four weeks, but they stay six to eight. But if you are here as a traveler and you're not here, you need to leave immediately, or you have an urgent need to travel, you have a medical emergency or whatever it is, we can assist you with an emergency passport. There are three options for you, basically.
Speaker 1:So let's say Joe loses his, he lost his passport in Tulum. He goes back to the US on Wednesday. Today is Monday. Okay, it takes 24 to 48 hours. If he was able to get here today, he might get it tomorrow and he might get it on Wednesday, but if he doesn't want to take that risk or he doesn't feel like driving from Tulum. He still has a driver's license. He lives in California or he lives in Texas or somewhere over there. He could also ostensibly fly to the border and cross into the US by land. You can cross into the US by land not even having any passport, any ID, nothing. The hard part would be getting a flight from here to the border if you didn't have ID. Now say, joe has, he has an ID, he decides he wants to do that. Or if he doesn't live anywhere near the border, he lives in New York, but he still has an ID.
Speaker 1:There are programs that were put in place by the airlines and by Customs and Border Protection, cbp. They're called. They're flight liaison programs. Basically, they are designed for US citizen travelers or legal permanent residents of the United States to board a flight, a direct flight to the United States, without their US passport or their resident card, and they're called. There's two of them. One's called the Joint Security Program, and that one is based out of Mexico City, I think, and the other one is the Regional Carrier Liaison Group and that's based out of Miami, and both of these coordinate between airlines and Customs and Border Protection to allow US citizens to board their flight.
Speaker 1:Now the kicker here is that only the airline can call and it can only be the day of your travel. And if you call in advance and try to talk to Delta or American or Southwest or whoever the airline is, they won't know what you're talking about. It's only the people at the airports who have these programs, that you just go there and we make recommendations on making sure you arrive prepared. We have the information printed out for you. We can send it to you, you print it out, you have your other ID. You may be in some cases, you may have a police report. You may have filed your passport as missing or lost online and you have that form to show them everything you bring. And they look at the totality of the evidence and you just ask them would you please call Regional Carrier Liaison Group or the Joint Security Program to liaise with CBP to ask if I can board the flight? So they'll call or they won't call, depending on who it is.
Speaker 1:Sometimes Spirit is one of the ones that may not be willing to call, but most of the major airlines all of them have done it. Most of the major airlines American, delta, united, southwest, jetblue they've all done this, especially during the pandemic. It was very, very active because there was no way you could get a passport at that time. Everybody was shut down and then they just look at it and say, okay, well, he has an ID. A lot of times you're boarding a flight to return and when you came down on that same airline you had your passport. So they have they still have those records too. Ultimately it's up to CBP, ultimately it's up to the airline whether or not you get boarded. But it's an excellent chance and we've sent thousands of people home to the U? S without their passports using that program. So we recommend that highly, that's really good to know.
Speaker 2:I've never heard of that. That's really good yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and if you called in advance, the Delta people wouldn't have heard of it either. It's just at the airport and then we just we just counsel people, just to be polite and kind, because you know, if you go up there with guns blazing and screaming at the person, the person at the airline desk can say no, sorry, you're not boarding, and that's their right to say that. So my mom always said you catch more flies with honey, right?
Speaker 3:Very true.
Speaker 2:So in the US we have an election coming up in about five or six months here. Does the consular agency or the consulate or the embassy, whatever have any resources for expats or immigrants who would like to vote?
Speaker 1:Absolutely the first place to start because there are so many states and all the states have different rules on absentee voting is you go to and I'm going to say it out loud and then I'll use the acronym, because you know the government, we love our acronyms, because you know the government, we love our acronyms it's the Federal Voters Assistance Program. So it's F like Frank, v like Victor, a like Apple, p like Paul, gov, g-o-v like government, f-v-a-pgov, and then you select your state. Now, if you've lived here for a long time, like for me at 20 years, I still vote in the state of Illinois because my very last address in the US was in Illinois. So, even though technically, because that's the last place I lived, so I think in the last election I don't remember because it was four years ago I think that I was able to email my ballot.
Speaker 1:Actually I'm not 100% sure, but if you cannot email your ballot, if your state doesn't allow for that, most of them have a template which you can print out to have the postage paid and as long as you do the math on how long it may take you, you can bring your postage paid envelope to the consular agency or any consulate or the embassy.
Speaker 1:We can receive your ballot for you and send it in Now if you come to Playa. I'll let you know the trajectory of your envelope. It goes from us to Merida in the diplomatic pouch which we send, maybe once every two weeks, and then from Merida it will go, and Merida probably sends them on a daily basis. So maybe it goes every day, or every week at least, from Merida to the embassy in Mexico City. From the embassy in Mexico City it would then get sent by diplomatic pouch, maybe on a weekly basis or a daily basis, to Texas and from there then it would go into the regular mail and then go to wherever your state is. So you want to give it at least a month or two.
Speaker 2:It takes a while.
Speaker 1:Yes, it does take a while, because in the old days we sent pouches more frequently but now we don't have routine services so we almost very rarely maybe every two weeks send a pouch to Merida and Merida does still have routine services, so they send them more frequently. And then I would recommend, like, if you're worried about it, there was a time when I slacked off and I jerked myself around for a while and I didn't get my ballot and it was kind of the last minute I went ahead and just sucked it up and I paid the money to FedEx, it to my voting elections office in Illinois and it cost me $100, but it was worth it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, okay Makes sense.
Speaker 3:So something that many of us don't necessarily think about when planning an international move or a trip here is what happens when a spouse or partner dies while you're living or visiting abroad. We assume the consulate would be contacted, but what would happen in that scenario as far as maybe bringing the body back to the States?
Speaker 1:Yes, that happens, unfortunately, more often than any of us would like, and it's not ever easy. Even when there are cases where people who live here and they're expecting it or it's not an unexpected illness, it's still a hard thing to navigate and that's why we're here. It's a major part of my job. I think in my district alone we handle probably close to 60 deaths just in the Playa del Carmen district, and then we have Cancun, which is maybe more than that, and then Merida also. So it happens a lot.
Speaker 1:The first thing that we do is we try to reach out immediately to the next of kin to offer condolences and to let them know what to expect. A lot of them are just lost at sea, especially if this comes out of nowhere. They're on vacation, their husband has a heart attack while he's snorkeling and here's this poor woman. She's alone and she's devastated and she doesn't have her partner and she doesn't speak Spanish. So we try to get to them right away, offer condolences and let her know the next steps. The first step would be to choose a funeral home locally and you decide on the disposition of remains whether or not you want to cremate or you would like to embalm or return the remains to the US. We let them know about local laws. Now, any US citizen or any foreigner not US citizen, any foreigner in Mexico who dies outside of a doctor's care has to have an autopsy. That's Mexican law. Now, if a doctor is on scene or can be called to say this is a death from natural causes and the family wishes to waive that right to the autopsy, they can do so. But in general, all US citizens who die outside of a doctor's care do get an autopsy, and that's foreigners, not just US citizens.
Speaker 1:And then you choose the funeral home, obviously the most economical If your family has economic problems. The most economical way to repatriate your loved one, if you wish, is to have them cremated and you hand carry their cremains and their belongings that they left here in Mexico with you back to the States. That's obviously the least expensive. We've had a lot of cases in the US where people don't want to come down and they have their financially solvent or it's not too big of a burden for them and they will embalm, or they will cremate and then return, have the remains shipped and their belongings shipped as well. That is obviously quite expensive. Other times people are saying I really can't afford this and then I counsel them. The best way really is to just come down. If you can't afford it, take the belongings yourself and then you can go back on a plane and commercial flights and then it costs you the cost of the flight or whatever you've paid the funeral home that you've chosen for cremation or for embalming services or whatnot.
Speaker 2:So what sort of things should like couples, what sort of things should my wife and I think about to have in place in case something like that happens?
Speaker 1:That's a really good question. I'm glad you asked. It's really important that you both make your wishes known. Make sure that your wife knows what your wishes are with regards to whether or not you want to be repatriated or you'd like to be buried in Mexico or you'd like to be cremated, or if you have a will. Make sure your will is updated and that someone knows where that is. Make sure your emergency contact knows what your wishes are and where your important documents are, because those are the things you're going to need to do Now.
Speaker 1:The US consulate, the US government we operate under the next of kin being the order of kinship is basically a living spouse, a spouse, adult children, and then from then on, it would go down the line. So that's just the most important thing, just being proactive. Even you think it can't happen to me. You know what you never know. So make sure your wishes are known. Speak about it. Make sure you have your will in a location. Now, if you live here in Mexico too, it's not a bad idea, even if you wanted to get a will in Mexico.
Speaker 1:I know that in September for all the notaries, because you get your wills here at notaries. Notaries in Mexico are more like attorneys than attorneys are. They're more like the US version of attorneys. In the month of September, it's half price will month in Mexico, so that's a good month to get. It's coming up, so that's a good month to get a will if you don't have one. And I'm going to take my own advice this year, because I've always been like, oh, I'm so young, I don't need to do that. And then I realized, well, you know, you're supposed to get a will when you're like 50, right, I'm like I got wait a minute, I'm 53. Oh my gosh, it's time to go.
Speaker 3:So if you, let's say, own property in Mexico, like my wife's a citizen, if you have a US will, that won't be honored here. Right, we'd have to have a Mexican will.
Speaker 1:Yes, if you have Mexican property or Mexican like, us wills are good for US documents and Mexican wills are good for Mexican properties and things. The same thing with like. If you do die back on that same subject, you will of course, receive a Mexican death certificate because you died in Mexico. That death certificate is going to be in Spanish and it's for Mexico. Now you can't use a Mexican death certificate in the United States to handle any like banking information or closing out insurance things or whatever it is in the US. You have to get, kind of like a US death certificate and the consulate. How we assist in that case.
Speaker 1:We issue a consular report of death abroad or a CROTA. Now these are now they're now delivered electronically, which is super useful in this day and age. Now they're now delivered electronically, which is super useful in this day and age. They're electronic consular reports of death abroad. You get a link to an original document that you download this and you can print as many as you need. So it's much easier than it used to be to to get these, these documents.
Speaker 2:OK, so what happens if a US citizen is arrested while they're in Mexico? Do? You guys have anything to do with that, or a victim.
Speaker 1:Well, we're generally notified if a US citizen is arrested. In general we request that we be notified and we usually are. We try to make some contact with the person within 24 hours. We aren't always able to have a consular visit within that time but in general most of the arrests that I deal with in my district are misdemeanor arrests, meaning drunken, disorderly or insulting authorities or whatever, getting into a fight in public or urinating in public hey guys, don't be in public, that kind of thing and generally they can hold you for those arrests for 36 hours and then they assess a fine at the time that you're arrested.
Speaker 1:Basically they assess the fine and the fine is generally it should be in the amount of anywhere from 500 pesos or 1500 pesos, up to maybe 4000. That should be the max of it, depending on what they deem the judge on duty deems is the severity of your, your infraction. And if you pay that kind of immediately you can get out. If you decide I'm not paying, that you can wait out your time, the 36 hours, and at the end of those 36 hours they will set you free with no fine. However, at any point during that you can decide. After like 24 hours you can say I've had enough, I can't take it anymore, I'll pay the fine. It's less. It goes down a little by little as you go. I'm not sure of the exact increments. It goes down, but they assess the fine and then as you get closer and closer to your freedom, the fine goes down.
Speaker 2:So you need to wait it out.
Speaker 1:You can wait it out or you can pay and get out. You know what I mean For some people. I mean, yeah, for some in general, for misdemeanor arrests. By the time I'm notified, because a lot of times they'll be on weekends or they'll be like two in the morning A lot of these things happen Drunken disorder always happens quite when I'm fast asleep. By the time I'm notified the next morning they've already been released because they've already paid their fine or whatnot. So most of the time I have no interactions with people.
Speaker 1:For more serious arrests or someone who gets sent to prison, we have consular visit. We have criteria for how often we visit. We generally can't help you get out for sure. We can give you lists of lawyers. We can let you know what to expect. If you're a long-term prisoner, we'll help you initially, in the initial phase when you're before your sentence, I think you get a consular visit once a month and then after your sentence it I think it increases. I think it's either every three months or every six months. I'm not a hundred percent sure which it is, because I really am lucky. I don't have a lot, a lot of long-term prisoners and I haven't had that. But the consulate can help you to.
Speaker 1:Basically, what we do is we just, if you have a complaint of mistreatment, you can fill out an affidavit of mistreatment with us and, if you wish, we can protest on your behalf to authorities. A lot of people choose not to do that because they fear reprisal or whatnot, or they want to wait until they're after they're released and then they'll come back and talk to us. But we use these affidavits of mistreatment even if we don't specifically go into your case. We use them to raise these issues with authorities if they're a repeating problem. So it gives us a way to say hey, we've had these reports of this happening in your districts. What's going on?
Speaker 1:And in general, you don't get treated better because you're a US citizen, but our goal is to try to make sure you're not being targeted and unfairly treated or treated poorly because you're a US citizen. We want to make sure that you're being treated. If everyone else is being treated badly, you're still treated badly, but you're not treated worse. You know what I mean. Hopefully there's no human rights violations. You know we can raise all of these issues with that too. It's just that we can't get you out, but we can make sure that we're monitoring what's happening with you, we're making visits to you regularly, we're listening to your concerns and we provide vitamins to long term prisoners as well.
Speaker 3:We can provide some reading material to US citizens and, and provided you give us the required permissions and things- If you need us to reach out to family or friends to talk to them or tell them something, we can do that for you as well. Okay, very good. Is there anywhere that there's a resource that people could look at? They would have common laws that seem to get violated frequently, so they would know things. Like you said, the urination. You would think that would be common sense. Yeah, I know, I don't know that's a good question. I don't really I really don't know.
Speaker 1:I mean, most of the things that are infractions in the US are infractions here. Actually, where you want to go is definitely the travel advisory that I mentioned, the information that's specific to Mexico. You go on that and they'll have. If there's something that would, I mean obviously peeing in the street and being rude to authorities and fighting in public and being drunk and disorder, that's kind of a universal crime. And fighting in public and being drunk and just sort of that, that's kind of a universal crime. But there are specific things that are listed that are crimes that we may not think of, like, for example, don't bring weapons into Mexico, even if it's legal in your country. You're going to another country. I don't know. What I can't figure out is why the airlines would permit. A lot of times these people have been boarding a flight in the US to go to Mexico and the airline doesn't say wait a minute, you have a gun in your luggage but why don't they say you know?
Speaker 1:I don't understand that.
Speaker 2:Cause it seems like they have a pretty sophisticated system for finding, I would feel like.
Speaker 1:Wouldn't you like ask the person at least? Did you know that you have these bullets in your, in your luggage? You know? It seems to me like you would at least give me the better of the doubt. I luggage, you know. It seems to me like you would at least give me the better of the doubt.
Speaker 3:I'd be so grateful to be like oh my God, thank you. I just remember that I had this, this block, in my luggage.
Speaker 1:Maybe they just sit back and watch and laugh Right. Maybe, who knows? I'm sure that, on a level that's way higher up than me, there's someone that's working with the airline authorities to try to to coordinate that, because it's becoming a real problem and other countries don't have it because guns aren't legal in their countries as much as it is in our country.
Speaker 2:So is there anything else you'd like to add about the consular agency and the services available specifically in Playa del Carmen?
Speaker 1:Oh, let's see. Specifically in Playa del Carmen, I've already told you about the travelstate government for the travel advisor. I told you that Embassy's website that's good Adding Playa del Carmen. I've already said it we are here for emergency services only. If you would like to email us, of course, we're always happy to answer your emails and it will be likely me that's answering your email, because we only have two people in our office. We have myself and my colleague Irina. She's a local employee and that's it and you can email us. It's con like consular C-O-N agency A-G-E-N-C-Y playa, p-l-a-y-a at stategov. So all one word conagencyplaya at stategov. You can email me and ask me your questions. Our FAQ generally the automatic reply probably answers your question if you've already answered it, but I'm happy to answer questions as well, okay.
Speaker 2:Very good. So kind of the overall purpose of this webcast is it's for people thinking about moving to Mexico and also, in this case, it's for people visiting Mexico. But what's one piece of advice you might have for someone considering an international move, and not necessarily as a consular agent, but just as a person who's lived here this long?
Speaker 1:Well, first of all, I definitely suggest that you at least spend some time here. I think all of us we have our rose-colored glasses on when we we first moved and everything is so wonderful and so great and it is, but after a time, if you don't think about certain things, then you're going to be disappointed. I always say that you kind of have to be tenacious and, like you have to be realistic about what your life is going to be like. And like when I first moved to Mexico, I had a blog and this was back when people had blogs and it was like Heather in paradise and I was like paradise, I was living in paradise, and now I realized, whoa, it's not paradise, but it's pretty darn good, but it's not paradise, you know.
Speaker 1:So the one thing I didn't think about for sure was that I didn't think about there's no libraries here with books in English. Like what am I going to do? I don't have any books because I'm a big reader. So there's certain things you have to figure out if you're able to go without the things that you need in your life Now. Fortunately, now it's much easier because Amazon delivers. I mean, as much as I would love to support the mom and pop shops, which I do whenever I can. You know, amazon, I'll think about something and the next day it's arriving at my house, so there's that.
Speaker 2:We talk about. What would it have been like to move down here before we had the Internet and social media and blogs and all that? I mean it would be much, much harder yeah.
Speaker 1:The only way that I knew about Playa del Carmen back in the day was pre-Facebook. I predate the Internet myself. I had one of those big giant, my first cell phone I think. Here was that big giant, nokia, the blue one. You had to send text messages like A, a, a, a, b, c, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5.
Speaker 1:Just say I love you Now. I can't imagine what people did before there was, you know, smartphones and things, but it's much easier to live here in a lot of ways. So there's a lot of good things about living here now because it's definitely more convenient. One of the things that's still like you asked me about Que Padre, que Malo, one of the Que Malo things I would still say that still irritates me to this day is now that I don't work for a Mexican company. I no longer have a Mexican bank account, so I only have my US bank account because I work for a US company.
Speaker 1:So my credit card, even though it works everywhere, when I try to sign my my, my tell me, my tell sell bill, for example, my, my, my cellular, my cell bill they took it when I, when I signed up for the service and I automatically want to deduct it every month. No, it declines my card, even though it's because it's a US card. I'm like so I have to go in person. I still have to go in person to CFD and pay the bill. I have to go in person to there and I'm like why can't I pay this online? It's 2024. I don't want to.
Speaker 1:It sounds like something that would exist, right, yeah, I mean in the old days.
Speaker 1:In the old days you'd have to literally like it was when we had Cablemas. It wasn't called Easy Cable, the cable company. Literally, you had to spend, devote two hours of your life to go and wait in line at Cablemas to pay your cable bill and CFE two hours in line to pay your CFE bill. And now they've made it so much easier. You can pay in so many grocery stores. You can pay in Oxo's, some people can pay online and once in a while I can even pay online.
Speaker 1:And there's a company that I think it's an app called Undostraze. Have you heard of it, undostraze? Undostraze is kind of a. It's a middleman. It charges a higher fee. Like I pay the like 11, I don't know. I would say 20 pesos or something. But if I'm feeling exceptionally lazy and I don't want to go out in 95 degree weather that feels like 104 because of the humidity and wait in line to pay my bill, I can use Undo's Trace because they have like some kind of a. They work with US cards, so Undo's Trace. I recommend that as an expat immigrant, I recommend Undo's Trace if you're feeling lazy and don't want to pay your bill.
Speaker 2:Okay, very, very good. Well, thank you so much for taking the time today with us.
Speaker 1:No, thank you, and I'm sorry if I talked a little bit too much. I can edit some of that out.
Speaker 2:It is. All this information is golden for us, Okay great.
Speaker 1:So basically, bottom line, step program. You guys, you live here. Obviously you don't have an end date to your trip, so you guys can put in kind of a date way into the future to make sure you get on that list. But you can get the updates and the travel advisories and then check out again. Check out the travel advisory If you're planning on traveling to another country too, if you're going to Italy or France or whatever. Go to the travelstategov. Go to the travelstategov. Go to international travel. Learn about your destination, type it in and you'll find amazing things. It's super interesting. Even if I can't afford to travel, I like to sometimes just look up countries I'd like to travel to. If I was going there, I'd have to have six months on my passport.
Speaker 1:Mexico does not have that rule, by the way.
Speaker 2:You do not have to have six months on your passport. Oh, okay, okay, that's good to know. I have friends that come down here and have asked that Well, I only got six months left.
Speaker 1:Am I getting?
Speaker 2:it? The answer is no, if they're coming here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can come in with one day.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:You may have a harder time getting back to the US if you only have one day and expire while you're here, don't come here and stay three days. In that case, then we have the Regional Carrier Liaison Group and the Joint Security Program to help you fly back, or you can get an emergency passport there you go, okay, all right, heather Anderson-Caye, from the United States Consulate in Playa del Carmen.
Speaker 2:thank you so much for sharing your insight with our audience.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Have a good day you bet Bye-bye. Bye-bye, bye.
Speaker 2:In each episode of Expats Like Us, we're going to teach you a new Mexican slang word. This is something you may not find in your phrasebook or your online Spanish class or your Spanish app or wherever you're learning your Spanish. Instead, this is a term used primarily by Mexican Spanish speakers. Today's word is Naco Naco. How do you spell that?
Speaker 1:N-A-C-O.
Speaker 2:N-A-C-O Naco. What does that mean?
Speaker 1:Naco is basically a person who is not well-educated, ghetto, clumsy, doesn't know what's going on.
Speaker 2:Okay, very cool. Don't be a Naco. Don't act like you're a knocko.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:All right. Gracias to Erica Kowalski from Mi Vida Margarita. We'd love to hear your thoughts on today's topic. Just look up Expats Like Us on Facebook or send us an email at expatslikeus at gmailcom. Or send us an email at expatslikeus at gmailcom. You can also see the video version of today's discussion and all of our discussions on our YouTube page. Follow, like, subscribe and leave us a review. Thank you to today's guest, Heather Anderson-Caye, from the United States Consular Agency in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Thanks also to my co-host, Chris Kowalski, and co-producers Erica Kowalski and Sherry Bussey. Most of all, thank you for tuning in to Expats Like Us and thank you for interacting with us on social media. This episode marks the end of our first season and we're spending our summer in various parts of the world. Look for our YouTube shorts all summer long and the podcast will be back in the fall. Until then, enjoy your summer and remember our homes are not defined by geography or one location but by memories you gotta go.
Speaker 1:If you wanna grow, you gotta go.
Speaker 3:Thank you, one, two, one, two, three. You gotta go if you wanna know you gotta go if you wanna grow, you gotta go if you wanna know. You gotta go if you wanna grow.
