Jon and I are So Excited to Have Jalisco, Mรฉxico Drivers Licenses!
What’s the big deal about applying for and receiving our Mรฉxico
driver's licenses? We don’t even own a vehicle! Taking Uber works well for us
in Puerto Vallarta.
So, why go to the trouble of applying for a driver’s license
in Mรฉxico? And why would we have Pat’s Plates help us tackle this cumbersome project?
Carrying our Permanent Resident’s Visas as identification is not recommended. If we lost one, getting a replacement from INM (Mรฉxico’s National Institute of Migration) would be a major ordeal.
We recently had a difficult lesson on Mexican government procedures. After spending three frustrating appointments over one month at the Puerto Vallarta INM office just to register our change of address from Sayulita, Nayarit to our new home in Jalisco, we now know the challenges of completing government paperwork precisely the way they want it. We never want to have to apply for a new visa de residencia permanente! We never want to lose ours!
So, we decided it’s safer to carry a Mรฉxico driver’s license
for identification. But we now know that we need help from an expert to
navigate any government system here. So, we hired Pat’s Plates to help us and
we’re so glad that we did!
Pat’s Plates emailed the list of documents we needed to take
with us to the DMV in Puerto Vallarta, the number of copies of each document to take,
plus the size and type the copies had to be (another example of how exacting
government procedures are here). The application they emailed to us looked
simple enough, but thankfully, they checked for accuracy and found that I had
not completed them as they had instructed.
Who would think we needed to apply for a Chofer license?
I thought that meant “chauffeur” and had incorrectly marked that I was applying
for a Automovilista license. Pat’s Plates made sure this and everything
else was corrected before we ever went to the DMV.
Then Pat met us at the DMV at our appointed time and already
had a number for us when we arrived so our wait time was shortened. The computers at
this government office were on the fritz off and on while we were waiting our
turn, so things were moving slowly. The DMV employees and customers were all
patient and calm, as Mexicans seem to be no matter how long the wait is. But after
about two-and-a-half hours, we received our official Jalisco driver’s
licenses. I must say, they are pretty, too.
We checked the licenses for accuracy before leaving the counter and,
thanks to Pat’s Plates, everything was correct! We now show our Mรฉxico driver’s
licenses when asked for identification at the hospital, doctor’s office, or other places. Our Permanent
Resident Visas are stored in our safe, as recommended. (Edited 10/10/22: We do carry our Resident Visas and Original Passports any time we travel away from our Mexican hometown.)
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