I GOT MY NEW MEXICAN LICENSE TODAY - DETAILS

I went to get my NEW Mexican License today and took my Physical Therapist for translation. I parked the car in Chapala while he went into BANAMEX to pay the fee according to the correct account number on the slip of paper we got from the License place.

First, you need to get a CURP number at Immigration in Chapala. We went to the beach, so I had my Lawyer (Facilitator) get it for me. Took 2 weeks.

Then you need your Passport, INM Card and proof of address (electric or telephone bill, not more than 90 days old).

Get copies of all of the above. Do NOT copy your Passport and INM on the same document. Each has to be a separate copy.

It is a long procedure, if they're busy like today, took us 3 hours total. The girl on the left desk takes all your info, both originals and copies. Then you sit down waiting to be photographed, then fingerprinted, all 5 fingers on both hands and sign your name.

Then you go wait again for the written test. They have 2 touch screen computers with 10 questions total. Since you don't speak English, the guy will translate for you what's on the screen, You must get 8 out of 10 correct.

Then you wait to be called for the driving test which you can do in your own vehicle. Keep both hands on the wheel. He has you pull up in back of another car and park close to the curb. He takes two red cones with him, places one in front and one in rear so close to the length of your car that you'll think you're guaranteed to hit them. You have three times to parrallel park the car. Put on your flashers BEFORE parking. I pulled away from the curb up close to the car in front hood to hood, swung my wheel all the way around and parked without hitting the curb or the cones. VOILA!!! I have my new Mexican license.

The sign on their bulletin board says in large print, "YOU DON'T NEED A FACILTATOR, WE'RE HERE TO HELP".

Quoting John: " Since you don't speak English" Say what?

Would it be proper to state that you received your: Jalisco Drivers License?

joec wrote:I went to get my NEW Mexican License today and took my Physical Therapist for translation. I parked the car in Chapala while he went into BANAMEX to pay the fee according to the correct account number on the slip of paper we got from the License place.

First, you need to get a CURP number at Immigration in Chapala. We went to the beach, so I had my Lawyer (Facilitator) get it for me. Took 2 weeks.

John,that is one funny post,thank you!

PS:You might want to consider changing law firms,it shouldn't take them two weeks to get your CURP number.

Oh wow.

You can get your CURP number off the internet, which IF you spoke Spanish, the guy at the license place would have told you. Or the guy at IMSS or anywhere else for that matter. 15 minutes and done.

John is quite the card. I am licensed to drive in Jalisco and Chiapas and have never taken a driving test or serious written test. He must have pissed them off.

Awwwww.... you guys are mean. He's excited about overcoming a big obstacle, apparently. Let him have his moment.

Felicidades, jovencito.

Congratulations, John. Getting something like that done always feels good. Nice way to end the year.

E-raq wrote:Oh wow.

You can get your CURP number off the internet, which IF you spoke Spanish, the guy at the license place would have told you. Or the guy at IMSS or anywhere else for that matter. 15 minutes and done.

First of all, the people at the License place don't tell everyone what they should know. I met a woman there who was there 5 times just to get her renewal. I don't and never will do business with IMSS. It's for poor Mexicans and most middle class and up Mexicans will not go there. It's fine if you don't mind a resident Doctor operating on you.

hound dog wrote:John is quite the card. I am licensed to drive in Jalisco and Chiapas and have never taken a driving test or serious written test. He must have pissed them off.

You are the TOTAL JERK who doesn't know what he's talking about as usual. I guess all those other people, about 10, must have pissed them off too because they had to take a driving test. You didn't have to take a driving test because you paid mordida. EVERYONE at the Chapala office is REQUIRED to take a driving test.

Rosa Venus and Lady Otter Latte - Thank you very much!!! Merry Christmas to you both.

Merry Christmas, John.

joec wrote:I went to get my NEW Mexican License today and took my Physical Therapist for translation. I parked the car in Chapala while he went into BANAMEX to pay the fee according to the correct account number on the slip of paper we got from the License place.

First, you need to get a CURP number at Immigration in Chapala. We went to the beach, so I had my Lawyer (Facilitator) get it for me. Took 2 weeks.

Then you need your Passport, INM Card and proof of address (electric or telephone bill, not more than 90 days old).

Get copies of all of the above. Do NOT copy your Passport and INM on the same document. Each has to be a separate copy.

It is a long procedure, if they're busy like today, took us 3 hours total. The girl on the left desk takes all your info, both originals and copies. Then you sit down waiting to be photographed, then fingerprinted, all 5 fingers on both hands and sign your name.

Then you go wait again for the written test. They have 2 touch screen computers with 10 questions total. Since you don't speak English, the guy will translate for you what's on the screen, You must get 8 out of 10 correct.

Then you wait to be called for the driving test which you can do in your own vehicle. Keep both hands on the wheel. He has you pull up in back of another car and park close to the curb. He takes two red cones with him, places one in front and one in rear so close to the length of your car that you'll think you're guaranteed to hit them. You have three times to parrallel park the car. Put on your flashers BEFORE parking. I pulled away from the curb up close to the car in front hood to hood, swung my wheel all the way around and parked without hitting the curb or the cones. VOILA!!! I have my new Mexican license.

The sign on their bulletin board says in large print, "YOU DON'T NEED A FACILTATOR, WE'RE HERE TO HELP".

John your instructions are fine if you own but if you rent you must get the original lease (both your name and the landlords name on utility bill) and
latest original utility bill and take it to the Del/police building in Ajijic (if you live in Ajijic) and get an official residence form. You turn in your paper (don't
forget the B&W copies) and come back in an hour and they give you a piece of paper that will work for your license. House owners just need utility
bill.

Z

hound dog wrote:John is quite the card. I am licensed to drive in Jalisco and Chiapas and have never taken a driving test or serious written test. He must have pissed them off.

No Dawg my wife just got her license and John is right. You don't need a fixer and you don't need to bribe.
You do need to take a simple road test and you do need to parallel park. Don't forget to put on your four
way flashers when you back up as this gets many people. Written test is very simple. The local new Hefe
in charge of DMV lakeside is really trying to make it easy and fair. I commend him.

Z

joec wrote:

hound dog wrote:John is quite the card. I am licensed to drive in Jalisco and Chiapas and have never taken a driving test or serious written test. He must have pissed them off.

You are the TOTAL JERK who doesn't know what he's talking about as usual. I guess all those other people, about 10, must have pissed them off too because they had to take a driving test. You didn't have to take a driving test because you paid mordida. EVERYONE at the Chapala office is REQUIRED to take a driving test.

For those of you being mislead by John, if you have a current U.S. license as did I when I got my new Jalisco license several years ago in Riberas, no driving test was required. Same situation as in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas in 2011 where I presented a copy of my Jalisco license which had been stolen. I was able to replace the Jalisco driver´s licence in Guadalajara in about one hour just by presenting them with a copy of the license that had been stolen.

Both written tests were easy to pass and the Riberas test was in English. That was back in about 2003 before they removed fee payments from the Riberas office because of rampant corruption which was not a problem in Guadalajara or San Cristobal. That increases the time necessary to pay the fees in Chapala.

hound dog wrote:

joec wrote:

hound dog wrote:John is quite the card. I am licensed to drive in Jalisco and Chiapas and have never taken a driving test or serious written test. He must have pissed them off.

You are the TOTAL JERK who doesn't know what he's talking about as usual. I guess all those other people, about 10, must have pissed them off too because they had to take a driving test. You didn't have to take a driving test because you paid mordida. EVERYONE at the Chapala office is REQUIRED to take a driving test.

For those of you being mislead by John, if you have a current U.S. license as did I when I got my new Jalisco license several years ago in Riberas, no driving test was required. Same situation as in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas in 2011 where I presented a copy of my Jalisco license which had been stolen. I was able to replace the Jalisco driver´s licence in Guadalajara in about one hour just by presenting them with a copy of the license that had been stolen.

Both written tests were easy to pass and the Riberas test was in English. That was back in about 2003 before they removed fee payments from the Riberas office because of rampant corruption which was not a problem in Guadalajara or San Cristobal. That increases the time necessary to pay the fees in Chapala.

I don't mislead anyone, again your arragance is showing. Unlike you I state exactly what happened. I posted this information in hopes that it would help people going to get their Mexican licenses and take any fear out of it. What you are talking about is history. ever hear things change. There is no longer a Riberas office, only the one in Chapala. And the test is NOT in English. No one cares about Chiapas, we don't live there.

As said said, I highly commend the young gentlemen who helped me with the written test and gave me the simple driving test. I really thought I would fail the driving test so I had lots of pesos in my pocket just in case.

If you're a renter, you can satisfy the comprobante de domicilio in a variety of ways. If you have a Mexican Bank account in your name, that will also suffice, because that's what I used. At first the woman wasn't going to accept it, but I had read the Jalisco State website so I (very nicely!) asked if she might call Guadalajara a check. She called HQ and they told her it was fine.

This was in 2009 in the (then) Riberas office. I had to pass both written and driving tests. It was easy.

From the website:
3. C. Comprobante de domicilio vigente no mayor de 90 dí­as. Que coincida con algun apellido del interesado (Recibo de luz, predial, telefono, afore, sedar, estado de cuenta bancario, tiendas comerciales ó departamentales o constancia de domicilio expedida por el Ayto. a donde pertenece el interesado). Ver observaciones adicionales (Original y Copia)

Jalisco Drivers License website

To be fair to John, he is right when he says, "I posted this information in hopes that it would help people going to get their Mexican licenses and take any fear out of it."
Just as we (me included) jumped all over John when he rained on Ferret´s lovely post sharing her experience at Number Four, some now did that with John and his renewing-my-license post.
It is difficult for me to defend someone who so often offends and annoys me, but right is right.

Lady Otter Latté wrote:To be fair to John, he is right when he says, "I posted this information in hopes that it would help people going to get their Mexican licenses and take any fear out of it."
Just as we (me included) jumped all over John when he rained on Ferret´s lovely post sharing her experience at Number Four, some now did that with John and his renewing-my-license post.
It is difficult for me to defend someone who so often offends and annoys me, but right is right.

I aplogize for that post about Number 4. I was just trying to show the other side as in the past their has been mixed reviews on Number 4.

I understand that, John. I guess the people who posted contrary comments to your post think the same way about what they said. I think that it is not always so much the information and opinions we share on this forum that end up being negative and even hurtful, but the way in which we express them.
Or maybe all the Christmas decorations and music are making me go soft!

Lady Otter Latté wrote:I think that it is not always so much the information and opinions we share on this forum that end up being negative and even hurtful, but the way in which we express them.
Or maybe all the Christmas decorations and music are making me go soft!

With the exception of posts by Rolly and the lawyer (can't remember his name), I think this is possibly the most intelligent post I have read on this forum. Lady Otter Latte, thank for renewing my faith.

Thank you, tictoc. God bless us everyone!

Thanks, JoeC/John for your first hand account of getting a license. There are several people on TOB who complained about the driving test. They said that the cones for the parallel parking test were placed so close together that it was nearly impossible to get it right and that's why they had to do a mordida tango to get their licenses. You passed. Congratulations!

I'm curious: What size car were you driving? If they place them at the same distance apart for everybody, those who are driving the big SUV's would find it much more difficult than it would be for smaller cars, just as in real life around here. Fair enough.

Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and alla that.

gringal wrote:Thanks, JoeC/John for your first hand account of getting a license. There are several people on TOB who complained about the driving test. They said that the cones for the parallel parking test were placed so close together that it was nearly impossible to get it right and that's why they had to do a mordida tango to get their licenses. You passed. Congratulations!

I'm curious: What size car were you driving? If they place them at the same distance apart for everybody, those who are driving the big SUV's would find it much more difficult than it would be for smaller cars, just as in real life around here. Fair enough.

Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and alla that.

I am driving a Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer, not anywhere near the size of a Ford Expedition or Lincoln Navigator. They DID place the cones almost next to my bumpers with little room in front and rear. After I was parked curbside at the beginning of the test, I backed up about 3 feet beyond the cone, turned the wheel hard left to pull into the street, put on my flashers, pulled ALL THE WAY nose to nose with the car in front. Then proceeded to back up with car aimed toward curb, then when front of car was near the front cone, I turned the wheel all the way the other way and pulled into the space. I was 6 - 8 inches from curb.

Lady Otter Latté wrote:To be fair to John, he is right when he says, "I posted this information in hopes that it would help people going to get their Mexican licenses and take any fear out of it."
Just as we (me included) jumped all over John when he rained on Ferret´s lovely post sharing her experience at Number Four, some now did that with John and his renewing-my-license post.
It is difficult for me to defend someone who so often offends and annoys me, but right is right.

Then my post and John´s had the same goal - to help new immigrants to Mexico to overcome the fear of the driver´s licensing process - especially that driver´s test which scares a lot of people. Let me repeat, I have licenses granted by the old Riberas del Pilar transit office (2003), the main transit office in Guadalajara (2009)and the Chiapas transit office in San Cristóbal de Las Casas (2011). I also looked into the possibility of getting a license in Veracruz State where I was told one could get a license for life with no written or driver´s testing but I dropped that after deciding not to move to that state. Each state is different in their requirements but I can say after receiving two "chofer" licenses in two states from three transit offices I have never, ever been required to take a driving test nor has that been even suggested by any transit official. The Ocotlan, Jalisco office where my wife took the written test, Giuadalalara and San Cristóbal never ever even remotely hinted at any extraordinary payments to officers for anything as a requisite for any test of any kind but, except for Riberas, all tests were written in Spanish but easy to pass whether you speak enough Spanish to do this on your own or take along a translator and have done your homework but definitely do your homework even if you need Google Translator while studying with your computer.

The point of my post for newbies was that the driving test was waived because I had a still current California driver´s license when I applied for a Jalisco license back in 2003. Perhaps John is right that these days everyone has to take both a written and driving test but the important thing is that if you are new here, you should go apply for your new license before the one you hold from the country in which you were a former resident expires and, if things are still as they were in 2011 in Chiapas, you may not have to take a driving test.

Or you could simply move to Veracruz and get a license for life with no tests at all or so I was told.

One thing may clear this up. Maybe John had a current Massachusetts license and still had to take the driving test in which case John is right and the regulations have changed since I got my first Mexican license. One could not maintain a license in either Alabama or California, the two states where I was licensed, for 12 years down here after leaving those two political jurisdictions but maybe Massachusetts is different and you don´t have to prove continued residency there in order to renew a driver´s license.

Anyway, this last comment of mine was intended to be helpful for new arrivals here and not intended for petulant John but that's it for me - end of story.

Thank you for the added input, Dawg.
Now, in ending, I will quote myself:
"I think that it is not always so much the information and opinions we share on this forum that end up being negative and even hurtful, but the way in which we express them."