The Aim

   Fundraising for a year in Mexico City combatting Human Trafficking

Establishing a partnership between 

The Sophie Hayes Foundation (UK) 

and 

 El Pozo de Vida (Mexico)

Tackling human trafficking in Mexico and across borders 

Supporting survivors 

Volunteering to Prevent, Protect and Prosecute

See more and support me quoting EL POZO

The Reality

A waiting game

Whilst getting a visa to work in Mexico doesn’t seem to be extraordinarily difficult for a UK citizen it is by no means simple. First you have to find an immigration lawyer in Mexico willing (they should be for the amount you pay them!) to take on your application. Then you play the waiting game. No guarantees of how long the process will take in Mexico, taking your best guess about when you’ll get the visa and whether you’ll actually be able to book your flight.

Whatsapp chasing and confirmation

Luckily, my immigration lawyer works within El Pozo so first mission accomplished. Following up on the application and understanding the costs was a different matter but at least I had a lawyer. So in November I sent off a copy of my passport and personal information and laid the next year of my life in her hands, waiting to hear some news about whether my plan to go to Mexico in January was realistic. After a few too many emails and Whatsapps through mutual acquaintances on my behalf I finally hear that it is being approved in Mexico and I should be set for January! Not relying on Whatsapp as a concrete enough source of information to book my ticket I decided to wait for confirmation.

I received an email from Illiana (my lawyer) the week before Christmas and contacted the English embassy to get an interview and visa confirmation from the UK before everyone got swept away in Christmas and New Year, finally receiving confirmation of an appointment on 23^rd December. At last, I had a date and I could book my plane ticket! Ok so I’m quite far from reaching my funding target (why don’t you guys help me out with that ;)?) but I was fed up of waiting and managed to get a flight deal for under 25s meaning that time was of the essence. So this was the moment, having already checked all the flight deals repeatedly, I opened STA travel and booked my one-way ticket to Mexico City for 29^th January 2015. Let the countdown begin!

Mexican Embassy, London

More waiting

There was still the small matter of obtaining visa confirmation from the Mexican Embassy in London though. So I gathered my passport and documents before work and headed over to the building with the huge flat hanging off the wall to state my case and hoped they’d let me in as had been promised… Then I received a fee receipt and a ticket number, left my passport and was told to come back on Thursday to pick it up. Waiting, once again – this gets old quickly.

On Thursday, I headed back to the embassy and finally I GOT MY VISA!!!

They tell you to bring a spare passport photo and then they
spring a camera on you on a rainy English morning

(FYI this isn’t even the official visa, this is just confirmation that is has been approved and I can pay for and collect it within 30 days of my arrival into Mexico, so the journey doesn’t end here!)

flickelsewhere

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