Leaving the Country

A well-planned disappearance should not involve immediately leaving the country unless one has a complete set of U.S. identification papers in the new identity. The majority of foreign countries require a passport or birth certificate and supplemental ID--drivers license, credit cards, other licenses, etc.--from U.S. citizens. Further, these regulations are subject to change from time to time, often without prior notice.

As a practical matter, unless one has the proper documentation he is not allowed to board an international flight or a ship bound for a foreign port. If the individual does not have the correct papers, the carrier will be unable to land him at his destination and may be liable for a number of expensive fines. It is advisable to have a passport when traveling anywhere outside the U.S., even to Canada and Mexico where it may not be a legal requirement.

Mexico

As I have spent a considerable amount of time traveling "south of the border," it might help to clear up a few popular misconceptions about Mexico. The published information on Mexican migracion regulations gives the picture as it's supposed to be, not as it really is.

According to the articles in the Sunday Paper travel section, Mexico requires a birth certificate, passport or other positive means of identification from U.S. citizens before they will be allowed to enter the Republic. Actually, the Mexicans think it is nice if the Yankee turista has a birth certificate and/or all those other good things, but they aren't going to refuse admission to a potential contributor to their shaky economy just because he's short a piece of paper. Not too many U.S. citizens travel with their birth certificates and most of them don't even have a passport!

What Mexico actually demands is "proof" of nationality. Drivers licenses and a lot of other things are acceptable. And Mexican rules provide for issuing tourist permits even in the absence of these things, and allow the immigration officials to charge a small fee (about $25 U.S. the last time I heard) or not, as they see fit. Or they may refuse entry altogether. If this situation occurs, a small propina is definitely in order, say in the neighborhood of $5 to $10 U.S.

This is a good place to explain the often misunderstood difference between a "propina" and the infamous "mordita". A propina is a gratuity, freely offered and usually readily accepted. You leave a propina for the waitress or the guy who washes your car. In the example above, the $5 offered the immigration official is a propina, but if he turns it down and demands $50, it becomes a mordita pure and simple.

When dealing with Mexican border officials, the rule regarding propinas is "don't overdo it!" If you give $50 when $5 is more in order the official may wonder at the reason for your generosity. He knows if he can get $50 without asking he stands a mighty good chance to boost the ante by taking you down to the carcel and bouncing you around a little.

Nearly all magazine articles on Mexico emphasize the "fact" that a single parent taking his child or children into Mexico must have notarized permission from the other parent before they will be admitted. It just ain't so in my own experience traveling in the Republic with minor children. Sometimes a woman is hassled a little, but even this is not too common. A small propina helps at times, but is seldom obligatory.

The ordinary tourist permit is issued for 180 days, although it is often issued for lesser periods. When the permit expires, Mexican law states that it must be renewed at the border or at a Mexican Consulate. This is why it is common at ports of entry to see expatriate Yanks walk across the border, turn around and head back into the Republic.

Theoretically it is possible for a foreigner to become a full citizen of Mexico, but practically it is impossible. I have met people who have been trying for 30 years to get their Mexican citizenship but were always thwarted at the very last instant by some minute, invisible defect in their paperwork. For what it's worth, the easiest way to become a citizen of the Republic is to get yourself born there. In some cases, this can be accomplished "after the fact" through a small donation to some official's "favorite charity," or by having the right friends.

Now that I've discussed getting into Mexico, I'll add that for most Americans, Canadians or other foreigners, Mexico is a lousy haven. For one thing, it is difficult if not impossible for a foreigner to get work there. Mexico is an extremely xenophobic country, which is to say they believe in "Mexico for the Mexicans," and don't want U.S. citizens or Costa Ricans or Salvadorans or anyone else coming to their country and making it tough for the locals to get work. The fact that they sometimes act otherwise is because of the necessity of cultivating tourism, which is one of the leading generators of foreign exchange. In all honesty, from the Mexican government's point of view the ideal arrangement would be for foreigners to mail their contributions rather than bringing them along in person.

This is not to deny that many a disappearee from this country has wound up drinking Dos Equis and enjoying the balmy weather back in the Mexican highlands. But most gringos seem to lack the facility to adapt themselves to local customs and mores. The differences between Mexico and the English-speaking world run much deeper than language or etiquette. Living in Mexico is the answer for only a very, very small minority of Yankee disappearees.

WHO'S LOOKING FOR YOU

When preparing a disappearance and identity change, it is best to consider who might be looking for you and the means they are likely to employ trying to find you. One of the best ways to learn this information is to read a book like How to Find Missing Persons (see reference chapter) "backwards;" that is, if you know how people will look for you, you'll know what to do and what to avoid doing. I'll give a brief summary here of some of the more likely pursuers.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 898