Move to Playa del Carmen Mexico

PROPOSAL TO CHANGE FEES

On February 9, 2010, the Department of State proposed fee increases for American Citizen Services.  The fee increase is currently in a “period for public comment” and would take effect later this year.

In particular, passport services fees will increase as follows:

Passport Renewal for adults– $75 to $110.

First-time Passport Application or Replacement of Lost/Stolen Passport from $100 to $135.

Passport for Minors:  from $85 to $105

Report of Birth Abroad $65 to $100

Also, an $82 fee is proposed for adding passport pages.

You can find the complete list of proposed new fees at our website: http://merida.usconsulate.gov.  (use specific site where it is located). You will be able to follow a link on that site to comment up to March 10, 2010.

You may renew your passport at any time by making an appointment with the Consulate at http://merida.usconsulate.gov/merida/passports.html.

There is a Consular Agent Office in Playa del Carmen that is an extension of the Consulate in Merida. It’s located on block south of Juarez on Calle 1 Sur between Ave 15 and 20 as I recall. There is also a Consular Agent in Cozumel.

Consular Agent in Playa del Carmen

“The Palapa”

Calle 1 Sur, entre Avenida 15 y Avenida 20
77710 Playa del Carmen, Q. Roo

Mon, Wed, Fri: 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Tels: [52] (984) 873-0303
Fax: [52] (984) 873-0481
Emergency Cellphone: [52] (984) 807-8355

E-mail: playausca@hotmail.com

Consular Agent: Samantha Mason

When we moved here, I was determined that that we would not need nor own a car. My hubby was not so sure. He has always loved cars since he was a teenager, and this would be the first time in his life that he would not own one. We discussed the pros and cons. The pros before we moved were that we would not have the expense of buying a car, we wouldn’t have to buy gas or insurance or worry about repairs. The cons were that we didn’t know how far we would live from a grocery store or other stores and getting around when it rained (which during the rainy season can be at least a little while every day). I convinced him to try it, and if it didn’t work we could always buy a car in Playa del Carmen.

Now we are both very glad that we made the decision not to own one, and we found there are new reasons not to. One is that public transportation is very affordable and is nominal in comparison to the cost of owning a car. We live close to two large grocery stores, Mega and WalMart, and if we buy more than we can carry home on foot, we can get a taxi. We also travel by taxi to Sam’s Club, the mall and anywhere else that we think is too far to walk. Easy! If we want to go to Tulum or other places for the day, we get a colectivo (a van that carries 12 to 15 people) or ride on one of the very nice, air conditioned buses for a small fee. Another reason is that people drive a little crazy here, and it’s probably much safer to leave the driving to people who are very experienced in dealing with it.

 Today, I learned another reason for not owning a car. The following link on the In The Roo public forum was posted by a friend of ours regarding a scam situation involving him and some local taxi drivers.

http://intheroo.com/playa-del-carmen-forums/playa-del-carmen/1146-beware-latest-taxi-scam.html

If you are not familiar with the In The Roo web site (http://intheroo.com/), it’s a great place to visit for information about Playa del Carmen. They even have an interactive map of the area.