"DOH!" and then "WHEW!"

So, I got a call from the human resources boss the other day informing me that my visa had lapsed as of this March. I played dumb. At their request I paid them a visit the following day with all my documentation. She said that I needed to take a trip down to Oaxaca City to sort this out. Upon informing her that I had $4,500 pesos, and that it will cost $2000 for the renewal and over $1,000 for the penalty, she said that I could wait until the next pay day. WHEW!

About not being able to work until it's valid again, not a word was said. I figure that if I were to have inquired, then they would have been obligated to say that, well, yeah, you can't work. Surely they realize that I shouldn't be working, but by the same token, they'd rather not leave 45 students stranded for however long it takes the ever so charming Oaxacan immigration office to process the paperwork.

Though obviously I'm being ironic, the human resources ladies were under the impression that the immigration office is indeed a pleasure for us to deal with - evident by the fact that they thought I incurred no fee when I changed my employer and domicile. Pishaw! That was another $2,000 pesos! I just about choked on my tongue when they reasoned that my visa wasn't renewed at the time I changed employers because I didn't have to pay.