All foreigners aged over 60 living in Mexico on FM2 or FM3 visas are entitled to obtain two discount cards that can be used at many businesses and services in the state of Jalisco and elsewhere in the country.
The INAPAM (Instituto Nacional de Atencion para Adultos Mayores) and the DIF Plan Venerable a los Adultos Mayores cards are easy to obtain and issued at most municipal offices of the Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF), with only minimal waiting time.
While the two cards may duplicate their functions in some cases – the 50 percent discounts for performances
of the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra at the
Teatro Degollado, for instance – it is best to have both. The INAPAM card is valid nationally in 20,000 retail and service outlets in Mexico, from cinemas, restaurants (VIPS, Sanborns, etcetera) and drugstores to inter-city buses and airplane tickets. The Jalisco DIF Plan Venerable card is valid for many businesses, mostly located in Guadalajara, including hotels, hospitals, restaurants, hospitals, physicians, opticians, laboratories, medical equipment outlets, stores and service providers, all listed in a 40-page directory. This card can be used with certain bus companies for trips within the sate of Jalisco, for instance. (Many of these business will probably accept the INAPAM card was well.)
|
What is the INAPAM? The Instituto Nacional de Atencion para Adultos Mayores (INAPAM ) was created in June 2002 by Mexico’s Social Development Agency (SEDESOL). Its forerunner was the Instituto Nacional de la Senictud (INSEN), formed in 1979 to protect, attend, assist and provide orientation to people over the age of 60. Apart from providing its members with discounts, INAPAM also offers medical and legal assistance and can help with finding work for senior citizens. INAPAM oversees more than 4,000 clubs in Mexico where senior citizens can attend cultural and artistic classes and social events. |
The Plan Venerable card also allows Mexicans aged over 50 to get substantial discounts on their annual water bills and property taxes. However, experience has shown that municipalities take a discretionary approach to foreigners applying for this particular benefit. There’s no harm in trying though.
All DIF municipal offices in Jalisco are permitted to issue both cards. In theory, the list of required documents should be the same everywhere but local interpretations can vary, as is often the case in Mexico.
Residents of the Lake Chapala area can apply at DIF Chapala, Calle Degollado 327. Go to the Departamento Atencion al Adulto Mayor, the third office on the main corridor. Register with the officer attending the desk at the entrance. Reception of documents takes place on Mondays and Tuesdays only, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cards are usually issued on the same day (unless there is a shortage of print-out materials). Twenty-five applications are handled on an average day, on first-come, first-serve basis.
While the Chapala office is accustomed to dealing with foreign residents, the same may not be true of DIF offices in other Jalisco municipalities.
| Documents required for foreigners in Chapala for INAPAM & DIF cards Original + two photocopies of:
|
In Guadalajara, the Departamento Atención al Adulto Mayor is located at Avenida Patria 3116, Colonia El Sauz, tel. 3915-3935. It is best to check by phone about the requirements. DIF officers here and in Zapopan say applicants are required to show copies of their birth certificates, although a passport and FM documents may suffice for foreigners. It should be noted that the INAPAM website – www.inapam.gob.mx – states that only one piece of photographic identification that substantiates an applicant’s age is required (plus FM2, FM3 identification for foreigners).
This newspaper called several DIF offices to verify documentation requirements, and it may be the case that some will also ask for a CURP personal identification number. While this may be waived, it is always useful to have an officially printed copy of your CURP number with you when you make any application nowadays in Mexico, as this is becoming a standard requirement for many tramites. All FM2s and FM3s will have a CURP number, which can be obtained from the Edificio del Archivo in Guadalajara, Av. Alcalde 1855, ground floor; online at curp.jalisco.gob.mx; as well as from some municipal offices, including Chapala city hall.
For a full list of the addresses and phones numbers of the 125 municipal DIF delegations in Jalisco (including Jocotepec and Puerto Vallarta), go online to http://sistemadif.jalisco.gob.mx, and in the blue left-hand menu, go to “Estructura” and in the drop-down sub-menu click on “Directorio DIF Municipal.” A map showing all the municipalities in Jalisco will appear and you will be able to click on your choice to find the information you require.
The INAPAM office in the basement of the Palacio Federal (Av. Alcalde 500 in downtown Guadalajara) also issues its own card, and the DIF Jalisco (Av. Alcalde 3332, by La Normal traffic circle in Guadalajara) office the Plan Venerable card, both from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The documentation requirements are the same as listed earlier. (If you have a birth certificate and your CURP, take them along too, to be safe.)
DIF Jalisco officials say it is not necessary for applicants for Plan Venerable cards to come in person as long as all the documentation is correct.
It should be noted that while Plan Venerable cards are regularly available, the same is not always the case for INAPAM cards. Officials at the Palacio Federal told this newspaper that new material for the cards may not be arriving in Guadalajara until the beginning of April. Call first to check at 3658-2211.
