The Ministry of Foreign Relations (SRE) assured that there will only be around 80 “local” employees in U.S who will not receive the renewal of the contract, since the A-2 visa expires and the Department of State will not replace the document.
However, there are about 739 of these employees, called Independent Professional Service Providers (PSPI), those who have the expectation of knowing what will happen to their employment, since their stay in the United States and their work in one of the 50 Mexican consulates in the United States depends on the A-2 visa.
Yesterday EL UNIVERSAL published that local PSPI employees who work in the diplomatic representations of Mexico in the American Union denounced dismissals in the secondments, under the argument – among others – that the US federal government will not renew the corresponding visa.
In 2016, the United States government announced that after five years, that visa that is granted to full-time workers of a foreign government, destined for embassies and consulates, would not be renewed. The measure will begin to apply from August 2021.
In an information card that Foreign Relations gave to this newspaper, he justified that the migratory stay and work permit for professionals who provide their independent professional services in Mexican consulates in the United States is given under the A-2 visas granted by that government.
“At present, 1,642 PSPI are hired in the Mexican consular network in the United States. Of these, approximately 55% are permanent residents, US citizens, or have a work permit. The rest are Mexican citizens who applied for a hiring opportunity directly at a Mexican representation and who voluntarily traveled to the United States under the protection of a work visa (A2) ”, the Foreign Ministry explained.
Derived from the measure announced by the US government, he added, those known as local employees, hired by the consular representations of Mexico in the United States, will not be able to have a work permit.
“It is estimated that 80 PSPI will not be able to renew their contract, as their visas are about to expire,” said the agency.
Just last December 22, in the morning conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in the National Palace, the head of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, assured that he is negotiating with the government of Washington, among other issues, for the visas of type A-2 work.
However, as there will be a change of government in the neighboring country to the north (to take place on January 20 next), there may be something on the matter until the end of February 2021.
“I estimate that by the end of February we can have a response from the new administration and that the new status that we achieve, regarding visas, will allow us to adjust their situation. [de los empleados locales] labor, because it is very uncertain, it is not fair ”, declared Ebrard.
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