Mexican Consulate takes its services on the road
The Mexican Consulate annually serves tens of thousands of Mexican citizens who come to its offices in Downtown Yuma.
But if they can’t come to Yuma — whether they live far out of town or lack transportation — the consulate can come to them.
The consulate takes its services on the road through its “Consulado Móvil,” or Mobile Consulate program, visiting the far ends of Yuma County or La Paz County, assisting people who need copies of their birth certificates, Mexican passports or some other documents or services.
Recently, the consulate staff traveled to the Fernando Padilla Community Center in San Luis, Ariz., where it served more than 50 people, most of whom needed passports.
“This is the first of five (visits around the region) that we are going to have this year,” said Edith Garcia, administrator of the consular offices in Yuma. “We have a lot demand for documents, above all Mexican passports, which are the most sought-after documents.”
Later this year, the Mobile Consulate program will make a return visit to San Luis as well as visits to the La Paz County communities of Salome and Parker.
The Mexican government opened a consular office in Yuma in 2001 to serve Mexican nationals living in Yuma and La Paz counties.
In 2007, the consulate moved from its location at 16th Street and 6th Avenue to its current site at 3rd and Main Street downtown. Later it launched the Mobile Consulate program.