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So, you want to move to Mexico - maybe?

© Geri Anderson

So you want to move to Mexico? Moving to a foreign country, either permanently or for part of the year, is a big step, and often people teeter on the edge for years, see-sawing back and forth, not able to make up their minds. Even if you've traveled around Mexico and love it, you'll find that living there is quite different from visiting.

You may need to make a test run before making a permanent move. To do this, carve out a time period of several months when you can actually live in Mexico. Take a few of your favorite things, rent an apartment and get a feel for the area. This experience may differ from the one you had as a tourist. You can stay in Mexico 180 days on a tourist visa (FMT that you get on the airplane or at the border). If you want to stay longer, apply for a Non-immigrant Visitante-Rentista (FM-3). You can get this type of visa at a Mexican Consulate in the U.S./Canada, or in Mexico. It merely allows you to live a year in Mexico, and it can be renewed. I am talking here of a non-work type FM-3. Getting a work permit in Mexico is more complicated and difficult. To get an FM-3, You'll need a passport, two passport photos, and proof of income (currently $1,000/month for an individual, $1,500).Cost is around $70 for the FM-3. For more specifics.

In preparation for the big move, you may also talk to people who live there (on discussion forums, by e-mail, in person). This way you can find out some basics, but you won't know if living like an expat is for you, until you DO IT.

You'll discover that things that are simple in your hometown take time and energy in a different country, especially if you aren't fluent in the native language.You'll have to find not only good restaurants, but markets stands that have the freshest fruits and veggies at the best price. You'll have to learn how to prepare them so they're safe to eat. You need to know where to pay your bills (telephone, electric, Internet), how to dispose of garbage, where to buy five-gallon jugs of drinking water, who to call when the faucett leaks, what time the English language newspaper arrives each day, and more. If you drive, you need to find a parking space.Or, you need to learn the bus routes and schedules. Simple stuff isn't so simple in a foreign land.