Newbie

Pop over to Surviving Yucatan for your answers of visa and health insurance.

Thanks so much, will do:)  Have a wonderful day:)

debb1 wrote:

Hello All:)

I am the newbie who is looking for any helpful information on making the move to San Miguel de Allende!!  We want to stay initially for one year and rent a place to be sure this is a good fit for us.

We are just getting started, we have found GNP medical insurance, now we need to start the Visa process.  Does anyone know what Visa is now required (2013) and what the requirements are as far as income, etc, length of time it takes to get it?  Any "words of wisdom" is greatly appreciated!!

Hope after I get through it all and get settled in, will be able to meet some of you...I love to cook and my table is happiest when we have new friends around it!!!

San Miguel is incredible! I was born and raised in Denver. I now live here with my wife and 12 year old daughter. Feel free to call me on my Vonage phone at 303-351-5420. I will gladly share our experiences with you.

Oh my gosh.....thanks so much for reaching out:)  My name is Debbie Borgerding (young 63) (hubbie Bob young 60) we are so appreciative of your post.

I am a Colorado Native also:) I am in Real Estate here and Bob owns a business inside the Colorado Convention Center. We are looking for a more affordable place to live than Denver and to enjoy weather without snow!!!! Our plan is to be relocated in SMD one year from now. We have things to get in place here first.  We would like to try SMD for a year and plan on renting. Once we know the fit is good, we will buy a home there. I was there in February for a week with my daughter and fell in love with it. I have been traveling to various cities in Mexico the last year and knew immediately this was "the Place"!!

I just got accepted on the GNP Medical Plan in Mexico, it has to be in place before I turn 64 or I am no longer eligible. I am now waiting for information from the Mexican Consulate to answer questions regarding Visas,etc.

What made you decide on SMD?  How long have you been there? Please feel free to email me, I am anxious to hear about your experience in Paradise:) 

Debbie   303.349.1777  Debbie@spurealty.com

Hi Debbie-

I am also relocating to San Miguel for 6 months to see if I like it.

I use to speak fairly fluent Spanish but have not used my Spanish for years so I will be back in class as well. I got the Pimsleur CD's and continue to practice here.

I use to live in Guadalajara and Mexico City. I am a food writer and photographer so cooking is a passion for me as well.

Let's stay in touch. When will you go? I go on May 30th.

Thanks!

Susan

Hi.  We have just completed our first year in SMA and have just applied for the renewal of our FM3 visa for another 3 years.  Would be happy to share our experience with you and what we did right and wrong.  First, you can come across the border and we would highly recommend the Columbia bridge entrance, if bringing a car and for 6 months.  Once you get here, the immigration guys are very helpful in answering questions and speak English quite well.  We came across, stopped at the office at the border to get our 6month Visa and car bond permit without any issues.  The guard will look at your passport and wave you through but you must handle the paperwork so don't just keep going.  If you come by airplane, the plane will provide the documents you need for the Temp Visa.  We were here for about a month or so and then gathered the paperwork we needed and went online and did everything on our own, no attorney, without any issues.  We had our golden retriever with us too, so if you have pets to bring, we could help with that too.  We found an initial place on VRBO.com and were in it for 3 months but then through the Atencion weekly newspaper were able to find a larger, nicer place for a lot less money.  We wanted to get a feel for the town to determine where we wanted to live so that worked well for us.  I am just 62 so needed international health insurance and was able to find some but my husband has Medicare so if something major occurred, we would get him back to the States.  Also if you bring a car, remember that you must obtain Mexican car insurance, as your U.S. policy probably does not cover you here.  2 items we messed up:  we wish we had kept minimal U.S. coverage for our car and not dropped it because getting recovered was a pain but we needed it when we returned to visit.  We finally did get it back and now we maintain it.  Also, we sold our higher Jeep and brought our small Honda, thinking it would be more economical but the topes/speed bumps here really do a number on cars so might be better to have a higher truck/SUV to survive.  There is just so much info and some may or my not apply to you all, so let us know what you need.  I grew up in Wyoming, so Denver is well known to me.  Sandi Wallace

Hi.  We live in SMA also and attended Warren Hardy Spanish school after arriving which helped us learn a lot of verbs but not really how to use them.  I had the Pimsler CDs before we came and they were fine but still not great.  What we have now found and are using is Synergy Spanish.  If you google it, I am sure that it will come up for you.  It is from an Australian man and is by far the best way to actually start using Spanish fluently in day-to-day conversation.  It has really helped us, so we would highly recommend it.  There are even free lessons and tips that you can get to see if it would be right for you.  You don't have to speak Spanish to get by in San Miguel but to really be able to interact and be a good guest in this country, you will want to know some basics.  We have just found Synergy Spanish to be a great way for us to learn.  Best wishes with your move to San Miguel!  Sandi

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Thank you so much for your information Sandy, it is so appreciated!!!