Hi All:
I am an attorney living in Houston, TX with a very successful local and international practice. I am married and we have 2 small kids ( ages 5 & 7)[Implicit in my reading of your responses is that everyone is considering safety as factor for my wife and 2 children when I am away on business]. My wife is a CPA who specializes in consulting and tax prep for expats and companies with their global mobility issues. We will be travelling to Puerto for 2 weeks in November to learn more about the lifestyle. I have been reading so much about Puerto Rico lifestyle and Act 20 over the past few months that I cannot even keep up with my own research notes. We have received a lot of advice from people who both love the island and from those who appear to hate the island. I was fearful to post this thread because my content has been discussed many times from many different perspectives, but after reading and searching this forum I feel as though I could get some more better and/or straight forward answers. My questions/issues/need for more info:
1. Any recommendations for local PR CPAs from US Expats who have used such CPA to assist them with Act 20 qualification/registration? Can you tell me your approximate costs? (If necessary feel free to private message me); We will also need help forming our PR LLC.
2. I am aware of the $750 registration fee associated with Act 20, but have been told there is also a $5,000 per person registration fee? Does anyone know more about such fees?
3. If any US Expats have gone through this process within the past few months I would love to hear your summary of the process from timing to costs, etc. I would gladly make myself available for a telephone call or skype to discuss such.
Now, on with the lifestyle stuff!
4. Beaches, we have been told by several expats living in various locations that the only true swimmable beaches that do not have horrible undertows, seaweed, trash, rocks, are those near Isabela, Rincon, and the San Juan area. Please let me know if you all find this true, and if there are other beaches that our family would enjoy (our kids are excellent swimmers as our house has a pool and we live at our lake house 4 months out of the year).
5. Since we have made the assumption that better beaches are near the towns mentioned above, we are considering limiting our 2 week trip to the following areas: Isabela to Rincon and San Juan (both east and west sides). I have done a lot of research on Palmas Del Mar, but am not interested in living in a US compound in Puerto Rico with beaches where you cannot swim. Question - should we consider other areas such as Fajarado, Ponce or Cabo Rojo? Any other towns? If am not living on the beach, then I would have no problem with a 10-15 minute drive from the country. I am really interested in the marina at Fajarado and its proximity to San Juan, but if no nearby beaches, then I am not sure if we are interested in the area.
6. Daily life - I have read so many conflicting opinions about how frustrating daily life is for some people to how other enjoy the lifestyle of Puerto Rico. Can you all give a little more insight to these frustrations? My wife is VERY (all caps and bold font) concerned about frustrations as she is not patient at all. However, I am the one who does all the grocery shopping, errands, cooking, so I am not sure how much of daily life she will be involved. If your daily routine is wake up, do some work, study with the kids, go swimming, exercising, whatever, and then maybe eat lunch or dinner at a restaurant, exactly what part of Puerto Rico lifestyle will frustrate you?? I do not plan on spending every day at the DMV or tax office! I would love some real life experiences here as opposed to opinions, unless you substantiate your opinion with real life scenarios!!
7. Restaurants and Night Life - Can anyone comment on the restaurants and night life in the areas mentioned above (excluding San Juan)? Not the college party scene/night life, but general night life.
8. Lastly, any general experiences about safety and living and driving in Puerto.
Anything else you want to let me know about relocating please either point me to another forum blog (which I probably already read) or message me or reply to my post here. If needed I can either call you or chat via Skype!
I will be in Puerto Rico from Nov. 9 - 21, 2015 getting a better feel as to whether or not we want to try and relocate. If there are any expat gatherings during that time that you all may be aware of and I could possibly attend please let me know of such.
Warm Regards