Life in the Caymans

[Mr Magoo]

Ciudad del carmen dedicated to the oil industry. So eat your heart out there. Better‌ options are Merida if you can stand the climate or Querataro 2 hrs north of‍ MX city. Campeche is nice but i think you will get bored pretty quickly there.⁠ Gringos love to live in San Miguel de Allende. Tulum is like CDP: not nice⁤ anymore (if it ever was). Choose a small beach town on the pacific around Huatulco⁣ for example.

 

[Suzy Emerald]

Cozumel is small and just fun for diving. For the rest no reason to be‌ there.

 

[Praetorian]

Problem i think most people will realize AFTER moving to PDC is⁢ the following:

1. Everyone sees you as a walking ATM, local people just want to︀ f**k you even if you're a resident. So expect a lot of scammers and hustlers︁ trying to take your money.
2. Government in Quintana Roo is corrupt as hell, even︂ worse so than other mexican regions. I've seen people getting jailed for overstaying their visa.︃
3. Requirements for residency are increasing year after year.
4. A lot of the infrastructure︄ is missing as this region runs solely on tourism and nothing else.
5. Cost of︅ living is getting higher as more and more folks with dirty money and no where︆ else to go move in.
6. Crime is getting worse, inflation is hitting the place︇ too and the first target for local people is expats with money.

At this point︈ i'd go to Panama, sure there's crime and poverty there too but it's no where︉ near as volatile as Mexico.

 

[TheCryptoAnt]

1. Yeah, theres no way to escape that︄ unless you speak Spanish without a gringo accent.
2. Yes but that can be beneficial︅ depending on what is it that you do. In my case I choose to not︆ deal with the government at all.
3. I got the permanent for $20k and it︇ never expires. The temporary is easy to get tho.
4. Indeed but that mostly affects︈ locals and poor expats.
5. Same as 4 imo.
6. This is a strong yeah,︉ crime is indeed getting worst. Id recommend anyone going there to not dress flashy and︊ preferably live in Playacar as there's security and a fence.

Never tried Panama, any recommendations?︋ Ive read the government canceled the friendly nations visa

EDIT TO ADD:
Avoid 5th av︌ at all cost

 

[JackAlabama]

It is not cancelled per se, just made︁ much more expensive and you need to invest 200k$.
Alternatively, you get an employment contract︂ from a local company.

 

[Mr Magoo]

problems mentioned above are similar for most 3rd world countries. Corruption is indeed high in‌ every state in mexico, same as crime and cartels have also infested the long regarded‍ safe southeast. How easy the (permanent) residency is to get varies from state to state.⁠ Ready that there is now an influx from foreigners in Mexico city who work remote⁤ and want cheaper cost of living. Tourist regions at the coast are to be avoided⁣ although they look attractive. PDC is dangerous as are other places like Tulum on the⁢ mx carib coast. As foreigner better keep a low profile

 

[Praetorian]

JackAlabama answered the friend nations visa question above, however regarding Panama i really enjoyed︂ my time there.

It's not an "in your face" ghetto like PDC can be, as︃ if you avoid the bad neighborhoods you'll be fine. If you avoid trouble with local︄ folks chances of them bothering you are low too. I never had issues when i︅ was in Panama city and never felt the need for a gated community while in︆ PDC it's probably a must if you are considered wealthy.(I've been to PDC many times︇ and every night i was hearing of some expats getting scammed or robbed nearby lol).︈

Mexico is definitely not something people should avoid however, i heard good things about Cabo,︉ Guadalajara, Queretaro and Monterrey. The economy there is much more diversified and the local governments︊ isn't trying to nickel and dime tourists as much as in Quintana Roo. I've seen︋ lots of expats move there and the corruption/crime was a lot less hardcore than in︌ Cancun/PDC. It was also much cheaper depending on the city. Only issue is that there's︍ a growing anti-american sentiment after the recent surge of californian liberal refugees escaping the state︎ they turned into a shithole so they could enjoy the low cost of living. As️ a result even Mexico City rent is going up considerably apparently. Past a certain point‌ the cost of living would offset any advantages you'd get from moving there, as many‍ better jurisdictions would be more appropriate at that point.