How long can I be in Mexico before I have to apply for a residency visa?
Juan Eufracio Marquez Flores - LM&A Immigration and Legal Services
You can get a tourist visa for up to 6 months and theoretically, you could just keep just getting tourist visas every six months. For example, if you’re driving you go to the border, you can turn around, come back in and get another 6 months.
I have several clients (snow birds, for example), who are here for 4 months and they leave and they say, “No, I don’t want to deal with the Residente Temporal and I don’t want to deal...
You can get a tourist visa for up to 6 months and theoretically, you could just keep just getting tourist visas every six months. For example, if you’re driving you go to the border, you can turn around, come back in and get another 6 months.
I have several clients (snow birds, for example), who are here for 4 months and they leave and they say, “No, I don’t want to deal with the Residente Temporal and I don’t want to deal with the Permanente,” and sometimes they even own property. They go and come back and they have been doing that for more than 10 years. There is no restriction.
How much do restaurants cost in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua?
Daniel Snider - Snider's Realty Nicaragua
The cost to eat at restaurants in San Juan Del Sur is between US $2 to $15 per plate. The range is from street vendors that sell Nicaraguan food and rolling stores like taco trucks to meals at sit-down restaurants, which cost from $5 to $10 and up.
If I would compare the cost of restaurants in San Juan del Sur to where I lived in Santa Barbara, California, I’d say the cost to eat in restaurants here in Nicaragua is about 50% or more less....
The cost to eat at restaurants in San Juan Del Sur is between US $2 to $15 per plate. The range is from street vendors that sell Nicaraguan food and rolling stores like taco trucks to meals at sit-down restaurants, which cost from $5 to $10 and up.
If I would compare the cost of restaurants in San Juan del Sur to where I lived in Santa Barbara, California, I’d say the cost to eat in restaurants here in Nicaragua is about 50% or more less. The low cost of food is definitely something you should take into consideration when coming to Nicaragua.
What's the language most often spoken in Algarve? Can I get by if I just speak English?
Luis Teixeira da Silva - Algarve Senior Living
Sad to say, I have English friends who have been in the Algarve for 22 years who don’t speak a word of Portuguese or hardly a word in Portuguese. So sadly, the answer is yes, you can get by in the Algarve by just speaking English.
The Algarve is the most popular tourist region in Portugal. It receives somewhere between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000 arrivals a year and the Algarve has the population of only 300,000. So there is a lot of influx of people...
Sad to say, I have English friends who have been in the Algarve for 22 years who don’t speak a word of Portuguese or hardly a word in Portuguese. So sadly, the answer is yes, you can get by in the Algarve by just speaking English.
The Algarve is the most popular tourist region in Portugal. It receives somewhere between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000 arrivals a year and the Algarve has the population of only 300,000. So there is a lot of influx of people into the area and, of course, what this means is that the most common language of communication is English. English can be used to communicate with Dutch, Norwegians, Americans, Canadians, Australians, English, and even with Germans. And so English is the de facto international language in use in the Algarve in conversations involving foreign people.
We have many foreign people who start off learning Portuguese but the Portuguese people go out of their way to speak English and so what the foreigners find is that sometimes it is difficult to practice their Portuguese because the Portuguese people in their anxiety to be helpful start speaking English. And so most people kind of then become embarrassed and they revert to English because the Portuguese speak so much better English than the foreigners speak Portuguese.
It would be helpful to speak some Portuguese because it is part of understanding the culture. So it’s always useful to be able to say something more than just “hello” and “goodbye.” But the truth is that there are some people who for cultural and other reasons have not necessarily made the effort or found that they needed to make the effort to learn Portuguese. They can simply get by on English and do everything that they need to do—go to the doctor, go to the supermarket, go to the club, etc., and they can get away perfectly with just speaking English.
(Lennart Eriksson [far right], Swedish Olympian visited Algarve Senior Living property in Portugal, pictured.)
Are there tax advantages or disadvantages if I retire, work or live abroad?
Tabitha Paddock - Greenback Expat Tax Services
One of the biggest tax advantages of living abroad is enjoying lower tax rates (depending on where you retire obviously) found in some outside countries. However, as a US citizen or Greencard holder, you are required to report your worldwide income to the US every year. Even if you are no longer living or working in the US. This often means two tax returns, and twice as much taken in tax... Right? Wrong!
Fortunately, the US has certain exclusions and credits in place to...
One of the biggest tax advantages of living abroad is enjoying lower tax rates (depending on where you retire obviously) found in some outside countries. However, as a US citizen or Greencard holder, you are required to report your worldwide income to the US every year. Even if you are no longer living or working in the US. This often means two tax returns, and twice as much taken in tax... Right? Wrong!
Fortunately, the US has certain exclusions and credits in place to limit this dual taxation. These credits can go a long way to limit (or even eliminate) any tax liability in the US. The biggest credit is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, this allows you to exclude over 95K of income from being taxed in the USA. If your earned income falls under this limit, you will not owe the US any tax (even if you won't owe anything you still have to file).
If you properly use the available credits and exclusions, you can actually enjoy the low tax rates of certain countries!
Corozal has recently instituted a government agency from which you must obtain a permit in order to build. They review your plans and are mainly concerned with electrical because that’s where most fires start. The electrical in Corozal is to US standards.
There are a lot of builders down there (Mark Leonard and Ed Moore being just two of them), and bunch more US guys who do build to US standards. The Belizeans don’t necessarily build to US...
Corozal has recently instituted a government agency from which you must obtain a permit in order to build. They review your plans and are mainly concerned with electrical because that’s where most fires start. The electrical in Corozal is to US standards.
There are a lot of builders down there (Mark Leonard and Ed Moore being just two of them), and bunch more US guys who do build to US standards. The Belizeans don’t necessarily build to US standards, but can do it if you just explain to them how you want it done.
The inspectors don’t really care if your plumbing breaks because that’s your problem but if you catch on fire and burn down some other people’s houses, they’re not going to be happy about that.
If you were interested in buying a home in Corozal that was already built, my advice to you would be to have a contractor go over with it you and really look at it. You can get a local contractor. I’m a licensed real estate inspector in the state of Texas so I do some of that mainly for our rental properties in Texas, so I know a bit about the importance of home inspection. Getting your home inspected in Belize is something that you would definitely want to take a good look at, especially the main systems before you buy and especially if it’s an older home.
(Pictured: Work being done on a home being constructed by Mark Leonard, Corozal, Belize.)
I have my favorite restaurants in Coronado, Panama that I look forward to dining at every year for the past 5 years at least.
Luna Rosa, famed Italian cuisine set in a charming house and outdoor covered veranda (bohio) at the tucked away corner of Coronado's Roberto Eisenman fork, with the store (La Cosita) opposite, the church that was just there until recently and the new condo before Coronado Bay. This restaurant has only...
I have my favorite restaurants in Coronado, Panama that I look forward to dining at every year for the past 5 years at least.
Luna Rosa, famed Italian cuisine set in a charming house and outdoor covered veranda (bohio) at the tucked away corner of Coronado's Roberto Eisenman fork, with the store (La Cosita) opposite, the church that was just there until recently and the new condo before Coronado Bay. This restaurant has only grown more popular with the new owners' enhancements, but Bruno and his chef made Luna Rosa renowned with its great authentic menu and good wine, even at $4 a glass. I miss Bruno's love of opera, but the Italian couple there are careful to maintain the genuine atmosphere and quality (the chef is still there).
Coronado prides itself on good restaurants and there are enough, about eight right in Coronado plus the Coronado Golf and Beach Club, which are for members and their guests. There's Todoal Carbon, open grill indoor-outdoor restaurant, run by the wonderful Vladimir, who makes sure all is served fresh and offers GREAT quality for so little cost; $6 for a grilled half chicken with salad and your choice of rice, potatoes, yucca, patacones(fried banana) ..and add wine for $3, beer for $2 or lemonade for $1.50. Yes, these are typical prices in Panama, but you don't always get this quality. The chicken is succulent and I've had American guests that never forget it. More and more new restaurants are opening in the malls and along the highway. There is no shortage of good to great food at unbelievably fair prices in and around Coronado, Panama.
I don´t remember exactly how it happened, who contacted who that contacted me. It was for sure one of Panama`s classic two degrees of separation, which in Casco makes for a cozy half degree. All I know is that I said “sure, sounds like fun”, emails were sent, and all of a sudden we were on camera! And I`m glad we did.
The experience was truly fun, and it also shifted a lot of my ideas about TV and the people behind it. The crew couldn´t be more down to...
On September 7, the Panama men’s and women’s flag football national teams will be flying to Grosseto, Italy, for the International Federation of American Football Flag Football World Championship. Originally scheduled for August 13-15, in Jerusalem, the tournament had to be moved because of the violence in that region.
This event has been held every two years since 2002 and is the showpiece event for senior national teams competing in 5-on-5 flag...
I first came to Panama City in the fall of 1997. Even then the city was vibrant, bustling and full of life. The towering skyscrapers that now dominate Avenida Balboa were a distant vision and the high end residential districts of Punta Pacifica and Costa del Este had yet to be built. Just getting into the city from Tocumen International Airport could be a nightmare. The toll road leading from the airport wasn’t complete and the notorious city traffic jams were...