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Long-term visits to other countries | ||
Tags: Mexico | Living abroad | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Crush Tetraglot Senior Member ChinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5867 days ago 1622 posts - 2299 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Basque | Message 1 of 13 14 July 2009 at 2:26am | IP Logged | ||
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I have been wanting to go to Mexico for a while now both to visit friends and to have the opportunity to practice my Spanish. I'd like to spend several months there, but I'm not sure how to go about it without bringing in a large amount of money (which I would rather not do). Does anyone have experience/advice on visiting a country for a relatively long period of time (or going through the process of getting a work visa) and what to expect from immigration, especially since I plan on getting a ride from a friend or meeting up with someone near the border and won't have a specific "return date" proven by a plane ticket?
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| Ashley_Victrola Senior Member United States Joined 5708 days ago 416 posts - 429 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Romanian | Message 2 of 13 14 July 2009 at 2:33am | IP Logged | ||
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This travel website from the U.S. state department should help you out. Got to say though it isn't the BEST time to visit Mexico since it's on the travel alert list. Of course, the violence is mainly near the U.S. border and it is a big country so depending on where you go it will be safe. The link below is to the travel alert and has instructions on how to stay safe there but in the sidebar it has all the info you wanted. Hope it helps! US State Department Travel Info 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| anamsc Triglot Senior Member Andorra Joined 6205 days ago 296 posts - 382 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Catalan Studies: Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Written), French | Message 3 of 13 14 July 2009 at 3:08am | IP Logged | ||
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As far as money, if you have a bank account in the US, I don't see why you couldn't use ATMs in Mexico. I'm not
sure whether I'd recommend opening up an account in Mexico (a close friend of mine had trouble with his account when he immigrated to the US, so I'm probably biased due to that). You could also open an account with a company that has branches in the US so you can open it before you go (I don't know where you live, but around here we have at least Banco Popular), or in a company with a more international presence like HSBC or Santander. I don't know how one would go about getting a work visa (probably check the website Ashley_Victrola linked), but I think you can stay in Mexico a while without one, and then cross the border and go back in to get your passport re-stamped. Edited by anamsc on 14 July 2009 at 3:09am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5925 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian | Message 4 of 13 14 July 2009 at 5:09am | IP Logged | ||
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You can stay for up to 6 months on a tourist visa. The least safe parts are, as mentioned, the border and the big cities such as Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey but just take the normal precautions and you'll be ok. I honestly feel pretty safe here.
A work visa is not that hard to get but you will need a job offer, proof you're qualified to do the job offered (degree certs apostilled), birth certificate etc. It costs about $200. They don't often check if you have a return ticket or not, so don't worry too much about that one. Right now, Mexico needs the tourism. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pmiller Account terminated Groupie Canada Joined 5676 days ago 99 posts - 104 votes Speaks: English* | Message 5 of 13 14 July 2009 at 8:21am | IP Logged | ||
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Everyone feels safe until they are vitimized. Then it's too late. So learn as much as you can from your friends and travel/expat websites. Better safe than sorry.
Mexico is one of the more dangerous countries at the moment. Everyone I know who's gone to Mexico has been robbed by the police. This is in the border towns of Tijuana, Ensenada and Mexicali. I've also read some real horror stories in the newspaper about police kidnapping, beating, raping and robbing tourists - both in border areas and in Mexico City. Several of my friends were withdrawing cash from an ATM on a busy street in downtown Tijuana when they were robbed by machine-gun toting police. This was in broad daylight in the tourist district. Also, it's better not to drive your car into Mexico. Drivers are often pulled over and fined even if they did nothing wrong. Some people have their cars confiscated. I'm talking about ordinary, law-abiding, middle-class tourists, not drug-smugglers or trouble-makers. I would take the U.S. State Departments Travel Info seriously, and also look up other governments' advice about Mexico (U.K., Canada, etc.) Here are some other resources for you: http://www.expatforum.com/expats/mexico-expat-forum-expats-l iving-mexico/ http://www.expatexchange.com/expat/index.cfm?frmid=254&forum id=0&dbname=ee&shared=N http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-mexico Good luck. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TheBiscuit Tetraglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5925 days ago 532 posts - 619 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Italian Studies: German, Croatian | Message 6 of 13 14 July 2009 at 6:26pm | IP Logged | ||
It's a completely different country away from those border cities, just avoid them. Matamoros is another one you probably wouldn't want to visit. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ashley_Victrola Senior Member United States Joined 5708 days ago 416 posts - 429 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Romanian | Message 7 of 13 14 July 2009 at 6:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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An addition to the list is definitely Juarez, incredibly dangerous. Literally people being murdered in broad daylight by corrupt police. But again, Mexico is VERY LARGE. As long as you're staying away from the border towns you should have a good time.
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| Alvinho Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 6236 days ago 828 posts - 832 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish | Message 8 of 13 14 July 2009 at 8:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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They say that travelling around Colombia is safer than Mexico nowadays.....
However, that harsh situation the country is going through is rather common along the border with US...at least they say Anyway it's a country which has made me curious....I'm willingly to go there some day...mainly see around Baja California Edited by Alvinho on 14 July 2009 at 8:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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