# Moving to Veracruz with kids.



## FairieDreams (Dec 11, 2013)

Hello, my name is Shannon. My boyfriend of 9 years is from the mountains of Veracruz. Somewhere between Colonia Manuel Gonzalez and Paso del Macho. He would like for me to move there in one year. I have never been to Mexico. I am wondering what it will be like for me and my children. I have 3 children, ages 3, 5, and 15. My 15 yr old may decide to stay with her grandmother. I can speak enough spanish to survive. My children, even tho they are half Mexican, cannot speak spanish. My bf thinks the kids are small enough to just pick it up, once they are around spanish speaking people full time. I'm a little worried about the whole thing. He has family there and that's fine for him since he hasn't been home in 10 years. 
I have heard a story about one girl who went there to live with her bf after he was deported. Apparently, she didn't stay very long. It is a rural area and she was tired of eating pizza everyday and came back to the US. 
Any information, opinions or knowledge of life in this area would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Do your children have their Mexican citizenship and passports yet? If not, that should be a priority. Otherwise, they will be required to obtain residence visas for Mexico, just as you will have to do at the nearest Mexican consulate to your home in the USA. You cannot just go to Mexico and take up residence. You will have to prove income from the USA, etc. You have a lot of homework to do. Language will be the least of it.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

I agree, language is not the big issue here. Your younger kids will indeed pick it up quickly.

I would not put too much weight on someone else's experience, even if the other person is in a similar situation. Your experience will be driven by your relation with your boy friend, by his family, by your attitude, by your ability and interest in dealing with a new culture.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

If you've never been Paso del Macho or anywhere in the mountains of Veracruz, visit first. Leave the kids at home and go with your boyfriend and stay a month or so.


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## FairieDreams (Dec 11, 2013)

I realize that me and my children will have to enter as American tourists with Passports and Visas. My boyfriend said after we were in Mexico he could file papers for the kids to become Mexican Citizen and then they would have dual citizenship. I would be crossing the border every 6 months on a tourist visa for the time being. 
Also, I currently live in a rural area in the mountains of southwest Virginia. I am used to not having all the conveniences of living near a major town or city. I have been out of the country one time before and stayed for a month in Egypt. That was in 2004 before I had my younger children. That seemed like a more dangerous situation than this. After about 2 weeks, I had adjusted to the area and knew what I could and couldn't do as an American woman. Of course, I did not have my kids with me there.


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## JaunMadera (Dec 9, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> I agree, language is not the big issue here. Your younger kids will indeed pick it up quickly.
> 
> *I would not put too much weight on someone else's experience, even if the other person is in a similar situation*. Your experience will be driven by your relation with your boy friend, by his family, by your attitude, by your ability and interest in dealing with a new culture.


Particularly if all she did was eat pizza

I've visited Mexico enough, and read enough about moving down there, that I know you need to be prepared to accept the culture. People that do down there, either as tourists or unprepared expats, end up having a terrible time and come of as ugly Americans. 

The things I know.... it is different. the standard of living for locals is much much different. The way things work, and the time it takes for them to work is much much much different. 

it is these differences, and the refusal or ability to accept them as they are, that will define the experience


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

FairieDreams said:


> I realize that me and my children will have to enter as American tourists with Passports and Visas. My boyfriend said after we were in Mexico he could file papers for the kids to become Mexican Citizen and then they would have dual citizenship. I would be crossing the border every 6 months on a tourist visa for the time being.
> Also, I currently live in a rural area in the mountains of southwest Virginia. I am used to not having all the conveniences of living near a major town or city. I have been out of the country one time before and stayed for a month in Egypt. That was in 2004 before I had my younger children. That seemed like a more dangerous situation than this. After about 2 weeks, I had adjusted to the area and knew what I could and couldn't do as an American woman. Of course, I did not have my kids with me there.


I think your experience will serve you well.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

joaquinx said:


> If you've never been Paso del Macho or anywhere in the mountains of Veracruz, visit first. Leave the kids at home and go with your boyfriend and stay a month or so.


I agree with the idea of a visit prior to the move, but I would not leave a 3 and 5 yr old behind for the month, especially when you are visiting their father's family. If his family is like most Latin American families I know, your little ones will be treasured and showered with love. In fact, the family might find it hard to understand - and even be somewhat hurt - if you don't bring them. At that age kids adapt quickly and easily in most cases. In my opinion, exposure to other cultures and another language is great for kids. 

I also had an older daughter from my previous marriage when I married into my husband's family. She was accepted as part of the family, and now as an adult she still considers my husband's nieces and nephews to be her cousins.

Good luck!


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

FairieDreams said:


> I realize that me and my children will have to enter as American tourists with Passports and Visas. My boyfriend said after we were in Mexico he could file papers for the kids to become Mexican Citizen and then they would have dual citizenship.


If your kids have a Mexican parent (you mentioned they are half Mexican), then they are already Mexican nationals – what they don’t have is the *documentation* to _prove_ their Mexican nationality. If you have the required IDs and documents, they can already get their Mexican birth certificates at your nearest Mexican consulate.

My kids have one Mexican parent, and were born in Canada. When each one was a baby, we took them to the Mexican consulate and applied for their Mexican birth certificate. It was a “birth certificate for a Mexican national born abroad.” In our case, the papers we needed were the baby’s Canadian birth certificate, and mine (Canadian) and my husband’s (Mexican) passports.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

You may also find it easier and even less expensive to get those birth certificates and Mexican passports at a Mexican consulate in the USA, instead of having to make repeated trips to the capital of your Mexican state.
Note that a 189 day tourist permit is not a visa and there is a fee, which your children can avoid if they already have Mexican passports. Of course, they will also need US passports for return visits.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Oops! Make that a *180* day tourist permit.


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## Azuledos (Jan 21, 2010)

Paso del Macho is just a short distance east of us, on the other side of Córdoba and up into the lower hills. If small town life there is anything like what we are experiencing in Fortín, you should settle in easily. The city is close enough for any specialty or big-box shopping you need to do. You should definitely enjoy the green forested Altas Montañas of western Veracruz. Welcome!


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