# Moving to San Miguel Allende



## Leo Hernandez (Sep 17, 2012)

I am moving to San Miguel Allende, can someone give me tips as to land in a good area to live in, meet people and find a job?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Are you a Mexican citizen, or have a Mexican visa with permission to work in Mexico? The first tip is to be sure you qualify to work, if necessary. The second tip is to find the job before deciding where to live.


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## Leo Hernandez (Sep 17, 2012)

I am German and do have the necessary documents, not going to SMA for a job but moving there and of course if someone has an opening please let me know


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Leo Hernandez said:


> I am German and do have the necessary documents, not going to SMA for a job but moving there and of course if someone has an opening please let me know


Leo, we think San Miguel is great but as with basically any place, I would expect that you should visit and rent for an extended period of time before deciding to live there. With San Miguel you will have any number of living arrangements but is probably best to come with a short term rental and look yourself.

Given that, what are your specific questions?


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## Leo Hernandez (Sep 17, 2012)

conklinwh said:


> Leo, we think San Miguel is great but as with basically any place, I would expect that you should visit and rent for an extended period of time before deciding to live there. With San Miguel you will have any number of living arrangements but is probably best to come with a short term rental and look yourself.
> 
> Given that, what are your specific questions?


Thanking you for your reply also like to know is the job market there?


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

Leo Hernandez said:


> Thanking you for your reply also like to know is the job market there?


San Miguel basically has no industry so almost anything you would find in San Miguel is tourism, art or normal businesses where the highest employers are probably a couple auto dealers on the outside of town. It is a great place for restaurants, festivals, events and as I said art. It does have an increasing focus on organic farming with a couple weekend organic markets.

San Miguel is a 500+ year old town that wants to maintain that image to the extent possible.Think Bamburg! What type of jobs were you looking for?


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## Leo Hernandez (Sep 17, 2012)

conklinwh said:


> San Miguel basically has no industry so almost anything you would find in San Miguel is tourism, art or normal businesses where the highest employers are probably a couple auto dealers on the outside of town. It is a great place for restaurants, festivals, events and as I said art. It does have an increasing focus on organic farming with a couple weekend organic markets.
> 
> San Miguel is a 500+ year old town that wants to maintain that image to the extent possible.Think Bamburg! What type of jobs were you looking for?


Basically teaching English, German or Spanish or something that might bring some extra cash, thank you again


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## Marishka (Feb 1, 2009)

Leo Hernandez said:


> Basically teaching English, German or Spanish or something that might bring some extra cash, thank you again


There are a lot of people teaching English and Spanish in San Miguel, but I only know of one person who teaches German there, so that might be a good niche for you. She also teaches English, French and Spanish. She has taught at several Mexican universities, and also for companies such as VW, Siemens, and New Holland. She now teaches all levels of German, French, English and Spanish in her home in San Miguel.

If you'd like her contact info, send me a pm. Good luck!


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## Leo Hernandez (Sep 17, 2012)

Marishka said:


> There are a lot of people teaching English and Spanish in San Miguel, but I only know of one person who teaches German there, so that might be a good niche for you. She also teaches English, French and Spanish. She has taught at several Mexican universities, and also for companies such as VW, Siemens, and New Holland. She now teaches all levels of German, French, English and Spanish in her home in San Miguel.
> 
> If you'd like her contact info, send me a pm. Good luck!


It sounds like the right person to be in touch with, could would you please let me have a way to contact her. thank you
By the way do you kive in San Miguel as well?


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## Marishka (Feb 1, 2009)

Leo Hernandez said:


> It sounds like the right person to be in touch with, could would you please let me have a way to contact her. thank you
> By the way do you kive in San Miguel as well?


I sent you a pm with the contact information.

No, I live in the U.S., but I'm looking forward to exploring places I haven't been in Mexico, and San Miguel is one of those places.

Btw, there's also a French teacher in San Miguel who teaches all levels of French. Her classes are very popular. Once a week, her students get together to watch a French film and discuss it. There's also someone teaching Italian there. 

San Miguel is the kind of place where people sign up for all kinds of classes, so I do think it's possible for you to build a successful business teaching languages there.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

Marishka said:


> San Miguel is the kind of place where people sign up for all kinds of classes, so I do think it's possible for you to build a successful business teaching languages there.


There are few other places in Mexico where an expat needs to make certain they've carefully followed the immigration and other regulations as in San Miguel de Allende. Many people make a living giving language lessons and they will pounce upon someone with the full force of the law if the other/new person is skirting the law.


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## ValRomx (Nov 12, 2012)

Longford said:


> There are few other places in Mexico where an expat needs to make certain they've carefully followed the immigration and other regulations as in San Miguel de Allende. Many people make a living giving language lessons and they will pounce upon someone with the full force of the law if the other/new person is skirting the law.


This is a late echo to Longford's comments ... San Miguel is a small town in many ways where word travels quickly and there are people who will make sure the authorities will check that you've dotted the I's and crossed the T's. I know a woman who wanted to start a consulting business in SMA but her "friends" made sure authorities knew she didn't have a visa that allowed her the right to work and so she found herself unable to proceed.

Having said that, a few people work here who may not have dotted all the I's.

The audience for learning English here is primarily workers in service businesses. Their employers generally don't pay for their classes, so it's up to the employee to pay for his or her self-improvement and that limits the market significantly.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

ValRomx said:


> This is a late echo to Longford's comments ... San Miguel is a small town in many ways where word travels quickly and there are people who will make sure the authorities will check that you've dotted the I's and crossed the T's. I know a woman who wanted to start a consulting business in SMA but her "friends" made sure authorities knew she didn't have a visa that allowed her the right to work and so she found herself unable to proceed.
> 
> Having said that, a few people work here who may not have dotted all the I's.
> 
> The audience for learning English here is primarily workers in service businesses. Their employers generally don't pay for their classes, so it's up to the employee to pay for his or her self-improvement and that limits the market significantly.


Interesting that the market for English classes in San Miguel is mostly service workers. In Guadalajara, I find that half of the people in my English conversation groups are older folks who have time and just want to improve their English and the other half are younger people who want a job in a call center. There are a lot of call centers in Guadalajara and the positions for people who can speak English well enough to pass a test pay better than the Spanish speaking positions.

There are so few English speakers, as a percentage of the population, that I don't think too many stores or businesses focus on servicing them, maybe a few doctors offices.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

ValRomx said:


> The audience for learning English here is primarily workers in service businesses. Their employers generally don't pay for their classes, so it's up to the employee to pay for his or her self-improvement and that limits the market significantly.


Many foreigners, from the world-over, travel to SMA to study/learn English, and some of the local resident-expat population take classes from time-to-time to improve their Spanish (such as those who patronize Warren Hardy's classes), but I'd agree with you those who are really driven, amongst local residents, are the service business employees. The international language of tourism is English, so though a visitor may be from Europe or Asia, the communication is probably most often handled in English in SMA (when the visitor doesn't already have the ability to speak Spanish). A local worker's ability to communicate in English almost always will translate into more and larger gratuities (and for shopkeepers - more or better sales revenue).


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## ValRomx (Nov 12, 2012)

Longford said:


> Many foreigners, from the world-over, travel to SMA to study/learn English, ...


I don't think that's an accurate statement - did you mean Spanish? That I could agree with.


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

ValRomx said:


> I don't think that's an accurate statement - did you mean Spanish? That I could agree with.


Yes, thanks for the correction .... Spanish is what they go to SMA to learn.


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## Coachese (Jun 12, 2013)

Generally speaking, how's the wifi in SMA?


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## Longford (May 25, 2012)

Coachese said:


> Generally speaking, how's the wifi in SMA?


I rented an apartment for a one-week stay in SMA, earlier this month. The apartment owner subscribes to internet service with wifi covering the apartment. I had no difficulty using my laptop nor the data/internet portion of my "smart" cellular telephone I brought with me from the USA. Connections were fast and uninterrupted - no less rapid than what I experience in Chicago. Maybe I 'lucked out' or it's possible what I experienced during the week was extraordinarily good.


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