# Pre Emptive Action for Living in Mexico



## mtyler (Jun 11, 2009)

Hi all

I'm originally from the UK, but currently living in Sydney, Australia. My fiance (Mexican) and I are planning on moving to Mexico for a couple of years, probably in 2011.

During this time, I will want to work, and we will be getting married. I'm an accountant working in Restructuring Advisory.

I know it's a long way off, but thought it would be good for me to pick up some tips on things I can start to prepare now in advance of the move.

My own thoughts are limited:

1. Learn Spanish!

As more background about me, I have lived abroad before but only in English speaking countries. I've visited Mexico once before to meet the future in-laws, and get on reasonably well with them. They own their own business based in Mexico City, but we are happy to consider other places.
I have a 1st class degree in Economics and am a chartered accounts, although I'm relatively keen to try something different and indulge my hobbies, including teaching, cooking etc.

Any tips?


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## BajaGringo (May 11, 2009)

Keep working on your Spanish and do as my research as you can into cost of living, work visa requirements, potential employers and the possibility that your future in-laws could help connect you with business friends / associates...

Good luck and keep us posted!


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

When are you getting married? My gut feeling is that things would be easier if you get married sooner rather than later (I think you could even apply for Mexican nationality, paisano  ). Don't dismiss this at first hand, being Mexican would mean you can apply for any job on offer without being hindered by your migratory situation, I think this may be worth investigating.

Without speaking Spanish your job prospects would be limited, except teaching English perhaps, and even that would be doubtful, so you are right to make that a priority.

I don't really know what an Economist can do, you may actually want to consider checking The Economist magazine, which often has jobs advertised worldwide for Economists, given that you have a couple of years to go you may get lucky. Obviously teaching is another avenue, but salary may be paltry, the most important University is UNAM, which has a Faculty of Economics, where most Mexican policy makers learn their trade.

I suppose banking is another option, known names are Bancomer and Banamex (which are now subsidiaries of bigger ones). Checking their websites you may find pointers for jobs.

As for accountants certainly there are lots of jobs out there, but accountancy rules in Mexico will be completely different as is the legal system, which certainly is nothing like English law based ones.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

I always advise not to plan on supporting yourself in Mexico as a foreigner, even if married to a Mexican national. There are so many challenges in the different legal system, cultural differences, the language barrier (even with years of study) and the ever present grey market and corruption problems. On top of that, local 'sindicatos' can make it very, very difficult or even dangerous for you, as a foreigner, to conduct business; even as an owner with Mexican employees. Proceed as though you will never be able to work. If you can do that and you happen to find work or create a business, it will be a bonus.


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## Maritsa (Jun 11, 2009)

Learning Spanish will be very important. I have been with my boyfriend from Mexico for over 5 years, and still have so much to learn. I learned a lot by listening to music in Spanish. (When you don't catch what is said, you can rewind!) I went to Mexico for 3 months and had a real attitude adjustment! I was in Mexico City as well as the mountains of Chiapas, and it was a humbling experience, but wonderful. I am thinking of moving with my boyfriend to Comitan next year. I also started reading about Mexico's history- novels such as Azteca by Gary Jennings, histories of Mexico and the US, Life & Times of Mexico by Earl Shorris. Books such as these helped me to understand more of the culture and way of thinking of the Mexican people.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Welcome to the forum! You have taken some important steps to understand Mexico. It is a wonderful, fascinating and satisfying world; which may drive the unprepared absolutely batty. Those with travel experience and previous experience living abroad seem to do quite well here. The 'dreamers' don't do so well if they expect an easy life and things to be like they were at home. One must adapt, as you have discovered. You can't change Mexico and you can't really become a part of it but you can feel welcome and enjoy life among wonderful people.


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

This is nonsense. You make it sound like if corruption is omnipresent and getting a job nigh impossible.

There are plenty of multinational companies, or bigger national companies, that will happily hire you, no matter what your background may be, as long as you can do the work.

Applying for a job, once you are entitled to do so, is not more or less complicated as doing it elsewhere (saying this as somebody that has done so in 5 different countries, in 3 different continents).

I mentioned UNAM above, which is well known for a very combative union, nevertheless I had Chinese, Russian, Chilean, Dominican and Indian teachers and colleagues while I studied and later worked there. The situation is similar in other universities, both public and private.

There are certainly Mexican only preserves (PEMEX comes to mind), nevertheless even there I saw a couple of of people of foreign extraction working as local employees.

Corruption is bad, but it does not permeate every single aspect of life, if you work in private enterprise with mostly private clients or partners corruption is far less of an issue. In my several years working in private companies for private clients, I never ever witnessed a situation that was unethical or corrupt.

I am not saying it does not happen, I am sure it does, but it is not so perverse as to need to warn somebody arriving new to the country, after working in the UK for several years I can say that unethical deals can happen anywhere, so common sense and a normal sense of ethics it is all what is needed to work and make business in most cases (if you decide to become a government provider then yes, all the bets are of).

I will not even try to venture which unions in Mexico are so dangerous. Some of them are certainly known to be combative and occasionally use toughs, but the problem is not such that a person intending to settle needs to know about this.

As for Spanish, in order to conduct business you need no more than 6 months of intensive teaching.

While I was in Mexico I worked in environments with lots of foreigners: Russians, Chinese, French, Germans, US, you name it, and they all managed to speak enough Spanish to conduct business after around such time of intensive classes when initially they could only say hola y adios... 

I am not talking about learning some greetings and common sentences, but about closing business deals with shrewd Mexican businessmen opposite or present complex research proposals!

Language is a real barrier, because most people expect you to speak Spanish (it is almost bad manners not to) but it is not an insurmountable one. You need years of study if you want to get under the skin of what it means to be Mexican, the language is the only serious barrier to assimilate, after that you just have to let go and allow the craziness that Mexico is to embrace you lovingly.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Jlms,
I don't disagree with you at all and will be the first to admit that the difficulties one may encounter can, indeed, vary a great deal. You are in the professional world where life is much different than for the young, inexperienced person who may be unable to find employment in his home country and may be a bit of a dreamer, running toward something he doesn't understand. Those, I hope to warn in an effort to keep their dreams from being dashed and their limited resources from being squandered. These are difficult economic times and jobs are very scarce in Mexico.


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## BajaGringo (May 11, 2009)

When you make a post here it is an open forum so often the answers that are posted may be directed more "over your shoulder" to the bigger audience in general. RV knows of what he speaks and his advice is based on a lot of years of living in Mexico. He and Rolly are two that come to mind who have so generously given their time and energy to others pondering the idea of moving down here. When they post an answer it is meant to help and inform, not attack. Of course every situation is unique in some way as I am sure you are as well. Just take in all the advice and information you can muster and then make the decision based on your situation and ability, not just based on what you read in an online forum.

Good luck to you...


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## mtyler (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks for all the responses so far guys - it's good to get an indication of some of the problems that I may encounter, as well as potential avenues to explore.

The common theme above is that learning Spanish is crucial - I'm working on it at the moment, but if you have any tips about particular methods, websites, books, cds etc they would be grately appreciated. I try and talk to my fiance in Spanish at home, which certainly helps, but business specific language is certainly a long way off.

Maritsa - thanks for the tip on learning about the culture. I think that is a really good idea, which I will pursue.

I appreciate that there have been a few contradictory opinions above about what to expect. I have experience living abroad, and am fairly comfortable with that, although never in a non-English speaking country, so I am expecting things to be tougher.

jlms - we want to get married in Mexico, so I don't think that we will be able to justify marriage before we arrive, as the cost of flying from Australia to Mexico and organising a wedding will be fairly prohibitive/difficult. I definitely think that taking citizenship would be a good idea though - what are the common pitfalls with that?

Employment - my preference would be to work for a multinational, as this would open doors for further inter-country moves (as we don't intend to settle in Mexico at this stage).

Any other thoughts or tips appreciated. I intend on updating this forum as my move develops, although it's a slow process at this stage.

Thanks

Matt


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

mtyler said:


> Thanks for all the responses so far guys - it's good to get an indication of some of the problems that I may encounter, as well as potential avenues to explore.
> 
> The common theme above is that learning Spanish is crucial - I'm working on it at the moment, but if you have any tips about particular methods, websites, books, cds etc they would be grately appreciated. I try and talk to my fiance in Spanish at home, which certainly helps, but business specific language is certainly a long way off.
> 
> ...


You have to immerse yourself in the language as much as possible.

To learn business lingo you may want to read business publications, one of the most read is, unsurprisingly, El Economista  ( El Economista | Periódico líder en finanzas, negocios, pymes, finanzas personales y política. ). One article at the time, dictionary in had (or online), many articles are direct translations of international news agencies, so you may get side by side the English and Spanish version of the same issue. Dissect one article at the time and I am sure you will progress.

The nationality suggestion was just that, It may make your life easier, but I really don't know if things are exactly as they used to be (it used to be you could get Mexican nationality when marrying a Mexican citizen). I think you should talk to the local Mexican consulate to see if that is even possible considering your particular circumstances (how long you will stay in the country, etc). Also, some countries do not accept double nationalities. I think that is not the case with Australia, but you should really check this.

Good luck with everything, it will be interesting to know how you are doing. :clap2:


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