# Moving to Puerto Vallarta, any advice?



## phreaq (Jul 4, 2012)

Hi folks,

My family and I are preparing to move from Canada to Mexico shortly, and I’m interested in any advice or comments you may have. I also have a few areas I’m looking for recommendations, so any local (PV), current advice is welcomed.

First, some background. My wife and I have been to Puerto Vallarta many times now, and have fallen in love with it. For the past year, we have mentally decided to move there, and now the necessary pieces are falling into place allowing this to actually happen.

We have one daughter, 3 ½ years old, and she’ll be starting school this September (it’s just pre-school), to help her with the language transition.

My wife’s parents also live in PVR half of the year, and have done so for many, many years now. This should help somewhat, as they are very accustomed to the area, and know many locals, which we have in turn grown to know.

I work for a software company, and will continue to work for them while in Mexico. However, I’ll be a ‘contractor’; as opposed to the ‘employee’ I am now. My wife is a yoga instructor and intends on teaching classes down there where she can (she has done several classes each time we’ve been there on vacation).

We intend on renting in the Marina area, as we love that area, and there are a couple schools there that we are looking at for my daughter. We won’t be using a car, instead using the buses (my daughter loves them) and taxis as needed.

So now my questions/comments:

•	We both intend on getting an FM3. Do I need to wait 3 months after I arrive, so I can show them income while I was in Mexico, or can I show them my income while in Canada? In other words, how soon can I apply?

•	As of now, how long is the FM3 process? I know this is a loaded question, but I was looking for ballpark times.

•	I will be looking for some kind of health insurance like Blue Cross, any recommendations? Since I no longer have Canadian benefits, and I foresee my OHIP not being valid, since I’ll be out of Province for too long, I want converge.

•	I am always ‘online’ with my business, using VoIP, VPN, FTP, etc. and will need a ‘good’ internet connection. I suspect I’ll be going with Telemex, does anyone have any comments on their download speeds, and download limits? I download quite a lot and would like to know if I’m going to get dinged.

•	For communicating with friends at home (Canada), we’ll use a combo of MSN, Skype, etc. However, I’d like to get some kind of VoIP, like the Magic Jack, or equivalent for those technically challenged and don’t have a computer. Any recommendations here?

•	While my wife and I are apart in PV, we’d like to get some pay-as-you-go cell phones. Nothing fancy, no texting or data is required. Any recommendations?

Whew, that’s a lot so far! Thanks for reading so much.

I’m sure there will be other questions I’ll have, but any other comments you may have would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

You sound like you know what you are doing. Good luck with the move. I will respond to a couple of the questions where I have some personal experience and let others handle the rest.



> •	We both intend on getting an FM3. Do I need to wait 3 months after I arrive, so I can show them income while I was in Mexico, or can I show them my income while in Canada? In other words, how soon can I apply?
> •	As of now, how long is the FM3 process? I know this is a loaded question, but I was looking for ballpark times.


You can apply immediately. The source of the income is not important. It takes a week or so to get an FM3. 



> •	I am always ‘online’ with my business, using VoIP, VPN, FTP, etc. and will need a ‘good’ internet connection. I suspect I’ll be going with Telemex, does anyone have any comments on their download speeds, and download limits? I download quite a lot and would like to know if I’m going to get dinged.


Telmex has a terrible reputation. It is slow in the promised speeds and even slower in the delivered speeds. There are also lots of complaints about up time. I suggest checking out a cable internet provider. I get 20 Mbps from Megacable. I don't know if they are available in Puerto Vallarta.



> •	While my wife and I are apart in PV, we’d like to get some pay-as-you-go cell phones. Nothing fancy, no texting or data is required. Any recommendations?


For a few hundred pesos you can buy a basic cell phone. Then you can add minutes to it in any corner OXXO or 7-11. Most people use Telcel, but there is also Moviestar and maybe some other options. I think the rates for minutes are 4 pesos/minute for voice and 1 peso each for text messages.


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## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

phreaq said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> My family and I are preparing to move from Canada to Mexico shortly, and I’m interested in any advice or comments you may have. I also have a few areas I’m looking for recommendations, so any local (PV), current advice is welcomed.
> 
> ...


Hi on the Medical Care;

I'm assuming you and your wife are under 60? I'd suggest you first get in IMSS "Seguro Social" Medical Insurance. For all 3 of you would run less than $500.00 USD equivalent/ YEAR! $0 Co-payments, $0 Deductibles, they give you all the generic medicines for free. Oh, and Flu Vaxcinations and all the Vaxcinations your little 3 year old might need for free too. For the last 12 years this is what my wife have given IMSS out of pocket for everything $0.00!

Now, you should probably budget another $50.00 USD/ month equivalent out of pocket for seeing outside specialists, not wanting to wait for some emergency etc. and over the counter self prescribed medicines (which you can do in Mexico!). But then there are some pretty good recent Medical School Graduates working at the Generic Pharmacy's, some only charging $25.00 pesos per consultation. We find it quicker, faster, cheaper than driving over to the IMSS Clinic and maybe waiting 2-3 hours for them to fit you in as an Emergency Reservation instead of regularly scheduled clients. Last time my wife had a sore, maybe strep throat we went to the great little Doctora at the local Generic Pharmacy, 30 minutes later out and with prescription of an Antibiotic for about $12.00 USD equivalent for Doctor Consultation and generic antibiotic.

I'd do that as it will afford you as much time as you want to explore for a better private insurer that's at a reasonable price you can afford. As previous comments said, private insurance is only good at certain hospitals (maybe not close to you?), I've had a friend that when his wife was dying had to pay everything up front in cash each day until the Insurance paid the hospital and she had Blue Cross International Medical Insurance, one of the best. He's still waiting over a year for some of his medicines to be reimbursed from the USA for himself. See the potential problems here?

I'd say get on IMSS first and relax a little. Think of it as a more run down Kaiser HMO in the states, excepting they do give a damn about you and want to get you well. I'd do this first off as like us you can use it like a travel Medical Insurance around Mexico, as it's honored even in the most out of the way small village (if they have an IMSS Clinic), and big city too. Since, they are excluding more and more USA & Canadian Retiree's for preconditions, it's best to get on early while still in good health - like I did. Then experience the system, see if works for you and leasurely explore other private alternatives.

Cable/Telmex for Internet?
See my previous posts, but generally speaking you don't get the advertised rates from Telmex as the limited old twisted pair technology is limited by distance for any of the technology including DS-3, T-1, etc. by how far you are from their CO = Central Office. Over 300 meters? Well then your speeds degenerate. Call them and they won't have a clue even their Engineers how far you will be away from their CO. I suspect that some of the problems in PV have to do with soaked twisted pair cables in the underground ducts. Water & twisted pair greatly slow down the speeds.

Cable? Talk to local residents before you rent or buy anywhere? Ask those on CATV if there are any times of the day that their Internet Transmission/Receiving slows down? The only downside to Coaxial Transmission is that if too many people get on the same "bus", it slows down the transmission speeds - even from what they advertise (but that's for only downstream to you speeds being slower during congestion). Upstream should be no problem. Think of it as a "party line". I've had great service with MegaCable in Tepic. Get over the 4 Mbps speed advertised, but I could pay more for even higher speeds if I wanted.

Coax cables in underground ducts are usually in jacketed coatings with icky pick that runs towards any nick in the cable and proctects the actual dialectric and singular copper center conductor from getting water soaked.

I hope this helps?


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## phreaq (Jul 4, 2012)

thanks for the advice folks!


I'm still on the fence w/r/t insurance. I will be travelling to the US for business, and I hat the thought of not being covered.

I'll look into this a little more.

Thanks again!


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

phreaq said:


> thanks for the advice folks!
> 
> 
> I'm still on the fence w/r/t insurance. I will be travelling to the US for business, and I hat the thought of not being covered.
> ...


I have a policy that covers me in Mexico and also in the US as long as I am in the US for less than 150 days total per year. I too couldn't deal with the thought of being wiped out financially if something were to happen to me while visiting the US, which I do a few times per year (but nowhere near 150 days).

IMSS' quality varies by location and here in Guanajuato it's not good. I originally got the policy to cover me during my time in the US but I like the fact that it also covers private hospitals here in Mexico so I am not stuck with the local IMSS service.

Also, if your wife will be charging for yoga classes she will need a work permit on her visa. That may be a little tricky to get depending on how the local INM office looks at things.

BTW, the INM office here takes about a week to issue an FM3/2 assuming all your ducks are in a row. I hear that varies by office greatly, though.


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## phreaq (Jul 4, 2012)

circle110 said:


> I have a policy that covers me in Mexico and also in the US...


who is your policy with? what other competitors are there?


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

My policy is with IMG. I know that Bupa and Cigna have comparable policies and there may be others as well.

In three years I've had the policy I haven't had to make a claim (knock on wood!) so I can't comment on the responsiveness of IMG in that regard.


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## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

*Private Medical Insurance*



phreaq said:


> who is your policy with? what other competitors are there?


Hi;

Had dinner last night with a friend of our who's deceased wife had Blue Cross international = POOR!

She died last September in the hospital. Blue Cross hasn't paid one claim yet. 

His private Insurance, that's supposed to cover him outside the USA? Well they've paid (1)
Prescription Bill in the last 5 years of trying.

You're spoiled coming from that great Socialized System in Canada. At least you get treated
and the bills paid.

Private Insurance - choose wisely, as above you might just be throwing your money down a
rat hole!


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