# Moved to Mexico a week ago and what I've learned.



## grotton (Apr 20, 2012)

It has been an exciting and busy week. We arrived in Mexico six days ago and have opened a bank account at Santander, completed a bank wire online from BOA, bought a car, imported our big dog by plane from America, and learned many things about various systems and ways of doing things in Mexico. I'll share a little of what we learned.

1. * Importing a dog* via plane is expensive and stressful for dog and owner, but she survived and is happily adjusting now. Our Vet knew exactly what was required for her health certificate and the cost of shots, exam, and documents in Spanish and English was $395 US dollars. The cost with Alaska Airlines was $100 and their website does a great job detailing the requirements for dogs and information that needs to be on the health certificate. Unlike what I've heard related to bringing a dog across the boarder in car, the Health Certificate was absolutely necessary and examined very closely. Dog also received a exam at the airport from Mexican veterinarian (this was free.) We hired a van taxi that delivered us to a friends house in Zapopan (suburb of Guadalajara) for 380 pesos (it was a long ride during rush hour.)

2. *Opening a bank account* in the name of my Mexican partner was easy. I could not be named on account because I don't yet have correct Visa. We funded the account with 15,000 pesos cash. Any amount, in cash, in excess of 15,000 pesos a month is taxed at 3%. This does not apply to deposits made via Mexican check, wire, or any other means. The reason for this 3% tax is the assumption in Mexico that if you are depositing more pesos (cash) then that, you are receiving payments for services in cash to avoid paying taxes or you are engaging in other criminal activity. Deposits in US dollars are not accepted.

3. *Accessing funds from your US bank while in Mexico.* The best way is via ATM, or services like safesend through BOA etc. For more on those services check other strings or I can provide details later. If you want or need more money you will need to do an international wire. In the past you could write a check off your US account to the bank and they would deposit in your account after it cleared in a week or two. This is no longer and option. No Mexican bank will accept a check off a US account until you have held the account for six months (Santander) or one year (Bancomer and most other banks.) We wanted to buy a car so we did a wire transfer from BOA that we were able to initiate online using BOA SafePass system. Exchange rate was not great. Some BOA employees will tell you that you can not initiate your first online wire transfer from Mexico, and it has to be done in USA. This was not correct. We did it without a problem.

4. *Buying a car.* We checked Guadalajara dealerships for four days until we found the model we wanted. In the past, you could write a check off you US account to dealerships but they no longer accept this. We will pay (Monday) with a Cashiers check from Santander, which by the way, has to be issued from the branch you opened your account in. Don't ask me why. The dealership negotiated much as would be expected in the USA and we got the price down 5% off the list price without too much effort. Basically just asked for it and said we were shopping for similar model at competitor. Transaction has been going well but again, car will be in the name of my partner as my Visa status does not allow me to be on Title. Incidentally, title can only include one individual. Vehicle will be plated our of Jalisco. There was a $1700 peso change of owner fee and no other taxes. 

5. *Purchasing car insurance.* Santander bank functions as an insurance broker and you can buy competitively priced insurance directly from them. They gave us quotes from 8 different companies that varied hugely from 10,000 pesos to in excess of 20,000 pesos so shop around. The standard deductible for car insurance seems to be 5% of the value of the car. 

I have mentioned Santander bank in my post but I am by no means endorsing them. Shop around and find a bank that is right for you. We chose them because of their relationship with Bank of America and easy access to ATMs. 

I hope that anyone considering moving to Mexico and looking for general information finds our experience and this post useful. I should warn though, the information that I am posting represents only our experience and things may not work exactly the same for you. Buena Suerte! (good luck.)


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## Souper (Nov 2, 2011)

Wow, your vet exam with shots at $395 US sounds expensive!
But it is done...


Enjoy Mexico!


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Good info, Grotton, and congratulations on your move. Now you can change your location, too!


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## DNP (May 3, 2011)

Wow, you've done a lot and learned a lot in such a short period of time. Congratulations, and a great post. I found it very informative and I'm sure others will too.

Will you have time now to stop and smell the roses?



grotton said:


> It has been an exciting and busy week. We arrived in Mexico six days ago and have opened a bank account at Santander, completed a bank wire online from BOA, bought a car, imported our big dog by plane from America, and learned many things about various systems and ways of doing things in Mexico. I'll share a little of what we learned.
> 
> 1. Importing a dog via plane is expensive and stressful for dog and owner, but she survived and is happily adjusting now. Our Vet knew exactly what was required for her health certificate and the cost of shots, exam, and documents in Spanish and English was $395 US dollars. The cost with Alaska Airlines was $100 and their website does a great job detailing the requirements for dogs and information that needs to be on the health certificate. Unlike what I've heard related to bringing a dog across the boarder in car, the Health Certificate was absolutely necessary and examined very closely. Dog also received a exam at the airport from Mexican veterinarian (this was free.) We hired a van taxi that delivered us to a friends house in Zapopan (suburb of Guadalajara) for 380 pesos (it was a long ride during rush hour.)
> 
> ...


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## grotton (Apr 20, 2012)

DNP said:


> Wow, you've done a lot and learned a lot in such a short period of time. Congratulations, and a great post. I found it very informative and I'm sure others will too.
> 
> Will you have time now to stop and smell the roses?


Thanks DNP. Good advice. We've been little manic this week and time to slow down. A lot of what I learned came directly from my Mexican partner's family. We also did tons of research on this forum which provided direction and useful information from many knowledgeable sources.


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## kito1 (Aug 4, 2012)

grotton said:


> 1. * Importing a dog* via plane is expensive and stressful for dog and owner, but she survived and is happily adjusting now. Our Vet knew exactly what was required for her health certificate and the cost of shots, exam, and documents in Spanish and English was $395 US dollars.




I would be stressed out too if I had paid $395 to the vet! 

Last trip my my dog already had the Rabies shot, which normally cost $10, but I paid $25 total for her to give the dog a quick exam and sign the Health Certificate.


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## edgeee (Jun 21, 2012)

Fantastic!
Congrats and good luck.
By all means keep the updates coming, we love them.
:clap2:


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

grotton said:


> . . . We will pay (Monday) with a Cashiers check from Santander, which by the way, has to be issued from the branch you opened your account in. . . .


Interesting. When I bought my VW here, VW gave me an account number in one of their banks. I used the HSBC one as that was my bank and transfer the funds from my account to their account. I took the receipt to VW and they accepted that as the deposit and sold me the car.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Our Jalisco plated car is registered in both our names. Yes, it can be done.


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## Aa111111 (Sep 2, 2012)

*so far so good...*

your info was very good and informative.
How do you like living there so far? 
Where are you originally from and what part of the city did you like the best and what made you chose it?



grotton said:


> It has been an exciting and busy week. We arrived in Mexico six days ago and have opened a bank account at Santander, completed a bank wire online from BOA, bought a car, imported our big dog by plane from America, and learned many things about various systems and ways of doing things in Mexico. I'll share a little of what we learned.
> 
> 1. * Importing a dog* via plane is expensive and stressful for dog and owner, but she survived and is happily adjusting now. Our Vet knew exactly what was required for her health certificate and the cost of shots, exam, and documents in Spanish and English was $395 US dollars. The cost with Alaska Airlines was $100 and their website does a great job detailing the requirements for dogs and information that needs to be on the health certificate. Unlike what I've heard related to bringing a dog across the boarder in car, the Health Certificate was absolutely necessary and examined very closely. Dog also received a exam at the airport from Mexican veterinarian (this was free.) We hired a van taxi that delivered us to a friends house in Zapopan (suburb of Guadalajara) for 380 pesos (it was a long ride during rush hour.)
> 
> ...


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## grotton (Apr 20, 2012)

Aa111111 said:


> your info was very good and informative.
> How do you like living there so far?
> Where are you originally from and what part of the city did you like the best and what made you chose it?


Enjoying it very much. But I want to disclose my partner is from Guadalajara and we have visited the city many times in the past. We are not certain if we will settle here. There are a few areas of Mexico we are considering and our plan is to spend some time in each area before committing. We will spend a month in Guadalajara (great city but very busy,) a month in San Miguel de Allende, a couple months in San Cristobal, and a month or two in Merida. And then we will assess. My partner and I want to start a business and we will rent long term in the part of the country we feel most at home in. We are keeping our options open. I recently retired from work and look forward to exploring Mexico over the next six months to determine the area that is best for us. And to answer your question, I am originally from Washington State, and we are currently living in Zapopan outside of Guadalajara.


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## grotton (Apr 20, 2012)

Souper said:


> Wow, your vet exam with shots at $395 US sounds expensive!
> But it is done...
> 
> 
> Enjoy Mexico!


Agreed. Spent way too much money on this but the cost of Vet care in my City was absurdly high and the involved fecal test, drugs, and some other issues. Probably shouldn't have posted cost as it may not be relevant to many people.


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## grotton (Apr 20, 2012)

RVGRINGO said:


> Our Jalisco plated car is registered in both our names. Yes, it can be done.


I thought this was strange. The salesman told me that the car could only be registered in one persons name but perhaps I wasn't fully tracking the conversation he was having with my partner and I may have been confused. I want to stress that my experience with car purchase, bank account, wire transfer etc where what I experienced. What I have learned is that rules and regulations are constantly changing, especially related to banking. Do your own research and ask lots of questions. Don't be surprised if you are confidently told one thing in the process and later find the rules have changed.


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## Aa111111 (Sep 2, 2012)

thanks for the info

keep us posted on your adventures.



grotton said:


> Enjoying it very much. But I want to disclose my partner is from Guadalajara and we have visited the city many times in the past. We are not certain if we will settle here. There are a few areas of Mexico we are considering and our plan is to spend some time in each area before committing. We will spend a month in Guadalajara (great city but very busy,) a month in San Miguel de Allende, a couple months in San Cristobal, and a month or two in Merida. And then we will assess. My partner and I want to start a business and we will rent long term in the part of the country we feel most at home in. We are keeping our options open. I recently retired from work and look forward to exploring Mexico over the next six months to determine the area that is best for us. And to answer your question, I am originally from Washington State, and we are currently living in Zapopan outside of Guadalajara.


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## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

*Congratulations - you made it*



grotton said:


> It has been an exciting and busy week. We arrived in Mexico six days ago and have opened a bank account at Santander, completed a bank wire online from BOA, bought a car, imported our big dog by plane from America, and learned many things about various systems and ways of doing things in Mexico. I'll share a little of what we learned.
> 
> 1. * Importing a dog* via plane is expensive and stressful for dog and owner, but she survived and is happily adjusting now. Our Vet knew exactly what was required for her health certificate and the cost of shots, exam, and documents in Spanish and English was $395 US dollars. The cost with Alaska Airlines was $100 and their website does a great job detailing the requirements for dogs and information that needs to be on the health certificate. Unlike what I've heard related to bringing a dog across the boarder in car, the Health Certificate was absolutely necessary and examined very closely. Dog also received a exam at the airport from Mexican veterinarian (this was free.) We hired a van taxi that delivered us to a friends house in Zapopan (suburb of Guadalajara) for 380 pesos (it was a long ride during rush hour.)
> 
> ...


Congratulations Grotton you made it;

We enjoy new arrivals stories, brings back memories and updates us on things we haven't done in a long while. Keep posting, don't stop as your reflections are different from ours.

A couple of notes; 

1.) We funded the account with 15,000 pesos cash. Any amount, in cash, in excess of 15,000 pesos a month is taxed at 3%. Just like in the States Congress (Diputados & Senatores), over thinking, over reaching and charging anyone with a business are sizable transactions this 3%.
Dumb! Most of us get around this stupid tax considering everyone is already paying 16 % IVA (sales taxes on everything, even every bank transaction you make), by having more than one Bank Account.
*
I know the below statement is going to be very controversial, but some will thank me years later.*
2.) If you have in the future large sums in a bank....I suggest it not be in a Spanish owned Bank or HSBC. By prior "Sane" Accounting Standards they're all Bankrupt including Sandander. They're all loaded to the gills of non performing Real Estate both Commercial, and with Developers in Spain and China for HSBC. They've been able to push most of that non-performing debt off onto "Level III Assets" quote "legally" with post TARP Accounting Standards, that don't show up on their Balance Sheet Statement. That's the same thing that got Enron in trouble and eventually went Bankrupt. CEO Ken Lay lost his life over it, and CFA Skilling went to jail for 5 years over that. But now, they let these Banks get away with it.

3.) There's only a few safe banks in Mexico. Number one is Banorte. They haven't invested in Derrivitives....."economic weapons of mass destruction". Quote from Warren Buffet. Banorte is based out of Monterrey.

Just thought I'd tell you, as in last Depression when over 9000 Banks went under in USA, it could happen here. All Spanish owned banks are very unstable right now as is Spain. Sure, you might not have a problem for 3-4 years, but then suddenly might not be able to get a dime out of the Bank.....oh and they don't have FDIC here in Mexico.

Cuyler


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## Aa111111 (Sep 2, 2012)

thank you for the info


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