Hi Steve and the team and everyone else on this fabulous website, I am so glad I found you all! I had no idea there were this many 'foreigners' in Cancun and feel a lot better now and I suppose before I go on too much I better give you some background.... My name is Sam and I am from Kent in England, have a beautiful wife and daughter, Ingrid and Sofia Marie, I met Ingrid whilst on holiday at the Gran Costa Real in 2005, she was working as part of the sports and entertainment team, we spoke briefly until the last day of my vacation when we got talking and the only chance of a date was to go to her sisters 16th birthday party in lombardo toledano (bare in mind at the time I know no Spanish, went alone and knew nobody at the party!) and I had the most fantastic time, her Grandad's band were playing all night (Mariachi Plata - you may know them?), we drunk lots of Tequila and I fell in love with Mexico. Well anyway, I flew home and we kept in touch and fell in love via e-mail until November 2005 she flew to England to be with me, I proposed on xmas day and we got married in a beautiful big church in Cancun in May 2006, we have lived together (very happily so far!) in England since then and we are now finally in a position to move to Cancun, something I am very excited about :lol: We hope to arrive 1st October with our pride and enjoy (Sofia) who was born only three weeks ago, 9lbs and 16 days overdue and possibly our jack russell Stanley (but that's another story!) and I just wanted to say a very long but friendly 'HELLO' to everyone on here. I work with computers as my job and do websites in my spare time, I also do design work, help companies promote themselves and anything else asked of me, including working hard sometimes! I have a few questions and hope I am not been rude by asking any of the following on my first post... a) if anyone can point me in the direction of anywhere I can work with computers for an English speaking company/individual? (my spanish is getting better slowly, if only my wife wasn't fluent in English it would have been better!) b) where I can find a decent gym, with possibly a swimming pool, good machines and a health suite? c) where I can play tennis and if anyone fancies a game please get in touch? d) I know where you can watch the football and sport but where do all the ex-pats gather to watch games? (I'm a die hard Liverpool fan :? ) e) Does anyone need me to bring them anything from the UK? (i.e. Marmite or Gravy?) f) can you purchase a joint of beef or lamb to make a roast and can you purchase gravy and/or other vital condiments? I'll invite you for dinner if you help me! g) is my post too long and have i asked too many questions? Sorry for being a pain but any help is really appreciated and I would love to get to know you all, my wife's family and I are very approachable and friendly (we think so anyway) and if we can help anyone that needs it, let us know and we'll do our best. See you all down the market for Tacos de tripa soon :wink: [/b]
LOL, love your post. I only have a second to check in and say "welcome", sounds like you'll fit right in. I think your story sounds an awful lot like Steve's (and others here). I know that you'll get some good advice here. There are a bunch of Brits here in amongst the Yanks and us Canadians. Last I heard there were about 6000 expats living in Cancun (no idea if that number is still accurate). Most of us here are in "mixed" culture marriages as well, Mexican with Brit, Canuck and Yank and almost all of us have kids as well. Congrats on the new baby! Looking forward to getting to know you, welcome aboard! Have a read through the threads on this part of the forum, lots of useful information at your fingertips. You can use the "search" feature as well if you want something specific.
Hi Sam, Nice story! As Kelly mentioned it is very similar to mine. I met my Mexican wife in Cancun in 1997, she came back to the UK with me where we married, stayed for 6 years and then moved to Cancun to live almost 3 years ago. We have a daughter who is almost 3. No regrets so far. There are lots of expats here and those on the board are just a small proportion. I think it's fair to say lots of us have made great friendships with people we've met directly or indirectly through the board and we have a fairly active social life. More Brits are always welcome! To try and answer your questions: a) Computer jobs are not easy to come by, I know mattkirk from here is a Brit involved in computers and may be able to offer some advice. My advice would be if you're already dabbling with your own sites then aim more in that direction. Life as a full time webmaster with your own sites is not unachievable, there are a few of us here that do it. b) Gyms and I dont really get on. There have been several previous discussions though so a search should bring up some useful info. c) Ged and Tracey from Brighton (TraceyUK) are both avid tennis players I'm sure they'd give you a game. d) We havent tended to get together for the footy so far. Personally, I found it very easy to lose touch with Premiership footy since my team is Forest in the old Third Division. Although, I'm always up for watching England Internationals - usually at Pat O Briens. e) Hmm, where do I start. If you have room some Cheese 'N' Onion and/or Prawn Cocktail Walkers Crisps would be great. f) I'm not a fan of lamb so not sure on that one, but for beef there is a joint called Pulpa Negra which is perfect. Condiments are sparse, you can get Mint Sauce but no Gravy as of yet, although several of us have stashes. So, bring some Bisto with you. There's not that much in the way of British foodtsuffs here but a lot more than there was 3 years ago. g) Not at all. Keep posting away, get to know some folk and we'll see you in October. There are lots of hurdles to jump in making the move and sometimes you'll find things frustrating but there are so many more upsides about living here. You sound the adventurous type so I'm sure you'll do fine.
Hi Everyone! Can I get some advice too? Oh! you guys have some very sweet love stories. Hi I'm Jennifer from Texas. Sam, you and I are almost in the same boat. I need to come over to Cancun with my boyfriend and my two children. I have the same questions you do. But I don't do computers. I am actually willing to clean houses, bust tables, or anything to start out. And also I am very confused on how this is all going to work out for my boyfriend and I. We plan on getting married after we are settled there. We want to go to Cancun together but we think he might have to go alone at 1st to get a job and to find us a place to live. We don't have much money to just book these sort of things ahead of time from online or trips back and forth. Can anyone give us some advice??? He is a cook. He is planning on getting a job in a resturaunt or hotel. Like I said we need a way to just go there together. I thank anyone for taking the time out to read this. Any advice will be greatful.
Jenn, Is your boyfriend Mexican? If not, I can't see him getting work as a cook here, unless he's an award winner 5 star restaurant cook who a luxury hotel is willing to get an FM3 for. Plenty of Mexicans here that can cook already you see. Same for bussine tables. And if you think you can get a job here cleaning house that will pay you enought o live on, I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken.
Immigration laws here are very much in place to protect Mexicans from losing jobs to foreigners. If you come here to retire on money from outside sources they will roll out the red carpet for you. If you come here to work in this economy as a native English speaker you will find that there are about 3 jobs you can get permission to work in and those are: (drumroll please...) - selling timeshares to gringos - teaching English to Mexicans - some hotel positions that demand full English fluency If one of those 3 isn't your dream job then be sure to come here with an outside source of income already in place. Mexican immigration here recently busted a woman who is in her 60's who was working illegally doing English translations. The poor woman was held in the Cancun airport holding cell for 3 weeks before being sent to the massive Immigration jail in Mexico City 2 weeks ago. I have no idea if she's out yet, but what a drag for her!
Hi Sam yes we play tennis as Steve mentioned.Also my husband , like Steve watches International matches.We watched the shocker against Germany yesterday. Bisto is nowhere to be seen- except for my cupboard that currently has loads of it. Marmite, no one as ever heard of and thats a shame as my 6 year old loves it!. Feel free to contact us for a game of tennis when you arrive and good luck with the move Tracey
Thanks for the advice everybody, appreciate it alot I here what your saying Steve on the computer side of things, I do have something lined up working for a company in the US via the internet but was just looking to get involved in as many things as possible, especially with having a daughter now, I have no idea how long this job will last but I think i'm gonna be okay for a few months at least, plus the wifes gonna get maternity pay till march so I suppose in the meantime I can get networking with people and see what I can find. In response to Jennifers post and Rivergirls response, I too have heard from a few people that they are the three main possible jobs for non-Mexicans, time share is apparently great for getting a visa as they sort it out for you. However, have you thought about the tour operators? I am not sure if US companies are the same but I had the idea to contact companies like Thomson and First Choice and work for them, selling tours, getting people from the airport, working at the airport itself and in their offices, what do other people think of this? (I have heard that they like to employ English people living locally to the destinations they work in). Just an idea anyway, Jennifer, I hope things work out for you and you make it to Cancun, do keep in touch and let me know if there is anyway I can help you (especially if u need help getting married in Cancun), I too don't have much money but am lucky in that we're going to live with my mother in law (the one in the photo), don't worry if I become rich, i'll employ your husband, he can be my personal cook on my yacht (yeah I wish!). Speaking of Visa's, I hope you don't mind me asking but how did you get yours Steve? Are you on a spouse or working visa? We had originally discussed me getting a working visa but after my wife spoke to immigration the other day on the phone, they said that a spouse visa did exist (similar to what Ingrid is on here in the UK) but I wanted to know if anyone was living in Cancun on such a Visa and what were the issues (if any) in getting it and what were the requirements? Will it help me that my income will initially be coming into our joint Mexican bank (providing they let us have one) from an outside source? TraceyUk, glad to here theres some tennis players out there, I am not great but I do love a game and am very enthusiastic. I will be sure to get in touch once i'm settled and we'll have a game, I started teaching my wife before she got pregnant, maybe we can have some mixed doubles or husbands vs wives! I'll try and remember to grab a tub of marmite for you and put it in my suitcase, let me know if there's anything else you need. I am an avid England fan, just hurts me to watch them, has done for 3 years, i just feel they look like they don't even care when they're meant to be representing their country (Gerrard besides of course!), but I could go on for ages about football so I won't, i'll save that for another topic!! and hello to CancunCanuck, I have to say I have never met a Canadian that wasn't friendly and a pleasure to talk to (so far), I hope to meet you for some proper Tequila one day (Anejo 1800 is my favourite) Steve, the crisps will be coming soon and look forward to a possible roast beef lunch coming your way too
Oh before I forget, very important, is it easy to get PROPER Bacon in Cancun, not those crappy strips of crispy fat they serve in the restaurants? Very important if i'm gonna keep eating my fried breakfasts!!!
No chance of that mate, just crispy fat. And forget decent sausages too. Re your previous post: The UK operators do have British staff here but normally they're transplants who stay for a season and then move on somewhere else. That's not to say there aren't any jobs so worth a try. I'm not sure about the "spouse visa" perhaps Rivergirl or Kelly can help. I know it's kind of possible but it's not the same as in the UK the other way round. I think it involves dependency, i.e. your spouse vouches they can support you or something. Like I say I'm no expert on that. If you have income coming into Mexico from abroad whether that be via your work in the US or funds from the UK then providing it's over $1,000 a month a rentista may be the way to go. Basically you're saying that you can support yourself without the need to work here. Of course, your visa forbids you from being employed so it may not be ideal. I'll send you a Pm regarding my own situation. One thing I strongly advise you to do before leaving the UK is to get all your official documents apostilled. Your birth certificate, your daughters brith certifcate, degree if you have one etc. Also bring as up to date as possible original copies of your financial status e.g. bank statements, investments etc. Remember you can live here for 6 months on a tourist visa, but really the sooner you start your visa process the better. Re the bank account, you wont be able to even be a joint name on your wifes account until you have an FM3, at least that was the case 3 years ago when we arrived.
