Expats in Thailand considering moving to Latin America prompted by Thai visa changes

[Jingthing]

Thank you Sambotte for a very entertaining summary of your impressions of Thailand vs. some nations in Latin America. 

 

Some of your negative comments about Mexico are a little surprising to me so those are food for thought. 

 

I agree that the political troubles in Colombia are probably of not much concern to expats but I would definitely avoid Cali and a number of other places there as well. My interest is the generally more stable coffee Triangle region. I am certain that picking good locations there that the infrastructure is modern and advanced. 

 

I also generally agree about the pros and cons of Thailand. 

 

My interest in alternatives to Thailand is mostly about having a good backup at the ready in the event that I feel forced out of here by immigration changes, etc.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, andy said:

I had to look it up, never heard of it.  Seems a bit in the middle of nowhere for central Mexico, but I suppose some people may be seeking that out.  Too far from the sea for me to consider it for an expat retirement base, but I'll add it to my list places to visit in MX.

Yes choosing near the beach or not is one of the most important and basic choices expats in Mexico must make. Of course most tourists choose beach but a large percentage of expats choose inland.

Some compromises might be Merida which is 30 miles from the beach and Guadalajara a long but doable bus ride to wonderful Puerto Vallarta.

[ourdon]

On 3/4/2019 at 1:45 AM, NCC1701A said:

there is zero chance of me riding my motorcycle ALONE all over anywhere south of the USA border.

 

Travel Thailand alone no problems anywhere. 32,000 kilometers worth of motorcycle road trips.

 

and i know Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador. Personal security is a constant issue.   

I agree with Captain Kirk.  While I like certain places in say Mexico (Puerto Escondido) I wouldn't give myself high odds of being able to travel safely.  I have meandered alone about the Baja a while back. I understand unmarked mass graves have now been found outside of San Jose de Capo.  Looks like the Sinaloa cartel made it through the army roadblocks

Me just writing shy3te like this should clearly explain why I prefer Thailand.

[chubby]

how about changing your animated gif , very difficult to read your posts with flashing icon on one side, and tired of having to use ublock for yours and anyones animated gifs  PITA really

[Jingthing]

On 6/16/2021 at 11:47 AM, Jingthing said:

News flash -- I'm trying to arrange a consultation with a Colombian tax expert who specializes in expats. I'm preparing a list of questions for her, mostly related to my personal financial situation, and some more general. If anyone has any non obvious questions related to that, please PM me. I think I probably will already cover the totally obvious ones such as what does taxation of global assets actually specifically mean? I hope to get a sample tax return based on hypothetical numbers reflecting guesstimates of my financial details. I can't promise I'll get to your question especially if your question has nothing to do with my situation though. 

 

I will repeat here again something that I'm convinced is true. Anybody considering expatriation to Colombia NEEDS to get expert advice on how this would work for their specific financial situation. An exception is if your only income is a low level pension check and you have very little global assets. Many expats live there without even being required to file, some play possibly risky games to stay off the radar, some are subject to some tax but it's worth it for the quality of life value that Colombia offers, and some are being soaked. Why would we move there if we're in the getting soaked category? So you need to find out. 

 

I will post the contact information for the expert I hopefully will be meeting with (online) if I find her help recommendable. 

 

If it turns out my tax situation would be brutal there, then I'll just remove Colombia from the small list of countries that I'm considering as realistic backups to Thailand. 

It took me awhile but I did this consultation.

 

If anyone is interested in moving to Colombia but is concerned the taxation situation would be ruinous, you do need to do your OWN research on your OWN situation to determine if those concerns are well founded in reality or not.

 

I did this and determined that for my own situation the taxation situation in Colombia is not an obstacle. 

 

I would have to file annually and report all global assets but I wouldn't owe any tax. Your situation might be different. 

 

I'm not going to share everything that I've learned here but here are some big things:

 

Pension income including non-Colombian must be reported but it is fully deductible (thus no tax)

 

Withdrawals from U.S. retirement accounts (Traditional IRA, 401K) that are taxed as income in the U.S. are not considered income by Colombia

 

All global assets (of at least about 15K USD) must be reported including retirement accounts, but at present they are not taxed (at least not under a VERY high level)

 

Dividends/Capital Gains 10 percent tax but subject to double taxation limitations

 

Overall for a pension based retiree, Colombia would be a bigger hassle than Thailand because (based on your specific situation) you probably would need to file there, but most likely you would owe little or no tax.

 

Believe all this or not. Do your own due diligence. I know some people won't believe this information (which for me at least is overall very good news). 

 

Consultation service (Srta. Cruz)

About Us | USATax.co Expat Services

[Jingthing]

Crackdown in Mexico on illegal aliens from the USA, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere. Oh my!

 

This is real as I've heard the same news from many sources.

 

Its obvious that Mexlco now quite understandably wants to push out or push towards residence visas people living there permanently on tourist visas. If they keep this up, this represents a very big change.

 

I have no issue with that personally as if I moved to Mexico I would apply for residency possibly after use of one 180 day tourist visa.

 

However I would have a big problem with needing to always carry my original passport! But that is solved by getting residency.

 

 

 

 

[SiamAndy]

10 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Crackdown in Mexico on illegal aliens from the USA, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere. Oh my!

 

This is real as I've heard the same news from many sources.

 

Its obvious that Mexlco now quite understandably wants to push out or push towards residence visas people living there permanently on tourist visas. If they keep this up, this represents a very big change.

 

I have no issue with that personally as if I moved to Mexico I would apply for residency possibly after use of one 180 day tourist visa.

 

However I would have a big problem with needing to always carry my original passport! But that is solved by getting residency.

 

 

 

 

I have been considering Mexico more seriously of late as the temporary resident visa (1 year term) is reasonable and can be converted to a permanent resident visa after 4 years.

 

Do you know if there is a public health care option still available in Mexico these days? One thing is for sure, the writing is on the wall for TL as the rules will always continue to change on the whim of the government  and will always cost the retired expat more in fees such as additional arrival/departure taxes or health insurance requirements or testing requirements etc.

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, SiamAndy said:

I have been considering Mexico more seriously of late as the temporary resident visa (1 year term) is reasonable and can be converted to a permanent resident visa after 4 years.

 

Do you know if there is a public health care option still available in Mexico these days? One thing is for sure, the writing is on the wall for TL as the rules will always continue to change on the whim of the government  and will always cost the retired expat more in fees such as additional arrival/departure taxes or health insurance requirements or testing requirements etc.

INSABI.

It's free but not great.

Retired expats are mostly going with private insurance or pay as you go but for minor stuff INSABI could be good.

So what are the costs?

My impression is that paying retail for high level care is less than the expat centric hospitals in Thailand such as Bumrungrad.  Obviously location matters as to what's available.

 

There is a discount for foreign residents vs. tourists. Another reason to get residency.

 

As far as the public options for retired expats I think Colombia is significantly better, but its not free.to enroll but it is required to enroll, and it also varies by location.

 

Colombia has an innovative system. Its run by competing private insurance companies with government oversight. Everyone is accepted regardless of age or conditions.

 

 

[SiamAndy]

40 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

INSABI.

It's free but not great.

Retired expats are mostly going with private insurance or pay as you go but for minor stuff INSABI could be good.

So what are the costs?

My impression is that paying retail for high level care is less than the expat centric hospitals in Thailand such as Bumrungrad.  Obviously location matters as to what's available.

 

There is a discount for foreign residents vs. tourists. Another reason to get residency.

 

As far as the public options for retired expats I think Colombia is significantly better, but its not free.to enroll but it is required to enroll, and it also varies by location.

 

Colombia has an innovative system. Its run by competing private insurance companies with government oversight. Everyone is accepted regardless of age or conditions.

 

 

Thanks for the helpful information! I had researched Mexico a while back when they still had Seguro Popular and did not know about Insabi. If I go the Mexico route, I'd probably pay out of pocket for some things and use Insabi for very basic medical needs.

 

 

[Jingthing]

Update on the Mexico visa crackdown.

It's bad.  Real bad. 

People are being checked on the street all over the country for original documents (passports, tourist cards, residency cards).

People are being detained in horrible conditions for failure to show them.

Americans and Canadians are being deported in numbers every day.

People showing up hoping to get the 180 tourist visa on arrival even if they're not serial visa runners even if they have a return ticket are being given much much fewer days, as few as seven, and some just sent back right away.

Some are being told nobody is getting 180 anymore, 150 is the new max.

A way around that is to have housing bookings for your entire stay.

But if you're staying for six months why would you want to do that if you're exploring the country? So you're going to book two months in Puebla and then two months somewhere else, etc.? What if you hate a place? 

Not getting into the politics or reasons why. It doesn't really matter. Hopefully this harsh phase passes before too long but for the time being the free and easy Mexican immigration long stay policies are NOT ON. 

This crackdown is of historic severity. I don't know what it was like 100 years ago but I can say going back several decades, this is unprecedented. 

 

OK this guy is a character but I'm seeing the same kind of news on many, many Mexico expat sources, and there is an overwhelming consensus that this crackdown is real. So bottom line if anyone is looking into more than a two week beach junket to Mexico and really wants 180 (or 150) days, it might still be possible, but you need to do a lot of research and be prepared with very solid documentation to show on arrival for your entire stay (and still no guarantees). 

 

[zzaa09]

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Update on the Mexico visa crackdown.

It's bad.  Real bad. 

People are being checked on the street all over the country for original documents (passports, tourist cards, residency cards).

People are being detained in horrible conditions for failure to show them.

Americans and Canadians are being deported in numbers every day.

People showing up hoping to get the 180 tourist visa on arrival even if they're not serial visa runners even if they have a return ticket are being given much much fewer days, as few as seven, and some just sent back right away.

Some are being told nobody is getting 180 anymore, 150 is the new max.

A way around that is to have housing bookings for your entire stay.

But if you're staying for six months why would you want to do that if you're exploring the country? So you're going to book two months in Puebla and then two months somewhere else, etc.? What if you hate a place? 

Not getting into the politics or reasons why. It doesn't really matter. Hopefully this harsh phase passes before too long but for the time being the free and easy Mexican immigration long stay policies are NOT ON. 

This crackdown is of historic severity. I don't know what it was like 100 years ago but I can say going back several decades, this is unprecedented. 

 

OK this guy is a character but I'm seeing the same kind of news on many, many Mexico expat sources, and there is an overwhelming consensus that this crackdown is real. So bottom line if anyone is looking into more than a two week beach junket to Mexico and really wants 180 (or 150) days, it might still be possible, but you need to do a lot of research and be prepared with very solid documentation to show on arrival for your entire stay (and still no guarantees). 

 

Thailand's starting to look like a paradise now.....

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, zzaa09 said:

Thailand's starting to look like a paradise now.....

Well, before you go that far let me say that the Mexico temporary and permanent residency options remain intact and they are very good options and way superior to what Thailand offers particularly to retirees. So people with residency now do need to carry their original residency card which is of course not as bothersome as an original passport.

 

I am hoping this overall crackdown is temporary but even it is, they have certainly telegraphed what they're capable of and it isn't pretty.

[Mike Teavee]

This video popped up on my YT feed today... 

 

 

...  & I was reminded of this thread.

 

The 1st 6 (of 9) countries are in Latin America & I was shocked at how cheaply/easily the guy says it is to retire in any of them (Certainly didn't match my memory of the discussions we had in this thread) and possibly more importantly how cheaply/easily it is to get PR in them. 

 

 

@Jingthingare you still keeping up to date with the retirement requirements in the LatAm countries? Do the numbers in this video look right to you?