New members of the Puerto Rico forum, introduce yourself here

Looking for info on moving to PR

Hi miami272,

Do you have any specific questions?

Regards,

Hasnaa
Expat.com Team

P.S: A hi, thank you or please will be highly appreciated

Hello. Nice to meet you. I certainly do have many questions. My wife, one year old son and I are considering taking up residency in PR. We will be traveling there in mid March. We have lots of questions about where to live and how to get set, but I guess are most pressing concern is safety. US Press post all kinds of negfitive items about crime. My guess is that if you live in the right place and keep you eyes open it is fine. I'd love you general input on living on the island. Otherwise, I'm here to make a few new friends in PR   

Thanks
Jay

Hello! My husband and I are from S Florida (he is from Armenia, Colombia origionally). We moved to Santa Marta Colombia is October. My husbands old employer offered us a job in San Juan just this week. We are moving to PR in May. We have 2 kids, 2 and 1

I will be looking for a English speaking Church and a good place to live with kids.
Thanks!!
Grace

Best of luck to you. My wife, son and I are from south Florida and looking into moving down. Let's hope the good folks of this forum can help us along.

San Juan is beautiful. You will enjoy it. I do encourage you to explore the west side of the island too. The Rincon area has a lot of English speakers and bilingual schools. Plus the beaches are amazing.
Good travels and welcome to paradise.

William: i read your post on taxes. Should we expect to be paying higher income taxes in PR than previously in FL? Does anyone suggest a good area to live with children? They Will likely be home with a nanny, so walking distance is best. My husband is working in Carolina mall.

Isla Verde is the best place to live near Carolina Mall. Your husband will also be going in the opposite direction of the morning and afternoon traffic, which is very helpful.  Isla Verde is mostly made up of high-rises. There are a very few houses for rent but they are pricey.

Vieques has been the place I want to live since I heard of it some years ago. I'm originally from spain. I'm not moving there in a few time, I have some work to do so I might be moving there in some years or progressively as the years come by. I'd really apreciate some information in that so I can have some idea in this stuff.


Thanks for your attention,

yours faithful Mr. Pau

Hi Pauvidal and welcome to Expat-blog!

I assume you know that Puerto Rico is part of the USA? Since you're no US citizen the most important part is getting a visa or permanent resident card (green card).

A visa can be obtained if you're hired by a company that hires you or if you come with a lot  of money and invest that here in the country.

To get a "green card" you should for instance be married to a US citizen or be a lucky winner in a "green card lottery" https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/

What (other) information are you looking for?

hello ,  i am Greek  ,  i have searched for your place  and i found it really amazing !,,,,,i like meeting new cultures , and i think Puerto Rico is  a really interesting place,,,,,,,,,,,,,,if you have any advice on how i can get a job there   i would consider relocate as soon as possible ,

Hey Gang!

My wife and I are planning a move from Montezuma, Costa Rica to PR. From what I cangather online the west coast is most similar to CR? We are both from the states and are tired of being perpetual tourists here in CR (border jumping etc). She wants to work leagally as well. The cost of living here is outrageous as well. Am I looking in the right direction? My wife is Bronx NY Puerto Rican and has never been to the island. I am retired on disabilty at 40. Any good words?

Based on your interests, you are probably on the right track looking at the west coast. One warning: PR is expensive as well so you won't find any relief on that front. Another issue: Finding work. The island is haemorrhaging residents to FL and elsewhere because the economy and tax burden are so bad in PR. See this and this (both Washington Post links).

Work is tough to find and if you are looking for a cheaper cost of living you may not find that either. Everything is very high and the utilities keep going up. But I find the house rentals to be very good. Western PR is my favorite area. Since you have already lived in Latin America you should be able to adapt well. Best of luck to both of you. Say hello to the Coqui for me. I miss them. Oh, and please be kind to the stray animals when you can. A little food and a gentle touch and some kind words mean a lot in their pathetic lives.

Thanks! We are animal lovers and Im sure we will end up with a bigger family. I am really looking forward to getting away from the CR import tax on everything. I will be looking forward to having a car again,  we left ours in Florida due to the 10,000 dollars in taxes to make it legal here.

Thanks for the links. I wonder with the mass exodus I can get my pick of rentals?  Ha!

Haha that's the way look on the bright side. Excellent.

"...The island is haemorrhaging residents to FL and elsewhere because the economy and tax burden are so bad in PR."- Nomad Lawer a question.

Tax burdens? Income taxes? What other taxes should I be aware of. Thank you!

Hello ... I am thinking of moving to PR from Florida so any info would be helpful.  Do not know what area would be good for me ...  Retiring so ...  reasonable and safe would be a nice start.      Thinking of coming for a month or two to look around ...  How is public transportation?  Not planning on bringing a car over ...  Thank you all ..

Hi, Luis.grace. There's also sales tax of 7%. It's the self-employed/ small businesses that really get hosed with extortionate municipal and state taxes, licenses fees, stamp duty, etc.

Hi, jazgal. Public transportation is inefficient for the most part in the sj metro area and largely nonexistent outside it. In this thread I discuss how the public trans system can work for you if you decide to live in Old San Juan (which I generally recommend) https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … id=165362. Also see my post in this thread: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=121035. Good luck!

The sales tax on food adds up quickly because the prices are so high. Some Pueblos are saying they aren't going to raise taxes like the governor wants them too. So they just raise the prices on food again then people think that their taxes aren't being raised. You will be taxed and fee'd to death everywhere you go on anything and everything.

Taxes and fees?   Sounds like the good ol USA I cant wait! Im sure there must be ways to live frugally and save. Any advice? Im on a fixed income. .

When you get to the Island let me know. I have a group of people I think you might like to meet. They can help you to learn to live frugally and eat healthy and to nourish yourself spiritually as well. They remind me a lot of some of the people I knew back in the 60's and 70's during my Hippie days.

Thanks Gregg K   we should be there by December at the latest. I hope you arent recruiting me into a cult :-)

thank you for the links and the info ... I am glad I have time to do more reading and investigating before I come .... I agree a few extended trips sounds like great advice ...

cgbperkins wrote:

Taxes and fees?   Sounds like the good ol USA I cant wait! Im sure there must be ways to live frugally and save. Any advice? Im on a fixed income. .

According to this site Puerto Rico is more expensive than Costa Rica.

You may want to take a trip to the island and check it out before your decision to move here is final.

No cults. Just good people. You can learn a lot from them about healthy foods and cooking and farming in PR. Of course that didn't work to well for me. I grew up in Amish country in Pennsylvania and that's the kind of cooking that i thrive on.But at least I made a number of wonderful friends.

Yes, you are looking in the right direction.  I once lived in Aguadilla and fell in love with the west coast of the Island.  I am thinking of relocating there in the future.

GreggK wrote:

No cults. Just good people. You can learn a lot from them about healthy foods and cooking and farming in PR. Of course that didn't work to well for me. I grew up in Amish country in Pennsylvania and that's the kind of cooking that i thrive on.But at least I made a number of wonderful friends.

Just kidding GK,  Sounds like my wife would love them. i have always floated around the outskirts of that crowd.  Being an advocate of eating everything fin fur and feather.

Hello! My name is Laura and my family (kids 2 and 3 yr old) is seriously considering moving to PR this Sept.  We're leaning towardmoving to Mayaguez, but are undecided as we haven't really seen the San Juan area.

Our interests are dancing, walking, hiking, biking, kids activites (like libraries, etc.), ice skating, and swimming.  (We visited the rink in Aguadilla already).  Also, we loved the Mayaguez Montessori school that we toured.  Beautifull area too.

I would like more information on neighborhoods in Mayaguez.  Are they nice to walk around? We saw very little of the city when we were there on a short visit. We want to rent a house with a pool and a backyard for the kids to play in.

We've been researching health insurance, getting licenses etc, and it seems all do-able.

THANKS!  I'm so glad I found this forum!

Hi, Laura. I don't know much about Mayaguez. There are many contributors to this forum who do know quite a lot about the west of PR. I am sure they will respond to your post.

If you have questions about the SJ metro area, I'm glad to help. Best of luck.

I could use some assistance with the SJ metro area.  We are moving there in late October and want to rent a furnished place that will allow us to be near public transportation for a few months before we bring over a vehicle.  Any assistance would be appreciated.  Thanks.

Hello (Hola): My wife and I are looking seriously and very closely at potentially becoming NEW PR bona fide residents. We may visit for the very first time next month because we would love to experience the various locations (it seems like there are so many regions, with very different lifestyles, etc.). We are extremely active people (love to work out, run, hike, walk, enjoy the various water activities and learn many more and exciting active hobbies, etc.). We are curious from ex-pats and other subscribers to this blog what were some first impressions, "things you wished you had known", best ways to experience and familiarize yourself with PR and its variety of regions, etc., etc. Thank you so much!

Hi jay ready ur question I have to say no we're is safe I lived in pr for 3years and I have to come back thing are not like they Usto be when I was raised there but all I have to say is make sure u go there with a hell of a lot of money or u better have a well paying job cause pr lacks jobs big time or and please don't get me started on the education it really sucks sorry for my the way I put it bit I'm not going to seat here and tell u it's great cause I would be lying to u but I can say its beautiful to visit but not to live....

Yes it will be cause there are no jobs in pr

Hello, everyone!  I need to introduce myself and husband (Barbara and Timothy). My husband just retired and we've been to PR a few different times and absolutely love it there.  We really like the south coast near Cabo Rojo and Guanica but we've discovered that Rincon is probably where we'd like to settle.  We have another trip lined up in Feb. for about 17 days.  We have 2 daughters and the youngest is a senior while the oldest is finishing her second year of college.  We really want to rent long term and see if Rincon is where we want to be.

We love to be outside enjoying biking, walking, swimming, surfing (for Tim and maybe me later, lol) and working out.  We live in northern Illinois and do not like the winters, anymore, haha.  Too much being trapped indoors during winter months with no sun.  I will certainly keep up in the forum to glean whatever information I can.  Thank you all for your comments and insights!

Welcome to Expat.com, Barbara and Timothy!

I fully understand the part of not liking winters, I personally don't ever need to see snow and ice anymore.

I think Rincon is a good choice, quite a lot of North-Americans live there or spend the winters.

You may want to read a couple of older threads on  this forum to get an idea about day-to-day life here on the island.

If you have any specific questions just start a new topic and you'll get answers to your questions.