New members of the Puerto Rico forum, introduce yourself here

It helps you tremendously that your boyfriend is from Mayaguez. You will be able to navigate things much more quickly and efficiently when you get there. It's ALWAYS helpful to have a Boriqua with you whenever you deal with anyone for anything. When was the last time either of you were in Puerto Rico? The reason I ask is that it has gone through a lot of changes in the last 10 years or so and it's nothing like the Puerto Rico I knew years ago. My wife is also from Mayaguez. I loved it there for the most part. She's from Barrio Columbia, which Barrio is your boyfriend from?

Land has become cheaper than it used to be these days. I would expect that the mass exodus of natives leaving the island might have something to do with it. That is something you might want to take a closer look at.

If you can manage to get reasonably reliable internet service I would suggest home schooling. I live in central Florida and PR school teachers are coming here in droves looking for work. You won't find too many people that speak highly of the public school system in PR here on the forum. We home schooled our daughter for the entire third grade in PR and it worked out wonderfully. Plus she ended up with a quality education from it.

Hi Gregg,

Thank you for the information.  Der, I'm not sure which barrio he is from   He is there right now visiting his brother, and the pictures he is sending are amazing!  I'll have to ask him about the Barrio.  His family has a farm with quite a bit of acreage so it is outside of the town (6 miles)...that is all I know!

i go back and forth about homeschooling.  yes, I agree it is wonderful, but I also know that the kids will want to make friends, so I have thought about the schooling system, more than anything as a way for them to start meeting kids.

There is an interesting article on NPR, on "unschooling"  I think of it often.  But, I wanted to check about schools.

Thanks again,

Liz

Hi, my husband and 3 daughters and I are moving to PR in January from Virginia. The girls are 12, 14, and 16 and we are looking at TASIS, Robinson, and St John. Does anyone have any feedback on these schools? We have been expat before and TASIS seems similar to their previous (very positive) experience. How is it commuting frm Dorado to San Joan? Do lots of expats live in Dorado? I do not speak Spanish (yet) and am very sociable, so looking forward to making friends and exploring our new home.

Hello and welcome to the forum!  I'm sorry I don't anything about the schools mentioned.  My husband and I aren't expats yet.  I'd love for you to share your experiences as you go through the process of moving to PR and assimilating to the region.

I wish and your family all the best!

Hi Suzanne,

I am a newcomer too.  I am considering the relocation and am looking at things like schools as well.  I just did a quick search on Tasis and it looks great!  I am interested in hearing more and making friends as well.  So, good luck and I look forward to hearing about your relocation!

Kind regards,

Liz

etilley23 wrote:

Hi Suzanne,

I am a newcomer too.  I am considering the relocation and am looking at things like schools as well.  I just did a quick search on Tasis and it looks great!  I am interested in hearing more and making friends as well.  So, good luck and I look forward to hearing about your relocation!

Kind regards,

Liz

Hi Liz -
I'm flying down on Thursday to check out the schools (also looking at Robinson and St John) and will post my thoughts after the trip. I am so excited for the move!

Good luck!  Take pictures.  Tell us everything

I actually work from home and can go anywhere.  I am avoiding places like San Juan.  I've looked at Mayaguez and Dorado.  There was another gal on here talking about Dorado, but I can't remember who she was!  My impression was that there are a lot of expats there.  My main concern is the integration of my children as well.  They are 12 and 10 (well the 19 year old is at school, so I'm not counting him ) I speak some Spanish.  They don't.  I want to make sure they have a wonderful transition.  I'm sure you looked but Dorado is 20 miles from San Juan.  My boyfriend (from PR) has warned me that traffic is really really bad.  San Juan is to be avoided if possible

So...yes, please let me know how it goes!

I Guess I need to introduce myself. Ive spent a day or two lurking around here playing with the idea of moving to either puerto rico or the US Virgin Islands. im single, male, and I have pretty much nothing here in the states to hold me here. Im looking for a nice quiet life deviod of the drama that seems to pervade everything here. After so many years with the standard "Grind" here in the states, I could use a change of pace towards something more slowed down and well... relaxed. Hopefully I'll be able to transfer down to the area with work. Im sure there will be some extra questions ill be asking soon. I look forward to all the future conversations.

Welcome!  I'm so glad you came out to join and be a part of this forum!

Well my wife Rosa and I have made the jump! We are living now in Isabela.
Looking forward to a life of retirement and relaxation, and meeting some of you in the future, especially those of you who live out here on the correct side of the island !
Reading these posts the past few months has been informative and helpful. I feel like I know a bunch of you already.
Regards to our friends,
Mr Res -
Guy & Rosa

Wow, good for you, congratulations! Did you decide to rent or purchase?  And what about your location drew you...how did the move go?  Haha, playing 20 questions.

Schuttzie,
Thanks for asking! Love to share the stories. We had visited the island many times over the past years on family vacations, etc. And despite the fact that my wife has relatives over in metro area, we determined unanimously, virtually at once, that after our first visit to the northwest corner of the island, we knew that we could never be happy anywhere else. So for years we knew where; tho we certainly did not know WHEN we would live IF it actually ever came to fruition.
So the past year or so we have been planning for the move. We decided straight away that we would rent--at least for the first year or two. Couldn't see jumping through moving targets every day trying to buy, when there is just way too much uncertainty on a multitude of fronts. We were looking for rental property in Aguadilla, Isabela, and Moca. (unlike most contributors I've read on this blog, we actually LIKE Moca)
At the end of the day, we opted for a condo complex because the 24 hr security made my wife feel secure, and she also really liked the amenities. We might have been able to do better ... but believe me, this is pretty darn good!!!

We really love the northwest, too, also the southwest Cabo Rojo area.  It's a little damp and humid on the northeast coast for us.  Probably because we live in northern Illinois where it gets really humid and we would like a dryer climate.  That is great you have family there to help you with figuring things out.  We will also rent for awhile.

You could start a new thread about your journey to get to where you are.  Any struggles along the way and good things that have happened.  All the best to you both!

I've never been, but have been researching.  Just beginning the journey.  I like Moca too from what I've seen! Thanks for the info   Good luck!

Welcome to the island of enchantment. I hope you're gonna like the place like I do - even though I'm on the other side (the wrong side? )

Mr Res wrote:

We were looking for rental property in Aguadilla, Isabela, and Moca. (unlike most contributors I've read on this blog, we actually LIKE Moca)

Come on Mr. Res, there's exactly one member who lived in Moca and didn't have a good experience.

You are soon smart to rent first. That's what we did and we never regretted doing it. Lots of luck

Skip

Now who could you be talking about Gary? There is a gigantic difference between liking a place and actually living there and having to deal with the realities of the place rather than just how it looks. Puerto Ricans are generally warm and friendly people. But there are some places that have little or no tolerance for outsiders, especially gringos even if they are married to a Puerto Rican.Sometimes especially if you fall into that category. Just like anywhere else. Things are not always what they appear to be. But it's no different than here in the states. Some places just don't like outsiders and if you intrude on their space they have a tendency to make life miserable for you. And they enjoy every minute of it. But if you really like Moca, my old house is probably for rent. It's a beautiful 2,000 sq. ft 3 bedroom 2 bath house on !/4 acre with banana and avacado trees in the backyard. But if you rent it, just don't go digging around in the back yard. I buried 5 dogs there that the neighbors killed. And those were just the ones I could find. Funny thing though. nobody seems to stay in that house very long.  But it sure is pretty there.

Gary, you are in the right spot. You are exactly where you should be. And I sincerely hope our mr. Res finds his right spot. Even if it's in Moca.

Hello, all! My wife (Alice) and I have been in PR for quite some time now, I had been living in East PR for six years, now in Rincón for 2yrs. We don't get out much, and have met very few fellow expats. Looking forward to meeting new friends, and getting out some!

mac00677 wrote:

Hello, all! My wife (Alice) and I have been in PR for quite some time now.

Welcome to Expat-blog! I'm sure you have a lot of info to share with newcomers!

Welcome, mac00677, to the forum!  I'm not an expat yet but hope to in the near future.  Its great to have more expats here to help us with the goings.  Living there now for 8yrs must mean you are loving the island experience, that's fantastic!

You should be able to meet a lot of nice people in Rincon. Go to the Plaza on Sundays and hang out at the farmers market. You will run into a wide variety of people there. After being there two years you probably know about the monthly magazine "El Coqui of Rincon". You can find a lot of places to go to meet people through there. They are also online at www.elcoquiofrincon.com. Rincon should be one of the easiest places around to meet people and make friends, especially if your Spanish is limited. if you really want to meet a nice bunch of people, check into ARF of Rincon. It's an animal rescue organization and they can always use volunteers.

My wife and I are renting a small 2br/1ba place in the mtns, off 412 (East on Rt 4929) we don't even have mail service, but my landlord (bless his tireless soul) brings it regularly. We have 9 cows out back, numberous Pana (bread fruit), avocado, mango, and citrus trees, caribbean cranberries, several variety of banana, coconut, plantain, and gondules (beans).

Our place is a rustic place, cable doesn't come up this far, but we've got Dish (which I recommend, even if you have a choice), and who uses land line telephones anymore? We're situated on 6.5acres, the neighbors on my street are almost all related, in fact, the 70yr old lady up the road, grew up in this house!  I can only praise my neighbors; super super people, all of them! We're paying $275/mo. If you don't insist on a condo on the beach, and can handle having to drive 8 whole minutes to the beach, then you don't have to pay $1,000/mo. rent!

Wow, that is a fantastic deal!  I'd love to have all the fruit trees and it sounds like a lovely neighborhood.  We are coming to Rincon in early Feb. for 17 days.  I'd love to meet up if possible and pick your brain, lol.  Have a great weekend and happy holidays!

The best temperatures are up in the mountains, definitely.

Sounds great! It's similar in our little barrio up in the mountains in the east of the island. Lots of cousins (of my wife) live here. We share fruit, veggies and buy cheap meat and meat products and eggs from neighbors who have pigs and chickens.

We moved  to Puerto Rico last Feb.2014, this was not my first time here and my husband is from here, but spent 40+ years state side, only the last few years he was here caring for his aging father. I finally retired and we purchased a home that had been sitting vacant for many year and have been busy ever since getting everything back in working order. Which is a real challenge as its truly hard to find good, reasonable, honest workers. But, we push on as we know one day this will be all behind us and we will enjoy our golden years here. I love Puerto Rico, the culture, the food, the music, the friendliness of people, the beauty of the island, love to take long drives with no real destination in mind, just drive and see where it leads.
We enjoy the beaches, the little food/drink stands by the road sides.
The only draw backs are anything to do with utilities, we jumped through every hoop to get them started. No one seemed to know who did what.....heard a lot of "not my job" and that was discouraging but we just smiled and kept being pest till we got what we were after, we were respectful but never took no for an answer.....
Now our one problem is registering a vehicle we purchased through a private party....total nightmare. Long story, he owes over 5000.00 in fines and now we can not locate him, not even the court can, so the vehicle sits....wish someone knew how to correct this. I am honestly thinking of going to the local news station as I am sure we are not the only ones this happen to. All in all, I feel very blessed to be here.

Welcome to Expat.com, sharonlynn!

Hi there and welcome to PR.  We moved here in May of last year and have been happily living in Quebradilla  (which is not far from you) for the last 6 months.
We came upon this house on Classificados after looking on the east coast from Fajardo down to Yabucoa.  Nothing suited us (myself, my husband and our 18 year old grandson who came to live with us shortly before we made the move down.) Previously we were looking for a condo by the beach in Luquillo but our plans changed to move to a house which would better suit us with a teenager in tow.

We were all set to rent a house in Yabucoa which we all liked when we decided to keep looking on the north coast and I am so glad that we did.  Once we walked into this house, I fell in love with the house.
It is a big house, 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths with a media room, large balconies, long driveway, many fruit trees including a huge avocado tree which gave us about 500 fruits during the summer, grapefruit, lemon,  orange, and guayaba trees.  My husband planted a tomatoe plant and it has been giving fruit already.  He also began a small garden with string beans, ciltantro and cucumbers. It is not a big piece of property but large enough for us to enjoy the many palm trees and the great breezes.

It is set outside of town but close enough that we can walk to town any time but recently we got a car so now we are able to explore the many beautiful places here on the west coast. Our neighbors are pretty nice and since we are both Puerto Rican and speak the language, we get along fine with them and have met many nice people around here.  I feel very safe in this area and even my grandson has made many friends at the local school even though he is not bilingual, the friends all speak English.

We did have a slight problem when we wanted to get internet access because we are more than 250 feet from the pole where the lives come in according the Choice so we had to go with Claro which we were not initially happy with but since we had a tech come out and fix stuff, it is 100 % better than it was .

When we finally got our household stuff from the states including our t.v., we finally got Direct t.v. and it is great. Every once in a while,, the water goes out but we have a cisterna like everyone around here and so we are never without water but I guess that is a fact of life here in the country.

We also don't have a mailbox but got a p.o. box and that is working fine. We may get one soon and then we will get the mail delivered here like some of our neighbors. Now that are mobile,  we can begin furnishing this big house.  We had sold most of our furniture back in NY and only brought certain pieces of furniture. At the beginning, before we got our stuff, my hubby( who is very handy, I call him McGyver) made a small table for us to eat on with wood that was in the shed and we had some plastic chairs which the owner left here. When we got our stuff, the only part of our dining room set which e got were the chairs and the metal bottom of the set (the wooden top got damaged when we left it out in the rain after a yard sale) and so he got some lumber from the local ferrerteria (hardware store) and made a beautiful long table which looks professionally made. That is why I keep him around, ha ha.

Anyway, we have had our share of ups and downs here but mostly ups and are pleasantly surprised at how I have become acclaimated with living in Puerto Rico and by the way, we are both retired and loving it here.

Before I forget, Happy Belated Three Kings Day and Welcome to Puerto Rico.

As alway, Tonie, you are so helpful with your posts on how life is in PR.  Can I ask what your electric generally runs per month?  Oh, and how did you come across your rental home, by a realtor?

Absolutely! Write whenever you wish, send me private message, and I'll give you our cellular numbers. Speaking of Cellular; Verizon left PR a few years back, but companies that are both on the mainland, and on island are: Tmobile, AT&T, and Sprint... and a few of the pay as you go companies; Walmart, Boost, Go (AT&T).

Plenty of ways to live frugally: grow your own veggies, and pick what's available growing naturally; get a med size freezer and buy in bulk; walk or bicycle when you can; buy a modest car, instead of a SUV; rent in the hills for a fraction of a touristy beach house... I'm renting in the hills, and I pay $275/mo. for rent, for a 2br place on 6 acres. My landlord uses most of it for his cows, but we grow some stuff too.

Very reasonable, mac00677!  Thank you for sharing your costs

Hello! I am Bea from Colombia. My Fiance is Puerto Rican and I am ready to move there and start a new life with my Husband very soon. Any tips in regards of living in Puerto Rico, and the time I have to wait to be able to work etc. I am a Professional with Experience in Human Resources, therefore I am interested in continuing in the same field. Any advise,tip.

Thank you.

Hi Bea, I saw that only 5 months ago you wanted to move to Panama with your son and your mother and now it's obviously Puerto Rico. I hope you made up your mind and know what you're getting into.

The USA immigration rules apply here since PR is a US territory. In order to get a permanent resident permit (green card) you would need to be married to your PR fiance and apply for the green card within three months. The better way would be to get a fiance visa while still outside the US and enter with that visa, get married and apply for the green card.

I don't know how long it takes nowadays, when I first came to PR back in 2001 I received my work permit the day I applied for the green card. With that permit a social security card can be obtained and then you should be good to get a job.

I guess you know that before you get approved for the permanent residency you and your then husband will get interviewed to establish if you are really living together and are not married only to get the green card.

It can easily take up to two years before you finally have the green card but with the work permit you are able to work. Traveling outside the US during that period can only be done with a special re-entry permit that you actively have to apply for.

As for finding employment, a lot will depend on your education (college degree?) and experience. Without a degree and experience it's going to be hard. It looks like you're bilingual, that's absolutely a plus.

Good luck!

Hi Gary!
Thanks for your fast response and your comments!
I work on a cruiseship for many years and have been around the world! I am always looking for a better place to live with a similar status. I am a Manager experienced and qualified to work anywhere. I hold also European Pasaport so a green card is definately not a priority! But I want to be able to work because I do believe a healthy marriage needs to have two incomes and 2 people happy doing what they like to do jobwise. I will definately live in Puerto Rico with my Future Husband, Mother and Son!!! Unless he gets transferred as he also works in hospitality. I think the "business of getting married" only to get visas, etc is a very risky business that I have never considered, not only is a fraud, but also is dangerous in terms of security for both parties. We don't want to apply for K1 visa because I have ESTA (European passport) and B1/B2 in my (Colombian passport) plus C1D as crew member. I am now working at Sea and get to go to PR every 2 weeks to meet my Fiance. We are getting married soon in Puerto Rico without fiance visa... We do prefer change os status and the question about timing that you answered is perfect for us because I can settle there, look for a job, get familiar with everyhing while waiting for the permit! 3 months could be a reasonable time! Thank you

Hi, Bea and welcome to the forum!  There is a wealth of information be had on this board with many helpful people.  Good luck on your move and your new marriage!

A European passport is good to visit the USA for three months without a visa. The B1/B2 allows access for max. 6 months. The C1D is good for working on US cruise ships.

But....

If you want to live and work here (or in the USA) you really need a green card (or better: permanent resident permit). Three months to file sounds like a long time but it's over before you know. Make sure you get married as soon as you're here and start the procedure to file for your  green card as soon as possible. Make sure you have all the forms you need like birth certificate, when applicable divorce verdict(s),  etc. and have them translated into English by an official translator. It can take some time and you may not meet the three months deadline (like happened to me - I had to leave PR and come back two weeks later..) Your future husband needs to gather lots of documents as well. He will be your 'sponsor' and has to prove that he can financially take care of you. If his income doesn't qualify you need to find a co-sponsor.

Check the USCIS site for all the requirements: http://www.uscis.gov/greencard

A lot of paperwork is required. My bunch of paper that I needed to submit was like 1 1/2inch thick!
The filing fee is $420, make sure you have that available, too.