Today’s topic is social media and who can give you the best information.
If you don’t follow Sonia Diaz on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/www.soniadiaz.mx/) or her website (http://www.soniadiaz.mx/) and you have an interest in residency in México (you either have it, or are thinking about getting it) then you might want to give her a visit and read her posts.
Sonia is in San Miguel Allende, and I’m not recommending her services, or those of her partner in Puerto Vallarta, but her information is always accurate and when changes happen she seems to be the first to know.
For example, she posted yesterday that INM seems to be requiring anyone who is converting from temporary residency to permanent residency before the 4 year period, to be of ‘retirement age’ (65) as well as meeting the financial obligations. Previously there have been some consulates that have been particularly fussy about not granting residency to people who aren’t retiring – but even Seattle, where I got mine, wasn’t concerned that I hadn’t hit 65 yet.
She also says that more and more consulates are requiring ‘retirement age’ as a condition of permanent residency (again, in addition to the other requirements) as well. Sonia’s facebook post is here if you want to read it: https://www.facebook.com/www.soniadiaz.mx/posts/1724306081091447
While I’m on the subject of residency and gathering information – Q-Roo Paul and his wife Linda have a website and a YouTube channel with lots of information as well. Again, I haven’t seen them post anything that wasn’t accurate or that was misleading – as I’ve seen from a few other YouTubers. Q-Roo Paul’s website is here: https://qroo.us/, and their YouTube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TwoExpatsMexico/videos. While some of their information is more applicable to Akumal, where they’ve been living, most of it is general and very helpful. They’ve just sold their condo and are going to be traveling as well, so I expect they might show a broader perspective in their videos.
As far as YouTube travel vloggers go, I recommend Tangerine Travels (channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TangerineTravels/videos). They recently ended their 5+ year relationship but they’re still vlogging. While their viewpoint is from a very youthful vantage point, they have been to a lot of places and you can glean some good information for potential trips of your own. I used to follow the Kinetic Kennons, but when they couldn’t get residency they decided they were still going to ‘live in México’, and even started selling Méxican import items online. Personally I find it very disrespectful to México to hawk overpriced tourist trinkets while residing in a country on a visitors permit. Not the kind of people I want to promote or emulate – but your mileage may vary and you’re welcome to your opinion as well. If you want to follow them or see their videos you’ll have to find a link because I won’t be posting one 🙂 Lol.
I also follow some Méxican YouTubers. For Mazatlán I recommend the ‘Mazatleco’ channel. Gustavo has some really good videos, and you can turn on closed captions and translate. His YouTube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/c/Mazatlecom/videos and his facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/mazatlecom. Antonio Zazueta also has info here in Mazatlán, but some of his posts have a lot of T&A. His videos are also a little more ‘party’ oriented. You can find him on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/AntonioZazuetaOficial/. I do have a few others that I follow, but they’re either in other cities (Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta), or they travel in lots of countries, not just México.
There are also some irresponsible vloggers who I think you should stay away from. I’m going to repeat my ‘this is VERY BAD advice’ warning again – DO NOT hop on any local bus, without first confirming with the driver, that it goes where you want to go, even if someone has told you to do it. Just because a bus says ‘Juárez’ doesn’t mean it goes to the mercado or tianguis in Juárez; and the buses in Juárez going the other way that say ‘Centro’ don’t all go to El Centro. When you see a vlogger telling you otherwise you should drop them immediately. If you think I’m being extreme go ahead and ask a local how fun it’d be for you to take the Parque Bonfil bus (whose window clearly says ‘CENTRO’) at dusk when you’re headed to Centro Historico from the mercado in Juárez.
So, to wrap it up – for information about residency & living in México I recommend Sonia Diaz and Q-Roo Paul. For travel I recommend Tangerine Travels. For Mazatlán I’d go with Mazatleco and Antonio Zazueta. If you have any recommendations please feel free to leave a comment on my facebook post of this entry!
