Quote:
Originally Posted by phines
I taught English in Mexico City for 3 years. During that time, my parents came to visit me on several occasions and fell in love with Mexico too. Now that they are going to retire within the next few months, they are wanting to move to the Lake Chapala area. We are a very close-knit family, and my husband and kids would consider moving with them. Are there many young families in Chapala? Are there kid-friendly activities there? Would there be other American kids in their schools? Is one lakeside town better than another in regards to the number of English-speaking families with kids? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Gracias!
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Those aren't communities designed for people 55+, and there are young people and children there ... probably mostly Mexican as compared to expats. Children seem quick to pick-up new languages and adapt to different cultures. There are one or two people who say they live in Chapala or nearby who post here and who will probably provide some good information.
You'll need to qualify for one of the visa categories if you want to live there, though, even if you have a source of income from outside of Mexico. It's likely you'll be asked to demonstrate a monthly income in the range of US$3,000. Maybe more depending on the size of the family. If you plan to work in Mexico there are regulations you'll need to comply with in order to be able to do that. It's not impossible but there is a fair amount of red tape involved. With the size of the expat community at Lake Chapala I'm thinking your sills will need to be very special to get a job. Maybe something in Guadalajara which is the larger community.
The ease with which your family could settle-in, or the difficulties you might face will largely be determined by the amount of pre-move preparation you and the family would have done.
You might find it helpful to cross-post your questions to a web forum which discusses the lakeside communities, specifically. If so, click on this link:
http://www.chapala.com/wwwboard/webboard.html
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