plumkell - 10-26-2012 at 10:23 PM
I would love to live in Baja. Is there anyone who can give any advice for travel writing? What about teaching English as a second language?
Thanks!
Kelly
Osprey - 10-27-2012 at 06:17 AM
Kelly, if you're a gringa from the U.S. you need special permission to work in Mexico. You might wanna google that up, see what you need. If you have
limited skills you can still make very good money in the timeshare business in Mexican resort cities -- some will argue that those are not the places
they dream of living in.
plumkell - 10-29-2012 at 06:50 PM
Thanks for the advice!
thebajarunner - 10-29-2012 at 07:24 PM
Try volunteering at an orphanage.
No pay, but lots of love, language and immersion in culture.
Rancho Santa Marta at San Vicente
Door of Faith at La Mision.
David K - 10-29-2012 at 11:03 PM
Even volunteers must have an work permit... they don't want people on a tourist visa who are rich enough to not need to get paid to take away a job
from a Mexican citizen who needs to get paid.
BajaBlanca - 10-30-2012 at 03:12 AM
get certified to teach English and this will help you get a permit to work.
BajaBlanca - 10-30-2012 at 03:55 AM
I also recommend reading blogs like TRAVELING EARL and HOME ON THE HIGHWAY to see how others are traveling and paying their way.
gnukid - 10-30-2012 at 04:59 AM
Volunteering, charity and taking employment is allowed for immigrants to Mexico such as a teacher, guide, engineer, scientists and even cook and
waiter. Furthermore an immigrant may work for a home country based job such as USA citizens may work for a USA company while abroad such as a writer
without work visa.
So a travel writer can travel and write and publish and be paid via their home country bank account without a work visa while in a Mexico.
A captain may work for a home based company while abroad in Mexico. Most big yachts have foreign captains with no local association. Same in USA.
You can't open a business on the street without a business license and work permit though.
Read more about this by reading about immigration and work and especially changes to immigration laws in Mexico. Inmigrados, and both FM-3 and FM-2
have work designations simply by informing the INM and paying a fee usually. If you are working for a Mexican company you require a sponsor letter
etc..., many other roles may be independent. If you choose to work for a company the permit process can be completed in a few days. Undoing it can
take longer.
Interestingly few Mexicans understand these issues because they are not foreigners and therefore its not relevant. Also few retirees work so they
don't know either. That's likely why there is so much misinfo.
Perhaps posters should refrain from speaking about issues they have no experience nor knowledge nor apparent desire to research to avoid misinforming
readers.
Of course there are horror stories about a gringo cook being arrested for incorrect work permit but those are unique cases and certainly there is also
corruption in Mexico and intimidation, but it doesn't make it lawful or correct.
There is a huge effort to reform understanding of these issues in Mexico just as there has been a huge effort in the USA to provide amnesty and work
permits to immigrants, even those who were working illegally. Its called North American homogenization and likely results in lower wages all around.
There are millions of new work permits in the USA for mexicans who just have to say I went to highschool here and I am under a certain age, no actual
proof required. And there are similar opportunities in Mexico to both welcome and encourage immigrants to take jobs. Some job categories have super
fast track to citizenship as well.