What is it like to live in Tijuana, BC?
Hello,Well, I can only speak out of personal experience and maybe a few comments from other friends and family that live in Tijuana.I have lived my entire life here.My family from my father’s side has been living in Tijuana since the late 50’s early 60’s and from my mother’s side since the mid 80’s.It is the biggest and richest city in all of Northwestern Mexico, and Tijuana, being the westernmost and Northernmost city in Latin America it has a very cool mix of everything you can image, since it is (geographically) ‘detached’ from the rest of the country.As any other city, it pros and cons.I’ve always felt that we have the best of both worlds living near the border, yet at the same time our blessing turns into a curse.It is great to be living next to one of the richest countries in the World.Furthermore, it is cool living a few steps away from one of the richest States in the US, that could easily be a country of it’s own.But, the same way we are bless with this, this is part of our curse.It is hard to compete against this, and it is inevitable to try to make comparisons.Though wages are better than Southern Mexico, we are miles away from the wage you can get in the US, and also rent and food is costlierThis makes the city and it citizens opt to simply work in the US and spend in Tijuana, and though this sounds good in principle (it kind of does) it brings prices up of everything as well (as I mentioned on the upper paragraph), and this is not good for the people who cannot work in the US or at least earn good money in Tijuana.But overall, I see more advantages than disadvantages.Tijuana is very rich in culture, and it has the best food from all over the country and since it was a city founded by people that came from other parts of Mexico and the World, it offers an amazing diversity.It is not the best looking or nicest city in Mexico, but it sure has a je ne sais quoi that makes you wanna stay here for a while.It is , after all, the place I call home.
What are some good ways to get cell service in Tijuana as a frequent visitor residing in San Diego?
If what you need is a Mexican number I would recommend a prepaid in any of this companies Telcel, Movistar or Virgin Mobile México.Usually you can get a fair service by paying $100 pesos in an Oxxo just by giving your number.Getting prepaid SIM cards for that companies is very easy, you can also do it in the Oxxo store, and you can also buy a simple nokia phone for $400 pesos (~$27 USD).
What's it like to live in Tijuana and work in San Diego?
I lived in Rosarito and worked in Del Mar for half a year. The difference between your quality of life (more or less) comes down to one thing….do you have a Sentri card. If the answer is yes, border wait is 15 minutes; sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more but CPB has a sort of SLA/priority on the Sentri lanes. No Sentri? Your wait to cross the border will take at least an hour and a half during peak times (peak time being Monday-Friday apróx. 6am-10:00am) I did not have a Sentri card back then so I would have to wake up at 4am so that I had a very good chance to make it to work by 8. If I had a Sentri card I could sleep in until 6. I later moved to San Diego after my lease expired. So why did I not get a Sentri card? I did not think I could qualify, these cards are very hard to obtain. The vetting process is thorough. I had a minor customs violations in the 80’s and early 90’s….booze, fireworks…nothing big but maybe enough to disqualify me. You can be disqualified for any arrest. Folks have been DQed for DUI’s that occurred 30 years ago…no joke. You can also be disqualified for customs violations that have occurred in any country, not just the US. Last year, after living in PB for three years I was like…what the heck?..lets see if I could get Sentri. A few months later my application was approved, passed the interview and now a proud Sentri card holder. Since my customs violations occurred over 10 years ago and were minor they did not sink me, now I kick myself for not applying when I lived in Mexico. I may even move back. So if you are considering moving to TJ and doing that cross border commute then definitely check out the Sentry program.
My husband, daughter and I moving to Mexico?
Your daughter does Not need an FM3 but will need to take care of things at INM if she is your husband`s daughter. She can get citizenship papers almost immediately and Public school is cost free. If you are a Parent of a child in Mexico you can get a work permit without delay Without welfare that is their way of taking care of Children as your husband surely knows. There are a couple people here that continually telling askers that Unemployment is high. It is Not. It is 5.65% It is 10% in America and 8 or 9 %in Canada. Monterrey is the wealthiest city in Mexico and the pay is considerably higher there. The deportation order can be circumvented....move to another American city and have no contact with Police. He has done it before. Move to another state and save some money. There are lots of Jobs in Mexico, they just don`t Pay well without a skill. The minimum wage is 75 cents an hour. There are very simple places to live for $40.00 a month. In 42 years I have only met 2 Mexicans that were looking for work and both were working within a week or two. There is No welfare as we know it. There is No unemployment insurance as we know it. That is why almost everyone is doing something productive, from selling wares to washing windshields. Unemployed Mexicans or Cartel Members find something to do. Best of Luck We here in Canada are always taking in New immigrants. Take a trip to a consulate and start the Paper Process.
Does anyone know how can I find information about Mexico?
Click on the link below for any information that you need, also you can use the search window on that page to find more information. This way you don't have to look though all the information above to find what you want. http://www.oecd.org/statisticsdata/0,2643,en_33873108_33873610_1_1_1_1_1,00.html