It’s Sharon’s Soapbox time!!  Last week I had someone who just moved to the country message me because her Belizean “Fast Track Passport” had been delayed due to events elsewhere in the world, which was causing Belize Immigration to really crack down on these things. Instead of just getting a Belizean passport like she was supposed to, they gave her a Permanent Residency stamp in the back of her U.S. passport. She wanted to know if this would be a problem for the Fast Track program.

Now, folks, I have to tell you, I was a bit confused by what she was asking me. First of all, I don’t know of any official “Fast Track” program sanctioned by the Belize government where expats can come over here and by pass all of the residency laws and go straight to getting their Belize passport.

As a review, the way it normally works (if you’re not in the QRP) is you come live in Belize for one year on a tourist visa, during which time you are paying a monthly fee to stay in the country (anywhere from $50 bze to $100 bze depending on your length of stay).  After one full year of living here and not leaving the country for more than 14 days, you can apply for Permanent Residency, and approval times vary, but normally within six months to a year you will have PR. 

After living in here for five years as a PR, you can apply for your Belize citizenship. And only after you pass the tests, complete all the paperwork, pay the fees, and go through another waiting period, will you officially be a Belizean and given a passport. As you can see, this process can take anywhere from seven to eight years, start to finish.

The expat who messaged me told me what she was doing wasn’t illegal, but I told her I don’t see how it couldn’t be. And I told her that I don’t advocate side-stepping the processes in Belize.  Every time an expat comes over here and pays someone a bribe or a fee to “expedite” things, they are now becoming part of the problem and not the solution, and it just burns me up.

For those of us who have done everything legally; who have patiently waited and “done our time;” who have done things by the book, to see others coming here and throwing their money around to get things done faster is really frustrating. 

Is it any wonder why Belize has a reputation of being corrupt?  How can you expect the government workers, who basically make peanuts for a salary, to turn down a bribe and not look the other way?  The only way to put a stop to this type of thing is to stop paying bribes and follow the rules. When we as expats don’t do that, we are now just as much to blame as the corrupt officials.

So if anyone here in Belize offers “for a fee” to speed up your work permit, or help you cheat on a boat captain license test, or get your PR and/or citizenship faster (all things I’ve either seen or heard of being done since moving here), rise above the offer and follow the rules, because for every one of you that don’t, you are making it harder on those of us who do.

Do you think bribing officials is acceptable in a foreign country?

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Obviously, yesterday was Thanksgiving in the United States. In Belize, it’s just any other day – schools are in session, banks are open, etc.  But Nige and I decided to take a self-imposed holiday to celebrate anyway, which made me feel somewhat less homesick for the holiday.

I wasn’t really missing it much, to be honest, until all of my friends and family started posting on Facebook Wednesday evening about the great pies they were making or giving updates on their travel plans to family.  It’s only at times like these that the homesickness from living abroad really kicks in for me.

The next morning, however, I woke up and it was a freezing cold morning. I was thankful, because it felt a little more like being home for the holiday. I put on my leggings, warm socks, big sweater, and settled in with a steaming hot cup of coffee and watched the Macy’s Day parade.

Next, football was up. This year, I have been quite the football fanatic, because my step-daughter convinced me to play in her Fantasy Football league.  I grew up in a football house, and it’s in my blood.  But over the years, I had become disenfranchised with the NFL due to free agency and all the hopping around players and coaches do. There used to be a time when I knew the name of every player on my favorite team. Not anymore.

So Fantasy Football has been a nice compromise.  I can enjoy the game, I’m learning more about different teams and players than I ever did before, and it gives me something to do online with my family besides Facebook or Google Chat.  Finding little things like these that make you feel connected to back home are really priceless as an expat.

Later that afternoon, we invited Nige’s mom and sister to go out to Thanksgiving dinner with us. We decided to eat at Hode’s Place in San Ignacio, since it seemed to have the most reasonably priced meal around ($18 bze or $9 usd for a full dinner, including dessert). Also, they were serving it all day, from noon until 9 p.m. When I called another local place serving dinner, they told me they weren’t starting until 7 p.m., which was too late for me on a work night (alas, I am not taking today off like most of you lucky buggers in the States, unless you’re in retail, of course).

So we had an early dinner, at about 4 p.m.  The place was pretty deserted, but I’m sure things picked up later.

Here’s a picture of the menu.

Unfortunately, right as I was going to snap a photo of the meal, my camera battery died! Bad blogger – I need to remember to charge that thing more. But the dinner included turkey in rum sauce, ham, stuffing, yams with little colored marshmallows, rice and beans (we are still in Belize, after all), cranberry sauce and a roll. I asked them to add some mashed potatoes, and they had to bring me some butter for my roll. Dessert was either apple pie or pumpkin cheesecake.

Everything was delicious, and it made me feel so much better celebrating with my Belizean family. Both Nige’s mom and sister said it was their first Thanksgiving dinner ever. I think we need to start a new tradition.

Are you prepared to spend the holidays away from family when you move abroad? 

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Back on November 14, 2010, I wrote this blog:

http://www.wealthships.com/2010/11/14/travel-like-a-local-not-a-tourist-when-choosing-your-country/

Keep in mind when I wrote it, I had yet to create either of my current companies, Red Roof Property Management or Wealth Ships’ Belize Relocation Consulting.  I realized the other day, however, when someone in Facebook was asking for advice about where to stay when they come here for their research trip that I still stand behind my advice.

Certainly now when I give this advice, it can seem a bit self-serving. After all, I manage a lot of vacation rental homes, which are perfectly suited for performing your “Travel Like a Local” type of research.  But that is not why I stand by this advice. I do so because I truly believe it is some of the best guidance you can receive as you embark on researching a new country.

I also do so because it is exactly the way I researched four countries before choosing Belize. Just to be clear, I have nothing against hotels, especially all the wonderful ones here in Belize. I just don’t think they are your best bet if you are trying to get a realistic idea of what everyday life will be like in a new country.

The only thing I would tell you differently now as opposed to then is I do feel it’s ok to treat yourself to one or two tours or fun outings, depending on the duration of your trip.  Yes, the majority of your time should be spent performing on the ground research, but since you paid all that money to get there, and everyone needs a break, there’s nothing wrong with taking a scuba diving or snorkel trip, or exploring some ruins.  Frankly, that can be seen as part of your cultural research.

Do you think traveling like a local makes sense?

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Two years ago today, I was sitting in the Houston Airport with my three suitcases, waiting to board a plane for my relocation to Belize. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun. The beginning of my journey to Belize, however, didn’t start out as rosy as some of you may think.

I was telling this story to one of my clients recently, and I admitted that I had never blogged about it. This is unlike me, as most of you know I am an open book. I think it was because I didn’t start blogging until I’d lived in Belize about one month, and by then, I had quite literally forgot all about it. In any case, my client encouraged me to tell the story, since some of you may be able to relate, or you may think of it when you come here for the first time and could find comfort in it.

Upon landing in Belize for my first research trip, a couple of months prior to my actual move here, my ex-husband and I had lined up an “economical” rental car prior. The guy from the agency was right outside of customs, waiting for us, and drove us to an offsite location to do the paperwork and get the keys.

Right away I noticed how run down and ghetto looking Belize City was. Everything looked kind of dirty, lots of litter, stray dogs, and some of the people looked a little scary to me. When we arrived at the rental agency, it was in a very run down condition. I asked to use the bathroom and was informed they didn’t have one. This was my first introduction to the lack of public restrooms in Belize.

Finally we got our car, which brings me to another point – you definitely get what you pay for in Belize. I would have preferred to pay more and got a car that didn’t look like we were the 1000^th customer, or that had a working radio! The agency guy did give us a good warning about not taking the Manatee Highway, as it is closed, so we headed on the Western Highway, then over to the Hummingbird, on our journey to Placencia. 

We were starving though. So in Belmopan, the nation’s capitol, we stopped at the outdoor market to find food. We had hoped to find a nice sit down restaurant with a bar. No such luck – all we could find were outdoor food shacks, with people practically sitting on top of each other at picnic tables. We decided we’d move on and try to find another restaurant along the way.

Unfortunately, the Hummingbird Highway is mostly a scenic route, and while today I know of one or two places to stop and eat that are quite good and nice, that day, nothing looked either open to us or like it would serve healthy food. We were just so accustomed to how things are in the States, we let our first world sensibilities get in the way of experiencing the offerings in Belize. At least the scenery was looking better though.

We managed to scrounge up some potato chips at the Blue Hole National Park, but decided to drive straight through and find food in Placencia. Bad news for us. First, we were there in August, the slowest month of the year, and when many restaurant owners close down to take their annual vacation. Second, it was after 2:00 p.m., when even if a restaurant weren’t closed down for the season, they weren’t open anymore for lunch.

We walked aimlessly down the famous Placencia “sidewalk,” my stomach growling uncontrollably, my head pounding, and my attitude all but shot. I told my ex, “I hate this place. I’m never moving here. We might as well go home now.”

Finally, we found a German lady and her sandwich shop open. We devoured our lunch, and then much to our pleasant surprise, later that day, found the main road in Placencia, full of lots of nice restaurants and bars, most of which happened to be open during our visit.

In the long run, we got used to the country, put on our explorer hat more, and grew to appreciate all it had to offer. In fact, we even learned to like how uncommercialized it is, without a McDonalds at every third mile. Although, on that first day in Belize, I would have killed for one!

Do you have a funny first impression story of a foreign country? Did your view change?

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If you are thinking of relocating to a foreign country, then there is certain nomenclature you should be made aware of so that you can start the process of asking the questions you need answered in the correct way. For now, I will concentrate on the meaning of certain words as they pertain to Belize.

For instance, the word “Visa.”  If you are coming to visit Belize, and your country of origin is the U.S. or Canada, for instance, you will not need a Visa.  However, there are many countries that Belize requires a visa from, and you need to obtain one prior to arrival here.

A Visa is simply a document that shows you are authorized to enter the country, subject to the permission of Immigration officials.  Knowing whether you need one to come here or not is a pretty important detail. For those of us who don’t need one, our passport suffices.

There are other types of visas also.  The most popular one in Belize is the “Tourist Visa.”  This visa allows you to stay in the country indefinitely as long as you visit Immigration after your first 30 days here, monthly, pay your fee ($50 bze for the first six months; $100 bze thereafter), and promise not to engage in any work for pay.

Which brings us to our next term – a “work permit.”  Actually, many countries refer to these as “business visas,” “temporary worker visas,” or “work visas.” However, in Belize, they are referred to as a “work permit.” As black and white as most Belizean government officials are, I would imagine if you walked into the Department of Labour and asked to apply for a work visa, they may send you back to Immigration.

In this case, it would be advisable on your part to start using the correct term before trying to obtain one.  You should know there are two kinds of work permits here too:  Self-employed and Employee.  The former is required if you are starting or buying a business, or if your skill is the business (like a massage therapist or real estate agent, for example); the latter if you want to get a job, in which case the employer must sponsor you after proving they have exhausted all resources finding a Belizean to fill the position.

Two other terms to address are “Immigration” vs. “Residency.”  I find people use these words interchangeably.  They are quite similar, but have different nuances, so I think the context you use them in is important (which is true with many words).

Immigration is simply the act of moving or settling into a region you are not native, and can be for any number of reasons, such as war, natural disaster, illness, etc.  Residency, on the other hand, is the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place, sometimes indefinitely, despite not having citizenship.

You can immigrate into a country and actually never become a resident. In Belize, after living here for one year with no longer than a 14 day absence, you can apply for Permanent Residency. Most countries have similar laws, letting you apply as early as 90 days and as late as two years after arrival. Being in Belize on a Tourist Visa does not technically make you a resident.

And lastly, the term “Expat.”  I wrote a blog about what this term means a while ago.  I’m still surprised how many expats don’t know what it means. You may have noticed that I changed my website’s title from Expat Relocation Consulting to Belize Relocation Services about a month ago.  I did so after speaking to many expats who had no idea what that term meant – not good for business!

An “Expat” (or Expatriate) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person’s upbringing. So any of us who have or are thinking of moving to a foreign country need to start referring to ourselves as Expats. 

I hope you have found this overview helpful. Were there any words you were confused by?

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I haven’t had a good old-fashioned rant in a while, and one has been brewing in me for a bit now. A little over a week ago, a lady on a forum I participate in asked a question about what the busy season for tourists was, as she wanted to start a massage therapist business in either Hopkins or Placencia.

Another regular on the forum answered her question, and then I chimed in and said if she hoped to cater to the expat/local crowd as well (which she should), then she’d have to reduce her rates significantly from what therapists charge in the States. I also reminded her she’d need a Self-Employed Work Permit prior to obtaining Permanent Residency, as well as a Trade License from the town council.

To that she replied, “I’m getting the vibe that this is an exclusive club, discouraging new members lacking massive bank accounts.  Is this valid or am I just thinking too far in to these boards?”  I was so confused by the comment, I asked her to explain, to which she answered, “It seems when someone posts about working, replies are not very positive; but when someone posts about building a house or retirement, they are met with many positive responses.”

I told her that she was really off base, and that the members of the forum genuinely had her best interest at heart. I reminded her that what would be the point of having a forum if we just spoon fed you what you want to hear. But this is not the first time I’ve had this kind of reaction to the kind of honest feedback I provide, whether it be on forums, on my blog, or when you retain my consulting services.  My slogan is, after all, “Relocate Without Rose-Colored Glasses.”

I truly believe sometimes, though, that people would rather be lied to than hear something they perceive as negative.  It reminds me of the guy whose wife asks him, “Honey, do I look fat in this dress?” We all know the smart husband answers, “No, dear.” He’s doing it for self-preservation, lol!, but seriously, I don’t think the wife really wants to hear the truth anyway, or she wouldn’t get upset if he did answer honestly.

This is behavior I witness A LOT with wanna be expats moving to Belize.  I get it! You have a dream, you’re dying to get here and start living it, and you feel anyone who stands in your way with advice that goes counter to your plan is the enemy.  But I caution you to stop if you find yourself behaving this way.

Think about it. What do we have to gain by being negative? If you come or you don’t, it’s no skin off our nose (except we’ll all have to listen to you complain when it isn’t working out for you). Our lives will still go on. But you could be in a bad personal or financial situation, that frankly, was avoidable.

So instead of taking advice too personally, read between the lines and really listen to what others are telling you.  We’re not talking for the sake of hearing ourselves talk. We’re talking based on our observations and experience.

I happen to get paid to tell you the truth, and since I have to look myself in the mirror every day, if it means pissing you off, so be it! At the end of the post on the forum, the gal had all but ignored our advice and convinced herself that despite our warnings, she could make a go of it. Hey, good for her, and I wish her much success. But I sure hope she doesn’t regret it two years from now.

Would you rather hear the truth or do you get defensive if you perceive the truth as being too negative?

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From time to time, I like to let others guest post if I think their service or product is of value to my readers.  Adam Vagley fits the bill to a “T!”  I hope you enjoy hearing about his odyssey, and eventual solution, for dealing with how to ship your belongings to another country.  If any of you can help him out with a review, I encourage you to do so.

My wife and I always knew we wanted to live in another country, so when the opportunity to move to Australia came we thought about it for a couple days and decided it was too good to pass up. While it can initially be overwhelming, living abroad is an exciting and rewarding experience – and whether you stay temporarily or permanently, I think it really helps broaden your perspective on the world.

Unfortunately, living abroad requires moving abroad, and all the logistical challenges that entails: visas, healthcare, taxes, housing, and – let’s not forget – movers. Many people pack up what they own into some suitcases, hop on a flight, and go from there. But many others, my wife and me included, decide it’s more cost effective to ship our possessions to our new destination. This can easily be one of the most expensive parts of moving abroad. Given the cost, this is something you want to get right – the internet is littered with horror stories of moves gone wrong. How much justice can you get from an entirely different country? Not much, in many cases.

Because of the stakes involved, it boggles the mind that you can find more about the track record of a restaurant, where a meal might cost you $30, than you can for an international mover, whose service might cost you thousands of dollars.

To make sure we didn’t get scammed I spent hours doing research and eventually hired a company that made me feel comfortable. The price ended up being the same as the quote, there wasn’t any damage to our stuff, and the customer service was responsive and helpful. On the downside, our shipment arrived 4 weeks late. We’d signed a lease for an unfurnished apartment based on the date it was scheduled to arrive, so we spent a long month living with only an air mattress and some cheap dishware.

Based on our own struggle finding a reputable company, we started GoodMigrations, which is like the Yelp of international movers. People can search for international movers in their area and read customer reviews of how the mover performed. These reviews focus on three metrics: Cost, Time, and Condition. Ultimately, I believe people care about three things: did the move cost what it was supposed to, did my stuff arrive when it was supposed to, and was it damage free. The site also has a moving guide so people can learn what to look for and how to protect themselves.

The biggest challenge for us has been spreading the word and building up customer reviews. After all, it’s hard to get a clear picture of a company from just one review. So we need your help: if you used an international mover to relocate to Belize (or anywhere, really) and could take just a minute to rate the company’s service on GoodMigrations, it would go a long way towards helping everyone following in your footsteps to make an informed decision about who to hire.

Adam Vagley is co-founder of GoodMigrations (http://GoodMigrationsHelps.com), where anyone moving abroad can find international movers, read customer reviews, and get tips from the comprehensive  moving guide. Adam and his wife were inspired to launch GoodMigrations after their experience moving from New York City to Sydney, Australia. They can be reached on Twitter @GoodMigrations.Their personal expat blog ishttp://theviewdownunder.blogspot.com.

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I honestly woke up today and completely forgot what day it is.  Obviously, in Belize, we don’t celebrate the 4^th of July.  It’s just any other day here, with people going to work, banks open, and government offices operating just like usual.  But in the U.S., most of my friends and family have the day off.  My step-daughter actually got a five-day weekend (lucky her-nice boss!!).

I have often posted on my Facebook page asking my followers, “How would you feel if the holidays you are used to no longer exist in your new country?”  This question assumes you have relocated to a new country, of course.  But even if you haven’t, it’s interesting to stop a moment and think about the answer to that question.

Most of the U.S.’s federal holidays are not recognized here in Belize, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial or Veteran’s Day, Washington or President’s Day (as it’s now called), along with the 4^th of July or Columbus Day.  While you may find different variations of Thanksgiving Day dinner served in Belize for the tourists and expats, you certainly won’t find any Belizean celebrating that holiday with the “intent” is was created for.  And you definitely won’t find any Belizeans celebrating the every four year Inauguration Day!

Now Belize’s religious, traditional, and informal holidays are actually very much the same as I was used to in the States. They love Valentine’s Day here; you can find green beer on St. Patrick’s Day; Easter and Good Friday are taken quite seriously in this very religious society; Cinco de Mayo is a big deal; Mother’s and Father’s Day are celebrated, although sometimes on different days than in the States; Halloween is one of the biggest parties going; and of course, they celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

So if you were to move to Belize, some of the holidays you’ve become accustomed to would be gone, but at least not all of them would be.  I never stayed out late and watched the fireworks on the 4^th back home in the States anyway, so I don’t think I’m going to miss much today at all. But a day off would have been nice….

Which holiday do you think you would miss the most if you moved to another country and it wasn’t celebrated? 

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