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Colombia: WHERE IS OUR LOST MAIL?:
We have been told successful delivery by the Colombian postal service is very unlikely unless the officially assigned postal code is provided in the delivery address.
We use MBE for most mail delivered to us from the US, so we have little direct experience to confirm that's a reliable "difference that makes a difference.".
I can say a delivery of eBay goods from the UK failed to deliver here, long ago, before we were cautioned about the importance of providing the postal code.
FWIW
Colombia: Alan Gongora:
We used Alan when we first got here. Good service and reasonable fees. We renewed ours on our own the following year.
What is required by Colombia to issue you a visa can be painstaking and isn't negotiable.
Follow the advice you are given. Second guessing will only slow down the process -- and time limits also matter, so don't over-think it.
Colombia: Long term leasing:
IT IS NOT NECESSARY to pay a Colombian guarantor to get a long-term lease. We didn't, and this is how:
When we rented our place, we deposited about 7 grand US with Bancolombia to purchase their six-month CD denominated in pesos. That CD is pledged as a stand-alone guarantee of our payment of rent.
We collect the modest interest paid because the CD remains in our name. (Obviously, there is exposure to USD/COP exchange rates, but higher interest rates do help mitigate that risk.)
The important point to grasp is that if a tenant fails to pay, the real estate agency is on the hook to the owner for any lost income. This is how Colombian law significantly varies from typical US state laws.
The arrangements were actually made through an insurance company who did the risk analysis and notified Bancolombia of the amount required. I assume the real estate agency pays a modest premium to the insurance company for this protection.
Colombia: Jewish Population:
According to some recently arrived expat friends (she is Jewish), there is a small community of (also expat) Jews in Medellin who they met with directly.
They are a small group and maintain a VERY low profile for reasons of security. Portions of this thread may remind us why.
The modern Paisa population inherited traits of Jewish settlers who anciently fled here from the Inquisition, but Judaism as a religion appears to have disappeared as a cultural feature since those times.
The sad truth is that we've so far found no Jewish deli's in the area. :(
Colombia: Trump & Colombia:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2016/11/08/china-5-year-plan-confirms-massive-expansion-of-coal-fired-capacity/
Colombia: Giving up Citizenship?:
"It is technically illegal for a US citizen to hold citizenship in a 2nd country."
This is technically bullsh*t.
Colombia: FARC - now what?:
100% of people vote in every election.
Regardless of the percentage, all who don't show up at the polls are voting "none of the above"
Colombia: Shipping Us to Colombia:
" the issue happens once the goods are on the ground in Colombia."
Hoo-boy. Not that is a verifiable fact!!! Fasten your seat belts.
We signed a "door-to-door" contract with our US shipper and the agency in Bogota had only one response every time we contacted them about status of the shipment: "send more money". And we did when it appeared to be for valid port fees, etc.
Then the Bogota agent began demanding money for things like container fees to the shipping company and deposits on the container. I protested to the NY agency that these were items presumably covered in our door-to-door contract.
The very next morning, the Bogota agent called to announce that our shipment was released and would be on a truck the next day, headed for Medellin. Nothing more was said about additional "fees", which apparently evaporated like Spring dew when we challenged them.
While I cannot advise others about their best choice of arrangements, I do suggest getting a price quote for "door-to-door" service for comparison, which may save some grief when the Colombian agent starts aggressively ringing the cash register. Or not. Just our lone experience stated above and YMMV.
That said....
Any time your goods cross a national border, they are in jeopardy. Dot all the I's and cross all the T's, no matter how absurd some requirements may seem. DIAN will have no mercy if you do not.
You have NO CONTROL while your goods are in port and corruption at all ports in all nations is a given -- some worse than others. LA and NY ports are to be avoided, so I'm told. (If you live inland, you may therefore want to consider overland routing to a smaller port rather than a bigger one.)
In our own case, we're good with the modest hassle and cost of getting our own stuff here and there's no way we could have replaced it locally at anything like comparable price and quality.
Also, of course, selling off your stuff will bring little return to fund repurchase unless you have months to seek top dollar. Most people do not.
When you hear comments about the low price of custom built furniture in, say, El Retiro, take that with a gram of salt. People there build furniture with huge chunks of wood (2x4 and 2x6) which remind me of Jacobian period methods. Pretty finishes conceal really primitive construction.
The many places we visited evidenced zero knowledge of laminating or even selecting for grain. (I cannot say how many bed frames were 2x6 construction with the grain running off the edge from the center of the wood -- so no wonder they build furniture like frame house construction!)
The idea of someone in El Retiro building anything both light and strong is frankly risible. The skills and knowledge simply don't exist. Most everything is heavy and solid. (To be fair, it is also well finished.) For anything else, you'll end up buying something imported.
The good news is that some imported stuff is available and pretty nice. We saw a nifty dining table and chairs made in Germany that we'd have been delighted to own and the price was fair. Not cheap but not out of line.. There is no hope in the hot place that this set could have been built by anyone we interviewed, nor have we seen anything comparable from a Colombian manufacturer. When it comes to furniture design and construction, Colombia is NOT Brazil.
In any case, if you sell all you own and buy here, you'll just be paying for it all over again at local market prices. And if you want something made outside Colombia, cost will not be hugely different to street prices for same, back in the US or CA.
If you don't own much "stuff", there is surely a cost advantage because the container base cost of shipment is the same regardless of what's inside. Just do the math based on what you've got and a likely cost of container shipment from the US of 10-13 grand. From the UK, I'd imagine that will be somewhat higher since the boat has to float farther and my previous experience with British return shipments is that it isn't cheap.
But don't figure you'll replace a whole household at comparable quality for a hugely lower cost than back where you came from. You won't. The math simply doesn't work when you get down to actual choices about what replacements to buy.
Colombia: news flash medellin:
Criminal acts tend to attract other criminal acts. This isn't a surprise. It's predictable. Everywhere.
Colombia: Calling vs. hailing taxis:
Uber. Always. Be happy.
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