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Guatemala: Pensinado applicacion:
I commend you for hiring Bety. She handled my entire family of 8 and we had our residency in less than 6 months including DPI.
As to the travel, I guess sometimes ignorance is bliss. NOTICE; I'm not recommending anyone try this unless you've checked with Bety.
I did NOT think to check with Bety. Within the first 90 days I just booked a flight and left. No problems or questions. I returned 2 weeks later, no problems. When I asked Bety about my wife traveling AFTER the original 90 days had passed, she got a form for us from Migration (gov't form) that approved her for travel. The form did not say 'Visa' anywhere, but just confirmed we had applied for residency.
I HIGHLY recommend ALL questions of that sort be answered through Bety, as she is the EXPERT.
By the way, the others that say to get your papers BEFORE coming are right. Make sure you've got all the documents certified and authenticated before coming to Guat to apply.
Also, Bety's fee INCLUDED taking our passports to the embassy to get them verified. We left them with her for about 2 weeks and then she returned them to us. We then returned all of them to her when it was time for the stamps and finalization for residency.
Just my experiences late 2013 finishing Jan 2014.
Guatemala: Driving To Guatemala from Canada:
For insurance here in Guat, I can personally recommend agent Benito Barillas (SPEAKS ENGLISH!!)
with Promotores Unity
bbarillas@promotoresunity.com
502-4052-7136 Mobile
He represents several companies and got us the best price for full coverage through El Robles. We've had great service with him for over a year so far.
Guatemala: Internet security:
I use the paid version of HotSpotShield except for my Win8 (hate it) where I use paid version Private Internet Access. Both are VPN providers. Some banks do not allow foreign access online, so VPN shows me to be in States and doubles my security. Most banks use secure sites, but VPN also uses security, so I feel somewhat better. We just do not access any banking sites without the VPN active on computer or handheld. An ounce of prevention...
Guatemala: Seeking English Speaking OB Doctor:
newslakeatitlan,
We just helped a friend from near Santiago who's newborn developed a temperature, and they were instructed to bring the baby to the city. We found NoviCentro to be a great hospital, with total bill for baby and mom to be less than $1000 including all bloodwork, meds, 2 night stay, and even spinal tap for baby. Baby is well now but what a terrifying experience in the beginning.
Could you please ask the Hospilito Atitlan if they could handle a recent newborn with a temperature?
Do they have a separate pediatric wing?
Would they be able to do all the bloodwork labs and the spinal tap if necessary? Some hospitals refer those to Guat City hospitals.
Does the one you enjoyed feel comfortable handling such a problem, or would they refer to the city?
Thanks for your assistance and God bless.
Guatemala: Water shortage:
Water security in Guatemala is not a problem if you know to take the time to investigate the situation in the area you choose to live, then take the necessary measures to overcome the shortcomings in the system. The water in our residential area is only on for less than half the time. Yet we hardly ever notice it. In fact, we lived here for several months before we even found out. This is done to keep from having to install the infrastructure that would allow the water provider to provide flow and pressure for all the houses at once. Instead, they have 'rolling water blackouts' that allow everyone to get sufficient water but not all at one time. All the houses have an in-ground 'cisterna' which is just a large 1300+ gallon cement tank with a booster pump and pressure tank nearby that pressurizes the water into the house when the 'city' water is not available. We found out after living here for several months, when we used too much water washing vehicles and watering plants/grass etc one day. Since then, we just check to see if the water is on before any large water usage. As long as the tank is nearly full, we don't worry about it. If it is lower, we postpone any water usage possible. We still take showers and wash, just no watering the plants or washing vehicles. And the great thing was that the water running out that day actually allowed us to meet a wonderful neighbor whose family are now great friends. They understood our problem and, having plenty in their cisterna, they ran a hose over to our tank and gave us enough to get by until the water came back on. Many houses here also have the roof-top cisternas, which are large plastic tanks that allow the users to even have water pressure should the power fail. They don't get a lot of pressure (it takes 2.31 feet of height to get 1 psi of pressure), but enough to wash hands and flush toilets. Showers are even possible with low pressure but possible. Sure beats hauling buckets of water just to flush. The best of all worlds is having 'city' water connected to a correctly piped underground cisterna and roof mounted cisterna to allow the city pressure to feed the house until pressure drops, at which time the booster pump and pressure tank feeds the house, unless electricity should fail at which time the roof-top cisterna continues to feed the household, though with lower pressure. And that also yields a safer solution since the user has in excess of 2000 gallons in case of emergency. Most 'westernized' households are woefully under prepared for a water or electricity shortage. Having lived through a horrible hurricane in Florida, I can say that I would have LOVED to have had water security at that time. Since then, I've never allowed our household to have less than several days drinking water on hand.
Guatemala: Moving Soon:
Finding work here can be challenging. First, you will want to make sure you have the correct visa for working (NOT tourist or rentista.) Their is work for English speaking persons, but you will find most of those positions to be quite low paying, as the market here does not command the high prices you may be used to elsewhere. If you have the ability to continue working online, that would seem to be the best alternative as long as you make SURE your new residence has good internet available. Trying to work at the internet cafes can be challenging when you cannot control the atmosphere. Wish you well. Hope you find the answers you are looking for.
On a different note, don't get your feelings hurt by those trying to do JUST that. We've all had to learn to ignore some like driftersinc, who, according to his OWN previous post,
"Don't worry about blocking me, I asked to have my account deleted. This place is 99% retarded questions and 99% retarded answers."
If he really wanted his account deleted, why not just STOP the carping comments, choosing instead to only add information that is USEFUL when possible, then practice the fine art of silence. Some of that ilk are just frustrated "dog and manger" gringos who have come here earlier and don't want any other gringos to come and 'mess up' their wonderland.
Wonder if he's trying to corner the market on 'retarded answers'...
Guatemala: Quetzales or U.S. $?:
As a result of using the following methods, I pay NO exchange fees or any extra for exchange rates. And these methods offer an easy way to prove the necessary dollars to satisfy my rentista residency. I've also found a Capital One 360 Online account to be the easiest to allow me to move monies from one U.S. account to another and it's always FREE.
Having a Schwab bank account with debit card and a Cap1 credit card has proven to be the most cost effective method of using my U.S. money in Guat that I've found. And to make everything easy, Schwab even FedEx'ed another debit card when mine was stolen once. They did charge for that, but it was only $30.
For cash in Guat, using a Schwab debit card at ATMs has been the easiest and lowest cost I've found. They do not charge foreign transaction fees, and rebate ALL ATM fees on their debit card at the END of every month. I can even call and have the amount I can take daily from ATMs increased to any amount I desire, then take the money in Quetzales from the ATMs. And their exchange rate is actual, not as adjusted to the 'spread' as done at the banks. It's only a little better than the banks, but over time the little adds up. For additional safety, I use the ATMs at the banks then go inside and deposit the cash from the ATM. I did have one instance that the ATM malfunctioned (showed a picture of road construction cones). I unfortunately did that transaction after banking hours (I recommend you NEVER do that!), so had to try to get BI to address it the next day. My inability in Spanish did not allow me to resolve it at the bank(BI). But I called Schwab (using VOIP), and they, after about 3 weeks, credited the entire transaction back to my account with no problems.
If you can't apply for a Schwab account while within the U.S., you can try to apply online, but you MUST do so from a computer on a VPN (changes your I.P. address to show as U. S.), and have the capability to FAX the necessary paperwork they email you back to the U.S. fax number they give you. The surest and easiest method is to have a 'go to meeting' session on a computer your family (or REALLY TRUSTED friend) has in the States, using their computer remotely to make the application. If you attempt to apply from an I.P. address from outside the U.S., they WILL require you to make a PERSONAL appearance at one of their U.S. offices to complete the application (ask me how I know :)
The Cap1 Visa is excellent for actually spending U.S. monies here in Guat, as they do NOT charge ANY exchange or foreign transaction fees, use the actual daily Q/USD rate, and have been nearly universally accepted here in Guat. My other M/C has not been as well accepted, and it charges exchange fees, so I do NOT use it any more. I also have a Cap1 Visa debit card which charges NO exchange fees, but I get the miles credit on my credit card so I use it exclusively.
Guatemala: curious about cost elec/gas:
Family of 8 in Guat City. Have gas water heater. Elect averages Q1500/mo. Cook with electricity, and electric pump for water pressure. Some use only municipal water pressure, but many areas only have muni water pressure every other day. VERY seldom use elec dryer. Use clothes washer. If hire maid, can have them do the laundry on 'pila' by hand. I suspect our largest power usage is the oven/range, as the oven elements are about 2500w each, with the surface elements about 1500-1800w each. Electricity here is about 3 times the price per kwh here that it was in the States. (we used from $350-$500/mo in the States). Largest savings is the lack of A/C which is not usually needed in the highlands. But this summer has been wicked hot since very little rain.
Guatemala: Cargo Trailer to Guatemala:
Don't really understand the "hearsay from someone who knows someone" statement. Guategringo actually received a FB message reply TO HIMSELF FROM A PERSON WHO CURRENTLY IMPORTS VEHICLES INTO GUAT. How can you imply hearsay? How much more FACTUAL can you get?
Seems you are being intentionally argumentative, and in no way helpful to others who depend upon info from these boards for assistance. I happen to have reason to believe Guategringo from close personal experience. He has only shown exactly what was answered by someone who actually imports vehicles. How much better could you ask for. My experience (I live in Guat) has been that many websites are outdated at best. While some governmental info has been "electronified" here, very little is kept up to date. If you really want the TRUTH about what is currently being done, go with someone who lives here (and has for YEARS) AND goes to the source for info (such as an importer for questions on importing). Wish you well.
Guatemala: New to Guate City - Advice on finding job and apartemnt:
One of the best resources I've found for nearly anything you want to buy or rent is olx dot com dot gt.
You can choose the area and/or city. Just looked and Xela has rooms from Q650/mo and up. Wish you well.
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