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moving to florianopolis

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ramonlott
  1/5/2010 17:20 EST

Hello, my name is Ramon and I am looking to move to Florianopolis very soon. I am an american, but was born in Brazil. I chose Florianopolis because of the tourism industry and good surf. Does anyone have any advice about moving here?

Marlington
  6/30/2010 17:23 EST

Hi, Ramon
I am a Uruguayan with British nationality, aged 61, married to a Brit and living in Florianópolis for the last two years and in Brazil since 1976. I have four children, all grown-ups now. We lived in Florianópolis before when we moved down from São Paulo in 1980 (BIG MISTAKE). After five terrible years employment and finance-wise we moved south to work in connection with the footwear industry(EXCELLENT IDEA AT THE TIME). Between 1985 and 2008 we lived in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and in England. We decided to come back to the Island in May 2008, as the boys had graduated, it had always been our dream to live in Florianópolis again and we had a plot here where we have now built a house. To our dismay, Florianópolis has not changed at all in general and especially regarding employment ops. It is very difficult to make a living here and, if you happen to get a job, money is scarce. The cost of living is very high, one of the highest in the country, accommodation costs a fortune and due to local geography moving around is difficult unless you have a car and depending on where you live. In the tourism sector, except for large hotels in the town centre, businesses are usually family-run and they tend to have all the members of the family working together so they rarely hire anyone, especially foreigners. After trying to get a decent tourism-related job for over one year, my youngest son, who is Brazilian and born on the Island, has a Degree in Tourism from one of the best universities in the country and is a true native speaker of English, Spanish and Portuguese found himself forced to leave Florianópolis to work in the south of Brazil as here he was offered only extremely low salaries to work in the hospitality industry. My other son, who also moved here with us in 2008, is now working as a designer in Blumenau. We are a resourceful family who has lived in many towns and cities, in three countries and two continents. We have only had these problems in Florianópolis. Many Brazilians and foreigners dream of living here but unless you have some sort of local or remote support it is very difficult to live here especially if you try to work illegally. I have always been a professional translator and a language teacher (I teach English and Spanish as well as Portuguese for Foreigners of all nationalities). In 2005, I graduated as a registered real estate agent and I am now selling properties and doing short-stay/holiday rental. Anyone dreaming of Florianópolis should not risk it. This is a place for holidays all year round and mainly from December to March, that is, our summer. There are no big companies in Florianópolis, no foreign companies either, no industry to employ anyone. Florianópolis may have great surfing beaches and a mega nightlife but if making a living here is very difficult. This island is great to live in if you are a self-employed professional or have a business, if you work in IT (an industry that is growing here), for anyone working over the Internet (such as writers, translators), for artists, etc. who will not depend on local employment. I am sorry if I have blown away many people's dreams but emigrating is hard enough to think with the heart. Both feet on the ground is what one needs when thinking about moving country. You have the advantage of being Brazilian which gives you the chance of working here without any restrictions. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

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tkrop
  7/1/2010 09:45 EST

My wife,native born Brazilian, and I American, are retireing to Florianopolis. I see these negative comments about Florianoplois from a working standpoint. What about retiring there with a monthly income of R4000.

nigelk
  7/1/2010 16:09 EST

I have been in florianopolis one year, finding it difficult to make friends and I dont understand the tax system well.
I work with plants, love the island and would like to stay.
Anybody out there able to meet up for coffee/beer to chat I would be interested.

aneill42
  7/2/2010 06:34 EST

Hi there!
The fact of the matter is that there are many, many people all over the world who have the dream of moving to and living in Brazil.
The REAL fact of the matter is that unless you have the money or have the right combination of circumstances to enable you to make a living here, you will run into hard times.
I have been helping people with the Brazil dream since 2005 with Fortaleza Adventure and still, almost every day I have an email asking about finding work in Fortaleza, or other places in Brazil while they only speak English or don't have the skills that would get them hired by a "multinational" so they can live here.
The hard truth is that to work here, in almost every case, you need fluent Portuguese!
You will also need skills that are in demand, such as IT skills these days...a network administrator or systems analyst.
There is currently a job opening opsted right here on this forum, but if you read, it is for a VERY specific skill set...but if you have it, it pays up to US$4,500 a month.
As mu friend and partner in Fortaleza Adventure, John Mueller, says, Brazil is paradise but a jungle without enough money.
The final answer is...you have to be brutally honest with yourself about living the dream of Brazil.

Rico
  7/3/2010 19:28 EST

I am an American planning to retire and move to Goias in about 3 years. I 'll have a pension and some savings to start out with.

My idea is to buy some land and build a house. I want to spend my time traveling South America at least for the first few years.

Would you please tell me the things I should know to protect myself from making costly mistakes regarding moving to Brasil and setting up my new life.

Finances, Security and some type of support network of other persons like me are the subjects I'm most interested in.

thanks

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aneill42
  7/5/2010 17:54 EST

Hi there!
The key will be how much income you have.
If you have between US$2,000-3,000, then you will probably be fine but beware of the exchange rate!

ExpatBrazil
  7/5/2010 22:07 EST

To Rico,

Emails to you via Expat Exchange are bouncing. My email is [email protected]

brastras
  7/10/2010 23:04 EST

That's quite true and an excellent piece of advice. Floripa hasn't changed much in the past 9 years, except maybe in Public Health services. They have built new and modern Policlinicas and the one on the North of the island is EXCELLENT by top world standards in facilities, equipment and personnel, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Marlington
  8/2/2010 18:31 EST

Hi, Nigelk
Where do you live on the island? You say you work with plants. What do you do exctly? Write to me on [email protected]. My husband, John, and I have just moved to our newly built house in Rio Vermelho.

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