Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller dives into a variety of topics that are essential for expats living or planning to live in Latin America. He begins by discussing his recent expat wisdom seminar in Central America, which he describes as one of his best groups ever. Attendees were well-prepared and on a mission to live permanently in the region. A couple who attended the seminar initially overpaid for a poor rental but later found a better place through connections made at the seminar. Johnny emphasizes the importance of careful rental inspections and the value of networking with other expats. He also mentions that attendees were able to find a high-end condominium in Antigua, Guatemala, at a significantly lower rate due to connections made at the seminar.
Johnny then shifts focus to the benefits of attending his seminars, emphasizing the value of connecting with other expats and the unique experiences they share. He highlights the importance of exploring off-the-gringo-tourist-trail locations and warns against relying on information from expat blogs and online sources, which he claims are already over-saturated. Johnny also addresses the potential pitfalls of living in popular expat destinations like Costa Rica, Kankoon, and Panama, suggesting that these places are no longer viable for long-term residency due to high costs. He contrasts his approach with other seminars, which he claims are not off the tourist trail and are often filled with gringos promoting investment opportunities. Finally, he mentions the possibility of future seminars and shares his perspective on how expats in Latin America are less affected by global financial crises, citing the region's banking practices as a key factor.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the challenges expats face when leaving the U.S. with unresolved debts, particularly focusing on the risk of passport blocking and potential deportation. He highlights that while running away from non-government debts like mortgages is unlikely to result in legal consequences, debts such as child support, alimony, or back taxes can lead to passport blocks and deportation. Johnny shares anecdotes about expats who have faced these issues, including a case where an expat was detained at Panama's airport for owing back taxes. He advises expats to avoid Panama's airport due to its strict security measures and rude government workers and recommends having a second passport as a legal way to avoid detection. Additionally, he notes that while some Latin American countries like Costa Rica and Mexico have more lenient airport procedures, expats should still be cautious due to increased U.S. presence and enforcement.
Johnny then moves on to discuss the differences in airport security between first-world and Latin American countries, highlighting how some Latin American airports are less strict, allowing women to pass through without removing shoes or undergoing pat-downs. He then shifts focus to an email from an anonymous expat inquiring about residency options in Guatemala. Johnny confirms that Guatemala is one of the few Latin American countries where temporary residency can be obtained without proof of income or investment, unlike other countries such as Chile, which requires a minimum investment of $200,000. He also addresses the time required to process residency applications, noting that it depends on government efficiency and suggests that hiring a lawyer with contacts can expedite the process. Johnny concludes by comparing Guatemala's residency process with Paraguay, which requires a financial investment but offers a faster path to citizenship.
Finally, Johnny discusses the challenges of obtaining residency in Latin America, emphasizing the unpredictability and bureaucratic hurdles. He explains that while the process can be completed in as few as three days, it's often delayed by government workers taking personal time, such as birthdays or lunch breaks, and unexpected closures. He also highlights the importance of having a lawyer to manage the process and avoid delays. Additionally, he warns about the numerous national holidays in Latin countries, which can disrupt the process and require additional planning. Johnny also mentions the need for specific documents like the 'bowletto' or 'natto' and suggests that Panang, Southeast Asia, is a more affordable and safer alternative to Latin America.
Topics
Expat wisdom seminars, Networking with expats, Rental tips for expats, Living and working in Latin America, Expat community and networking, Financial advice for expats, Critique of online expat resources, Comparison of expat seminars, Regional economic differences, Debt and expatriation, Passport blocking and deportation, Latin American airports and security
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:32 Johnny Mueller's Recent Expat Wisdom Seminar in Central America 00:02:09 Feedback from a Seminar Attendee 00:04:45 Johnny Explains the Email Feedback and Rental Tips 00:06:09 The Value of Attending Seminars and Connecting with Expats 00:06:34 The Importance of Personal Experience Over Online Information 00:07:16 The Need for Personal Exploration and Off-the-Trail Living 00:07:52 The Unique Approach of Johnny's Seminars 00:09:45 Regional Economic Resilience in Latin America 00:12:05 Johnny's stance on debt and expatriation 00:12:26 Debtors prisons and expats returning to the U.S. 00:12:52 Johnny's experience with expats who left the U.S. with debts 00:13:35 Running away from non-government debts and legal consequences 00:14:25 Passport blocking and deportation for unresolved debts 00:14:39 Passport blocking and legal consequences for expats 00:15:10 Panama's airport and expat experiences 00:15:35 Avoiding Panama's airport due to strict security 00:17:42 Airport Security in Latin America vs. First World Countries 00:19:30 Residency Options in Guatemala and Investment Requirements 00:22:07 Residency Processing Times and Government Efficiency 00:23:29 Behind-the-Scenes Residency Process 00:25:14 National Holidays in Latin Countries
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border, down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came up to play and now as I wander Hello there all you expat wannabes I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the Expat Files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started Okay, so I just got back from doing my latest expat wisdom seminar down here in Central America And I have to admit it was one of the best groups I have ever had I mean this group was not on the fence at all. They really had their plans worked out. They weren't tire kickers
[00:47] They were on a mission Looks like most of them will be down here somewhere in Latin America living permanently within the next year or so as usual A few of them are still down here Some of them have hooked up with some of my expat translator ladies and they're showing them certain points of interest the neighborhoods the countryside Places to workshop play and live and of course the good the bad and the ugly just as I like to dish it out to you That's part of what happens when you come down here to one of my seminars You hook up with a lot of very cool Like-minded people who will probably remain friends with you forever now as you know I like to give everybody the fire hose treatment You know drinking from the fire hose and all that and when you're with a small group like this for six or seven days Everybody gets thoroughly drenched like one participant said it's like being in a foxhole with the same people for a week only down here
[01:37] You're in kind of an upscale protected foxhole with me Johnny in charge of the offensive Which is why so many expat wisdom seminar attendees become friends for life not to mention quite a few of them end up starting Businesses down here together. How about that? Oh, and by the way, just to give you some recent seminar feedback I got an email just today from one of the members of a very cool husband wife team that came down In fact, they're still down here exploring somewhere. Who knows? Anyway, here's an excerpt from their email It says and I'll paraphrase this a bit. Hey Johnny had a great time What with all your seminar coordinators and the attendees themselves? It was really an experience of a lifetime and I couldn't think of a better group of people to gather with our group was a blast and we've all
[02:27] Promised ourselves to keep in touch and we have already now since we've been traveling after the seminar We're liking the countryside more and more as we go along and we'll likely be here permanently or at least semi permanently pretty soon However, we've already learned one big lesson though when finding a place to rent that is to take our time and carefully Inspect the place and weigh the value for what we are about to pay Because you see we way overpaid for a really crappy apartment that we rented for a month and before we spent the first night We were already disappointed in looking for a way out of the deal Well, we got out of the deal All right, but not unscathed because we end up paying one week's rent for two nights
[03:14] But here's the good news Remember Captain Mango one of your past seminar attendees He hooked us up with his landlord and now we are staying in a very high-end condominium in Antigua, Guatemala, by the way It's a five-star place that we are paying a ridiculously low rate for and it's in a five-star area, too In fact, it's in the very same area where we were first overcharged for that first crappy place Anyway about the seminar you mentioned that you had a couple hundred more PowerPoint slides that you never even got to show Really wished you could have fire hosed us with that stuff too, but it was pretty intense. Anyway Nevertheless, we feel we got fair value for your seminar fee and will highly recommend it to others
[04:02] Although I am already finding myself getting stingy with sharing too much about that information and the great opportunities here For instance a couple of women asked us both today Where we were staying and we vaguely described the place and did not give the contact Because we want to keep this little secret a secret. I know Johnny. I'm bad Oh, and by the way, it will be down here in Antigua and this five-star place until August 12 So if you want to come down you're welcome to visit and use the heated pool or stay. Oh, yeah And there's a helipad. I'm told so you can fly in if you want Signed well two people from the seminar Okay, so that kind of gives you an idea what happened at the seminar and let me explain a few things about that email
[04:50] Note how it described not to jump into a rental right away In fact at the seminar I talk about how you can find really great rental and buying opportunities here in great detail Now for them the problem was like so many people they come down here Maybe wanting to spend a month and when they land they have to find a place right away Remember the object is to try to get a month-long rental if you can because you'll save tremendously over the daily rate Of course, the problem is you have to do some investigating scout around read the papers hit the bulletin boards Go to the good sections of town talk to people So to find a good rental deal whether it's a month long or a long-term rental It could take you a week or so to put that thing together Anyway, they ended up meeting and hanging with none other than captain mango one of my expat wisdom seminar repeat offenders
[05:41] It seems like every seminar we have some of those and this time was no exception In fact, I read an email of his last week if you remember and since he's been down here a couple of years now He knows a lot of people and the ins and outs and thus was able to hook this couple up with a month-long rental For I was told in the neighborhood of 30 bucks a night Now remember, this is a condo Not a room and from what I understand a place like that could easily rent for a hundred bucks or so a day So again, that's one of the advantages of coming down to one of my seminars hooking up with people like captain mango And a host of other past seminar attendees who are living down here now They often show up at our various seminar dinners lunches and other events They mingle join in the fun and share their own expat experiences along with a few tequilas
[06:30] Which makes these seminar events all that much more fun Now don't take my word for it. Just ask anyone who's come down Oh and one more thing about that email notice that they're kind of jealously guarding some of the best information they have Why not? Why should they let the whole world in on a great deal? So let there be a lesson to all you gonna bees and wannabes out there You see what you're getting off the internet from all these so-called expat blog sites and such including international living Well, just know that whatever they're presenting to you as a good deal has been picked over a long time ago So when they're telling you about the latest and greatest deals and the latest greatest places to go Well, all that means is it was some time ago, but it's not anymore
[07:16] The point is you have to come down here explore things and see for yourself And believe me off the gringo tourist trail is the way to go That's not to say of course, you shouldn't hit costa rica for a week or two just to have a sun and fun vacation That's always nice. Also kankoon and rio and panama But these days unless you have a first world income Don't plan on living in any of those places because they'll suck your bank account drive But then you might say well, that's self-defeating johnny You're doing internet stuff and your radio shows on the internet and all that well Aren't you just filling us with the same warmed over crap, too? Well, the difference is is that i'm way off the gringo tourist trail and I offer seminars off the gringo tourist trail I don't know of anyone who really does that You can go to expat retirement seminars and international living type seminars and none of them are off the gringo trail
[08:09] So the places they'll show you the places you'll be seeing will have been well picked over by the time they're advertising it And bringing you down It'll be gringos in those places presenting you with loads of so-called investment opportunities promoted and sold by guess who Other gringos who've been there a while and know they can market their stuff to gringos who don't know much spanish Now don't think that when people come down to my seminars, they're not waiting for the punch line, too You know the big upsell land deal that comes at the end of the seminar or god forbid the timeshare spiel But guess what it never comes because I don't try to sell them anything But by now I think you long time listeners know that already and of course the people who come down to the seminars
[08:56] Okay, that's enough about the seminar. If you want to see what it's like You'll have to come down to my next one, which will probably be in January 2016 provided one or more the 12 tipping points doesn't send the world as we know it into a tailspin Which is truly possible. So like I always say Every seminar could be my last so what happens then? Well for all you listeners up in pokipsi and cleveland you had your chance and you blew it I just hope you have a generator some gas some mre's and a couple of pellets of ammo in your basement. You'll need it Meanwhile me and my expat buddies and friends down here will have a very soft landing And who knows we might not feel the effects at all because I remember in the last big first world crisis
[09:43] 2007 2008 I was in roatan when obama got on the air and said if we don't do this quantitative easing the entire International banking system would fail remember that everyone up there went into a panic and bought that line, of course And down here in latin america at the time things didn't skip a beat In fact even today you could come down to any big city here in latin america go to the business district Interview the first 10 people you see who are wearing suits, which would pre-qualify them to the upper five percent of latins meaning supposedly educated people somewhat in the know and if you were to ask them what happened to the us and the world financial System in 2007 2008 and then you asked them if they'd ever heard of quantitative easing
[10:32] I bet you 100 bucks to your 10. Not one of them will know what the hell you're talking about And no, it won't be because you don't know spanish either You see down here banks just were not affected Why because down here to get a mortgage you have to put 10 20 even 30 down and almost nobody has that kind of though So there just aren't many mortgages at all Not only that very few banks down here deal in derivatives In fact in brazil like many other latin countries by law banks cannot hold derivatives And last but not least latin countries do not have their own version of a federal reserve bank Sure, they have funny money like everyone else But if they print too much of it they go into an inflationary spiral So their federal banks have to be more cautious with the money supply
[11:21] Unlike that creature, you know the creature from jekyll island But I digress as usual Anyway, since I really haven't looked at my emails for like a week and a half and I got about 600 of them Now it would be a good time to hit on a few pointed ones By the way, if you hear some background noise, it's pouring here. You know, this is the rainy season Anyway, here goes this one's from well, we won't say her name. It says johnny. I love your show I also listened to richard martin But I wanted your opinion on what expats have been doing regarding one specific topic Now i've been trying for a long time to live as debt-free as possible My major debts are with the usual american credit cards I have no plans though to be bogged down with a mortgage
[12:09] The question is when expats consider leaving the u.s Are all of them completely debt-free or do they just throw in the towel and walk off? I wouldn't really blame them for walking But the question is might that catch up with them when they try to return to the united states later? That is if they go back to visit or for whatever reason I've heard a report or two on progressive radio network about debtors prisons being on the rise Do you see that as a problem for people leaving the states who are still in debt? Thanks johnny looking forward to your next seminar this winter Okay. Now she poses an excellent question that many people have asked me during telephone consults and occasionally at my seminars Well, I can tell you this I know a lot of expats who've walked away from various things up in the states including huge debts
[12:58] Bankruptcy or I should say bankruptcies plural child support alimony mortgages student loans, you name it They've walked away from it and they're down here in latin america. I run into them on occasion Of course, they're not bragging about it at parties But you know, I seem to be the kind of a guy I guess with a lucky face and people often Even if I don't know the person well at all, they'll start telling me their life story and all kinds of personal stuff I don't know how to explain that but it happens to me all the time Anyway once and i'll never forget this someone said it was because I have a lucky face or maybe it was I had too many drinks and they said I had an ugly face. Can't remember Anyway, as it turns out if you run away from a bank debt or a mortgage Something that's not government related. It's very unlikely. Anybody will ever be able to do anything about it. Even when you go back
[13:47] That is provided. You don't make a big splashy entrance and some of your creditors find out about it Now, of course, if you skip out on a loan shark or a tony soprano type all bets are off However, if you're talking about running away from a federal debt like a school loan or perhaps a state or a county sanctioned order Like child support or alimony There are some new statutes on state and federal books saying that if you owe more than 50 000 Let's say back taxes that are collecting interest in penalties Or for example, if your arrears more than six months in child support payments Well, guess what? And this is a killer They can block your passport Which means if you're in a foreign country when that happens as soon as you go through an airport And they do that scan and see it's blocked the local cops will put you in the slammer call up the u.s
[14:37] Embassy and they'll ship you back home But the good news is as of now, I don't know of anyone who's had his passport blocked for defaulting on school loans or being a deadbeat dad But I do know of a case of an expat who has picked up at the panama airport because he owed More than 50 000 bucks in back taxes or at least they said he did So they picked him up and deported him to the u.s By the way, the easy way around that is to have a second passport Then you just fly out on the other one and yes, it's totally legal About panama's airport It's an airport that expats hate immensely because they get your retinal scan They take fingerprints take your photo do facial recognition, etc Plus the government slugs at the airport attending to all that are rude crude basically unhappy lardasses who hate their jobs
[15:27] It seems like government workers in both police and panama are the exception to the high happiness rule in latin america Which is why I always recommend you avoid panama's airport at all costs Even costa rica's won santa marina airports not half as bad Probably because they're catering mostly to gringo tourists who they know will soon be scammed by another costa rican down the line But since panama is basically an international banking center slash international money laundering center The place is just overloaded with cameras monitors and security And unfortunately at the airport those cameras and monitors, etc Actually work manned of course by fat ass government slugs who hate their jobs not a good combination
[16:14] So I always recommend avoiding the place But if you travel a lot, especially to south america You just can't because it's latin america's international travel hub You've got all the u.s and european airlines flying in then you've got avianca The biggest south american airline and you've got copa the biggest central american airline in aro mexico It's a huge hub for connecting flights. And if you want a cheap flight, you're going to get a connecting flight It's going to probably end up being in panama For example, if you're coming in from europe and you're not connecting in my jammy you'll be connecting in panama So then my advice Well, if you got some things hanging over you up in the stage that you haven't cleared up like even student loans these days Yep in the future. If you're a deadbeat on student loans, you just might get your passport blocked
[17:01] How's that for the land of the free? Oh, and by the way, if you got some dirt hanging on the clothes line back home Try not to make a stop in costa rica either because the us has a big presence in both costa rica and panama These days unlike the past deadbeat gringos are finding out costa rica is not a very good place to hide Now as for the rest of the latin american airports, even the huge one in mexico city They're still much like airports used to be some 30 years ago in the states And most of the government slugs working there actually seem to be smiling and enjoying their jobs In fact just a couple months ago. I headed to dominican republic went through their airport Then the mexico city airport and the guadamalan airport And I noticed in the area where you had to strip down and throw your coat belt and other personal items
[17:48] In the basket to go into the x-ray machine I noticed they were letting quite a few women walk right on through without taking their shoes off Then you'd walk through the metal detector and no one touched you. No one patted you down Unlike what I hear so often from people who've gone through first world airports and what i've experienced myself in going through european airports But I digress as usual Now here's an email that should be of interest to all of you Expat wannabes and gunabes up there who are looking at residency down here in latin america And we'll keep names out of this one too. He says hi johnny Number one, do I understand correctly that it's acceptable if I apply for temporary residency There will be no need to show monthly income or make an investment if I do this in guadamala
[18:38] Then of course in two years apply for permanent residency Can I go to permanent residency with no proof of income or investment? If true does that make guadamala one of the only countries in latin america where you can get residency Without any proof of steady monthly outside income or substantial in country investment number two On allowing 10 days to two weeks within the country myself After the attorney in guadamala starts the residency process before I can leave of course Is that time period dependent on how fast the government offices are processing at the time i'm there or is it for another reason? number three If I come down in august are there any days I should avoid like national holidays, etc
[19:28] Thanks for your help anonymous Okay, let's take those points one at a time first He's absolutely right when he says that guadamala is one of the only countries left in latin america Where you can actually apply for temporary residency without proving you've got any money at all You don't have to show any kind of income and you don't have to make some kind of investment Like you have to do in so many other latin countries. For example in chili You've got to drop around two hundred thousand dollars in a government approved investment before you can start your residency process Now, of course chili's on the high end of the investment spectrum Whereas most other latin american countries require a minimum of fifty thousand dollars In a government approved investment which could even be placing fifty or a hundred thousand dollars into a cd
[20:17] In one of your selected countries banks Now here's a trick that you're not going to find out on the internet Except if i'm talking about it If for example, you're asked to deposit fifty or a hundred grand in a cd in a bank in the country You're trying to get residency in after you've proved to them that you've actually deposited that money and you bring in the paperwork to show them After some months have passed and you've been granted your temporary or permanent residency You can take that money right out of the bank and they're never going to check on you again Now, of course if you've bought a business or a house or some property and you've fulfilled that investment requirement that way It'll be much harder to dump since almost all of latin america right now is in a real estate bubble So it's the bigger fool theory if you want to sell your property and get out
[21:05] So my advice if you're going to settle in a country that requires an investment Try to do the bank cd thing because you can pull it out quickly later and they won't check it You get it but back to that business about guatemala and residency Yes It's one of the only countries left in latin america where you don't have to put up any money To get your residency started In fact, it might be one of the only countries left in the world where you don't have to show income or make an investment Now remember that's just for temporary residency now However to skip temporary residency and go straight to permanent residency. You'll have to show an income or make an investment So anyway, if you haven't got much you can start at temporary residency and after two years go to permanent residency And at that point you won't have to prove an income or make an investment once you've got temporary residency
[21:53] It leads right to permanent as long as you're a good boy and haven't committed any crimes All you're losing is two years on the way to get the citizenship and passport Two years temporary residency five years permanent and maybe a couple of months to process it So you're looking at about seven plus years and you've got a passport now getting residency in Paraguay has great advantages, too There is no temporary residency you go to permanent residency So you skip two years and after about four years you get your citizenship and passport That's a big advantage to skip two years, but you have to put up $5,000 in a Paraguay bank and how long well, I guess it's for a year or two, but you do get that money back I have talked to people have done it and they get a check back from the government and the check doesn't bounce
[22:41] How's that for good government? Well, I wouldn't go that far Okay, and for part two of that question Does the time period when you apply for that temporary or permanent residency depend on how fast the government offices are processing? Yes, absolutely This is you know latin america where everyone's on manana time and governments on double manana time along with a high dose of valium And the thing is you see you'll have to pass to various government offices and stand in various lines Although your lawyer will eliminate a lot of that by having contacts within those offices and paying people ahead of time To stand in line and hold your place for you. Yep. It's perfectly legal. And in fact, it's a business down here Note that your lawyer will probably have saved you eight or ten hours of standing in line yourself
[23:29] All that stuff happens behind the scenes So the fact is you could come down here to your lawyer's office To start your temporary or permanent residency and he'll say stay for 10 days The whole thing might get done in three days, but you never want to count on that Because remember if a government worker sitting at one of those windows that day is having a birthday party They'll make a two or three hour lunch out of it the whole department and well That'll add a couple more hours to your visit or maybe you'll have to come back the next day I'm not kidding. It happens all the time and i've seen people standing in line for two hours All of a sudden when they're right up to the window The government slug working there will put up a little sign saying sorry move to the next window or come back tomorrow And whether that slug is taking an extended break or it's just a lively hemorrhoid
[24:18] Suddenly windows just close down and you're left there stranded after standing for an hour or two or three Now that probably won't happen to you. It'll happen to the guy that your lawyer is paid to hold your place in line It's just that all those behind the scene things do add to the time and the uncertainty It's going to take for you to get your residency going which is why your lawyer will say 10 days or two weeks or three weeks, whatever sure i've seen it done in three days, but don't count on it Just come on down make a vacation out of it buy yourself a cheap throwaway phone for 15 or 20 bucks and your lawyer Or his aide will call you when it's time to run down to one of those government offices And finally our emailer asks are there any days I should avoid when coming down to do this thing?
[25:07] Are there national holidays etc that might interfere? And the answer yes. Yes, and yes Turns out latin countries have about double the national holidays than you have up in the states They've got constitution day and independence day even a day for the most famous Genocidal dictator and that's not meant to be funny because you should see the dictators they cast in bronze larger than life They're sitting in parks and on granite slabs all over latin america Now there's a first world master's thesis for you Not to mention each latin country has its version of cinco de mayo Plus all the usual first world holidays like christmas and new years and the easter etc Plus a half dozen holidays for saints you and I have never heard of
[25:54] Not to mention and this really cracks me up every latin country has about five national bank holidays And often you don't find out about those till you try to go to the bank and find their clothes And that means if you're at a government office Nothing will get done either because Most of those windows you have to go to you'll have to pay a small fee To get one of the multiple pieces of the paperwork puzzle that you'll need Sometimes it's only two or three bucks But you'll have to pay it right then and there at the tiny little bank branch. That's inside the premises However, if it's one of those bank holidays that you're almost never aware of You won't be able to pay and move on to the next window Then guess what the whole process stops and you'll have to come back the next day provided. That's not some kind of holiday, too
[26:40] By the way, one of those useless little pieces of paper you're going to get is called a bowletto or natto Which costs about two bucks and nobody I mean, nobody can tell me what it's for but you have to have it That said i'd like to remind you once again that richard martin is having his seminar in panang southeast asia It's august 23rd to the 28th. Just send him an email r Wl martin at gmail.com. That's rwl martin at gmail.com Oh, and by the way after searching a little bit on panang myself I have to report that it's even less expensive than off the tourist trail down here in latin america So if you're thinking you're getting a good deal down here in latin america panang is even better and by the way
[27:29] They've got none of the narco crime issues there either south of the border You've been listening to the expat files living in latin america coming to you twice a week from somewhere south of the border Email me the expat files at gmail.com And don't forget to check out expat wisdom.com to sign up for your free reports on latin america See you next time. Nos vemos Is