Thinking of Retiring in Belize..

[MikeSK]

As to possessions..I have a lot of big crap. Big screen tv, furniture etc. I'm thinking that if the time ever did come where i could actually do this, i would just get rid of most of that as it would be far easier to just buy new either there, or online and have it shipped.

Clothes and other such things I imagine can just be UPSed.

 

[Gaz]

I'm also considering moving abroad. Just not sure how to accomplish this.

I have questions ranging from getting citizenship, to healthcare, and how do I get my possessions to the new location......

Citizenship you have to have been a resident of Belize for 5 years before you can apply for Belizean citizenship.

Residency is your frist step and you have to have been living or working in Belize for 12 months with only a few days out of the country (not sure exactly how many) although some people have got it within 12 months.

Work Permits are failry easy to get if you open a business or buy and existing business they are harder to get if working for someone and there are several jobs not open to foreigners diving for one barperson etc.

Healthcare

Several Private hospitals are available in Belize City with some specialists available however for serious illness's people still head to the states or guatemala for treatment..

Once you get your residency card you will be allowed a one time duty free exemption to bring in personal property in a container even a car or boat.


Gaz Cooper

 

[MikeSK]

Gaz..do you know what the minimum monthly income required is? I didn't see that on the couple sites i visited. Just said you have to meet the requirment

 

[Gaz]

Gaz..do you know what the minimum monthly income required is? I didn't see that on the couple sites i visited. Just said you have to meet the requirment

Its $2000 if you were going that route thats per couple not per person but you could also just move to Belize on a tourist card ange get monthly stamps form immigration until your year is done then apply for residency, if you go that routre you dont have to show any monthly income.

Heres a link with the 3 options

http://www.belizefirst.com/QRPUpdate.htm

Gaz

 

[Hank49]

And remember....the best diving is in the north. Don't even bother coming south of the Western Lagoon. The diving and spearfishing suck.

 

[Downing]

LOL, you're a bad man, Hank.

 

[peterbj7]

What do you mean? He's just telling it like it is, tho' it's taken him long enough to recognise it

 

[10traveler10]

There is a website called "EscapeArtist.com" Here you will find tons of info about becoming an ex-patriot, moving, living, investing in ANY place in the world...tons of stuff to read and digest....10T10

 

[Ed Hatfield]

A few years back my wife and I were looking into property and potential places to retire. We stayed in Belize City for a few days and my wife took ill and was hospitalized for two nights. The final $$ figure before she was fit to continue travelling was 5,000US$. I also looked at Panama, Costa Rica and some of the islands..Jamaica and the Bahamas. We eventually decided on Mexico and I bought a condo in Playa del Carmen. It is cheaper than Belize and far more accessible than any of the other places we looked. For us a primary consideration was that we want our children and grandchildren to be able to visit. There are usually cheap flights to be had to Cancun from most US cities. We fly from Detroit to Cancun, sometimes direct and sometimes with a stop, usually for less than 350US$ return p/p. We have a direct flight booked for next January already that my wife got for 210US$ p/p return. For us the only cheap flights similar were to the Bahamas. Our plan is half the year in Playa del Carmen and half the year in Canada. Although I did love the diving in Belize I just couldn't get past the poverty of Belize City. San Pedro, Ambergrise Caye, was a great spot but a trip to the grocery store will have you crying.

 

[Hank49]

Ed, I believe you really got taken for a ride on the medical expenses. Just guessing, but I'm thinking your wife had major gastro intestinal distress and required IVs to rehydrate? It happens here.
Anyway, to compare, my son nearly tore his pinky finger off 4 years ago riding dirt bikes up in Blue Creek. A very kind Mennonite flew him down to Belize City, to Universal Health Center, supposedly the best and most expensive, and it was only US$4000 for a skin graft and 3 nights in the hospital. I'm sure it would have been 20% cheaper had I been local.
Recently my step daughter needed an emergency appendectomy. One night in Universal, a whopping US$1,200 and again, if my Honduran wife had paid, it would have probably been $800.
I say this because when my wife had an edoscropy, she was told it was BZ$600. When I went up to pay it suddenly shot up to $850.