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MEXLAW > Immigration  > Are you up for the Challenge of Expat Life?

Are you up for the Challenge of Expat Life?

Expat life is an enriching experience, discovering a new country and becoming part of a new community. Many of us dream of running away from our current situation, living a less stressful life, moving to a warm climate and enjoying a lower cost of living. Of course, there are challenges to changing your life, but they say change is good. Do you have the personality traits it takes to enjoy expat life in Mexico?

4 Personality traits of an expat in Mexico

Open Minded – Be ready to accept new cultures and not expect things to be the way they are back home. Life is different here, expats who come to Mexico and continuously compare everything to their home country will have problems adjusting. Enjoy the differences, broaden your horizons and learn about a foreign culture.

Patience – Things move a little slower in Mexico, (except for the traffic), to achieve the relaxed lifestyle you are looking for you need to be patient and accepting, try to go with the flow. Many processes in Mexico involve a lot of red tape, and most employees lack the authority to make a decision, it can be frustrating dealing with the most straightforward issues.

Willingness to Start Over – Get accustomed to the fact that every aspect of your life will be different. Figuring out where to shop, bank, pay taxes, find housing, where to find medical treatment, apply for utilities, and driving in a new country are a few of the challenges. Basically, you will re-learn all the mundane aspects of day to day life. Part of starting over is letting stuff go, typically expats leave most of their belongings behind and start over in Mexico.

Desire to Learn – Learning Spanish has many benefits not only is it polite to at least try to speak the language, but you also avoid being treated as a tourist, and being treated like a tourist sometimes means being overcharged. Everything from building new friendships to dealing with day to day issues, for example, reporting problems with utilities or ordering gas and water, dealing with authorities, shopping or asking directions will be much easier with a little Spanish under your belt.

There are many challenges in expat life, but one thing you can depend on for guidance is MexLaw. We are an international law firm offering service in English, Spanish, French and Italian. Our primary client base is foreigners interested in investing, living or retiring in Mexico. We are here to help you adjust to your new life, obtain immigration visas, rental agreements, purchase real estate or open a business in Mexico. We also specialize in a variety of legal services including personal injury, all aspects of business law, customs and import matters, labor law, and commercial law.