If you’ve ever sat there during the last few days of your Florida vacation, looking out over the crystal blue waters of your own private pool in your rented Florida villa, wondering how you could live such a life permanently, then read us. What we are about to tell you is the story of our personal journey from the dream to the realization of what it takes to move and live in Florida as an immigrant.
We probably started out like thousands of other immigrants to Florida; I came here frequently on vacation and enjoyed it immensely. We loved the space, the laid back attitude, the wonderful weather (except for the hurricane part!), the friendly people, and the cost of living. Our home country’s currency was always strong against the dollar, so everything we spent our money on was effectively half the price at home. In our view, the quality of life for people in all aspects was much better in Florida than where we come from.
The more we visit, the more we fall in love with the way of life and the location. After much travel and fantasizing about living full time in Florida, we decided we wanted to make our future there. We just didn’t know how or the legal aspects of such a move. That was the crucial moment when we both agreed that when we returned home we would do our best to get as much information as possible about the correct way to immigrate to Florida.
The one key piece of advice we would give to anyone thinking of migrating anywhere is to do your homework and do it well! Knowledge is power! It is one thing to dream of moving to an exotic place and changing your life for the better, but sometimes not everything is as it seems. Immigration rules and local laws can be very detailed and difficult to navigate without prior knowledge of the system or expert help.
The cultural gaps can be much larger than you first imagined. Staying somewhere for a short time as a visiting tourist versus immigrant status, living a normal 9 to 5 life, is vastly different. The other thing to consider is that not everyone on the road may be looking out for your best interests. Thousands of people come to Florida each year looking to start a new life. This great wave of “new” residents can sometimes be a good prey for unscrupulous people. However, if you know your facts before you start the process, then becoming a potential victim of these kinds of people can be kept to a minimum.
In the next installment, we’ll tell you how we went from half daydreams to our first initial discovery of how difficult it was going to be to reach our goal.