My husband and I want to move to Belize (specifically Ambergris Caye) this winter with our two little girls. We are having trouble figuring out if it's possible to find work there for people from the US and how hard it is to rent a house. If anyone has any information or knows anyone who might be able to help us it would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

It is fairly hard to get a job there. Lots of laws...have to be there atleast 6 months before applying for a "work permit", you can't get a job (take a job) that a "Belizean" can do...etc...although, if you own a business, that would be different. Renting something would be easy, but a bit pricey.

Jones family,

If you will send me your e-mail address, I'll e-mail you (in Adobe Acrobat pdf) the text from a chapter of my new book, Adapter Kit: Belize (to be published in August by Avalon) on living/retiring and investing in Belize. The chapter will explain the rules for working in Belize.

In general, as was stated, it is not easy to get an official work permit. Salaries are low, and good jobs are few (and the goverment naturally saves those jobs for Belizeans, just as the U.S. government tries to save U.S. josb for Americans).

Renting is fairly easy, but it's something best done after you arrive. Keep in mind that Ambergris Caye has artificially high costs for most things -- it is an island, it is the main tourist center, and it is popular with expats. Other areas of Belize are much cheaper. Nice rental houses in places such as Corozal Town are available at a fraction of the cost of those in San Pedro.

--Lan Sluder
Belize First Magazine http://www.belizefirst.com/

jonesfam, i am planning to move to belize as well with 2 kids, however i am going first to hopefully find employment, but it's not a panic for me. i have a small residual income to keep me going. leaving the beginning of august.

Thank you so much for the input. We have been looking around and have decided that the mailand might be easier for us to tackle in the beginning. We will probably start out in Placencia or Corozal town for the first few months...if anyone has any info. about that it would be great. So does the work permit difficulty mean that everyone who does relocate to Belize has enough put away to survive without working for six months? Or are there jobs working in hotels/restaurants that you may not need a permit for? Thanks.

we have been told to bring enough $$$ to hold us over for atleast 6-12 months. Have all of you been to AC before? Geez, so many people moving there, may need to find a new place??? LOl NOT....again, buying/employing Belizeans is another story!

Placencia is probably more expensive than Corazol Town. We went to Placencia last summer and most of the property was already bought by investors/private folks! Corazol is more of an established township than the resort environment of Placencia.We spent our first night in Corazol and a day or two later in Placencia. Dangriga may be a good place to consider. Less of a resort town, but large enough to sustain a residencial situation. Had a lot of waterfront access too.Met a few expats there too. SP is expensive! Electricity was 42cents /KWHr Bz!,that's 21cts us!! Don't know about the mainland but it's bound to be cheaper cause it's not diesel generated. Land is definately cheaper on the mainland, except for Placencia. Plan on doing a lot of looking. Good luck...Richard

You all that want to move there, you need to know the in's and out's before going, if you have never been there take a few trips, meet the locals, and see if you all would like it... A lot a pirates there (No pun intended)... Just don't want you all to be back in the states in 6 months.... AC is great but you have to know how everything works... Thanks. Rick

Amen!

Living here and vacationing here is not the same thing.

That holds true anywhere you go though.

Cayo District is nice too.
You can find a nice house in San Ignacio for less than $500 BZ a month. On the island...you probably wouldn't want to live in anything that was $500 BZ a month.
Food and supplies are also cheaper there.
Beautiful area too.

thanks for the warnings about moving there. i have been there to check it out about 1 1/2 years ago. have been dreaming about going back ever since. got to give it a try. i want to get sick and tired of something else like heat and sun instead of 20 below weather and three feet of snow, and if i do come back it will be to the US and not canada! i'm also fed up with "gotta have this, gotta have that!" "work to get ahead of the jone's" attitude in our country.

Just to clarify on the electric cost -- it's basically the same all over Belize, 21 cents a KWH (unless you have your own power system, solar or diesel or whatever.)

Cheapest areas in Belize are any rural area in the north or west. Most expensive are Belize City and San Pedro, and any tourist area is going be more expensive. Real estate costs are a factor, but in areas like PG the cost of getting things there, at least until the Southern Highway paving is completed, is also a factor.

If you're looking for cheap, Belize has never been and never will be it. For cheap, try Nicaragua or parts of Honduras. Belize needs people with money to invest, or at least to live on, and skills to make things work.

--Lan Sluder

Reality check:
Every time we travel home from visiting Belize, there is at least one broke, tattered, hungry gringo flying home on a ticket paid for by Grandma or somebody....'cause he thought he could MAKE-MONEY-FAST in Belize...or "get a job" in Belize...or "live cheap" in Belize.
There are no "jobs" for foreigners in Belize. None. Zip. Zilch.
For every "job" that pays more than minimum wage, there are at least 5 well educated Belizeans who are qualified to have that job and most of them are living in the US because they can't make a living in Belize.
Why should the government give work permits to foreigners when their own citizens can't find work?
If you want to "retire" in Belize, great.
If you can make a living long distance via the net (and can afford the high rates for internet access to do it), that's great too.
Best of all: If you have CAPITAL to invest and start or buy business that will EMPLOY LOCAL PEOPLE, that's really fine!
You will be welcome under any of those circumstances.
If you have saved money and want to take a 6 month sabbatical in Belize, that's fine too.
But if you think you are going to find a "job" in Belize, forget it....Ain't gonna happen. Don't even think about it.
John Q. Gringo is NOT going to get a work permit or a job in Belize.
If you want a "job" you have to create your own with YOUR OWN MONEY...Emphasis on the OWN...

Well said Susan. The fact is, that this is the way it is in most Caribbean and Central American locations with very few exceptions.

I have lived in two different islands in the Caribbean and each time it was necessary to invest in a business or start a new one.

**Jim

Well then, I guess we won't be able to count on having ANY income whatsoever while we are living there. Our main goal in this trip is to give our children the chance to experience a different lifestyle than the one they are growing up in and to maybe have the chance to pick up some Spanish at their young ages. To slow down a little and get a different perspective that hopefully will stay with them throughout their lives. We have found that a "vacations" don't really cut it. I'm not expecting it to be easy, we are just trying to get as much information as possible about actually living there before we go.

Curly, where are you and your two kids going and how old are they (if you don't mind)?

Thanks again.

If it's Spanish for the Kids, and good cheap living, (and maybe employment), I would recommend Guatemala. Say... The Rio Dulce Area. Keep in mind, minimum wage there is much lower.

I understand you are seeking a nice place for your children. I recommend Benque Vejo
in Belize.

Just one Mile from Guatemalan boarder and I bet your children will learn spanish quickly.

Apart from that rentals are very cheap.
And shopping can be done in Guatemala.

Not only that in Benque (in the Cayo district)there is less competition for new businesses.

They just made an excellent resort there.
It has a beautiful river.
And ambergris caye is not far -many locals are from San pedro (born there)

jonesfam, my kids are 14 and 12. part of my reason for going to belize is the same as yours. laid back life style and a cross cultural experience for the kids.

Hello,
Can anyone help?

I will be going to Belize very soon. My Business depends on the Internet. What does Belize have offer for Internet service. I will need to move/hook-up my servers to a back bone and run them from Belize. The Internet is my source of income.

i plan on moving to belize in about 1 month. i have never been there and don't have a clue so i was going to travel around the country when i got there to check things out. i have a small nest egg put away to try to start some kind of business. don't want to get rich just get by and enjoy life. i know a.c. is expensive. i would like to live where there is beach access, but not alot of tourists. could someone please suggest some locations and maybe some ideas on what kinds of businesses there may be a demand for?
any info would be appreciated.
thanx,
myk

I think there was a list here on the board...or a link for some of that info...Topic-business