Quick primer for Americans looking to move to Baja California because SoCal is too expensive: Start with applying for residency at a Mexican consulate. If you need help, hire a lawyer. Don’t just rent a place and think that’s good enough.

Shocking to me to see Facebook threads from people who don’t speak Spanish, don’t know anything about Mexico, all the know is they can rent a place by the beach for $1000/mo and they think that’s all you need to do. Yeah, it’s not like moving between US states.

Let’s say you want to move to Mexico for a couple of years, work remote, stockpile cash. Cool. Might want to look at the IRS, don’t pay your taxes right and you’ll have big problems. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/expatriation-tax

And, of course, if you become a temporary resident of Mexico... guess what? You get to file income taxes there on your US income. Which means you should hire an accountant in Mexico.

And that’s the easy stuff. What about your car? You gonna import it? You gonna keep those CA plates? You gonna insure it on both sides? Cool. But in CA if you move out of the state you can’t renew your plates. But if you register it in Mexico you’ll need a Mexican DL.

Let’s talk health care. I see a lot of Americans want to keep their US coverage, totes fine. Just make sure you aren’t getting help from the ACA. What about in Mexico? You have health insurance there? Still saving money? Prolly not.

So... what CAN you do without being a temporary resident and navigating all that? You can try it out, rent a place for under 6 months, keep your residence in SoCal, keep your place of work in SoCal. Just get an FMM at the border for like $30.