Living in Nicaragua
Located in Central America, Nicaragua has a tropical climate that makes it a hot tourist spot. However, many people, particularly retires on fixed incomes, choose to live in Nicaragua full-time. Nicaraguan real estate is extremely cheap, and there are many good and bad things about living in Nicaragua.
• Nicaragua is an extremely cheap country to live in. As for Nicaraguan property, real estate prices for an average house hover around $30,000. Nicaragua is one of the least costly countries to live in Central American. If one chooses to rent an apartment, then they can expect to pay an average cost of $100-$200 a month. Due to this low cost of living, large groups of Americans and others choose to live in Nicaragua. The warm, tropical climate is also a reason for people to relocate to Nicaragua. Nicaragua is a small country, and the areas hat are most expensive tend to be the areas that attract tourists, like Managua, the nation’s capital. Other areas will be cheaper, but may be dangerous.
• There is danger in Nicaragua, which is the main con of choosing to live there. While most of the Nicaraguan people are said to be friendly to tourists, it can be different with individuals who decide to become residents. Because of the severe poverty of the country- actually one of the poorest nation’s in the world- retiring to Nicaragua is not like retiring to a warm area like Florida. Kidnappings for ransom are not unheard of, a Americans may be considered wealthy by any standards compared to the usual income of a Nicaraguan person.
• There are other downsides of moving to Nicaragua. Because of the country’s poverty, things that are common in other countries like electricity and running water will sometimes not be there due to country wide outages. This makes an individual’s living situation very uncomfortable, regardless of the cheap costs of living in Nicaragua. This also remains true of Internet and phone service, as it will be less likely to be able to get connections for such things in Nicaragua. In America, these things are nearly a given, but Nicaraguan people consider them an almost unheard of luxury.
• If one does wish to relocate to Nicaragua despite these dangers and major inconveniences, then the best way to go about is to be granted a 90-day tourist visa. Once in Nicaragua, it is much easier to put in a residency request. This residency request can be done in the nation’s capital, Managua, at the Office of Immigration. There are two types of residence visas that one can apply for in order to live in Nicaragua. One is the investor’s visa. The other is the residence visa. For both, one must bring income proof, a birth certificate, a passport, any applicable fees, and any doctor’s or prison records. The immigration process of Nicaragua is much less complicated then being granted American residency.
One must weigh the pros and cons of living in Nicaragua before they decide to take up permanent residence there. Some may decide that the warm climate and cheap living is worth the potential danger and outages that they may encounter when living amongst the Nicaraguan people.