Adventures in Immigration

[Orlando_the_Technicoloured]

Well Done

[Lars Porsenna]

My latest news about my immigration status: I just got word yesterday that my visa has been issued, & my lawyer emailed the document to me. So I am now a legal resident of Ecuador! Next step however, is that I need to purchase health insurance, before I can apply for a cedula (a national ID card, used for a number of different transactions here, especially for setting up a bank account). My intention has always been to buy into the Government healthcare system (called IESS down here; Ecuador has a hybrid public/private healthcare system, where everyone is enrolled into the government program, but some choose to buy private supplementary insurance, or simply pay out of pocket for private doctors, especially the extranjeros), however my lawyer informed me that I need private healthcare first, THEN I can get my cedula, & only after I have my cedula can I buy into the public healthcare system. There are several options for short term (month-to-month) health insurance programs that I am looking into.

 

In other news, we put a down payment on land to build a house, rather than buy a ready built one. Part of this is because she wants to be close to her family (the land is literally right around the block, & the block is almost 90% owned by relatives of her), & because we specifically are looking for a pool & an office for me, for work & to serve as a hobby room for my models (& possibly restarting a figure collection; we'll see -- anything Reaper I would need to self-import, FREX). It will also have space for 2 cars, in case she eventually wants one, or possibly to be improved into a storefront (many homes have such a feature, in fact).

 

On the job front, I am studying to get certification as a Helpdesk Engineer, which should net me more money than I am earning now (almost double, in fact). With that kind of money, we should be able to live very, very comfortable down here.

 

Damon.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Lars Porsenna

[Glitterwolf]

Sounds great!

Hope it will all work out

[Lars Porsenna]

So far I have had a couple of encounters with Ecuadorian healthcare, that I thought I'd share here.

 

For those of you that do not know, Ecuador has a mixed Public/Private healthcare system. Anyone & everyone that draws a paycheck (this is an important distinction because of the level of the informal economy here) pays into the National Healthcare System called IESS (Instituido Ecuatoriano Seguro Social, or Institute of Ecuadorian Social Security). National healthcare here is MANDIATORY, & everyone has equal access to it. Several of my wife's uncles & cousins work at the Government Hospital here in Manta.

 

Alongside that is a private healthcare system, which can be paid for out of pocket, or via private insurance. From talking to other Ecuadorians, the biggest difference between the two is that if you schedule an appointment with a private doctor, they can get you in immediately, or within a few days. The government you might have to wait a week. Emergency care with the government is immediate.

 

What many expats do down here is pay into the national government system (expats are not obligated to do so, specifically), to be used for emergency or catastrophic care, & use private for more routine care (either with or without private insurance.) Many Ecuadorians in the middle class also do this.

 

So I went to see a diabetes doctor today, & it was interesting because the level of care I received was different. The office had solely the doctor, & a secretary. No nurses at all. As soon as the doctor was ready, he saw me; no need for a nurse to get vitals, while I sat around in a room waiting to be seen. There was also no separate exam rooms. I was seen in the doctor's office directly, which had the basic equipment needed to do an exam. The doctor also did an ultrasound of my feet, to check circulation. This was NEVER done in the US, which is something I found very interesting. Overall the visit was very rapid & efficient. A much better experience than I have ever had in the US.

 

The other interesting thing about it was that the doctor received his specialization education in Cuba, which is renowned for high quality healthcare. And not something you would ever encounter in the US.

 

Overall the visit cost me out-of-pocket $40 (I had seen a generalist sometime before, & they usually charge between $15 to $20, & still make house calls). Overall a refreshing difference from when I had visited doctor's offices in the US.

 

Damon.

[redambrosia]

That sounds like a great experience @Lars Porsenna. I’m happy for you to get some quality care!

[Lars Porsenna]

In other news, just felt an earthquake here. It was a small one, 4.0 to the south. But felt it I did. But this is normal for this part of the world.
 

Damon.

[Pegazus]

4 hours ago, Lars Porsenna said:

In other news, just felt an earthquake here. It was a small one, 4.0 to the south. But felt it I did. But this is normal for this part of the world.
 

Damon.

After I moved to California, the first earthquake at 3am scared the hell out of me. But I fell back asleep and missed the second one 15 minutes later. First one I was actually awake for was in a terribly marginal building. Asked the old grey beard I was working with if we should duck under the desks. He shrugged and said, “if you want to.”

[TGP]

16 hours ago, Lars Porsenna said:

In other news, just felt an earthquake here. It was a small one, 4.0 to the south. But felt it I did. But this is normal for this part of the world.
 

Damon.

Portovelo, Ecuador. 
44 miles below surface. 
Do you have the QuakeFeed app on your phone? It is nifty. 

[Lars Porsenna]

17 hours ago, TGP said:

Portovelo, Ecuador. 
44 miles below surface. 
Do you have the QuakeFeed app on your phone? It is nifty. 

 

I do not, but I believe my wife has an app.

 

Damon.

[Lars Porsenna]

Long time no post!

 

I decided to revisit this subject to talk about the latest news regarding my adventures in immigration.

 

I've recently come to the decision that I need to return to the US. The big issue here (and it is an important one) is jobs. Simply stated, the potential of remote work is not turning out as good as it initially promised. 

 

I have spent the last 2 years or so working as an ESL teacher (English as a Second Language). I have been doing this virtually, because in-person jobs here in Ecuador do not pay well. I could expect, maximum, around $1500 for a teaching job, but more likely I would receive $1000 - $1200 a month. Since I still have obligations in the US (not the least of which are taxes), that sort of income is not sufficient to maintain my same level of life that I had in the US, not to mention making it better.  But the big issue with teaching English these days is that the industry is super-saturated with teachers looking for jobs, which pushes wages down.  Native speakers also have to compete with cheap, cheap labor from the Philippines as well, who often work for no more than $3 or $4 an hour (which I personally find a little exploitative, compared to the cost of living in Ecuador, which is probably similar: but these are some of the issues people face in 3rd world countries). Also I don't have good stability in my jobs. I teach on 2 different platforms, to take advantage of different students bodies and time zones. But even with this, I cannot predict accurately, week-to-week how much money I will have. It is entirely dependent on how many students I get. For example, I usually create an availability of 10 hours a day, but I don't get paid 10 hours; I get paid for how many students I actually teach that day. So if it is a period like now, where many Chinese students are getting done with exams, and going on holiday, I can see my income drop noticeably. Or when Turkey had their earthquake a few months ago, I lost a lot of traffic because of that. Or when the Muslim world celebrates Eid, I can see a drop in students. This makes budgeting much harder.

 

.In addition, my wife (recall she is a native Ecuadorian) works for the Ecuadorian government (ironically working for a program that assists the children of poor families), but she does not make good money either. She only is able to make around $480 a month. This is a low wage even by Ecuadorian standards (current minimum wage here is either $425 or $450...I don't recall exactly, especially since it is in an annual increase cycle to bring it to $500/month). The cost-of-living index here (the family breadbasket as it is translated from Spanish) is around $760 to $780 for a family. So she makes well below that. She has a University degree too, so she is educated. This is an endemic problem of the country, where between 60% to 70% live on minimum wage. While the cost of living is lower (food prices are around 2/3 of the US, with some being very low...for example 50 lemons for a dollar from the mercados), things lie TVs, cars, any electronics, or imported goods, do not change price, or are in some cases, more expensive here. She could make much better money in the US, even compared to the cost of living issues in the US right now.

 

So, unfortunately this means I need to go back to the US to work. I have been working on getting certification in the IT field, so hopefully this means a better wage than what I was earning in the past. I am still not sure what we will do with the house here. I am thinking we will need to sell it. I should get enough money to buy a decent, if small house, in the US. But it will just be my wife and I, and her son, living there. My kids live with their mother, which is why I was able to do this to begin with.

 

In the future, perhaps I will start writing about my wife's adventures in immigration, as we apply for a spousal visa for the US. This should be exciting /sarcasm

.

On the bright side, the gaming situation in Ecuador, outside Quito, is terrible. It's almost impossible to find DandD outside of the major cities, let alone miniature wargaming. With Warhammer The Old World seeming to pick up steam, this might be the right time to move back. I think I'll start a Necron army too, to get some gaming time in while I wait for my wife.

 

Target date for my re-emigration is August or maybe September. I have to ask my uncle if I can live with him for 6 months or a year, depending on how long it takes me to get established in the US. My relationship isn't super great with them, so that might cause extra difficulties. We shall see...

 

.Damon.

[Glitterwolf]

I wish you luck, hopefully returning to the USA and bringing your wife with you will go smooth.

Stay safe !

[Guindyloo]

Reminder that while this topic was agreed to be moved from Beekeepers to preserve it, the rule to keep political commentary out of it still applies, so I removed the post giving an update on the political stability of Ecuador.