MEXICO CITY .- After Donald Trump’s arrival to the United States’ presidency, fear and confusion have gripped many American communities, to the point of making thousands take the decision to move 2,000 miles south, away from their home country, into Mexico.
More than 12,000 citizens from the United States have turned San Miguel de Allende into an “Ex-pat Sanctuary City” for all those Americans who do not agree with the new president’s actions and policies.
Among these group of ex-pats, Francoise Yohalem, who is a Franco-American citizen, decided to come and live in Mexico because he is actually afraid of the new U.S. president’s policies.
“I lived in Washington DC, but now I’m moving to Mexico, to San Miguel Allende specifically, I’ve already applied to become a permanent resident here, I do not want to go back to the United States,” Yohalem exclaimed while he was pointing at a pin on his shirt with the slogan: “Trump has got to go!” (¡Fuera Trump!).
Yohalem explained that, the process to move to Mexico was very easy because he only had to go to the consulate in Washington where he only proved his economic solvency in order to live in Mexico. Aand one hour later, he had his Mexican visa.
When Francoise Yohalem arrived at San Miguel de Allende, a person of the National Institute of Migration helped him to finish the migration process to get his permanent residence.
“I visited San Miguel de Allende 7 years ago, during winter time. At this point, I fell in love with San Miguel, so I decided to move here and already bought a beautiful house. I came to live alone. However, my daughters also love Mexico, and they will be coming to visit soon, and I hope that they will come to live here someday too.”
Mayor Ricardo Villareal declared that, despite to the decrease in the number of North American tourists, we see a significant rise on the purchase of real estate. In that sense, Villareal pointed out that, only in January 2017, at least 477 properties were bought in SMA, compared to a total of 192, during the same period last year.
“A boom in the real estate market has recently surged in San Miguel, and we are currently working on a tour to visit five cities in the United States, in order to invite American citizens to visit San Miguel de Allende, and take advantage of the current exchange rate”.
Finally, for Francoise Yohalem, the growing number of Americans applying for their permanent residence in Mexico, is great news. “Some American friends have already told me that they want to come, and others who have lived here for many years also mentioned that their relatives are currently thinking of moving down here.”
Source: http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/
