Hi there, this is Claudia. Looking to establish ties with expat community.

Hi there,

My name is Claudia. I am 40 years old.

Let's start of with the basics. No, I am not in love with a hotel employee, bla bla bla. Though I'll admit to having been close to falling into this trap once many years ago.

I am however, married to a sincere Dominican and we have a beautiful five year old. We met through common friends. Got married in DR and have lived in Spain since.

I am British, but we live in Spain, where I have lived for over 20 years. Lived in other countries previously. Only in UK for my college degree.

Since he came over to Spain, the crisis started. Over 25% unemployment, 6 million unemployed. Not a great scenario for a mulato latin-american in Spain.

In fact, not a great scenario for any of us. I was offered to leave my company when I got pregnant. Typical in Spain. I had a great job though. Good pay. It was unfortunate.

Since I have developed an on-line business and it's not great income but it keeps us alive together with my savings.

It has always been on the back of our minds to go to DR, but lack of infrastructure, expensive schooling (going for the private options), expensive medical care, the problems with security, water and electricity....etc has kept us from making the move.

But Spain is nowhere near getting back on track and even if it did, my husband will always be considered a second degree citizen, so he will never get a qualified job. It's kind of unfair on him and our relationship.

So I keep going back to this idea that we could go back and hope he gets a good job. He worked at managerial level in Edeste before leaving. But we are conscious that he might have to start over again and work his way up.

Just thnking out loud here and expressing some of my concerns. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share and comment.

?How easy will it be for him to get a job? With a salary above 500 euros. Or more like 1000 euros. Does having lived abroad make him more attractive to Dominican employers?

?How easy is it for me to get a european salary? I speak three languages, have and MA and BA and have worked for multinationals. I know it's best to get a job from overseas, but they don't seem to be happening much.

Concerned about my daughter's future. Would like to have enough money to afford university education abroad. And send her to a private school while we live there.

?Will I be able to find a good expat job in Punta Cana? Real Estate, hotel biz, high end tourist services.

?How about setting up shop in Punta Cana or Sosua? A biz for the tourists. I am also a trained therapist.

?Where do expats get together?

?Is it really as unsafe as I feel it is? I hate the constant double pricing, as soon as they see me, the price goes up. I don't want to be robbed at gunpoint every other day. Also, my daughter is a bomshell, or will be when she grows up. Any kidnapping?

Thinking of coming over this summer for a couple months and renting some sort of camper van or similar, to go around the island and check everything out for myself. Any ideas on van rentals?

If I continue with my on-line business do I have to declare income tax in DR. How does that work?

These are just some things that spring to mind. As you see, I am nowhere specific right now.

Just testing the water and introducing myself.

Will start to become more active in the community in hopes that maybe one day we finally take the plunge.

Don't really have the capital to just go and check it out for myself right now. If we go, we go.

Best to all.

Hi guys, thanks for the responses.

My husband's family is a modest family. Their help will be limited.

I have considered the UK.

But my husband will always be in the inmigrant position. I was hoping he could take the "provider" role, and I only see this happening if we move back to the DR.

Plus UK weather really gets me down and until we settle in we would have to live modestly. UK is not cheap.

My husband isn't keen on going back to DR either. He is not very dominicano. More Swiss-like minded. It's a beautiful country but in such a mess.

Cost of living where we are now, is good. We pay 300 euros rent for a 4 bedroom flat. Car is payed for. Public schooling is good quality and bilingual. Social security is good and efficient. Medicine is free in our case.

We are getting frustrated after 6 years of trying to make it with my on-line business. We get by, but this is not progressing. We want to get ahead of the game. Save for retirement, get a college fund, etc.

We are just getting by at the mo.

As I said, I am 40 and a mom. Not very hireable, it seems. Despite a good cv I haven't had many opportunities. My BA is in Politics and my MA is in Marketing. I have worked for Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. I speak many languages and worked internationally. Not bragging, just saying I have a good profile but I think my age and mom status are getting in the way.

My on-line business had given me excellent entrepreneurship skills. So moving to the DR is really for my husbands sake and then I'll see if I can up my game. But I am not going for a dominican salary, that's for sure.

It sounds like I have a pretty clear picture of DR. Just hoping some expat family there has worked it out and can share the knwoledge.

We haven't been back in 6 years. Would love to go for an extended holiday but hiring a car to get around is a big part of the budget. And staying with family is going to be cramped and awkward.

Not to mention flights. I figure a 3.000 euro budget to visit. Don't want to spend my savings on that; we might need it in the future if things don't improve over here.

Sounds like we are bound to Spain and to the roles we chose when we got married. I really thought he would be able to get a qualified job when he came over. Indeed he almost did, but when recession kicked in his options dissapeared for good. Now 6 years jobless makes him less and less hireable.

The financial burden is heavy on me. Feeling that all our income depends on what I can come up with. It isn't easy to deal with. And I can imagine his situation. Though he doesn't say, but I know men need to feel they contribute financially. So, maybe there is a small chance that moving to the DR would be good for us ????. Tough decision.

Which is why, your experiences are important. Thanks again for contributing to this thread.

Great answers! Thanks!

UK....I mean, this isn't the forum for it, but if you are up and willing...i sure do have questions.

Like where should we go first? Where is it more likely for him to get a job? He doesn't speak English, at least not very much.

Does it sound like a plan, that we find a room in shared accomodation (3 of us plus a chihuahua) until we get settled in.

Paying more than 300 euro in rent is not going to be easy right now.

I have only been in the UK for a couple of years doing my BA, in Egham Surrey. I know the South and London well, but not the North.

Thought of starting in Reading, a lot of tech companies there.

But maybe North would be best because it's cheaper.

Or South to get a bit more sunshine.

I have some family in London, pushing their seventies though. Not much help.

We don't want to live there per se (DR, I mean) . The occasional visit will be fine for us.

If we can find a way to move to the Uk without spending all our savings, I am ready to give it a go. Specially for the little one.

But how to start. Where to live until we get jobs. Which city to choose. I am qualified, just worried my age won't be very interesting.

My husband would be happy to get any kind of job and start getting an income.

Ok. Thanks. Sounds like it could be a plan! I have googled call centre jobs and skynet to no avail. Any more info you can give me to refine the search?

But, while he does find a job, if I manage to get a closer to 50000 pesos salary, plus my online business, we could afford a nicer version of Dr living...Which would make it bearable.

There seems to be a need for native English speakers, which means I could have a good chance of getting a higher salary?

Hopefully in the interim, my husband gets a job and works his way back up.