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Mythbusters: Are there 14,000 expatriates living in Rosarito?

One cannot look at any brochure or webpage touting the benefits of living in Playas de Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico without seeing the statement that 14,000 expatriates call it home. Sometimes as many as 20,000 expatriates are mentioned. This figure has been repeated so often, that it is just taken for granted.

But is that the real number of expatriates living in Rosarito. No way! Not even close.

Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM), which is the National Immigration Institute, is the federal body in Mexico which grants immigrant and non-immigrant visas to foreigners and keeps track of them. The INM keeps very good records, and they are public, much like the US Census data is public.

At the end of 2009, INM reported that there were only 1,624 registered foreigners living in Playas de Rosarito with some kind of an immigration visa. That’s it. 1,624.

Far from expanding, the expatriate community in Baja California is shrinking rapidly. At the end on 2009, INM reported there were only 13,948 foreigners registered with the INM in the entire state of Baja California. By August, 2011, the number of foreigners registered had shrunk to only 3,277 soles… a 76% reduction in two years.

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One cannot look at any brochure or webpage touting the benefits of living in Playas de Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico without seeing the statement that 14,000 expatriates call it home. Sometimes as many as 20,000 expatriates are mentioned. This figure has been repeated so often, that it is just taken for granted.

But is that the real number of expatriates living in Rosarito. No way! Not even close.

Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INM), which is the National Immigration Institute, is the federal body in Mexico which grants immigrant and non-immigrant visas to foreigners and keeps track of them. The INM keeps very good records, and they are public, much like the US Census data is public.

At the end of 2009, INM reported that there were only 1,624 registered foreigners living in Playas de Rosarito with some kind of an immigration visa. That’s it. 1,624.

Far from expanding, the expatriate community in Baja California is shrinking rapidly. At the end on 2009, INM reported there were only 13,948 foreigners registered with the INM in the entire state of Baja California. By August, 2011, the number of foreigners registered had shrunk to only 3,277 soles… a 76% reduction in two years.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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