Banking Everything About Sending Money Out Of Argentina

[CarinaMet]

Hi,

I could not find any clear answer on sending money out of argentina and I need to get things right. So if you are working and getting paid in argentina(en blanco) does your normal bank allow transfering money out of argentina and is there any limit also how smooth the process is.

 

[MenClerk]

This was posted on a different thread recently by earlyretirement:

"I recently sold an apartment and I was surprised that you can even wire funds OUT of your US dollar account in Argentina to your USA account. I simply had to give them a certified copy of my escritura, deposited the funds and then signed some paperwork and had to pay a 0.58% commission and they told me that it would take about 5 business days but I was surprised that within 3 business days my funds were in my USA bank account. (Keep in mind I already have a US dollar bank account in Argentina and also have permanent residency in Argentina. I'm not sure this matters at all. I think as long as you already have a bank account you're fine).

Things are MUCH easier with Macri running the show"

You might message him to find out more.

 

[CarlosDEr]

This was posted on a different thread recently by earlyretirement:

"I recently sold an apartment and I was surprised that you can even wire funds OUT of your US dollar account in Argentina to your USA account. I simply had to give them a certified copy of my escritura, deposited the funds and then signed some paperwork and had to pay a 0.58% commission and they told me that it would take about 5 business days but I was surprised that within 3 business days my funds were in my USA bank account. (Keep in mind I already have a US dollar bank account in Argentina and also have permanent residency in Argentina. I'm not sure this matters at all. I think as long as you already have a bank account you're fine).

Things are MUCH easier with Macri running the show"

You might message him to find out more.

Yeah right, ok, sure. Like I said, it all depends on the luck of the draw because there is nothing uniform here. The fact that this man was able to get his money out on THAT occasion does not imply he would be so lucky next time, nor will someone else have the same luck trying to get their own out because that is how argieland functions or should I say, does not function across the board.

Ive seen it too many times. So, they can point to this man and say "eeeh, a nobady hasa noa prolem rye a nowa con a get a der moneys" Ha.

Word to the wise: stay away from argie banks and financial institutions.

 

[Lenono]

This was posted on a different thread recently by earlyretirement:

"I recently sold an apartment and I was surprised that you can even wire funds OUT of your US dollar account in Argentina to your USA account. I simply had to give them a certified copy of my escritura, deposited the funds and then signed some paperwork and had to pay a 0.58% commission and they told me that it would take about 5 business days but I was surprised that within 3 business days my funds were in my USA bank account. (Keep in mind I already have a US dollar bank account in Argentina and also have permanent residency in Argentina. I'm not sure this matters at all. I think as long as you already have a bank account you're fine).

Things are MUCH easier with Macri running the show"

You might message him to find out more.

Hola!

That is MY case. I am selling my property in ARG and looking into ways of getting the U$S from ARG to the US. You gave the certified copy of the Escritura to the ARG Bank or US Bank in ARG? In short, you need an account in ARG with a US Bank? (CitiBank, Bank of America, etc.)

 

[earlyretirement]

Hola!

That is MY case. I am selling my property in ARG and looking into ways of getting the U$S from ARG to the US. You gave the certified copy of the Escritura to the ARG Bank or US Bank in ARG? In short, you need an account in ARG with a US Bank? (CitiBank, Bank of America, etc.)

Oh sorry I didn't see this old post. Well in my case I sold a property in Buenos Aires and I DID have a US dollar account with HSBC in Argentina. The banks in the USA don't care and don't have to show anything to receive money. It was all in Argentina. As long as you're money is clean and you're in good legal standing you shouldn't have any problems at all. I've sold several properties in the past year and wired out money easily and at fairly low cost.

 

[GerardX]

Oh sorry I didn't see this old post. Well in my case I sold a property in Buenos Aires and I DID have a US dollar account with HSBC in Argentina. The banks in the USA don't care and don't have to show anything to receive money. It was all in Argentina. As long as you're money is clean and you're in good legal standing you shouldn't have any problems at all. I've sold several properties in the past year and wired out money easily and at fairly low cost.

Hi, I noticed you just responded to this post. We are going through the same issue as others, Argentinian wife who lives elsewhere selling a property she partially owns in USD and needs to send the money overseas.

When was your latest sale, like within the past year? Could you outline the procedure you followed or point me to a "how-to" which is relevant? Could you PM me specfic information if convenient?

 

[earlyretirement]

Hi, I noticed you just responded to this post. We are going through the same issue as others, Argentinian wife who lives elsewhere selling a property she partially owns in USD and needs to send the money overseas.

When was your latest sale, like within the past year? Could you outline the procedure you followed or point me to a "how-to" which is relevant? Could you PM me specfic information if convenient?

Well, keep in mind at least with my situation I already have had a US dollar account at HSBC. I've had it along with a banking relationship with HSBC for over 15 years. Not sure if that makes a difference or not but I don't think it would matter as I assume they have banking laws and as long as you follow the proper procedures you can wire out as well if you open up a US dollar account.

I simply took my escritura from the sale to prove where the funds were coming from. I had to fill out a special governmental/banking form showing the sale, had to put the address, etc. I deposited the funds into my US dollar account. Then I filled out a bunch of paperwork to make the wire to my US bank account. It was fairly simple. They said it could take a week or so to get the funds but I got it very quickly within a few days. The only thing I recall is that there were expenses for the wire in pesos and I had to just make sure I had enough pesos in my Argentine peso account to cover the withdrawal/banking fees. All very straight forward. This was last year. I'm not sure if anything changed this year.

You can find several reputable casa de cambios that will coordinate the wire for you outside of Argentina to the USA but they will charge you. I believe right now the going rate is about 3.5% to wire OUT of Argentina if you give them cash and want the USD abroad. Many are reluctant as you have to give them the cash first and then they wire out but of course that's the same with banks as well. Several reputable firms like Banco Piano and others out there that have been around for a long time.

Another alternative that might work depending on your wife's circumstances is it's perfectly legal to have the buyer wire the funds abroad. So for example, if your wife had a US dollar account in the USA or Europe or wherever at the closing, the buyer could legally wire her the funds for the property purchase directly to that bank account. The bank will be listed on the Escritura so just keep that in mind. It would be important that it's a declared account so she avoids problems with Argentina AFIP.

I don't use the PM feature so no help there but just go talk to your bank and see. They should be able to assist you. Good luck.

 

[Marthaty]

Hi everyone,

At risk of being repetitive but I couldn't find a definitive answer regarding transferring funds to a foreign account from Argentina. I will be working in Argentina and will have a visa and receive my salary into my ARG bank account however I have credit cards with my bank in Australia that I will need to make payments on so I will need to be able to transfer money to my Australian savings account. Does anyone have experience in transferring funds between countries it won't be large amounts possibly $2000 AUD max per transfer. In Australia you simply obtain the international transfer code from your bank and the transaction can be done using online banking, I understand Argentina is vastly different but i'm hoping it is a similarly simple task, any advice would be appreciated.

 

[earlyretirement]

These days as long as your funds are legal and everything is well documented (source of income), etc. you shouldn't have problems wiring funds from your Argentine account to your account abroad. I just sold another of my properties last week and I wired funds out as I did last year. I paid around $875 US to wire out $200,000 US.

 

[BenColins]

this seemed like the best thread to share this story on, for those of you looking to transfer money out of argentina to the USA. my experience today was shockingly easy and fast.

i had a coworker recently do a wire of dollars to his US bank, so i was fortunate to have a guide on what to do. he uses the same bank here that i do, banco frances. so he gave me the form i needed and showed me what to fill out. i walked into the bank this morning around 1030 and handed it over to the bank. about an hour later i noticed the money was debited from by USD account. i checked my US bank just now and the deposit transaction is pending. so in 8 hours i had the money in my USA account.

i am shocked at how quickly the process went. i fully expected it to be processed after the strike and holiday...but i am truly impressed.

so, for anyone looking to transfer out of argentina, it really isn't that difficult to do. experience may vary depending on the bank, i guess.

 

[earlyretirement]

this seemed like the best thread to share this story on, for those of you looking to transfer money out of argentina to the USA. my experience today was shockingly easy and fast.

i had a coworker recently do a wire of dollars to his US bank, so i was fortunate to have a guide on what to do. he uses the same bank here that i do, banco frances. so he gave me the form i needed and showed me what to fill out. i walked into the bank this morning around 1030 and handed it over to the bank. about an hour later i noticed the money was debited from by USD account. i checked my US bank just now and the deposit transaction is pending. so in 8 hours i had the money in my USA account.

i am shocked at how quickly the process went. i fully expected it to be processed after the strike and holiday...but i am truly impressed.

so, for anyone looking to transfer out of argentina, it really isn't that difficult to do. experience may vary depending on the bank, i guess.

Yes, now under Macri really it has simplified. Under CFK it was IMPOSSIBLE dealing with the banks but the process is very simple now. As long as the source of the money origin can be verified (they will have you fill out a form indicating where the funds came from). As long as you have that, you won't have any problems.

The big issue with MANY locals is they don't declare their income or have "black" funds and they can't hassle with the bank as they don't want them snooping. But the past several transfers I've done after I sold properties was very quick and easy.

 

[BenColins]

Yes, now under Macri really it has simplified. Under CFK it was IMPOSSIBLE dealing with the banks but the process is very simple now. As long as the source of the money origin can be verified (they will have you fill out a form indicating where the funds came from). As long as you have that, you won't have any problems.

The big issue with MANY locals is they don't declare their income or have "black" funds and they can't hassle with the bank as they don't want them snooping. But the past several transfers I've done after I sold properties was very quick and easy.

I didn't even have to fill a form explaining the source of the funds. i presume because it was already in my dollar account here it didn't matter to banco frances?

 

[earlyretirement]

I didn't even have to fill a form explaining the source of the funds. i presume because it was already in my dollar account here it didn't matter to banco frances?

Yes, if you already had funds in your account that explains why you didn't have to fill out a form. But typically when you make a larger deposit into your account (I can't remember the amount but I think it was over $10,000 US) I typically have to fill out a pre-filled form with a check-box stating where the funds came from. For example, on the last apartment I sold it had a check box for property sold and it asked for the address.

I wired out around $250,000 USD and IIRC, I paid about 0.5%. I believe the other times I wired out as well it was about 0.5% or so. All the times I wired out, the funds showed up in my account in the USA within 48 hours.

 

[BenColins]

Percentage i think is even less than 0.5%. around 0.2%. i will see exactly what amount ends up after the transaction posts, in case my US bank deducts anything further.

 

[earlyretirement]

Percentage i think is even less than 0.5%. around 0.2%. i will see exactly what amount ends up after the transaction posts, in case my US bank deducts anything further.

If it was that cheap maybe it was because your amount was so small.

 

[earlyretirement]

I just sold another property last month and just went down to Buenos Aires last week to wire the proceeds out of my account. Used HSBC again. Paid 0.5% like before. I wired the funds out at 1 PM Buenos Aires time and surprisingly by the next morning it was already in my USA bank account. Last time it took a few days but this time look less than 24 hours.

I'm completely draining my account except for a small amount to pay bills. With the recent election results, anyone would have to be crazy to keep any significant amount of money in Argentine banks. I'd imagine currency controls are going to start up again once CFK is back in office.