Jakoval
Well-known member
I figured out how to search with names. Instead of 'Por expediente', choose 'Por parte' and put any names you wish you search and everything will come up.
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Visas How complicated is it to obtain residency in Argentina?
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Jakoval
Well-known member
Yes, I got my PR since April and it took 7 months. Now I'm more than half way through my citizenship process so let's see. Hopefully within this year there will be good news.
Betsy Ross
Well-known member
So happy to hear @Jakoval about Citizenship process. I have had permanent residency for over a decade. I could get my Citizenship here but never bothered with it. Other than being able to vote and getting another passport is there any other benefit? With a US passport I haven't found the need to get Citizenship here. I could easily do it but didn't want the headache or expense. I also heard there is a test. Do you know if there is still a language test to get Citizenship here?
Thanks for the tutorial on finding by name. I found my friend doing your method. I learn something new everyday on this forum.
earlyretirement
Moderator
Thanks for sharing knowledge @Jakoval. This is what this forum is all about. The sharing of knowledge and information on Argentina. I agree with you @Betsy Ross. I've been living, working, investing in Argentina for 22 years and I continue to learn new things each and every day. Things are always constantly evolving and changing and that is why forums like this are so valuable to people. Thanks everyone for continuing to share information.
Spend Thrift
Well-known member
That is neat. I found one of my friends going through the process.
I think if you pay an immigration attorney it's not too complicated other than just having all of your documents lined up. I started and stopped the process a few times just because getting some documents would require me to travel back to the US which I'm not doing until later this year. Still probably worth the effort. When you hear about American cops quitting life in the USA and moving to Argentina you probably figure we are on the cusp of a lot of immigration here.
Some might be open to it but if too many people come you will probably see people complaining about cost of housing, etc like other places in Mexico and Spain. Probably a good idea to get a DNI while it's easier.
Jakoval
Well-known member
You already have a powerful passport so there is no need for it if you have PR. My passport, on the other hand, is weak so it makes more sense for me to get the citizenship. The language test isn't applicable anymore. However, while sifting through a bunch of random expedientes, I came across a few judges that require a language test. But when I clicked to see the test, it was more like a brief interview asking why the applicants are seeking citizenship, what they do for a living, how well they know or if they have traveled within Argentina etc. All was summarized by the secretary in half a page. So, it's not like you need to take DELE exam. If I come across such 'examen de idioma' again, I'll post it here.
Betsy Ross
Well-known member
Ah that makes sense. Yes, I forgot you aren't American. Your English is so excellent I just assumed you were from the States. That is good to know about the language test not being applicable. I speak and understand Spanish but I didn't know how extensive the test is but that's great to know they don't require it. I didn't think so as read about some foreigners that never spoke Spanish. Thanks for the info. Your posts are great.
Uncle Wong
Well-known member
I think for most people doing it yourself would take a while. Hiring a lawyer is easier but most charge several thousands of dollars. Still might be worth doing it now while it's easier. I can't imagine it will be this easy in the future. In Mexico the minimum salary requirements have more than doubled in just a few years.
Jakoval
Well-known member
If you're married to a local, you can definitely do it yourself. For PR, it can be quite frustrating because you deal directly with people at migraciones and boy don't they love creating problems for you but I did it all myself with my partner's help of course and I got it in 7 months. For citizenship, it is pretty straightforward and you don't exactly have to deal with people. You go to present your documents the first time and after that you track your status on the juzgado website and you might only need to go there once or twice more if they need you to hand in the physical documents (after emailing the scanned versions beforehand) and that's about it. Apart from paying for your documents to be legalized or apostilled, I only paid for the publications of the edicto for less than 30K pesos.
GraceH
Well-known member
I heard you can vote and or course just get another passport. I’m told Argentina is the best passport in South America after Chile. But I couldn’t find any other benefits.
Thanks. We have good passports in our family already but I wondered if there might be other benefits.
I believe there's also rules regarding deportation where a resident can be deported, but a citizen cannot, unless the latter obtained his citizenship through fraud.
Digital Nomad
Well-known member
Yes, I also read that but for most upstanding citizens they are probably not worried about that. There are some negative tax consequences it sounds like from having Argentine citizenship so that is probably worth researching too. I think even Permanent Residency in Argentina they have wealth taxes on worldwide assets. My father talked to an accountant in the USA and advised not to get residency here due to some tax reasons.
It sounds like many expats do get permanent residency here but many don't go through with the Citizenship option.
fetch rover
Well-known member
The process isn't difficult if you hire a lawyer. We lived there many years ago and my husband and I got permanent residency after 5 years. My husband's employer hired an attorney and we got it quickly. I'm not sure if it is still valid or not. I'm told you must come to Argentina at least once every 2 years which we did not do so I am not sure if it is valid or not. We had booklets when we first got them and now I see they changed to plastic ID's.
@Jakoval is correct that there was no need for us to get an Argentine passport. We could have while we lived there as my husband was employed there for many years and we also got permanent residency. But after we moved back to the USA we never did anything as we were advised there were tax consequences.
I don't get this craze with people wanting multiple passports. It seems like the only people that are rushing to do this are people that are criminals worrying about some potential issue or people trying to dodge US taxes. Of course, for people that want to live in Argentina for the long term this would be different but I see many ads for processing a 2nd passport. I didn't think there was big demand for that but you wouldn't know with many companies advertising that service.
RN in BA
Well-known member
I would never dream about trying to do it alone there without help. It seems like as long as you have a steady steam of passive income you can get residency there with the help of an attorney. I met several people that had rentista visas there and also many retired there living on SS payments.
Question. Why are the immigration lawyers here so bad in Argentina? Most don't even respond to emails. I emailed some of the ones mentioned on this and other forums and even after 2-3 weeks no one ever gets back. Seems strange to me. Never heard of an immigration attorney that doesn't respond to emails or calls.
Vince
Well-known member
They have never had a good reputation here. Many businesses here in Argentina are very slow to respond to customers. If you provided details of your case and they feel they can't help you, maybe they didn't bother to respond. Most professional people in the States will also respond back but this isn't always the case here. I would guess that is it. If you don't qualify under traditional ways to get residency here they might not have bothered to respond.
Yes I noticed this here. Worst customer service out of any country I have been to! I have read many posts online and other forums and all seem to complain.
I just read this post on another board. I did email Celano but didn't hear back. U.S. Embassy is confirming that many Americans are complaining about this. This new President should fire all these bad workers and hire new ones that want to work.
"My two cents is, for the time being, don't waste your time and money with an immigration lawyer. I used Celano ($1,500 USD) for my first residency visa many years ago and everything went well. Afterwards, I did the trámite myself and although difficult, it eventually got done.
Currently, something seems to be systematically dysfunctional with Migraciónes. After a year of stasis, I decided to use two (useless) gestores and I made a few inquiries to equally useless 'immigration' attorneys. Despite cost not being important, nobody made any effort. It was as if they knew that working with Migraciónes is futile. So, with no criminal record and two sources of federal income my Radex status has been all green check marks and "in the process of Supervision" for well over a year. All they do is renew the precaria. I'm on my 9th.
I made the first bank deposit as required, but not having received the visa / DNI as a result of doing so, I won't make any further deposits unless told to do so. I'll just stay here as Dr. C. Rubilar suggests and simply pay an overstay fee if and when I decide to leave.
Just play the long game with them via Radex as others suggest. Because Migraciónes at this point is beyond dysfunctional and the U.S. Embassy told me as much three weeks ago. They said that many Americans are complaining.
Migraciónes is populated with Kirchneristas who have no love for Milei and after his staff cuts, I speculate that the remaining noquis / employees are doing even less work than before; dragging their feet. It's how petty and small they are.
Good luck and be patient"
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