Southern California is so beautiful. If money were no object I would move there in a heartbeat. I'm not sure how people make it there. My sister lives in Santa Barbara. She has a big house but her electricity bills are over $1,000 bucks per month. CRAZY.
Ha! Yes, I live in San Diego and it's consistently ranked as one of the most expensive places in the USA. I never get sticker shock traveling around the world. Very rarely do I find a place that has higher prices than here. I was just in LA having dinner with my wife last weekend. We had sushi and she had a few drinks. $375 dollars for the two of us by the time you added in food, tax and tips. Just crazy.
No doubt electricity here is obscenely priced. I have a fairly large house. 4,200 sq. feet and before I went solar I was getting some $1,200+ monthly bills in the summer. And I only live about 5 miles inland from the beach. Solar here is a no brainer. It's not just electricity but everything here is expensive.
Is the process easy for the pensionado visa? How much income do you need to have each month? I am assuming same deal as usual? You apply and renew for 3 years and then get permanent residency?
But soon if things keep up Argentina will have high electricity bills like the USA. I have one friend that has floor in Recoleta and she already has $450 dollar electricity bills. They will keep raising prices which will make life difficult for people that can't afford these bills.
It seems pretty easy (which is not to say bureaucratic nonsense won't try to make it hard). Proof of a pension more than 5x the minimum and mobile wage. That would be around $1400 right now. A clean FBI background check. Then a one year visa, renewable 3 times and permanent residency after. Or citizenship after 2 years. Which is weird, but that's what the law says. I don't think I want to become a citizen.
The toughest thing is really all the paperwork non-sense and Apostilles and stamps and translations. I am surprised that it is only $1,400 now. At one point it was about $2,000 several years ago. I thought the minimum wage went up but that shows you how low they still are. I also did the permanent residency route @daveholman but did not go the Citizenship route because of tax reasons. Argentina has a brutal worldwide asset tax. My accountant said better not to go that route. I can always go for it later if I want but don't see much need at all. I split my time between the US and BA.
Yeah, I think most of my work is on this end getting the background check and financial stuff certified and apostilled. And that $1400 is what I've read. If it's $2000, I'll still be okay.
The rentista visa sounds very easy. I read that you can just set up an LLC and pay yourself dividends or have rental property. I do own an apartment. I was going to sell it to buy a place in BA but it may be nice to have some solid rental income in dollars. My cousin said she would rent it for a few years so I may do that. Has anyone purchased real estate in BA using a self-directed IRA? Is that complicated?
It must be nice for you all foreigner to come to Argentina so cheaply and easily. We do not have that option like you to go to good country and get residency so easily. You should all feel lucky for that.
Thanks for you to say this. I love Argentina. I will never leave. I have gone through so many ups and downs. I feel lucky to be from Argentina. I am proud of my country. The good and the bad.
Fair point. But I think you can be happy in your own country and still not be able to afford to stay and have to leave. Case in point I left last year. I could have rode things out but my girlfriend has a career and couldn't make enough to really live a decent life especially raising a kid. She did not want to have to ask her family for handouts. It is difficult for someone that has studied has a good job and still not be able to afford their bills. She could see things would get bad because her medical premiums kept going up each and every month. Not just a little but a lot. Same with monthly condo expenses.
A: I do feel lucky, a little. On the other hand, I worked from the age of 15 to the age of 60 to be in the position I am in. I'm sorry if you think I just one day tripped and fell in to a pile of money. You couldn't be more wrong. I did years and years of 100 hour weeks building my business.
You make your own luck I always say. Know the feeling. Worked from 12 up to 65 and still working. People assume all Americans are wealthy and easy to make money. You will love taking the plunge and becoming an expat @daveholman. I think you made a fine decision on Argentina. Brazil is also is a good choice and affordable now. Agree BA is a great city and very easy to be an expat. More so than cities in Brazil. It usually only takes 1 or 2 visits for most expats to know it is very livable and safe. That is where Argentina has the edge over Brazil. Most metro areas of Brazil are very dangerous compared to BA.
