Hi my name is Chris I am 31 and live in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the United States. I am looking at moving to BA with my dog Stas after returning to America having been in Europe for four years and needing a change from here. I've tried asking my friends in BA but I haven't heard back so please excuse me if you've heard these questions a million times before and I'll organize them in bullet points to make things easier.
- I will be traveling to BA with my dog who is a 33 kg male Briard. While I've heard that BA is super dog friendly I did have some concerns. Since he's too big to travel in the cabin of the plane (if for example I want to go to Mendoza or Bariloche) can he travel in a sleeping car in a train with me? Is it difficult to find a furnished apartment which will accept dogs? My budget is about $2.000 USD/month with utilities but I am afraid that might be too low.
- I've read about the Rentista visa but didn't know much about it so I was hoping the forum would know. Is it true that I just need to show income of 8000 Argentine Pesos a month or around $576 USD? What documentation is necessary? Are paychecks or proof of overall monthly deposits enough (at least $6.000/month so hopefully that would work) or do I require a minimum balance in my bank account? I'd like to teach English in BA simply as a means of getting to know people and having something to do. Would this allow me to do that? Is the visa a long term multi year one or only lasts a year at a time?
- Does anyone know any English language schools who will make an offer in advance for employment or I need to go to BA first to arrange everything?
- Does anyone know of a good agency renting apartments out? The only one I know of which is ApartmentsBA has morphed into luxury housing for executives so what before was $2.000 USD/month is now $6.000-8.000/month. I am looking for a place which is ideally at least 100 square metres, in Palermo or another good district, fully furnished with 1/2 bedrooms and 1.5/2.5 bathrooms, a patio/backyard/roof terrace if possible, and finally a security system and guards if it's in a building.
- Is there a 24 English speaking emergency veterinary hospital?
- Is security, specifically home burglaries, a real concern? I have a dog and would be worried about him.
- Are all medicines in the United States available in Argentina (it doesn't matter whether they're in the original brand form or a generic version)? Also are there private hospitals and insurance offering comparable care to the United States or Western Europe?
- Due to inflation is it possible to have USD bank accounts and withdraw say $4.000 USD/transaction in cash? Also is it possible to have contracts written in USD instead of Argentine Pesos (that way I could ask for a discount and get the price locked in long term)? Finally how does the blue rate work and do I withdraw money from a cash machine at a penalty to the international rate and how do I obtain the best rate using both cash and card.
, pet care, employment , foreign exchange, medication, travel, banking ,etc would take some time?