On a related note, elqueso posted this on Nov 25 in
The Rentista Visa On An Alternative/unique Work Situation
Your biggest problem living here and earning money outside the country (whether it be with residency or not) is getting your money here to spend. You don't want to use ATMs, debit/credit cards because of the big difference in the official rate (artificial) and the blue rate (black market, fluctuates, still not really the real value of the Dollar).
Even if you had a bank account, you would not easily be able to get your money down here. You couldn't just transfer your money down to any account here; bank accounts have to be approved to have money coming in from the outside and that's not necessarily an easy thing, particularly if you live here and don't claim an income and don't pay personal taxes. There are ways, some more expensive (in both time and money) than others. Compared to most countries in the world, where you may able to go to the ATM and get your money out from anywhere in the world, those of us who live here and earn in currency outside the country spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about getting money here. Something to think about.
It's relativity easy to "transfer" money to Argentina using
XOOM and/or RIA and, of course the rates, while not quite equal to the BLU rate, are very attractive compared to the official rate. It is also possible to "transfer your money down to any account here" using XOOm or RIA and the statement that "bank accounts have to be approved to have money coming in from the outside" does notapply when using XOOm and RIA if you mean that the approval must be obtained from AFIP in cooperation with the bank. With XOOM and RIA I can send money from my US bank account to the bank account of any Argentine friend or to pay anyone in Argentina for goods and/or services. I can also send money to anyone in Argenina who does not have a bank account but can get to a XOOM or RIA office or agent to pick it up in person. The Argentine banks receiving the money have no idea that the funds originated from another country and the USA banks from which the funds are withdrawn have no idea the funds will be deposited in Argentina!
Anyone who has the visa rentista or the visa pensionado can use the same documentation that they presented to migraciones to get their visas in order to "satisfy" the requirements for "proving" the "origin" of the funds that they want to transfer using XOOM or the RIA money transfer services (at least from the USA). Unlike migraciones, XOOM and RIA may actually ask for the last two foreign bank statements, especially if you are sending money to yourself (which is easy to do with XOOM and not so easy with RIA).
If you are the recipient of more than $5000 pesos per month using RIA or XOOM, you can expect to be asked to submit a "declaration jurada" in which you declare the source of the funds but may not have to provide any additional documentation. They can ask for this form to be submitted even when the amount is less than $5000 pesos. i recently had to do this with RIA for a transfer that was a few hundred pesos below $5000. I printed the form, filled it out and sent them a digital photo of it along with photos of the front and back of my DNI.
Earlier this year, XOOM asked me to send updated documentation of the "source" of my income and they have asked for the latest US bank statement several times (easy to download and send in PDF). XOOM's form for the origin of the funds asks for slightly more detailed information than RIA's and XOOM now offers a version of the form in English!
It is not necessary to have an Argentine bank account to receive the funds sent by XOOM and RIA. They both have multiple locations where it is possible to pick up the funds in person. It's just a lot better to have an Argentine bank account in which the funds can be deposited, especially if you don't live near one of their offices or agent's location.
Taxes are not an issue with making these transfers, either. if your (passive/unearned) foreign income is less than $15,000 pesos per month and you are transferring less than that, there's nothing to worry about. I've checked with two accountants and they both confirmed that if I am not working in Argentina and the total amount received is less than $15,000 pesos per month, no declaration to AFIP is required.
