Argentine bank account - without DNI

Joew

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I've heard that both HSBC and Rio Santander allow foreigners to open up local bank accounts with only a passport and a "Certificado de Domicilio". Can anyone confirm this or is it one of these "it depends which member of staff you speak to on the day and which side of the bed they got out of"?
 
two day before Christmas I went to open a bank account at HSBC. The woman helping me told me I needed a few things first including; a CUIL number, my birth certificate as well has my fathers, and my passport. She gave me the address of the place to get the CUIL number and said it would be very quick to obtain (probably AFTER the inevitable long line that is found anywhere you go in Argentina). After that I will go back to the bank and she will open an account for me.
 
Trabano said:
two day before Christmas I went to open a bank account at HSBC. The woman helping me told me I needed a few things first including; a CUIL number, my birth certificate as well has my fathers, and my passport. She gave me the address of the place to get the CUIL number and said it would be very quick to obtain (probably AFTER the inevitable long line that is found anywhere you go in Argentina). After that I will go back to the bank and she will open an account for me.

Maybe you can try with this branch and person:
http://baexpats.org/newcomers-forum/7338-trying-open-bank-account-help.html#post46156
 
Trabano said:
two day before Christmas I went to open a bank account at HSBC. The woman helping me told me I needed a few things first including; a CUIL number, my birth certificate as well has my fathers, and my passport. She gave me the address of the place to get the CUIL number and said it would be very quick to obtain (probably AFTER the inevitable long line that is found anywhere you go in Argentina). After that I will go back to the bank and she will open an account for me.

I belive you need to have a visa temporaria based on a work contract to obtain a CUIL from ANSES. At least one member posted that he received a CUIT from AFIP without a resident visa, but I don't remember anyone having much success at ANSES getting a CUIL without one.
 
Trabano said:
two day before Christmas I went to open a bank account at HSBC. The woman helping me told me I needed a few things first including; a CUIL number, my birth certificate as well has my fathers, and my passport. She gave me the address of the place to get the CUIL number and said it would be very quick to obtain (probably AFTER the inevitable long line that is found anywhere you go in Argentina). After that I will go back to the bank and she will open an account for me.

Why do you need your father's birth certificate?

Make an appointment and you won't have to wait in line.
 
Unless you have local income I have never figured out what purpose having a bank account here serves. They make it very difficult and expensive to wire your money in from outside of Argentina. You are much better off leaving it in your home country and using at ATM to access it.
 
mini said:
Why do you need your father's birth certificate?
Make an appointment and you won't have to wait in line.

Ah! So my Castellano is horrible but from what I understood they need it just in case I am irresponsible and do something like overdraft. If they can't contact me, they would need to contact another person in my family. I am fairly certain I can talk my way out of not providing a copy of the birth certificate or just go to another bank, but it's not that big of a problem for me.
 
steveinbsas said:
I belive you need to have a visa temporaria based on a work contract to obtain a CUIL from ANSES. At least one member posted that he received a CUIT from AFIP without a resident visa, but I don't remember anyone having much success at ANSES getting a CUIL without one. Banco Frances might open an account for you with a CUIT, but other members have posted that they opened accounts at Itau with a CDI and their passport. Legally, that should be all you need, but it still can vary from bank to bank.

Even with only a visa transitoria (which has not expired), you should have no problem getting the CDI with only your passport and the certicficado de domicilo.

I am opening an account with HSBC and was told it will be fairly easy for me to get a CUIL from ANSES with just my passport and the two copies of birth certificates. However, I understand that anything can happen and will just hope for the best and prepare for the worst. We shall see come Monday. I will post the results.
 
If you live here, bank accounts can be very useful. Even if you take money out of your ATM and deposit it in your local account every now and then (like I do).

For example, if you go to WalMart and use an international debit card you will have problems. Your card cannot be used by the normal register credit card systems. If you don't tell the cashier that your card is international, they will just tell you it has been rejected. If you tell them, then they have to go to a special machine on one of the higher-numbered registers to process the card and you will wait. Not a big deal, but nice to not have to deal with that.

DirectTV, who used to allow foreign cards to be used (I don't know if it's a problem with credit cards versus debit cards) for things such as the original deposit to get the installation and boxes dealt with no longer does. You have to go to Santander Rio, make a deposit in the machine to their account, take the receipt and fax it to them with your account number they gave you to get it started. As I found out, that process can have some drawbacks.

Other services will allow local bank accounts to be used but not international cards to pay the monthly balance.

Most (all?) local banks have deals with local providers on certain days to provide good-sized discounts if you use your card on those days at those stores (not to confuse with Disco and Coto, who also have a certain day where just using a card gives a discount, and I think international cards work with that).

I have a local bank account and really enjoy its use. I don't have a DNI yet, but my lawyer has a contact at Banco Galicia who allows an account to be opened for those going through the residency process. I've heard that you don't need a lawyer necessarily to get a bank account for the residency process, but I have to think it's probably easier, having tried unsuccessfully to open a bank account before my lawyer did it.
 
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