Buenos Aires positions itself as a post-pandemic destination for digital nomads

[bdk1]

Sounds like a great idea and something that Macri would have pushed for, but no way this happens with the current government and crazy amount of bureaucracy at Migraciones. I will never forget my days spent at migraciones offices, finally got approved after the employee used my personal cell phone to call her friend at the central office and ask for a favor...

After 10 years in Buenos Aires I moved to Amsterdam late last year to take a break from the quilombo and was shocked how many ways to get residency there are here and how friendly and efficient they were compared to Argentina. I've never seen so many freelancing Americans than here, all you need to do is present a business plan for remote work and spend more than $4500 a year in the local economy. The government literally sent me a gift basket of local food products and a hand written welcome card after I got approved (2 weeks after applying).

I also live in the Netherlands at present and was equally shocked at the efficiency and solution-oriented culture here. When I first arrived I was able to set up all utilities (internet, electricity, gas and water) in less than 20 minutes without leaving my house. That's less than 20 minutes for all 4 of them. Even when the agent on the other side of the line found a problem (the system wasn't taking my IBAN for some reason), he offered a solution that would still allow me to complete the order. In Argentina, I would have had to call again tomorrow because no hay sistema or something.

Anyway, there are always trade-off's of course. An Argie friend of mine once told a Swiss friend "you may have a stable economy but we have sunshine," and that pretty much sums it up. In Argentina you put up with sh*t but you have nice weather and get to eat out everyday for less than what you spend here in groceries. You can't have it both ways.

 

[milanesas]

I also live in the Netherlands at present and was equally shocked at the efficiency and solution-oriented culture here. When I first arrived I was able to set up all utilities (internet, electricity, gas and water) in less than 20 minutes without leaving my house. That's less than 20 minutes for all 4 of them. Even when the agent on the other side of the line found a problem (the system wasn't taking my IBAN for some reason), he offered a solution that would still allow me to complete the order. In Argentina, I would have had to call again tomorrow because no hay sistema or something.

Anyway, there are always trade-off's of course. An Argie friend of mine once told a Swiss friend "you may have a stable economy but we have sunshine," and that pretty much sums it up. In Argentina you put up with sh*t but you have nice weather and get to eat out everyday for less than what you spend here in groceries. You can't have it both ways.

Totally agree. There are parts of the Netherlands that I do not like nearly as much as Argentina (food, friends, warm culture etc). I think the most eye opening part of living here a year has been me changing my definition of "quality of life." In Argentina I lived like a king and could basically do whatever I pleased quite literally, but the poverty, drama and lack of forward looking culture/government got to me after so many years and I don't see that changing in Argentina unfortunately. The efficiency and practicality of things in Amsterdam is amazing, but my biggest respect is for the country's investment in education, healthcare, providing everyone tools to be a self-sufficient asset to the country and helping both businesses and individuals with a safety net really allows everyone to stay calm and develop. I have a group of Argentine friends in Amsterdam and many of them are working class people from the interior, have lived here less than a year and are now happy homeowners, save money and in one person's case is now building a vacation house in Argentina! The weather is terrible 9 months a year, but at least for now I can deal with it. I am interested to see how I view Buenos Aires when I'm able to visit again, at least personally I really started to turn a blind eye to so much poverty, villas, crime, corruption etc after so many years there.

 

[Irelander]

by "entrepreneurs" the author of the article seems to be imagining an influx of higher income business people, when in reality it will probably mean more expats of modest means teaching English remotely

Quite true. Jurisdictions, such as those in the Caribbean, that are seeking to attract this type of remote-working professionals do it through tax-break incentives. As it is, the currently applicable 'impuesto a los bienes personales' would make Argentina a non-starter.

 

[Iznogud]

What a bunch of crap.
The communications companies, the backbone of any digital activity, were accused by Cristina of a lot of insane practiced - not suitable for anybody else but her - and scared them of investing localyfor fesr of being nationalized. Clarin miente was the motto that prevented the proper maintenance and development of a decent, nationwide, 3G and the companies stuck to selling cellphones and service instead of expanding coverage and improving the networks.

On a user perspective, how much do you like living in a market where Apple is not welcomed, PC hardware choices are always close to vanilla and the products, at best , are the cheapest home use line, not the enterprise one, and the LA neutered versions, not the original specs one?

Come november, all hardware stops being imported until March or April on a good year. Been in the business since the late 80s.

Iz

 

[antipodean]

Totally agree. There are parts of the Netherlands that I do not like nearly as much as Argentina (food, friends, warm culture etc). I think the most eye opening part of living here a year has been me changing my definition of "quality of life." In Argentina I lived like a king and could basically do whatever I pleased quite literally, but the poverty, drama and lack of forward looking culture/government got to me after so many years and I don't see that changing in Argentina unfortunately. The efficiency and practicality of things in Amsterdam is amazing, but my biggest respect is for the country's investment in education, healthcare, providing everyone tools to be a self-sufficient asset to the country and helping both businesses and individuals with a safety net really allows everyone to stay calm and develop. I have a group of Argentine friends in Amsterdam and many of them are working class people from the interior, have lived here less than a year and are now happy homeowners, save money and in one person's case is now building a vacation house in Argentina! The weather is terrible 9 months a year, but at least for now I can deal with it. I am interested to see how I view Buenos Aires when I'm able to visit again, at least personally I really started to turn a blind eye to so much poverty, villas, crime, corruption etc after so many years there.

You get what you pay for in Argentina.
Argentina will appeal to low cost digital nomads (and generally speaking, expats) who want a bit of an adventure while still enjoying some semblance of first world comforts. Minus the first world convenience, stability, safety and quality of course.

Most expats I know who have left Argentina never look back - once the adventure is over it is just a series of fond memories and nostalgia that’s ultimately just not worth the stress on a long term basis. Especially those still in the prime of their life.

 

[QuilmesSlo]

Great concept; easy to be doubtful about the execution.

Still, as much as it seems things never change ... sometimes, they do. Time will tell.

 

[dspt]

Looks like the website for this program is now up:

BA Global

baglobal.buenosaires.gob.ar

A little incomplete and light on the details so far (one PDF link goes to an empty document), also no mention of the "special visa" they plan to create.