I am applying for a CDI and I understand various AFIP offices do things differently. Having already been to one AFIP and been sent home, as the guy at the desk said I needed a local to apply on my behalf, I decided to get a certificate of domicile first as I read this may be needed and I didn't want to delay the process.
Last week I went to get the certificate and was told that my Italian passport was in Italian, French, and English... but not Spanish, so I had to get an official translation. I found an official translator, picked up the document from her, and then brought it to the Colegio de Traductores Públicos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires to have it further authenticated.
Today I went back to the BsAs office with my two witnesses and everything was accepted -- but not before the manager of the office gave me a Spanish exam prior to signing off on the certificate. He insisted that I be able to answer his questions in Spanish before he signed. Mainly he wanted to know why I had an Italian passport if I was born in the US, and whether that posed a problem at migraciones. I was able to answer his questions, although I am in the process of learning Spanish, and he acted like he would refuse to grant me the certificate of domicile because at first it was hard for me to understand him as he was speaking fast. I think he wanted to be sure I understood Spanish and knew what I was signing -- fair enough, but I did spend some time slowly reading the document to make sure I understood it and I looked up a few things with Google Translator when I was in doubt.
Perhaps the best part: the main functionary behind the desk added a line to the document where I was to declare myself indigent and unable to pay for the certificate. He suggested that this is how things are done, and it was a self-certification and would save me money. Now my plan is to buy an apartment here, so I do not want to use a document stating I cannot afford the very document itself in the process of buying a place. Also it is $12 which is not much and I do not mind helping possibly to support BsAs, although it is a drop in the ocean, because I think the city is generally well run and of course it needs funds. So I had to push a bit for that line to be removed but finally I was allowed to pay! At first he told me the process had changed and it was now free but then he explained to me that this self-certification was required for the special treatment. It was nice for him to offer of course, but I just found it a strange contrast/juxtaposition to the extra time and costs of the passport translation and subsequent double certification of that translation by officially certified individuals/organizations.
So, for the questions to everyone... is it normal to have to translate a passport like this? I thought I was used to bureaucracy but found this crazy as a passport is literally the one document accepted by every single country on Earth. And how about the impromptu Spanish exam?
Last week I went to get the certificate and was told that my Italian passport was in Italian, French, and English... but not Spanish, so I had to get an official translation. I found an official translator, picked up the document from her, and then brought it to the Colegio de Traductores Públicos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires to have it further authenticated.
Today I went back to the BsAs office with my two witnesses and everything was accepted -- but not before the manager of the office gave me a Spanish exam prior to signing off on the certificate. He insisted that I be able to answer his questions in Spanish before he signed. Mainly he wanted to know why I had an Italian passport if I was born in the US, and whether that posed a problem at migraciones. I was able to answer his questions, although I am in the process of learning Spanish, and he acted like he would refuse to grant me the certificate of domicile because at first it was hard for me to understand him as he was speaking fast. I think he wanted to be sure I understood Spanish and knew what I was signing -- fair enough, but I did spend some time slowly reading the document to make sure I understood it and I looked up a few things with Google Translator when I was in doubt.
Perhaps the best part: the main functionary behind the desk added a line to the document where I was to declare myself indigent and unable to pay for the certificate. He suggested that this is how things are done, and it was a self-certification and would save me money. Now my plan is to buy an apartment here, so I do not want to use a document stating I cannot afford the very document itself in the process of buying a place. Also it is $12 which is not much and I do not mind helping possibly to support BsAs, although it is a drop in the ocean, because I think the city is generally well run and of course it needs funds. So I had to push a bit for that line to be removed but finally I was allowed to pay! At first he told me the process had changed and it was now free but then he explained to me that this self-certification was required for the special treatment. It was nice for him to offer of course, but I just found it a strange contrast/juxtaposition to the extra time and costs of the passport translation and subsequent double certification of that translation by officially certified individuals/organizations.
So, for the questions to everyone... is it normal to have to translate a passport like this? I thought I was used to bureaucracy but found this crazy as a passport is literally the one document accepted by every single country on Earth. And how about the impromptu Spanish exam?
