Citizenship Through Marriage?

[shawnjames]

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum so this is my first post.

I originally visited Argentina in December 2014 and stayed a little bit past my 3 months (about 4 months). During my stay I met a wonderful girl in which I want to stay with. I left Argentina to the US and came back without any problems. When I came back I rented an apartment here and asked my work if it was possible to work from my apartment here in Argentina as opposed to in the office there that way I could stay with my girlfriend. They accepted, so now I have been working in Argentina for a little bit over a month, so I have constant income (I read somewhere that constant income is a requisite for citizenship). I am hoping to stay in Argentina forever, but I am scared that it will be hard to do because I have already passed my 90 days. Me and my Argentina girlfriend are already planning on getting married at some point so I am wondering if getting married would make it available for me to get my Citizenship a lot quicker, and how I could go about doing that. Hopefully someone here has experience with getting married to an Argentine and getting citizenship.

Thank you in advance!

Shawn.

 

[bdk1]

Getting married will give you permanent residency and you'll be able to stay forever, leaving and coming back as many times and/or for as long as you want. Citizenship is a completely different thing and it will take a few years - why do you want to get it?

 

[shawnjames]

I would like to be able to open a bank account, have a DNI, and everything along those lines. I suppose that permanent residency would be able to achieve all of that but I've also liked the idea of being a citizen. If something were to go wrong and me and my future wife were to not break up at one point, would that affect my permanent residency at all or is it really "permanent"?

EDIT: I also really dislike the USA and their government, and while I am not quite ready to denounce my US citizenship I would like to be a citizen of Argentina just in case.

 

[Girino]

How old are you? You are sounding nuts.

1) You could come here on a different VISA, marrying to have residency is quite dumb. You should get married for the right reason. It costs $15 to get married and a lot more to divorce!
2) You can get citizenship even without marrying, but it takes quite a long time. But if you get married, you'll get immediately perm. res. (or so to speak, around 6 months to process your application)
3) I think you've been here too shortly to think on a clear mind.

Check out this other thread: http://baexpats.org/...ion-for-dummies

 

[ElCordobés]

My wife and I did both. First permanent residency and then citizenship. If you want to skip the residency part--hire Bajo_cero2 You will see his name throughout the forum.

If you want to follow my process. Read here http://baexpats.org/topic/28102-ciudadania-citizenship/ I documented our whole trámite...it's the same for you. We had an Argentine child...you will have an Argentine spouse. There is no effective difference in the process as far as I'm aware.

Once you get your permanent DNI...you can pretty much go straight to the court to start your citizenship process...without the 2-year wait. That said, they might try to make you wait two years...you're exempt due to being married to an Argentine.

Permanent residency could be done in 3-4 weeks (if recent reports track our timeline for permanent residency...the temp residency folks take much longer). Expect 7-18 months to get citizenship from the time you start with the court. You can do it all yourself, assuming your Spanish is reasonable or you have some assistance from a friend or family.

The two-step is cheaper. But if you anxious to move on it--you can't go wrong with Bajo_cero2 aka Dr. Christian Rubilar. He will get you there. Depending on one's perspective in the process of obtaining a second citizenship....he is very affordable. But many will consider it expensive. The great benefit he provides is you can skip some steps and be hands off in the process.

Congrats and good luck.

 

[shawnjames]

Great - I am reading about your experience and it seems like quite a headache to get citizenship.

Serafina - to me marriage is nothing but a piece of paper with religious and legal attachments to it. I could live with someone forever and start a family with them without marrying them because true feelings is what I think are really important.

I would like to be able to travel for more than two years and be able to come back to my home - Argentina - without having any problems. I really want to dissociate myself with the US as much as possible. Something I saw Serafina say in "http://baexpats.org/...y/page__st__60" which was a very good point is that in case of a war to break out, having Argentine citizenship would be much better than permanent residency. How long did it take you to get your permanent residency? That would help to open up a bank account which is one thing I desperately need. Another thing I have been reading is that if you live in Argentina for more than 6 months of the year you have to pay income taxes. I heard from an Argentine friend (born a citizen) that he has a bank account in Paraguay earning USD, and since he is showing Argentina that he is already paying taxes to a different country (Paraguay) that he doesn't have to pay double taxes to Argentina. Is this the case, if I can show that I am paying my income taxes to US do I also have to pay income taxes to Argentina or are they waived?

Also, bdk1 said that you get permanent residency right away when you marry. If I were to get divorced would they take away my permanent residency, or is it pretty much irreversible as long as I am coming back to the country every 2 years and not committing any crimes? I didn't think divorce cost that much, but maybe I am wrong here.

EDIT: I am also in Cordoba instead of BA. Any tips on some good immigration lawyers here? I really have no idea what I'm doing.

 

[Redbeanz]

I really have no idea what I'm doing.

You had me going at first. Good one!

 

[shawnjames]

I've got to start somewhere

 

[ElCordobés]

Great - I am reading about your experience and it seems like quite a headache to get citizenship.


EDIT: I am also in Cordoba instead of BA. Any tips on some good immigration lawyers here? I really have no idea what I'm doing.

It's not bad, just takes some time. It took me more time to write about the process than actually do the process.

Residency took us 3 1/2 hours for three people here in Cordoba. Once you're married--it's really quite straightforward. You just need to get on ordering your FBI background check provided you won't return to the US again before you present it to migraciones. For people who are married or have Argentine kids--I don't see much value to hiring someone unless you're Spanish is really poor, but your spouse will be at the appt with you.

The info/requirement for migraciones is online in English and Spanish and in numerous threads here. Immigration/Citizenship law is on your side here.

Temp residents on the other hand--could often benefit from some assistance if they don't fit one of the categories to qualify or don't have the time to spend on it.

 

[nicoenarg]

Once you get married, you can apply for citizenship the same day. The requirement to be in Argentina for 2 years is waived if you're married to an Argentine. You don't necessarily need to have regular income, either you or your spouse should have it, if your spouse is financially supporting you, she'll have a go to the juzgado with you and sign a statement saying just that. Other requirements that are not waived: You should be at least 18 years old, you should have either your passport, DNI or birth certificate, you should be able to get a police certificate or in your case I think its the FBI report showing that you have not committed any crimes. Some requirements depending on which judge you get are: You should be able to understand and speak Spanish, etc.

If you get permanent residency based on marriage, as far as I understand it, it is revoked if you get divorced because its issued based on ley 616/10 Art 22 A which states "ARTICULO 22.- El extranjero que solicite su residencia permanente deberá acreditar:

a) Ser cónyuge, progenitor o hijo de argentino nativo, naturalizado o por opción; teniendo en cuenta principios de unidad, sostén y con el alcance del derecho de reunificación familiar establecido en la legislación pertinente y en el artículo 10 de la presente Reglamentación."

Other than that, I agree with Serafina, you do sound nuts. If you think you hate the US government and are looking for an escape from all that craziness here then you're in for a really wild ride here in good ole Argentina. But hey, your life. If you want to jump off a cliff go right ahead, I just hope the information I provided above helps you jump without delay.