Coming Next Year-How to prepare

[jayjane]

Hey everyone,

I am heading down next year to live. My husband is from Buenos Aires and we hope this move is for quite a while if not a permanent move. We can´t help that we love our friends and family there. What types of preparations would you all suggest? We do know the challenges of living there and thought we may try to pick up some extra skills while we still can before we come. Any ideas? Bartending, graphic design,
What is in demand?

 

[fifs2]

Systems engineering -with good English will make you very popular here...basic programming also...good graphic designers are pretty easy to come by as are bartenders..project managers are another derth in the market so if you have time to do a brief PM course that will also stand you in very good stead...

 

[jayjane]

Thanks for the info. I actually have some PM graduate courses under my belt. Maybe I will brush up/build on some of that knowledge. I appreciate your honest answer. I feel like forums like this are a great place for ex-pats to complain and I know sometimes you just need to. But I was half-expecting a negative, "why would you want to move here" comment.

 

[French jurist]

What types of preparations would you all suggest?

To prepare yourself as a future portena, you can do the following exercises :
- wait 30 minutes on purpose everytime you go to the bank
- wait 45 minutes on purpose everytime you go to the post office
- cross the street with your eyes closed
- deliberately walk in dog poos in the street
- trying to enter a bus/metro before the passengers inside exit
- in the traffic while driving, putting your turnlight on the right while turning on the left
-etc etc..

You'll feel immediately as a porteno/a once you arrive here

 

[elhombresinnombre]

You don't specifically say that your husband is an Argentine citizen but if he is then as his wife you would be entitled to apply for residency on that basis. If you are not already in posession of Argentine residency and depending on where you live now and your nationality, you may find it easier to apply in advance through your local Argentine Consulate than to wait until you arrive. Or not. As I say it rather depends on your nationality and current location. But in my opinion it would be worth finding out which is easiest while you have the choice.

 

[Roxana]

google ministerio del interior argentina visas. There you will find if your country has agreements with Argentina and then you may need less paperwork or not. The website has a lot of information in Spanish. It also has a phone number to call for information and to make an appointment (turno)

 

[Napoleon]

To prepare yourself as a future portena, you can do the following exercises :
- wait 30 minutes on purpose everytime you go to the bank
- wait 45 minutes on purpose everytime you go to the post office
- cross the street with your eyes closed
- deliberately walk in dog poos in the street
- trying to enter a bus/metro before the passengers inside exit
- in the traffic while driving, putting your turnlight on the right while turning on the left
-etc etc..

You'll feel immediately as a porteno/a once you arrive here

While all good points, if you would like to get a Citibank GOLD Card (Credit Card or Debit Card) before you come, they could save you 30 minutes to an hour EACH WEEK. I didn't even realize that I had a Gold Citibank credit card my first YEAR here in BsAs and have rarely waited longer than 5 minutes since I discovered this. AND this week I've been given AR$50 in monedas (coins), which are practically gold in this country.

PS- Practice waiting 30 minutes in grocery store lines as the checkout person has a conversation with ever person in front of you.

 

[HenryNisental]

A few security items, like:
A beretta or taurus 9mm (or .40 s&w)
a colt (or s&w) .357 magnum (you can register them here)
plenty o ammo
cans of mace
a bulletproof vest for each

 

[emilyr]

For the love of all things holy, get your d*** fingerprints done in the United States BEFORE you come here. And submit multiple sets in your FBI requests.

If you are, indeed, the wife of an Argentine and entitled to a visa...or even if you just find a job that entitles you to a work visa, your federal police record will be part of your visa process.

Wait to do it until soon before you leave because they supposedly "expire" after 6 months of their date. They take up to 3 months to process, plus 25 days at the US Deparment of State for the Apostille. You could easily have them or a family member mail them (certified only will do!) for you here.

My problem is the FBI keeps rejecting my fingerprints, so I cannot get my police record. And I am not the only one; I have met other expats with the same problem recently. You may be lucky and not have dud fingers like us, though.

But if you do, be warned! The embassy here is no help; they send you to the local police station where you go down to a concrete basement for old fashioned fingerprints. The Argentine police are super nice, and the fingerprints look fine to me, but apparently they do not meet FBI standards! At the very least buy some of that special lotion: ridge builders to bring with you here to get the fingerprints! It will save you a headache.

 

[emilyr]

Also, there are many great posts here about bank account issues (search the forums for "bank account"), unless you want to pay 14 pesos every time you withdraw 200 dollars...or any amount. A few times is ok, but if you live here and it's your only access to cash, it gets ridiculous. You will want to open a bank that lets you access your cash free from here. You can bring up to 10,000 dollars cash legally on your person, which is the cheapest transfer to put into an Argentine bank (don't declare it on the paper - and you don't have to, so you are not marked and robbed on your way out the airport), but you still may be entitled to taxes on it, not sure.

Just resolve that money issue from the get go, by opening another account in the States. It will give you peace of mind right away once you land here!