Cost of living/immigration from Europe

[Chris_Porto]

Hello all,

I currently live in Portugal and earn between €1000 and €2000 per month working freelance as a professional translator for European clients. My partner does the same so our yearly combined income is approximately €36,000 before tax/deductions so let's say around €30,000 net. We have lived in Buenos Aires before (worked and studied for over a year) and are keen to move back at some point. I have two main questions:

1. With a joint income of approximately AR$165k per year I am assuming we could live quite well in Buenos Aires but am worried about inflation as I know this is obviously a serious problem in Argentina. In terms of living costs, what would a couple, with a more or less middle class standard of living expect to be paying monthly at present (I last lived in Argentina in 2007 so prices are probably very different now) let's say including all food, rent (2 bedroom modern apartment in Belgrano/Palermo preferably probably with a cleaner once or twice a week) and bills + additional expenses (cinema, restaurants a few times a week)?

2. We have EU passports and are both educated to Masters level. How difficult would it be to get a visa?

Thanks to in advance for your help.

 

[xibeca]

1. BA is not that cheap anymore. If you're looking for a cheap place to live, you might wanna consider an other country.

2. I'd say your best bet is citizenship, if Portugal allows dual citizenship. Check out this thread:
http://baexpats.org/expat-life/10837-argentine-citizenship-foreigners-19.html

 

[mini]

There are many many things here in Argentina that are more expensive than in Portugal including coffee, going out to eat, drinks, beer, movies, veg & meat, phone & Internet. Rent is about the same, depending on where you are living in Portugal, maybe a bit less than Lisbon. But with that type of salary you should have a nice life. How long 30% inflation will last is an unknown.

I would say you won't be able to afford a car though.

 

[milly]

2. We have EU passports and are both educated to Masters level. How difficult would it be to get a visa?

As far as I know there are no visas for freelancers. You'd have to be employed by somebody.

 

[Chris_Porto]

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far.

My estimate regarding our earnings is the absolute minimum; we generally earn around 25-50% more but I'm trying to be conservative to get an idea of our standard of living in the worst possible case scenario. I understand that Argentina isn't necessarily cheap to live in or relocate to (I've visited five times in the last 8 years so have seen prices all over the place!) but we both realise this and would still like to live in Buenos Aires; it's somewhere we both truly love. We currently live in Portugal's second city so our cost of living here is lower than it is in Lisbon (by perhaps 10-15% overall). Living in Buenos Aires would almost certainly be more expensive than living in Porto.

The other option regarding visas/residency that we were considering, as it may be tricky to get a visa to set up as independent entrepreneurs, would be to set up a business together. We had already considered doing that here in the EU, for tax/admin purposes so it could be an option in Argentina. I understand that there is a visa which is geared towards people setting up businesses in the country. I already have dual nationality within the EU (Irish/British) but as far as I am aware the EU allows dual (and perhaps even multiple) citizenship.

With regards to affording a car we aren't too bothered as the taxi/bus networks are much better in Argentina than they are here.

Thanks again for your help. If anyone has any more advice I would appreciate it.

 

[Amargo]

I would say you won't be able to afford a car though.

What???? AR$165k per year and not able to own a car!?? You must be kidding, unless you are talking about a Porsche or Mercedes.
For that money one can live really well!

 

[mini]

The other option regarding visas/residency that we were considering, as it may be tricky to get a visa to set up as independent entrepreneurs, would be to set up a business together. We had already considered doing that here in the EU, for tax/admin purposes so it could be an option in Argentina. I understand that there is a visa which is geared towards people setting up businesses in the country.

I believe the investment visas (the one to set up your own company) has been suspended. If you have US$2,000 in passive income (dividends, annuities, pensions), you could get a visa rentista.

But just do what others do, come as a tourist & over stay your visa, pay the fee when you leave. That's what many people do.

What???? AR$165k per year and not able to own a car!?? You must be kidding, unless you are talking about a Porsche or Mercedes.
For that money one can live really well!

Maybe a slight exaggeration. You probably could get a car but the expenses are much more than the OP would spend in Portugal. Cars are expensive in Portugal, but they are even more expensive here. I'm talking about a new-ish, modern, safe care, not some POS.

You're limited to the apartment you get and furnished apartments rarely have cochera, or so you'll probably need to rent an external cochera, parking in the city, lease per month, insurance, nafta. It could get bery expensive.

And with everything rising at 25-30% per year.... Best save your Euros and spend the on holidays and flights around the country, (which are also much more expensive that flights in Europe, as are the hotels BTW).

 

[Lamb]

Why would you leave Porto, its such a nice town

 

[citygirl]

What???? AR$165k per year and not able to own a car!?? You must be kidding, unless you are talking about a Porsche or Mercedes.
For that money one can live really well!

Sigh - for those of you that are local, you have NO idea the costs incurred by most expats who don't have access to a guarantia, pay for furnished apts, don't have family and friends to give a discount or do work on your apt for low/no costs, etc, etc. . So no, there is no guarantee that the OP would be able to afford a card (which starts at about 40.000 pesos to buy a basic model).

Regarding foreign investors - I believe it requires a 1.000.000 peso investment.

If you want to move here & setting up a company here (without having to invest a million pesos), the company requires that the director have residency.

Welcome to the rabbit hole.

 

[katti]

The other option regarding visas/residency that we were considering, as it may be tricky to get a visa to set up as independent entrepreneurs, would be to set up a business together. We had already considered doing that here in the EU, for tax/admin purposes so it could be an option in Argentina. I understand that there is a visa which is geared towards people setting up businesses in the country. I already have dual nationality within the EU (Irish/British) but as far as I am aware the EU allows dual (and perhaps even multiple) citizenship.

As said, you need a local to start up a business....