Hi All,
I'm new to this forum. Next year I'd like to go to Argentina for an extended stay, like maybe 6 months to a year. My primary goals are to improve my Spanish, learn about the culture, and just have the experience of living abroad in my father's native country. I'm not sure how things will turn out, but perhaps I will also want to work there, maybe I’ll fall in love and want to stay for a much longer stay, who knows. Therefore, since my dad is Argentine, I've decided to start the citizenship process. I've been all excited about it for the last several weeks, slowly getting all my docs together and recently have received his birth certificate from Argentina. My next step is to have his name corrected on my birth certificate so it matches his name on his birth certificate. Anyways...this is all leading up to the reason for my post.
I was referred to a translator and I called her today. I started asking her about her fee, where she was located, etc... She asked me why I needed this, and I told her I wanted to get Argentine citizenship. Her reaction was one of complete astonishment - “You want Argentine citizenship!!!! Why would you want that?” She seemed to go into some emotional tirade of warning me about it with comments like “You should be careful” “I’m warning you” “It’s dangerous” “You will not be able to get help from the US Embassy” “You should consult a lawyer”. And more. I said, “Well it’s been a long time and things have changed”. She said, “Well not completely”. All of this very negative energy. It was very disturbing, brought me down, and really took me off my high of achieving my goal. She began to explain how she lived there during the dirty war and she was a teacher and she had to leave the country and her property was confiscated, 1,300 teachers were killed, etc… She herself was not Argentine, by the way. But, she had lived there for 16 years and came to the US in the 70’s.
From all of that I could then understand why she was so down on getting the citizenship. She had all these horrible memories of the country. She obviously was traumatized. Anyway, this did give me pause about what I am doing. So, it basically led me to a few questions about the DISDAVANTAGES of becoming an Argentine citizen. I’ve read some of the posts about citizenship, but maybe just haven’t found it yet. So, here are my specific questions:
(1) So what is the deal anyway if I enter Argentina as a citizen and God forbid I am involved in some legal difficulty where I am imprisoned (of course I would be innocent
) or who knows what? Could the US Embassy help me at all?
(2) What’s the deal with taxes, really? Do I really have to pay Argentina and the US on my US income after I return. I can’t imagine that. Then I’d be paying like 60% - 70% taxes. That doesn’t seem to make sense. Isn’t there some time-of-residency-during-the-year law regarding taxes? Or, exemption if you pay your taxes to the US. I don’t remember my father ever mentioning paying taxes to Argentina or getting letters from the Argentine IRS. Perhaps I have to file a tax return as a matter of protocol, but just don’t have to pay?
If the answers to those 2 points above are very negative, then I guess those would certainly be disadvantages.
Are there other disadvantages that I should know about?
Lastly, I’ve also thought of Permanent Residency. Might that actually be a better option? i.e. could the US Embassy still help me and I wouldn’t have to think at all about Argentine taxes?
Are there any other advantages of Permanent Residency over Citizenship, or vice versa?
I have read another thread on Permanent Residency, but it doesn’t seem to answer my questions above.
Thanks all in advance for any feedback. I’m going to have to make this decision within the next several weeks, and I don’t want to make a decision that I will regret.
sab15
I'm new to this forum. Next year I'd like to go to Argentina for an extended stay, like maybe 6 months to a year. My primary goals are to improve my Spanish, learn about the culture, and just have the experience of living abroad in my father's native country. I'm not sure how things will turn out, but perhaps I will also want to work there, maybe I’ll fall in love and want to stay for a much longer stay, who knows. Therefore, since my dad is Argentine, I've decided to start the citizenship process. I've been all excited about it for the last several weeks, slowly getting all my docs together and recently have received his birth certificate from Argentina. My next step is to have his name corrected on my birth certificate so it matches his name on his birth certificate. Anyways...this is all leading up to the reason for my post.
I was referred to a translator and I called her today. I started asking her about her fee, where she was located, etc... She asked me why I needed this, and I told her I wanted to get Argentine citizenship. Her reaction was one of complete astonishment - “You want Argentine citizenship!!!! Why would you want that?” She seemed to go into some emotional tirade of warning me about it with comments like “You should be careful” “I’m warning you” “It’s dangerous” “You will not be able to get help from the US Embassy” “You should consult a lawyer”. And more. I said, “Well it’s been a long time and things have changed”. She said, “Well not completely”. All of this very negative energy. It was very disturbing, brought me down, and really took me off my high of achieving my goal. She began to explain how she lived there during the dirty war and she was a teacher and she had to leave the country and her property was confiscated, 1,300 teachers were killed, etc… She herself was not Argentine, by the way. But, she had lived there for 16 years and came to the US in the 70’s.
From all of that I could then understand why she was so down on getting the citizenship. She had all these horrible memories of the country. She obviously was traumatized. Anyway, this did give me pause about what I am doing. So, it basically led me to a few questions about the DISDAVANTAGES of becoming an Argentine citizen. I’ve read some of the posts about citizenship, but maybe just haven’t found it yet. So, here are my specific questions:
(1) So what is the deal anyway if I enter Argentina as a citizen and God forbid I am involved in some legal difficulty where I am imprisoned (of course I would be innocent
) or who knows what? Could the US Embassy help me at all?(2) What’s the deal with taxes, really? Do I really have to pay Argentina and the US on my US income after I return. I can’t imagine that. Then I’d be paying like 60% - 70% taxes. That doesn’t seem to make sense. Isn’t there some time-of-residency-during-the-year law regarding taxes? Or, exemption if you pay your taxes to the US. I don’t remember my father ever mentioning paying taxes to Argentina or getting letters from the Argentine IRS. Perhaps I have to file a tax return as a matter of protocol, but just don’t have to pay?
If the answers to those 2 points above are very negative, then I guess those would certainly be disadvantages.
Are there other disadvantages that I should know about?
Lastly, I’ve also thought of Permanent Residency. Might that actually be a better option? i.e. could the US Embassy still help me and I wouldn’t have to think at all about Argentine taxes?
Are there any other advantages of Permanent Residency over Citizenship, or vice versa?
I have read another thread on Permanent Residency, but it doesn’t seem to answer my questions above.
Thanks all in advance for any feedback. I’m going to have to make this decision within the next several weeks, and I don’t want to make a decision that I will regret.
sab15
