Doing business in BA

[markvtc]

I am British, my girlfriend is Filipina..we have travelled and lived all over for the last 4 years..Colombia for 3 months last year and Mexico City for a month earlier this year (2024).
Headed to BA in February 2025, with a view to staying there longer term, getting residency for my girlfriend and perhaps an Argentine passport after 2 years (comparing Spain and Argentina)
Also looking at doing business there, after 10 years of doing business in Philippines, it can't be any worse ?..
Any constructive criticism welcome..

 

[antipodean]

I am British, my girlfriend is Filipina..we have travelled and lived all over for the last 4 years..Colombia for 3 months last year and Mexico City for a month earlier this year (2024).
Headed to BA in February 2025, with a view to staying there longer term, getting residency for my girlfriend and perhaps an Argentine passport after 2 years (comparing Spain and Argentina)
Also looking at doing business there, after 10 years of doing business in Philippines, it can't be any worse ?..
Any constructive criticism welcome..

Anything is possible. Really depends what kind of business and what kind of ambitions you have… but in general who you know counts far more than what you know in terms of making things happen.

Also, forget everything they ever thought you at business school - erase it from your mind - just make sure you can (a) understand and (b) keep up with the flow.

 

[steveinbsas]

Headed to BA in February 2025, with a view to staying there longer term, getting residency for my girlfriend and perhaps an Argentine passport after 2 years (comparing Spain and Argentina)

After two years of "legal temporary residency" you would be able to apply for an Argentine passport and that will add about a year to the limeline.

Do you already know which category of temporary residency you would be able to apply for? You mentioned "doing business" here. There is a category called the "invstor visa" which, in addition to making a monetary investment, requires emplying Argentines and may also require having an Argentine business partner.

There is very little information about this visa in the forum. I don't think anyone has posted about applying for or getting one in a number of years.

Legal temporary residency is require to get the DNI. Without one you would not be able start a "legal" business, though you might be able to sell in Facebook marketplace. With a DNI you can start your own business without Argentine employees or an Argentine partner, but your temporary residency would have to in category other than the investor visa.

 

[antipodean]

Do you already know which category of temporary residency you would be able to apply for? You mentioned "doing business" here. There is a category called the "invstor visa" which, in addition to making a monetary investment, requires emplying Argentines and may also require having an Argentine business partner.

There is very little information about this visa in the forum. I don't think anyone has posted about applying for or getting one in a number of years.

The advice I received from my lawyers (and indeed a very senior person at Migraciones) years ago was not to go down the path of an investor or rentista visa, just set up my company, register it with migraciones and hire myself by that company so that after renewing the temporary residence for two years I could simply apply for permanent without any hassle. It was all very straightforward at the time and having the status of an "employee" really simplified getting things done on a day to day basis (e.g. banks, credit, AFIP/ARCA, ANSES, obra social, signing documents, buying and contracting things etc) since simply being a non-employed director or shareholder even as an Argentine citizen usually incurs more supporting documentation and different processes to do practically anything which can be a PITA - let alone adding the layer of being a foreigner on top of it.

 

[Musicman]

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I am British, my girlfriend is Filipina..we have travelled and lived all over for the last 4 years..Colombia for 3 months last year and Mexico City for a month earlier this year (2024).
Headed to BA in February 2025, with a view to staying there longer term, getting residency for my girlfriend and perhaps an Argentine passport after 2 years (comparing Spain and Argentina)
Also looking at doing business there, after 10 years of doing business in Philippines, it can't be any worse ?..
Any constructive criticism welcome

I am British, my girlfriend is Filipina..we have travelled and lived all over for the last 4 years..Colombia for 3 months last year and Mexico City for a month earlier this year (2024).
Headed to BA in February 2025, with a view to staying there longer term, getting residency for my girlfriend and perhaps an Argentine passport after 2 years (comparing Spain and Argentina)
Also looking at doing business there, after 10 years of doing business in Philippines, it can't be any worse ?..
Any constructive criticism welcome..

If you work in the Oil & Gas Industry for an international company it can be great place to work especially if you can get paid in USD

 

[markvtc]

Anything is possible. Really depends what kind of business and what kind of ambitions you have… but in general who you know counts far more than what you know in terms of making things happen.

Also, forget everything they ever thought you at business school - erase it from your mind - just make sure you can (a) understand and (b) keep up with the flow.

I never went to business school, so never had to unlearn anything, ..
I am semi retired now, but still a tech entrepreneur, with businesses including elearning, software developmemt, retail, media and renewable energy.. I don't need residency for me but looking for easiest path for my girlfriend. However, I am interested in perhaps blockchain and software development there, possibly creating a cafe/workspace for networking and education, and my girlfriend wants to set up a beauty salon, but will see what opportunities are there when we get there and can explore more.....
@antipodean - done what your lawyers recommended the same way in USA, Australia, Panama and even Philippines in the past..it's just easier to set up a company, hire a manager, and employ oneself.....however, in Philippines they make it pretty easy.. deposit 20k usd, get retirement investor residency visa within a few weeks.
Anyway, just at the start of research, so still learning..

 

[antipodean]

I never went to business school, so never had to unlearn anything, ..
I am semi retired now, but still a tech entrepreneur, with businesses including elearning, software developmemt, retail, media and renewable energy.. I don't need residency for me but looking for easiest path for my girlfriend. However, I am interested in perhaps blockchain and software development there, possibly creating a cafe/workspace for networking and education, and my girlfriend wants to set up a beauty salon, but will see what opportunities are there when we get there and can explore more.....
@antipodean - done what your lawyers recommended the same way in USA, Australia, Panama and even Philippines in the past..it's just easier to set up a company, hire a manager, and employ oneself.....however, in Philippines they make it pretty easy.. deposit 20k usd, get retirement investor residency visa within a few weeks.
Anyway, just at the start of research, so still learning..

If your business plan will focus on local clients, ni hablar, it's all going to be part of the fun of being part of the game.

If your business plan will focus on foreign clients, you'd probably be better off setting up a company outside of Argentina and coming here as some kind of digital nomads working remotely (e.g. your GF could work for your company as a consultant) unless/ until you decide it will be your permanent home or perhaps both come as retirees with some kind of hustle (that of course, you should structure legally) if you also have a passive income source from abroad that would qualify you for this kind of visa. Unfortunately there is a still a disproportionately high level of complexity and taxation involved in running an Argentine company, especially across borders, that I would suggest is just is not worth it unless you (a) really have the intention to make Argentina your home because you love the place and/ or (b) have much more to gain than time, money and sanity to loose. He who forewarns does not betray.

 

[markvtc]

If your business plan will focus on local clients, ni hablar, it's all going to be part of the fun of being part of the game.

If your business plan will focus on foreign clients, you'd probably be better off setting up a company outside of Argentina and coming here as some kind of digital nomads working remotely (e.g. your GF could work for your company as a consultant) unless/ until you decide it will be your permanent home or perhaps both come as retirees with some kind of hustle (that of course, you should structure legally) if you also have a passive income source from abroad that would qualify you for this kind of visa. Unfortunately there is a still a disproportionately high level of complexity and taxation involved in running an Argentine company, especially across borders, that I would suggest is just is not worth it unless you (a) really have the intention to make Argentina your home because you love the place and/ or (b) have much more to gain than time, money and sanity to loose. He who forewarns does not betray.

I am not intending to come there to make money..just looking for a good place to enjoy life and improve our Spanish, but I would be bored if I didn't get into the local tech scene in one way or another.. Money is not an issue, just want to find out most efficient ways to do stuff, and get my partner on the right path, legally...

 

[steveinbsas]

I don't need residency for me but looking for easiest path for my girlfriend.

If you come to Argentine to live with your girlfriend, why wouldn't you also need residency here?

Do you already have permanent residency or citizenship in Argentina or do you plan to spend less than six months of the year here...or indefinitely overstay an extended tourist permit?

Many expats without residency constantly worry a great deal about their situation, and I'm sure they would greatly appreciate any relevant information you might be able to provide.

 

[Lanick]

Doing business here is like getting into bed with a bear!!!