How realistic is the following dream?

[Warden Kirkpatrick]

Thanks for your indulgence in reading this. It's a bit of a strange scenario I'm contemplating.

I'm a Canadian. I'd like to move to Argentina and live in the far south (the farther the better). I'd work from home, and would need an internet connection of 20 Mbps, for a job that would pay $1600 CAD per month -- paid in CAD to my home bank, and I'd transfer funds locally. I'd probably want at least a 2 bedroom place so that I could have an office for work.

Is it realistic to pull this off? Would there be visa complications for living there in this way?

 

[Warden Kirkpatrick]

Oh, just to clarify, the $1600 CAD per month is totally doable. I'm just wondering about the rest of the stuff, and how far that income would take me.

 

[Fdipo]

It is very realistic. 1600 CAD is enough to live a very good quality upper-middle class lifestyle, presuming you are single. The hardest part would be the visa - I don't think you can qualify as a rentista on work income.

You could always get a visa for studying something easy, like Spanish classes. Those are typically not big time commitments, maybe 6 hours a week at most, and they come with work rights. After 2 years of residence you can apply for citizenship.

 

[sts7049]

the hardest part of your dream will probably be the internet speed, to be honest.

to have any chance of a decent connection, you will need to live in a bigger city. the furthest south i lived was in Neuquen. i didn't have very good speeds in my apartment there, although i'm not sure what the max speed available is from providers.

 

[Warden Kirkpatrick]

Thanks for the responses, guys!

Fdipo, would a student visa like the one you're talking about need to be arranged at an embassy back here in Canada? I saw that we get a 3 month tourist visa on arrival so I was wondering if that's something that could be converted upon arrival.

sts7049, that was my worry as well, and my spanish is nowhere near good enough to know how to research this.

 

[Fdipo]

No, you can arrange the student visa after arriving on a tourist visa. If you take Spanish classes at a reputable university, they will help you with the visa.

 

[erinnanne]

I have to agree on the internet speed issue. I live in La Pampa in a somewhat rural area and the internet is hard to count on. Sometimes using the "hotspot" from my Claro cell phone is faster. If you need faster internet the gas station cafes (YPF) will usually have better service than what you can get residentially.

Also, you'd want to figure out a visa if you want to stay more than a year or so. The tourist visa can be extended and renewed a few times, but immigrations will start to hassle you as some point - especially if they see you are spending most of your time here. That is happening to me now after being here for about a year.

 

[wrangler]

the hardest part of your dream will probably be the internet speed, to be honest.

.

Look into Satellite Internet. It has improved greatly in the last few years, and there are world-wide services.

 

[another]

Thanks for your indulgence in reading this. It's a bit of a strange scenario I'm contemplating.

I'm a Canadian. I'd like to move to Argentina and live in the far south (the farther the better). I'd work from home, and would need an internet connection of 20 Mbps, for a job that would pay $1600 CAD per month -- paid in CAD to my home bank, and I'd transfer funds locally. I'd probably want at least a 2 bedroom place so that I could have an office for work.

Is it realistic to pull this off? Would there be visa complications for living there in this way?

It's not very realistic to have a 2 bedroom ( certainly not the kind we are used to ) on that amount, let along live comfortably, and you never know when the loonie decides to take the next nose dive...

 

[sts7049]

Look into Satellite Internet. It has improved greatly in the last few years, and there are world-wide services.

any recommendations for companies you've used? i didn't know you could get a worldwide service like that.