I'm a U.S. Citizen, mom born in Argentina, how can I move there?

[Greenman]

If your mom was from argentina then you can get a permanent visa no questions asked.
In you are under 21 you could even get automatic citizenship no questions asked (even if you have a bad criminal record).

The best way to do it is at the Argentine consulate in the US.
The paperwork can be cumbersome, the argentine system is VERY burocratic and the worse hassels are due to ignorance and ineficiency and not bad will.

If you need more info feel free to write to me

[email protected]

 

[la vie est belle]

Thank you for all the advice everyone, this has been very helpful! I will definitely come back to these boards once I'm in BA, seems like we have a great community of expats hehe.

I'm not too worried about dealing with the bureaucracy, I lived in France... I'm not sure bureaucracy gets much worse than that.... hahaha.

It's great to know I'm still eligible for permanent residency. My goal in moving is to discover my roots (my mom seriously knows nothing about Argentina nor does she give a crap haha) and finally become fluent in Spanish, getting a beautiful Argentine accent in the process!

Just need to figure out what kind of jobs would be good for me over there... I'm sure I could pick up the Spanish pretty fast, I have a base and can "get by" on day-to-day stuff...but am definitely not fluent... I became fluent in French pretty fast though so I'm guessing it'll be the same for Spanish! So angry my mom didn't teach me!

 

[syngirl]

I'm not too worried about dealing with the bureaucracy, I lived in France... I'm not sure bureaucracy gets much worse than that.... hahaha.

You won't believe how much worse it can get. Getting your visa sorted out will give you a tiny taste though...

 

[Bajo_cero2]

I think you missed the point that the poster does not want to be an Argentine citizen. S/he only wants to live here for a while. So we are talking about residency not citizenship. Can you comment on that? What are his/her options to get residency as a child on an Argentine?

I didn´t.

As a native´s son you should go for citizenship. I double checked and there was a change in the law and my suggestion about going to a federal judge is right.

Why to do this? You need only your passport to become argentinian. If you have certified photocopies of the whole pages of your mom´s passport this is enough. You have to evidence your family relationship, only that. And federal judges don´t have to follow those stupid bureaucrat rules about apostille, translations and bla, bla, bla.

You don´t need your criminal record neither the birth certificate (But I suggest you get it with the apostille).

At DGM they have 20 working days to reply, the judge do that in 3. If you push the envelope you might have the citizenship in 3 days.

So, the procesure is without bureaucracy, less expensive (no traslators, no fee, no apostille, no lawyers or paralegals, etc, etc) and faster. Once you have your citizenship you get your dni as argentinians, you get an appointment by phone and they give it to you in the same day.

You can quit your argentinian citizenship any time you want. We don´t have conscript service and only a war every 100 years.

Regards

 

[Red & Lady Mink]

why would you want to ever move here? and work?...Did your mom come to US legally? not knowing here status as of right now...If not then it could open doors (worst case scenario) that she could be sent back here if you probe into this too much...Finding a job as a US citizen will be very difficult considering most people here want jobs and get paid little and with inflation...first rethink this whole plan of moving to argentina, its not as romantic as it sounds anymore.

 

[la vie est belle]

Why wouldn't I want to move there, at least for a little while? I probably wouldn't stay more than a year (or more if I felt like it), it's not like I want to live there permanently. I want the residency status because I have friends living there on a tourist visa and life is much easier with a DNI.

I just want to learn Spanish... and it's not like I want a serious job that I'd be stealing from locals, I'd probably just end up teaching English like every other anglophone in Buenos Aires. Seriously what else is there that I can do if I don't speak Spanish? It's not like I'm expecting to get paid a lot either, I wouldn't move to Argentina if my goal was making money.

And yes I'm sure my mom came to the U.S. legally, her and my grandmother both have citizenship... she's been here since the early 60's I honestly don't see the risk.

why would you want to ever move here? and work?...Did your mom come to US legally? not knowing here status as of right now...If not then it could open doors (worst case scenario) that she could be sent back here if you probe into this too much...Finding a job as a US citizen will be very difficult considering most people here want jobs and get paid little and with inflation...first rethink this whole plan of moving to argentina, its not as romantic as it sounds anymore.

 

[la vie est belle]

I didn´t.

As a native´s son you should go for citizenship. I double checked and there was a change in the law and my suggestion about going to a federal judge is right.

Unfortunately having dual citizenship could have implications on my future job so that's not really an option, and I just want to live there for a little while. Thanks for all the advice though!