Immigration For Dummies

[khairyexpat]

................................................................... AT A GLANCE
...................................................... ........... ......... [sup]Worth A 1000 Words[/sup]

..............................................................2 PROCESSES (NON MERCOSUR)
................. ____________________________________|____________________________________
................. |................................................................................................................................................|
...... IMMIGRATION ............................................................................................................. CITIZENSHIP
..................|................................................................................................................................................|
Direccion Nacional de Migraciones.......................................................................................Poder Judicial de la Nacion
..................|.................................................................................................................................. "Federal Court"
..._____.__|____________________________________________________________ .......................|
..|......................|.................|................|....................|..................|...............|.............|..........|.......................|
Pensioner....Rentista......Work......Student........Business........Family.....Artist......Sport....etc .. ...........--...|
..|___________|_____ ___|________|__________|_________|________|______|_____|.......................|
.................|.................................................................................................................................................|
1 week "turno" wait + 2 hours (at Retiro Immigration).....................................................................1 to 3 years
.................|.................................................................................................................................................|
PRECARIA (for 3 month)............................................................................................................................|
.................|.................................................................................................................................................|
Temporary DNI (1st year).................................................................................................... ..........Permanent DNI
.................|................................................................................................................................................+
Temporary DNI (2nd year)...................................................................................................................Passport
.................|................................................................................................................................................+
Temporary DNI (3rd year)..............................................................................................................The Right to Vote
.................|.................................................................................................................................................|
Permanent DNI (end of 3rd year )...........................................................................................................--............|
No Passport & No Voting............................................................................................................................|
.................|.................................................................................................................................................|
Could be lost OR revoked........................................................................................................NEVER lost OR revoked




...................................... ALL DOCUMENTS MUST BE OF ONE OF THE FOLLOWING 5 TYPES
..............................................................(TRANSLATED IF NOT IN SPANISH)
............ .............._______________________________|______________________________
..........................|..........................................................................................................................|
....................LOCAL ........................................................................................................FOREIGN
........._________|_________....................................._________________________________|________________
.........|....................................|...................................|.........................................|..........................................................|
..EXEMPT ............. LEGALIZED ............EXEMPT.................. LEGALIZED .................. .............. APOSTILLED
.........|....................................|...................................|.........................................|..........................................................|
...Argentine....................-......|.............................Passport.......................Valid ONLY for.....................................Valid for ALL
..Antecedentes......................|.........................................................the 2 countries in question...........................countries that
.......and......................--........|.............................................................................|.....................................................signed
..Certificado............Argentine Document...........................[Canadian] Embassy in BA Document Legalized..........the Hague
........de........................Legalized By ........................................by Argentine Ministry of External affairs ...............Convention
...Domicilio...............Argentine Ministry................................. This is the hard way if you are in [Canada]
......................................del Interior....................................................................or............................................................
...................................................................................[Canadian] Document, Notarized by a [Canadian] public
.................................................................................Notary (RCMP exempt), Certified by [Canadian] Ministry of
........................................................................External Affairs. Then Legalized by Argentinean Consular in [Canada].
................................................................................................ This is the hard way if you are in BA.
............................................................................................................................|
..........................................................................................................[substitute your country]




.................................................THE 7 REQUIRED DOCUMENTS AT RETIRO
......................... _______________________________|_____________________________
.........................|.........................................................................................................................|
............. 6 STANDARD.......................................................................................... 1 INDIVIDUAL #21
.........................|.........................................................................................................................|
.......1. Current Valid Passport + (its photocopy) +............................................Corresponds to the visa applied for.
.......(a certified photocopy of the passport that has the....................................(Statement of my Pension [for me])
.......last entry stamp if different from the current valid passport)
.......2. Birth Certificate #10
.......3. Criminal Record [Canadian] #8, #9
.......4. Argentine Antecedentes
.......5. Certificado de Domicilio
.......6. Foto Carnet (if you call that a document)



.....................................................HOW MORE SIMPLE CAN IT BE ?
...............................................................(yet it took me over 9 years)
If I had to do it all over again today, knowing this, I could get my Precaria (from A to Z) in less than 3 weeks.


Citizenship and Immigration are 2 completely separate processes (absolutely nothing to do with each other).
Citizenship can be acquired directly without Immigration. (Unique to Argentina.)

There is NO DNI STAND ALONE PROCESS. One does NOT apply for DNI, .. one applies for Immigration or Citizenship, and a DNI will be issued upon successful completion of either process.



_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IMMIGRATION: The Netty Gritty:

#1.
Your 1st TASK is to select and identify the ONE category (Residency Visa) you choosing to qualify under.

#2.
List of Residency Visas (categories):
#2.1......Pensionado. Retired Passive Income. Monthly Minimum UNSPECIFIED.
.............( I took a gamble and passed with ~ $1120 US. ... Does any one know? )
#2.2......Rentista. Monthly Minimum clearly specified (currently = $2200 US) .
#2.2.1...Rentista: Investment Passive Income ( Rent, ... etc).
#2.2.2...Rentista: Private Active Income (Sales, Service, ... etc ).
#2.2.3...Rentista: Employee of Foreign Employer.
.............For Rentista .. MONTHLY INCOME is the criteria (NOT assets)
.............If you have a million Dollar sitting in the Bank, only the interest is your Monthly Income.
.............If the interest is below $2200 US, then you have to convert some of your $1 million to a Trust Fund
.............that will pay you Monthly Income. Or buy a real state property that pays you Monthly Income rent.
#2.3..... Work. Employee sponsored by an Argentine Company.
Some employer will sponsor your Work Visa if you accept min. wage. (Teach English, IT, .. etc)
With Argie partner, you could legally register an Argentine Business Investment to get a Work Visa for your self as a
Manager of that Business. ( notice you are not applying for or getting a Business Investor Visa).
#2.4......Family.
#2.4.1...Family: Marriage to Argentine Permanent Resident. (doesn't have to be Argentine Native or Citizen)
#2.4.2...Family: Parenting an Argentine Child.
#2.4.3...Family: Being a Child of an Argentine Parent.
#2.5......Business. Employ and Create Work for Argentines.
#2.6......Student.
.............Certified institution will give you the 1 Individual Document necessary to get a Student Visa.
.............(even studying Spanish will qualify)
#2.7......Medical Purposes.
#2.8......Religious Members of the Church.
#2.9......Artists.
#2.10....Sports.
#2.11....Political Asylum.
#2.12....Refugees.
#2.13....Scientists.
#2.14....Academics.
#2.15....I'm sure there is a lot more, please help identify the ones I missed.

#3.
I booked my 1 week "Turno" online. Went by myself, ... all alone.
With the expectation: "Here we are ... My first day in a long drooling bureaucratic 6 months nightmare ".
Aside from answering few questions, paying 600 peso here and 40 peso there, there is nothing else to do but wait while they do all the work.
He asked 2 questions:
Q: "Why are you here?"...................A: "Pensionado."
Q: "Why so many passports?"........ A: "Canadian passport expires every 5 years."
In less than 2 hours I walked away with my PRECARIA. I was shocked.

#4.
What took time and caused 9 years of confusion? .. 3 things:
4.1. Getting to understand that a complete Immigration process is mandatory, regardless if I'm living here basically as a tourist (don't work, drive with my own Canadian License, etc ...) It is the written law, (even if currently Argentina is NOT enforcing its own laws, .. creating the illusion that it is OK to do the Colonia Run). If they did enforce the law one day, ... it would be GRAVE ( 10 days to leave the country, .. they say .. ). Understand The Perma-Tourist Saga here.
4.2. Getting to know the process flow, and pin down exactly the requirements (I got my Precaria, without knowing the Monthly Minimum .. still till this day .. don't know).
4.3. Understanding and gathering Documents. A FOREIGN Document or a LOCAL Non Governmental Document, can NOT be accepted at its face value. Has to be Legalized OR Apostlled. ( AND translated if not in Spanish).

#5.
Canada is NOT a signatory of the Hague, (Apostille is not an option for Canucks)

#6.
RCMP Criminal Record could be obtained in less than 1 week, like this:
Your commesaria here, will take your ink fingerprints.
You FedEx that to one of the hundreds of certified agents in [Canada], they will digitize it and send it to RCMP, Receive the result (3 days regular, 1 day rush), Legalize it and FedEx it back to you here.

#7.
I don't think there is a similar service for digital FBI background check for Yankees.
May be you can have a digital live scan if you're in the US and get your FBI report in 3 days.
But you can not FedEx your commesaria ink fingerprint from BA.
(I could be wrong, .. this is all new .. things are changing).

#8.
If resided in Argentina the last 5 years, Criminal Record [Canadian], is NOT required.
WASTE OF TIME & MONEY.

#9.
Criminal Records from ALL countries you resided in, in the Last 5 years. Say you left [Canada] to Argentina 4.5 years ago. During which you went to Uruguay for 1.5 years. You will need 3 Criminal Records: [Canada] + [Uruguay] + Argentina Atecedentes.

#10.
With Canadian Passport, Birth Certificate is NOT required.
WASTE OF TIME & MONEY.

#11.
Documents DO EXPIRE. So plan the chronological order in which you gather them.
RCMP expires in 90 days.
Antecedentes Argentina expires in 90 days.
Certificado de Domicilio expires in 30 days.

#12.
A Bill in your name can substitute "Certificado de Domicilio". For example "Luz", "CableVision", "Telefonica" or "Agua". .... "Luz" or "Agua" bill is more stronger than "CableVision". "Certificado de Domicilio" from Police is the strongest (most official of them all). It is very easy to get. Cost only 10 peso. It will be delivered to your door steps within 48 hours, and will eliminate any doubt. (Don't understand why would anyone bother to recommend a bill in your name instead of the Police "Certificado de Domicilio").

#13.
LAST entry Date (not 1st entry Date ) will be the official IMMIGRATION "DNI Fecha Ingreso al Pais".
Previous entries are considered tourist entries, (even though they count for BOTH IMMIGRATION & CITIZENSHIP Residency Requirements).

#14.
Your DNI number remains the same when you transition from temporary to permanent & will always be marked in red "EXTRANJERO", and the numbers prefixed with "9". (as opposed to Mercosur DNI or Native DNI, or DNI acquired through Citizenship, these will not be marked as such).

#15.
Bank Account needed? Never the issue been raised or discussed [in my case].

#16.
Marriage to a PERMANENT RESIDENT (doesn't even have to be an Argentine Native or Citizen) or fathering a child will lead directly to PERMANENT DNI right away (no PRECARIA no temporary DNI's). (Tempting .. No? ... In my desperation I briefly contemplated the idea, but thank God didn't do it). Extremely complicated nightmare and dangerous tramite. They will find out if you were married before, even if you say you were not. They will ask for divorce papers (and even previous marriage certificate). Even if you ahead, are you gonna fight for 2 years to get divorce after? No "Prenuptial" in Argentina. Crazy stupid idea, to put it mildly. Playing with fire, you might get burned.

#17.
Citizenship NEVER could be lost or revoked. It's even difficult (next to impossible), to renounce ones own existing citizenship. It's perfectly normal to acquire dual or multiple citizenships. Only very few countries prohibit dual citizenship (e.g. Germany, .. etc). Argentine Permanent Residency could be lost if you live somewhere else for more than 2 years. US Permanent Residency could be lost, if you simultaneously have INTENTIONS to live or acquire Residency in another country. Rules differ from one country to another. Residency could be revoked,... for example if indicted in a crime.


#18.
Overstaying tourist visa earns you IRREGULAR STATUS (punishable by deportation). (Unique to Argentina).
For most of the rest of the world, it'd earn you an ILLEGAL STATUS (punishable by jail & black listed for life never to enter the country again).

#19.
Very Few Lucky Ones will get caught overstaying their tourist visa and will have their passport stamped "Ultima Prórroga" (Last Extension). Also, Very Few of the above Very Few will get lucky again when trying to re-enter the country with "Ultima Prórroga" stamp in their passport and will be denied entry visa. Normally they don't enforce the law, and ignore the stamp. You just pay the the $300 peso overstay fine and they will give a new 90 day stamp.. (it all depends on if immigration officer wake up that morning on the wrong side of bed and decided to enforce the law).

#20.
Permanent Residency requires (Tener Arraigo) i.e. accumulation of THREE (3) previous ONE year Temporary Residences with a minimum of 6 month stay in the country for each year, with an UNINTERRUPTED renewal "Prórroga" before the end of each of the 3 years. By letting one Temporary Visa expire, ALL previous accumulation will be lost. You'll have to re-start all over again ANEW.
Sixty (60) days before the end of 3rd year, you start the process of changing Residency from Temporary to Permanent, is called "Cambio de Categoria" or "Radicacion".

#21.
The 1 INDIVIDUAL Document is a collection of ALL the components required to support the specific Visa applied for.
For example: The 1 INDIVIDUAL Document of a Student Visa is a LOCAL LEGALIZED Document composed of 3 components:
.....................Certficado de Alumno Regular,
.....................Certificado Analítico con Materias Aprobadas (transcript),
.....................and a "note" from your Master's or Doctoral program.

#22.
For 80%......of straightforward average cases, ... that is all you need to know.
10%............special cases may need extra info, ... dig deeper in the OP by SteveInBA.
10%............are severely complicated acute cases ( + those who couldn't be bothered), .. seek a lawyer.

#23.
I have ZERO legal background.
I sifted through selective posts of SteveInBA's OP "Argentine Citizenship for Foreigners", to figure out my case.
Other posts skimmed over my head..... OP is very .. very .. very long. SEVERAL YEARS worth of heated legal arguments.
I'm not soliciting anything or giving any advice. Just offering my time to share my experience.
Hoping it may be useful to someone, the same way SteveInBA's OP was helpful to me.
I get a kick & a sense of satisfaction when I learn how to do something new. (fix my car {when I was younger}, do my taxes, .. ).
Even if at the end I hand it over to a professional, it's comforting, .. I'm not totally in the dark. Says who .. an old dog can't learn a new trick?

#24.
Your valuable input, .. (Info / Content / Value Added) ADDITIONS or CORRECTIONS are most welcome.
You will be helping someone who doesn't know and needs to know.

#25.
Important Addresses:
Direccion Nacional de Migraciones (Retiro)..........Av. Antartida Argentina 1355
Argentine Ministry of External Affairs....................Arenales 819
Colegio de Traductores Publico ..........................Av. Corrientes 1834
Registro Nacional de Reincidencia.......................Tucumán 1353
Registro Nacional de las Personas.......................Hipólito Yrigoyen 952
Registro Nacional de las Personas.......................Jujuy 468
Poder Judicial de la Nacion...................................Talcahuano 550

Tramite Migraciones.............................................http://www.migracion...dni_extranjeros
Turno Migraciones................................................http://www.migracion...e/?turno_online
Antecedentes Penales..........................................http://www.jus.gov.ar/rnr-crtificado
Antecedentes Penales..........................................http://www.dnrec.jus.gov.ar
Argentine Citizenship For Foreigners....................http://baexpats.org/...for +foreigners



________________________________________________________________________________________________
CITIZENSHIP:

This post will not be complete until, someone (generous enough with his/her time), who went through the Citizenship path, and is willing to highlight the process flow.



_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IMMIGRATION: Other Visas ? .. Rejection ? .. Deportation ?:

Same applies to someone who experienced other visas: ... work, rentista, business, student, marriage, etc ...
Useful is ONLY the info pertaining to your particular 1 INDIVIDUAL visa document.
(No need to repeat the 6 STANDARD documents).

Also very useful is: The case where a tramite was rejected at Retiro.
Why was it rejected?
How to deal with that?

Any history of 10 day deportation? Did it ever happen?

What is the Monthly Minimum for Pensionado? Does any one know?



_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
INT'L TAXES For Dummies:

Another for Dummies, but much much more complicated thread to tackle.
For 80% of average straightforward tax payer who couldn't afford an accountant.
(If you can afford an accountant you probably need one).
.
.

..............................................................CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION
.
.
.

 

[Deborah Florencia]

Really great info! Can someone give me some info on how to renew your DNI.

I am student here in Buenos Aires, studying my Masters at Di Tella. I got my DNI last year but it just expired on March 11th. I have a few questions...

1. Can I still renew my DNI even though it is expired?
2. Do I need an FBI report to renew the DNI? (please say no, because that was the most annoying part of getting the DNI last time).
3. What documents do I need? I have read that you just need your Argentina police report, proof of me being a student, and the domicilio certification.


Thanks

 

[Peony54]

I believe you have to renew your student visa before you can renew the DNI...

 

[khairyexpat]

Really great info! Can someone give me some info on how to renew your DNI.

I am student here in Buenos Aires, studying my Masters at Di Tella. I got my DNI last year but it just expired on March 11th. I have a few questions...

1. Can I still renew my DNI even though it is expired?
DNI is NOT a process.
You need a new student visa. With a new 1 INDIVIDUAL Doc from Di Tella.
Your previous 1 INDIVIDUAL Doc must've expired (Therefore your DNI expired with it) ?


2. Do I need an FBI report to renew the DNI? (please say no, because that was the most annoying part of getting the DNI last time).
Say you already established your criminal record in 2011 when you got your first DNI.
Now you have to establish the balance of time from 2011 till now.
If you did not leave Argentina for more than 1 year, only your new Argentine Antecedents.
I you went back home for more than 1 year, you'll need a new FBI.

3. What documents do I need? I have read that you just need your Argentina police report, proof of me being a student, and the domicilio certification.
The 1 INDIVIDUAL Doc. from Di Tella.
+
Whatever changed (from what they have on file) of the 6 STANDARD . .
(e.g. a new photo, if your passport changed, Antecedentes, Certificado Domicilio ... etc).


Interesting question (to which I don't have an answer)
For Permanent Residency they require 2 previous ONE year temporary residences.
Do they have to be uninterrupted, or interrupted is OK as well,.. just like your case (you allowed ONE visa to expire before renewing the second year) ?



Thanks

Say you already established your criminal record in 2011 when you got your first DNI.
Now you have to establish the balance of time from 2011 till now.

 

[khairyexpat]

This statement........There is NO DNI PROCESS.<---------------------------- Technically not accurate

Should read ...........There is NO DNI STAND ALONE PROCESS.<--------It is a process, but can NOT be started till AFTER ..................................................................................................................completion of either Immigration or Citizenship process.



24.
Permanent Residency requires 2 previous ONE year Temporary Residences, with a minimum of 6 month stay in the country for each year.

 

[Kettle]

Wow, what a clear and very complete map of the process, khairyexpat.

Deborah Florencia, to answer your first question - you can renew your temporary residency (this is referred to as requesting a prórroga, an extension) for up to 30 days after its expiration. In addition to the 600 peso fee + 40 pesos for your DNI, you will have to pay a fine of 300 pesos.

Regarding question number 2 - as long as you are still within the window of time that qualifies you for a prórroga, you only need your certificado de antecedentes penales from Argentina. No FBI report necessary because you haven't been living there since you provided your last one.

What you need from your school is listed on the Migraciones website here, kind of: (on this point, khairyexpat's 2.6 is incomplete) a certficado de alumno regular, a certificado analítico con materias aprobadas (transcript), and a "note" from your Master's or Doctoral program. The alumno regular document is straightforward (it just attests that you are enrolled and paid up and registering for classes), but the certificado analítico can be more problematic, depending on where you are in your studies. If only one or two grades have made it to your transcript so far, this certificado should be accompanied by a certificado de asistencia, detailing the courses whose attendance requirements you have completed.

The final requirement from the university is the most mysterious - in my experience this is just a letter stating that you are a student in their program, the title to be conferred upon completion of the degree, the duration of the degree, and its cost. According to the website, these documents need to be legalized by the Ministerio de Educación, but in practice I believe this is not required (trickier to get). However, they do require these documents to be legalized by the Ministerio del Interior y Transporte (straightforward). The only catch is that the Ministerio del Interior y Transporte does not certify a certificado analítico/de asistencia that hasn't been certified previously by the Ministerio de Educación. So... But they will certifiy the certificado de alumno regular and the aforementioned mysterious letter.

 

[Kettle]

Interesting question (to which I don't have an answer)
For Permanent Residency they require 2 previous ONE year temporary residences.
Do they have to be uninterrupted, or interrupted is OK as well,.. just like your case (you allowed ONE visa to expire before renewing the second year) ?

Actually, if you are from a Non-Mercosur country, for permanent residency three (not two) previous one-year temporary residencies are required. On your third renewal you can request a "cambio de categoria" from temporary to permanent residency. (See here: this condition for obtaining permanent residency is known as "tener arraigo")

And yes, they must be uninterrupted. If you got a temporary residency in 2011, for example, but then let it expire while you went home for summer vacation for three months, then when you came back you would have to apply for a residency as if it were the first time, and thus it wouldn't count towards the accumulation of renewals needed to prove your arraigo in the country. (I mean, this appears to be the current interpretion by the DNM anyway.)

 

[tapi_2]

Wow, thanks for this! Incredibly useful and clear! I wish I would have read this available a few years ago...

A recommendation for anyone wanting to move here is reading the above.

 

[Kettle]

Oh, another correction to add re point 14: Your DNI number remains the same when you transition from temporary to permanent residency. The DNI number for all non-Argentineans (whether reflecting permanent or temporary residence) begins with 9 (and I'm fairly certain the DNIs of all permanent residents are marked with the word "extranjero").

 

[Alicia karr]

This is great stuff and I thank you all for your contributions.! I'm approaching the end of my third year of temporary residency as a rentista and know that I will finally, (yay yay!) be eligible for permanent residency. I have remained in Argentina so have no issues with having resided in other countries or expired DNI. My questions are how do I request the Permanent status (and where) , and most important, what documentation will I need to show? I'm particularly concerned about whether I will need to show a lease from the renting of my home that extends beyond my the conclusion of this (my). third year of residency? Or do they no longer ask for those kind of proofs since I've satisfied all documentation for the three temporary DNIs? (if I would need to draw up a new lease that would extend beyond the end of this third year, for how long would it need to be?)
I feel like (I imagine) marathon runners feel when they can see the finish line off in the distance!