Immigration For Dummies

[steveinbsas]

If I understand the info in this thread, it is possible to get permanent residency on the third renewal of a student visa. Do all student visas confer temporary residency or do some confer residencia transitoria? Does the length of the course make any difference?

How could someone get work with residencia transitoria if they don't have either a precaria or a DNI? What documentation would be acceptable to the employer in that case?

I also wonder about this post:

I would look at other ways of obtaining residency, the easiest of which is, I believe, being a student for 3 years and then applying for permanent residency. You don't need to study something that's very demanding or time-consuming... I met some people who were studying History of Tango once a week at a "university" and did that for 3 years just to have their DNI (I'm no immigration expert, but I believe it's very important for your 3 years to be uninterrupted, i.e. you would need to have had 3 back-to-back one-year DNIs to apply for permanent residency).

It seems unlikely that it would be possible to enroll in a single course to get a student visa. If it is, however, I think someone who has actually done it would have taken this route and posted about it. It sounds like an urban legend but it would be great if it was and still is possible.

 

[northsho50]

How does one go about the Citizenship process with out any other ties? I assume that requires a lawyer...The wait time of 1-3 years are you given a temp DNI for the interim? Im still on the precaria for family re-unification waiting for the 1st DNI. I would appreciate any info on this!

 

[flagone]

I am looking to move to bsas in late February 2017 and I am a bit overwhelmed, but do find the information on this thread helpful. I have been to bsas 8 times, never stayed more than 18 days before, and I am moving for my health, early retirement.
I won't be able to qualify for social security in the usa for 2 years, so I plan to live off of my savings until I can qualify for my ssi.
Does anyone here have the best suggestion for me to stay there legally, or should I plan to return to the usa every 6 months, providing I can get a 90 day extension once each trip? Then should I apply for permanent residency once I have the guaranteed income?
I am guessing I should gather all documents such as background checks, etc, before I leave this first time, but I'm not sure what my best options are, this is so confusing...
Any help appreciated, thanks

 

[Girino]

Buenos Aires is pretty expensive right now, but it depends in where in the city you are going to stay and the amount you can afford to spend. I think that countryside USA is cheaper right now, but I don't know about your specific situations so I can't tell for sure.

You could come and stay until 2 years straight (if you can stay here for so long without going out of the country). At that point you will have both your retirement to apply for a visa rentista (if you meet the income requirement, of course) and you will have met the 2 years in the country requirement to apply for citizenship.

There is some flexibility over overstaying your tourist visa (which is how you'd enter), meaning that you can 1) extend your tourist visa to up 6 months (3 +3) legally and 2) pay your overstay fee before leaving. This way you will re-enter without problems. However, please bear in mind that you cannot abuse this system because they will notice. (In the past not so much, but now things are changing.)

To recap, your options are:
1) enter as a tourist, ask for an extension of your tourist visa to 6 months and spend the remaining part in the US.
2) enter as a tourist, stay as much as you can but less than 2 years, pay the overstay fine, leave and come back later until you can meet the requirements
3) enter as a tourist, stay at least 2 years, then apply for a visa rentista or citizenship.
4) contact a lawyer to apply straight for citizenship. There are loopholes in the system. However, this is going to cost you money (I suppose around 2-3 grands)

 

[steveinbsas]

The two year "residency" requirement for citizenship does not entail a constant presence in Argentina for two years and your "two years" may have begun the first time you set foot on Argentine soil.;If you are about to make your ninth visit it's reasonable to assume that your first was well over two years ago,

That means you "should" be able to apply for citizenship as soon as your next arrival. Because you don't have "official residency" granted by migraciones and don't have a DNI you will need a lawyer. The fee charged by the most successful lawyer was $6500 USD the last time I read about them in this forum.

Personally, I don't recommend overstaying the prorroga de permanencia (extension) of your 90 day tourist visa unless you have already started the citizenship process. New policies in effect could result in deportation, but once you apply for citizenship your lawyer would be in a position to "fight" for your right to stay.

You shouldn't have any problem getting one extension of the tourist visa at migraciones, but you may not be able to get another extension of a new 90 day visa in the same 12 month period: i.e. you might have to stay out of Argentina for six months before migraciones would grant an extension of a new tourist visa. They are getting pretty strict and they are counting the exact number of days when enforcing the regulations.

 

[steveinbsas]

PS: If you apply for citizenship will need to "prove" that you have an honest means of living. If you are going to be living off your saving for a couple years I suggest that you have a CPA or bank officer write a letter (with the letterhead of the bank) to verify the existence of the funds and how you can access them when you are in Argentina;.

You might consider opening a trust account which is linked to your savings/checking account from which you can make ATM withdraws in Argentina. The funds could be invested in CD's that mature in 90 days, six months, or one year and are automatically deposited into your personal account.

This might also be acceptable to migraciones if you want to apply for temporary residency. The monthly income you would have to receive is currently $30.000 pesos. (about $2000 USD). If this is savings that you earned before getting temporary residency you should not have to pay income tax on those funds in Argentina, and as long as you are a only a temporary resident, you don't have to declare those funds or pay the bienes personales tax on them. As migraciones will want "proof" that you can meet the income requirement for temporary residency, you would need to have two years of available funds (about $50,000) in savings to get the visa rentista or pensionado.

You might (probably would) have to deposit another $25,000 USD when you renew the visa (at least the first time). Once your Social Security income begins you can include that instead of making a deposit for the second and third renewals of your temporary residency, but at that point you might as well go for citizenship if (based on what the lawyer tells you) you did not apply for citizenship in the first place

It might be helpful to bring your latest "statement" from Social Security that shows how much your monthly benefits will be, but it probably won't carry the same weight in the court that grants citizenship as an official benefits letter that you will only be able to get after you start receiving monthly payments. The annual statement from Social Security that projects future benefits will be 100% useless at migraciones.

if you apply for residency at migraciones you will need the FBI report that is less than 90 days old when you submit the paperwork.

If you apply for citizenship you will need to show your "honest means" of income and copies of your passport. If your first visit to Argentina was in a previous passport I suggest you also bring it, but the court will no doubt check with migraciones to verify the date of your first entry. The court will also ask for a certificado de domiclio which of course you will get here. You won't need to get an FBI report until/unless the court asks for it.

 

[mfogel]

This thread is super helpful, thank you to @khairyexpat, @steveinbsas and all the other regulars who have contributed.

My wife and I are considering moving to BA on a rentista visa. We have enough funds saved up to go the 'set up a trust' route that's been described earlier in this thread.

Important question though: are we able to share a rentista visa? Do we each have to show independent passive incomes of 30k pesos a month (so 60k total) or is enough for us to have one shared income of 30k?

Thanks in advance.

 

[summysammy]

I just got my perm status (with the precaria for now) and they no longer ask for the birth certificate. Not at all.

 

[summysammy]

I just read a scary line. Regarding "they will find out if you were married before"... do you know of cases where the person got married under "single" status and was given the green light towards "permanent residency" and then they found out the person was divorced and they stalled the process? In the USA the person is restored to "single status" so in a sense, it could be a misunderstand of "definition" if they ask you if you are "single" and you say yes.

"[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]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."[/background]

 

[srtamollygreen]

Any "yanquis" (U.S. citizens) out there have any more information about the FBI Criminal Record?

I found out in December that the UBA admitted me to study in a master's program--but it starts in March! So little time. I checked the FBI's website to see how long it takes and it states, "Current processing time is 12-14 weeks". Ain't nobody got time for that!

Help?