Information about Rentista VISA

[dchrisper]

Hi everyone,

We’re a family of five (two parents and three children) living off passive income from real estate, and we’re looking into applying for a rentista visa.

I have a few questions and would really appreciate any insights:

1. I’ve come across conflicting information about the minimum income required—does anyone know the current requirement for a family of five?
2. From the time a lawyer submits the application, how long does it typically take to receive the visas?
3. If we demonstrate passive income through rental properties, would a tenant change during the process be an issue, assuming the monthly income stays consistent?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can share their experience or advice!

 

[AdamISZ]

> From the time a lawyer submits the application, how long does it typically take to receive the visas?

I have currently been waiting for close to 1 year, with no visible progress despite having all documents in order at the time of application. I've heard conflicting information on where delays come from.

> If we demonstrate passive income through rental properties, would a tenant change during the process be an issue, assuming the monthly income stays consistent?

IANAL but it certainly shouldn't invalidate the application, presumably you might have to present the new rental contract(s), though.

(About your first question, I do not know how the number/family aspect affects the total requirement; I was told to make it $2K to be on the safe side, though it's lower than that and a moving target due to exchange rate, but that was all for a single person). Sorry my answers are not super useful!

 

[Alby]

I went the Rentista route once, using a rented property. It took three years for them to approve it, but that was mainly due to Covid disruption. Still, historically, it has been the slowest, most complex category they deal with.

With a family of five, you may find they ask for an amount equal 5 X 5 X the minimum wage, which would be roughly US$6,000 per month at the moment. But there is probably only one way to find out: apply and see what they say. Those of us who have been in the system long enough and have read enough of other's experiences on this website, and have spoken to lawyers who deal with complex cases like yours have noted that they can be quite arbitrary (at times helpfully) on a range of their criteria.

Once you have lodged the documentation (including the rental contract), you would not inform them of any tenant or amount change (in other words, the existance of a new contract), as that would be certain to cause a still longer delay in the processing. Assuming you are eventually granted, if you wanted to rewew at the end of the 12 months, you have to repeat the entire process and at that time would simply present the current contract you in place with the current tenant.

 

[steveinbsas]

We’re a family of five (two parents and three children) living off passive income from real estate, and we’re looking into applying for a rentista visa.

I’ve come across conflicting information about the minimum income required—does anyone know the current requirement for a family of five?

https://baexpats.org/threads/new-rentista-requirements-2000-usd-per-person.45920/post-453622

Posts on page five of this thread indicate that the head of the household will be required to meet the income reqirement for each and every individual in the family.

Assuming that migraciones will be satisfied with the total monthly income in the $6,000+USD range, perhaps a much more important question is what is the quality of life you are seeking for your family and will you be able to provide it with the funds generated by the rentals.

PS: Don't forget to add enough $ for inflation which will likely happen at the rate of over 2% per month and be prepared to increase your budjet about 30% on an annual basis.

PS2: Keep in mind that at any time migraciones could increase the income reqirement of five salarios mínimos per month to six or even seven (per person), and the new level would apply to the next renewal.

 

[Alby]

The more I think about it, I would go so far as to suggest that even if another poster here reported "yes, they made me count all my family members in calculating the amount" or "no, it was sufficient to only cover the adults", or any other formulation someone has been successful with, that would not be a definitive answer for you, because of this tendency for Migraciones to be arbitrary. So the real answer to the money question is this: under any circumstances, given the complexity of the category and the number of people in your family, you will only be able to do this with the help of a lawyer (as you are proposing to do) and you will only know what the amount your rental incomes needs to come to when and if you find a lawyer willing to take your case on the basis that he or she thinks, as things currently stand with Migraciones, they (Migraciones) would accept your rental income total as sufficient to meet the criteria as they (Migraciones) are currently applying it.

(In the hypothetical case that the amount was US$6000 per month, and in the even more hypothetical case that you actually have that amount in rental income, the dark side of the rentista category that nobody likes to talk about is that bringing that amount of money into the banking system every month makes you over time vulnerable to coming to the tax agency's attention, not just to ultimately pay income tax here on the amount but also, when they discover the source of the income, paying the wealth tax on those rental property assets.)

 

[Milton]

The more I think about it, I would go so far as to suggest that even if another poster here reported "yes, they made me count all my family members in calculating the amount" or "no, it was sufficient to only cover the adults", or any other formulation someone has been successful with, that would not be a definitive answer for you, because of this tendency for Migraciones to be arbitrary. So the real answer to the money question is this: under any circumstances, given the complexity of the category and the number of people in your family, you will only be able to do this with the help of a lawyer (as you are proposing to do) and you will only know what the amount your rental incomes needs to come to when and if you find a lawyer willing to take your case on the basis that he or she thinks, as things currently stand with Migraciones, they (Migraciones) would accept your rental income total as sufficient to meet the criteria as they (Migraciones) are currently applying it.

(In the hypothetical case that the amount was US$6000 per month, and in the even more hypothetical case that you actually have that amount in rental income, the dark side of the rentista category that nobody likes to talk about is that bringing that amount of money into the banking system every month makes you over time vulnerable to coming to the tax agency's attention, not just to ultimately pay income tax here on the amount but also, when they discover the source of the income, paying the wealth tax on those rental property assets.)

Im pretty sure during the rentista visa that foreign income is not taxed. However any income made within the country is but 9/10 people are relying on foreign investments or rental income anyway so its not an issue.

It would only be after if you chose to take permanent residency where you would have to register to pay tax in argentina.

 

[Alby]

Once we've been in Argentina on even a temporary resdiency for 12 months, unless we've stayed out of the country for 90 days during that 12 months, we"re tax residents from that pount forward. That's what the law says. It's been thoriughly researched and documented and notified on this website previously. Losing tax residency then becomes a matter of leaving the country and not returning for more than 90 days in the next 12-month period.

(Having become a tax resident doesn't, of course, mean we have to pay the income or wealth taxes: that depends on the prevailing local (highly changeable) thresholds and our individual income and assets levels, and any DTA that might apply).

(As many posters here have rightly pointed out over the years, the tax authority may not be particularly interested in a few difficult to pin down foreigners at the moment or even in the forseeable future, but--and this was my point in the post--the higher up you get in the deposting scale, towards say $6000 per month, the more interesting you become.)

 

[steveinbsas]

Assuming that migraciones will be satisfied with the total monthly income in the $6,000+USD range, perhaps a much more important question is what is the quality of life you are seeking for your family and will you be able to provide it with the funds generated by the rentals.

PS: Don't forget to add enough $ for inflation which will likely happen at the rate of over 2% per month and be prepared to increase your budjet about 30% on an annual basis.

This is a thread from 2012 but it focuses on the question about the quality of life that a family of four living on a monthly income of $4000 would be able to enjoy:

https://baexpats.org/threads/would-you-move-a-family-to-argentina.22834/post-178980

There have been plenty of ups and downs since 2012, especially in late 2019 when the Western Union exchange rate doubled almost overnight and my monthly cost of living was cut in half, but since October of 2023, my monthly cost of living has more than trippled.

 

[USAtoBA]

I'm in the process now so I'll chime in . ...


From the time a lawyer submits the application, how long does it typically take to receive the visas?

I've had my lawyer for 2 months, so far no progress.


If we demonstrate passive income through rental properties, would a tenant change during the process be an issue, assuming the monthly income stays consistent?


The ideal thing when you apply is to have a long-term contract, ideally you're applying in March and the rental contract is for 2 years

A big thing will be getting your apostilles done, where are you applying from?

And of course, welcome to this forum, the people on here have helped me tremendously!

DM me for more details if you'd like.