internship paid in pesos

[argengina]

hello, please excuse yet another dollar/peso question, but here goes:

i am a US grad student about to finish a 2 month internship here in BsAs. i was just handed a check for around 10k pesos, and i was wondering if anyone might have any idea as to how i can convert the money to dollars (en blanco at the 4.5 rate) before returning to the states on sunday. i do not have a DNI, but i do have a CUIL. i've tried the following avenues:

- going to AFIP and asking them for permission (they said no, as i don't have any financial substantiation & es más, the guy basically sent me to the blank market! he told me that lamentablemente, tendría que buscar "otro mercado")
- going to the state banks (banco de la nación & banco provincia) (they said no, as i am not an account holder)
- going to private banks (same response as the state banks)
- opening an account at the banks & depositing the check & using the credit card that they give me in the states (can't open account without DNI)
- going to casas de cambio "oficiales" (they also said that i can't buy dollars without an account)
- depositing the check (in castellano & in pesos) directly into my US Bank of America account (i called BoA and when they tried to find out how much the amount would be in USD, apparently the words "DO NOT BUY" appeared on their screens)
- buying American Express Traveler's Checks (same restrictions as the rest)

if all else fails, i'll buy at the blue rate, but it just makes me want to gouge my eyes out thinking that i'm going to lose 700-800 USD. and i realize that everyone in the country is facing the same issues, but it especially hurts as a grad student entrenched in student loans! so any advice you might be able to provide would be MUCH appreciated

 

[el_expatriado]

Sorry man, but there is no way to convert it into USD. If there was a way to do this, don't you think everyone else in the country would be doing the same thing?

Forget about the 4.5 rate. It isn't real. The dollar is worth 6.5.

 

[Napoleon]

Sorry man, but there is no way to convert it into USD. If there was a way to do this, don't you think everyone else in the country would be doing the same thing?

Forget about the 4.5 rate. It isn't real. The dollar is worth 6.5.

If you didn't learn anything else during your internship, you can return to the US knowing this one clear fact.

 

[braytrain]

cant you western union that $hit

 

[fuccolini]

not good at all, i have a problem of selling my car and then getting creamed buying back the dollars, but oh well, gotta pay to play. i was also wondering is gold available at the official rate? who sells gold officially, supervielle bank? maybe you could buy a gold coin (one ounce) for 1600 dollars or whatever the rate is at official cambio and then you would only have to deal with 2700 pesos to buy at the blue rate.. but i have not checked into this gold thing

 

[argengina]

i thought about that -- but i think often times you have to buy the gold in dollars? can anyone else confirm?

 

[sleslie23]

All of the things mentioned in this thread have been discussed in detail over the last 6 months. This is something that is a problem for anyone who wants/needs dollars, not just "pessimistic" long-term expats/residents/locals.

On a positive note, they did pay you. That alone is a minor miracle.

 

[fuccolini]

ok, there goes the gold idea... figures

 

[karis]

A friend of mine (whose friend works in a non-US embassy) suggested that in situations like yours the embassy might be able to help you. Don't know if it's true but it's worth a shot.

 

[argengina]

to @sleslie23 (as well as @el_expatriado & @Napoleon & everyone else): i 100% agree with your post. i have been hearing about the dollar every day for the past 2 months, so this isn't catching me by surprise by any means. but i figured that my situation as a weird tourist-resident hybrid was unique enough to warrant a separate post. please excuse me if you think that i've wasted your time in any way, but i thought it would be worth throwing the hail mary pass of posting about it here, as this forum has been so helpful to me during my stay here.

& thank you @karis -- contacting the embassy is a great idea that i (and the rest of the office here at work and all of my argentine friends) hadn't thought of!