Irish guy moving to Ba

[jamesey]

Hi folks,
Ive decided to take a massive leap and leave Ireland for a while and BA is somewhere Ive always been mesmorised with, have no idea why cos Ive never been but yeah, why not!
Im a qualified Italian and Spanish teacher and also have Tefl and would be looking for some thing in that area if possible but if not Ill work at anything!

Hope any of you ex-pats over there could help me out advice-wise.
Was it hard to settle in there?
Are there many ex-pats?
Whats the average wage/cost of living?

Ive lived in Spain as a student for a few months and like it a lot, should I expect anything similar?

I know my questions are random and vague however Im determined to come next year and experience somewhere new and exciting other than doing the normal working in Australia thing that every Irish person seems to be doing.

Anyhow, would love to hear from anyone who has done something similar.
Basically Im looking to start a new adventure cos im bored of Dublin to be honest!

 

[French jurist]

Take it as you wish. I live here since 2003 and this is the worst time ever to come here to live (and to make a living, likely in pesos in your situation?).

Check the other threads like http://baexpats.org/expat-life/22613-i-dont-really-understand-economics.html

At least you'll have been warned (you'll notice many different opinions/approaches on this forum but that's one thing we all agree on... There must be a reason).

Wait until the current crisis has plently occured (strong devaluation or whatever) then it might be the right time to come. Wait at least until early august (Boden 2012)

 

[pompeygazza]

Hi James
I've been teaching English here for three months now and have loved it. Having said that there are things you have to be careful of:
1) If I were you I'd try to get a job before you come here. The economic situation in Argentina is deteriorating and it wouldn't be easy to get a job on spec.
2) I would also make sure I had enough savings to last me 3 months, plus enough for my airfare home if it didn't work out. I'd leave those savings in the bank at home and draw on them when necessary.
3) When deciding on somewhere to live, go for Palermo, which is where most expats live. OK I know there are people who'll disagree but it's not a bad idea to live in a relatively secure place until you know the city a little better.
4) I'd do some serious research on this forum, regarding topics such as personal safety, exchange rates, renting and sharing apartments and the economic situation.
I hope nothing I say puts you off, but you need to have both eyes wide open. BsAs is exciting and there's lots to see and do, but you need to be alert and know what you're getting into.
Gary

 

[jasonphos]

Hi folks,
Ive decided to take a massive leap and leave Ireland for a while and BA is somewhere Ive always been mesmorised with, have no idea why cos Ive never been but yeah, why not!
Im a qualified Italian and Spanish teacher and also have Tefl and would be looking for some thing in that area if possible but if not Ill work at anything!

Hope any of you ex-pats over there could help me out advice-wise.
Was it hard to settle in there?
Are there many ex-pats?
Whats the average wage/cost of living?

Ive lived in Spain as a student for a few months and like it a lot, should I expect anything similar?

I know my questions are random and vague however Im determined to come next year and experience somewhere new and exciting other than doing the normal working in Australia thing that every Irish person seems to be doing.

Anyhow, would love to hear from anyone who has done something similar.
Basically Im looking to start a new adventure cos im bored of Dublin to be honest!

Hey man,

I lived as an expat in Argentina for 5 years, although I moved back to the U.S. last March.

Anyways, as I'm sure other people will tell you, it's definitely not all roses these days in Argentina from the working and consuming side. The Government has gone control crazy in many ways, and it is affecting everybody and everything in a negative way.

It's gotten a lot worse since I left, as far as I can tell, and from the stories I'm hearing and reading, you are going to really have yourself an adventure. If you are 100% dependent on working in Argentina for your income, then that is going to be a problem. People are making low wages relative to U.S. and Europe, and prices are as high, or much higher in many cases. (In a few cases, I think prices may still be lower in Buenos Aires).

Also, you are going to have an adventure getting money into and out of the country, because if you use your ATM to withdraw money it is now 4.5 dollars to 1 peso, but in the black market you can get around 5.6-5.8 when you take them cash, as of the last two weeks (It was 5.8, but then the Government applied pressure and brought it down a bit), so basically you are an idiot if you take it out through the ATM, but then that means you have to bring cash and make contacts and do the hard work of finding places to exchange on the black market.

The adventure isn't over, because if you do get a job, you are probably going to get paid a pretty low salary. I can't speak to how much you would get paid teaching English - I'm sure others will - but just imagine that average salaries in Buenos Aires for professionals are probably $5000 or $6000 a month (or maybe they've gone up a bit more and let's even say $8000), well with a black market rate of 5.80 pesos to the dollar, you can see that $8000 = around $1379 U.S. dollars a month. With prices similar or higher to U.S. and Europe, you can do the math and realize you are pretty much SOL with that kind of money, unless you have extra income from abroad or savings, which is why I was asking

Anyways, I don't want to ruin your dreams, I mean you aren't going to starve down there, so give it a whirl as long as keep enough savings for a ticket out, and you are prepared for the worst. Expect the worst, hope for the best, and it will be an awesome adventure

 

[Gringoboy]

I wish the peso in my pocket was worth 4.5 dollars, lol!

 

[Panini]

Come on down, it's great, better than Dublin for sure, if you want a change and different culture.

Irish citizens - if you're below 30 - can get a 9 months working visa for Argentina, there's a €50 fee at the Arg Emb and it takes - in my case - about 3 days to get it....although I think they usually print it a week before you leave. Very easy to do yourself, don't go through USIT.

I'm a lucky person and found a job where I didn't need fluent spanish and that pays in Euros but I came down with the intention of teaching English/ working as a waiter so I had about €7k saved up to allow me to travel and cushion the economic situation.

It's not as cheap as you probably think.If you really really want to do it it can be done on about 700 euro a month but you won't be clubing and going to restaurants every week on that. (I have a friend who's on a strick budget of 800USD and does fine).

Best of luck

 

[fifs2]

Irish citizens - if you're below 30 - can get a 9 months working visa for Argentina, there's a €50 fee at the Arg Emb and it takes - in my case - about 3 days to get it....although I think they usually print it a week before you leave. Very easy to do yourself, don't go through USIT.


wow Panini that is some amazing info re a working visa which honestly I doubt most expats knew about. Im irish but too old to quality and got my residency thorugh other means but you need to share more on that visa - any limitations on salary ie caps, taxes to be paid etc...

 

[Panini]

No limitations, just stay within the local laws email the embassy of Arg in Dublin for more info, sadly they don't have a website [email protected]

The scheem is bi-lateral so pretty much the same each way see here:
http://www.embassyofireland.org.ar/home/index.aspx?id=73693

I don't believe many Irish people know, or take up the program but the visas to Ireland are filled up each year. Same scheem is in place for citizens of NZ

 

[lamarque]

Irish citizens - if you're below 30 - can get a 9 months working visa for Argentina, there's a €50 fee at the Arg Emb and it takes - in my case - about 3 days to get it....although I think they usually print it a week before you leave. Very easy to do yourself, don't go through USIT.


wow Panini that is some amazing info re a working visa which honestly I doubt most expats knew about. Im irish but too old to quality and got my residency thorugh other means but you need to share more on that visa - any limitations on salary ie caps, taxes to be paid etc...

I'm from buenos aires but i have been living in dublin until 1 month ago with this visa, is quite good and you can renew it as long as you want so it let you stay in the country for very long term, or at least that way work in ireland, you just go to the embassy of your country in ireland (in your case in buenos aires) and they give you the visa it is a very quickly tramit.
Hope you enjoy your stay at Bs As, is a huge city compared to Dublin with his good things and bad things, but i'm sure it will be an adventure as it was for me when i went to ireland.

 

[YanquiGallego]

i had never heard of this special visa and am curious, do you know is this visa for all of the EU citizens or just ireland?