Is there any benefit to permanent resident status?

[julian63]

I am married to a Portena. We split our time between Arg and the US pretty evenly going back and forth 3 or 4 times per year, not to mention short departures from Arg for trips to Brasil, Uruguay or cruises elsewhere. I never overstay the 90 day visitor timeframe. I could obtain permanent resident status routinely, but I don't see any upside to that. We exit and enter Arg frequently and the Arg taxing authorities do not know of my existence. Am I missing something?
I have Medicare and Med Supp policy (which also has 1MM foreign emergency coverage with a 5K deductible) for when I am back in the states and Emergencias plus the Med Supp coverage for when I am here. My primary care MD is a local guy, considers me as a friend (unheard of in the US). He was first in his class in med school and he charges me $120 per visit which I gladly pay.

 

[on the brink]

By not being a resident, the only thing you are missing are major headaches. Stay below the AFIP's radar, by all means....! And keep your USA driver's license.

 

[Rich One]

1. Can vote.. some elections
2. Can open bank account, CC
3. Can get lower domestic air fares
4. Can get Movie discounts
5. Can Use Public Health for Free/ CoPoSa
6. Can apply for loans
7. Can Qualify for Rental contracts Insurance
8. Etc.

 

[julian63]

1. Can vote.. some elections
2. Can open bank account, CC
3. Can get lower domestic air fares
4. Can get Movie discounts
5. Can Use Public Health for Free/ CoPoSa
6. Can apply for loans
7. Can Qualify for Rental contracts Insurance
8. Etc.

Thanks for pointing out some benefits, however, I see nothing that would convince me to obtain permanent resident status. My Arg wife can get most of the items listed should they be desired, but frankly, most of them are either not desired or are irrelevant (especially item #8).

 

[Somewhereinba]

The only benefit I saw was not having to worry about entering multiple times per year. Bajo runs a good fear campaign and I never had issues on my foreign passport and multiple stamps but in the end got residency anyway "just in case". The process when I did it was a pain in the ass and took 1 year before my DNI arrived.

 

[julian63]

The only benefit I saw was not having to worry about entering multiple times per year. Bajo runs a good fear campaign and I never had issues on my foreign passport and multiple stamps but in the end got residency anyway "just in case". The process when I did it was a pain in the ass and took 1 year before my DNI arrived.

Thanks. (The older I get, the fewer pains in the ass I wish to endure.)

 

[Somewhereinba]

Thanks. (The older I get, the fewer pains in the ass I wish to endure.)

Agree completely with you - Argentina is an expert of making what should be simple tasks extremely difficult.

 

[dilmah]

OK... Imagine a husband dies. Then wife does not have familial path to obtain permanent residence anymore.
Depending on circumstances wife might have no other path to obtain permanent residence.
There might be some assets left in Argentina and on tourist visa wife might have a hard time to properly handle them...

 

[Pensador]

I think being married to Argentinian it was needed not worth the risk of any issues regarding stamps etc. Otherwise, I see no benefits. And what dilmah said I would not want a circumstance where I died and my wife could have any issues getting to the things she needed. Could have just lived togethr etc. But in the end, I am responsible to make sure there is something for her if anything happens to me and that she has no issues getting access to what might one day be needed.

 

[julian63]

OK... Imagine a husband dies. Then wife does not have familial path to obtain permanent residence anymore.
Depending on circumstances wife might have no other path to obtain permanent residence.
There might be some assets left in Argentina and on tourist visa wife might have a hard time to properly handle them...

Thanks for constructing this hypothetical. I don't desire permanent residence status now, much less when my Arg mate dies. (If I did, there's probably a method for a financially well situated retiree to qualify.) I have no assets in Arg and I have a will that disposes of all my personal and real property in the US.
However, you do raise an interesting issue. Should my wife predecease me, we would want her real property in Arg to go to her daughter. Does a surviving spouse have an absolute, non-extinguishable right to share in the real property held in the sole name of the deceased spouse? Can the surviving husband's right to share in the deceased wife's real property be terminated by testamentary disposition, i.e. by a will?