Money Honey...and Stuff Too

[vhazou]

I am assuming you get these questions all the time, so appologies... but here goes:

As a foreigner, can I
1. change my pesos into dollars at the official rate when I leave?
2. If I have a bank account here in pesos, can i withdraw Canadian dollars with it in Canada and at what rate and %tax? ( I saw a post that I think relates to this today but I didn't quite understand it)
3. Lastly, what can I bring back into Argentina in terms of money, electronics - i.e., number of mobile phones, laptops, tablets.

Thanks so much in advance!
Victoria

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

1. I don't think you can change your Pesos back to C. Dollars when you leave (unless you brought the money in officially).
2. You cannot withdraw foreign currency using your Argentine Bank card withdrawing on your Argie account. You can use your Argie card to make purchases abroad in C. Dollars at the official rate + 35%.
3. You are allowed $10.000 USD without having to declare it. You can actually bring in as much as you want - you will just need to declare anything over $10.000 USD. If you bring one of something that looks like it is your personal property you should have no problem with Aduana. If you bring in 2 laptops, 2 computers, 2 cameras etc that will probably get you flagged. You might just get waived through if you flash your Canadian passport and pretend to not speak Spanish.

Good luck.

 

[internationalguy]

I am assuming you get these questions all the time, so appologies... but here goes:

As a foreigner, can I
1. change my pesos into dollars at the official rate when I leave?
2. If I have a bank account here in pesos, can i withdraw Canadian dollars with it in Canada and at what rate and %tax? ( I saw a post that I think relates to this today but I didn't quite understand it)
3. Lastly, what can I bring back into Argentina in terms of money, electronics - i.e., number of mobile phones, laptops, tablets.

Thanks so much in advance!
Victoria

1.If you go to an official exchange house and exchange your currency at the official rate you can exchange back the remanining pesos with your original receipt. Obviously the amount you exchange when you leave has to be smaller than the one you exchanged originally.

2. Unless you're a resident or a citizen you can't have a bank account. If you do have an account you have a monthly limit for cash advances on credit cards and you would have to pay a 35% premium which would make the transaction almost pointless. Plus you would have to pay that back soon to avoid daily interest. How would yo plan on paying it back if you're not here? You can wire money but it would probably be at a bad rate.

3. As a foreigner you're not likely to be bothered but if you overdo it you won't get away with it. Every piece of luggage is x rayed.

 

[nikad]

wtf is going on today?

 

[Joe]

wtf is going on today?

Today is like daytime TV in the US: one channel has redneck loonies on Jerry Springer and the other channels have get rich quick schemes.

BAexpats needs to get back to it's roots - things like: Masterpiece Theatre and Julia Child's cookery.

Okay folks, who's ready to learn how to make world class Mexican food in your Argentine kitchen.

 

[Chet]

Argentina has kitchens?

 

[ARbound]

I am assuming you get these questions all the time, so appologies... but here goes:

As a foreigner, can I
1. change my pesos into dollars at the official rate when I leave?
2. If I have a bank account here in pesos, can i withdraw Canadian dollars with it in Canada and at what rate and %tax? ( I saw a post that I think relates to this today but I didn't quite understand it)
3. Lastly, what can I bring back into Argentina in terms of money, electronics - i.e., number of mobile phones, laptops, tablets.

Thanks so much in advance!
Victoria

1. Only if you sell them at an exchange house for say ~8 ARS per CAD and keep the receipt/paperwork, go to the same place, etc.

2. No. Only with a credit card can you withdraw foreign currency, though in theory you could buy prepaid amexes/visas/master cards
from Shoppers/Metro/Loblaws and use them and pay with with an Argentine debit card. You'll be charged the official exchange rate,
+ 35% tax + ~3% visa/mc/amex/dc int. transaction fee.

3. Money legally up to ~$10,000 USD or the equivalent in foreign currencies or monetary instruments (gold/stocks/traveler checks/etc.)
Remember this is also what Canada/USA limits too, a man on the way to the caribbean about a year ago I think had his cash seized at
YYZ because he had a few hundred USD over the 10,000 CAD limit of leaving the country with. You can always bring in/leave with more
but have to declare it.

Phones, laptops, electronics, etc. As much as you want, you're less likely to be scrutinized if you put on a full gringo persona, speak no
Spanish and make sure they aren't in the boxes/sealed, though anything ridiculous will draw suspension (i.e. 10 iPhones, 5 laptops, etc.)

Getting pesos near the blue rate is difficult for Canadians unless you have a US bank account (not a canadian bank with an account in USD)
like myself, otherwise your options are limited to Chile/Uruguay/Bolivia/Brasil or bringing all the cash you need

 

[gpop]

wtf is going on today?

This is an open forum right?
Is it just me or whenever there is talk in this forum things start happening around town?! Whatever shortcuts that expats have come up with have been cut short soon after it has been talked about on this forum.
It's not like you need any creds to join and start asking questions. Folks here are happy to help and I guess that some of that volunteered assistance goes right to the ears of some political ears.
The anonymity that make some of these discussions possible is also the Achilles heel that suggests that we know each other better before we start doling out info to any TD&H.

 

[Crema Americana]

1. No. Technically, maybe, if you have the receipt, etc etc... the short answer is no. Only exchange the amount you plan to use and if you can get a better street rate, that'd be even better. Exchanging at a bank is losing money.

2. No. You can use a credit card abroad, but you won't get the 'official' rate. Opening a bank account and getting a credit card isn't an easy feat either... you need to be a resident to open an account and there's no guarantee of getting a credit card.
http://baexpats.org/...it-card-system/

3. You can bring up to $10,000 cash and your personal equipment. Normally they don't bother tourists, but I wouldn't bring anything in the original box.





I thought I knew what was going on, but I'm not so sure after gpop's post. Are we being watched?! I guess we've entered into the late night conspiracy talk shows.

 

[gpop]

...I thought I knew what was going on, but I'm not so sure after gpop's post. Are we being watched?! I guess we've entered into the late night conspiracy talk shows...

In a time when we consider the ever growing issue of disruption of privacy by known or unknown entities (NSA, hackers, identity theft, mobile security flaws, computer trojan/virus,etc); is it not conceivable that privacy and expectation of such is NOT a given anymore?
I'm not creating a conspiracy, nor would I even call it that anymore - at this point it is a fact. There is nothing to guarantee that the posts we publish here are not being viewed freely by anyone... private, institutional, governmental foreign or domestic.