Moving back to Argentina: Customs' question

[mini]

I was planning to bring all my clothes with me on the plane, even if they charge me something for the extra weight, and possibly ship the books... if this makes sense...

Well, I think everyone else said what I was going to say. If you bring them with your on the plane (as opposed to having the stuff brought in by courier/mail,etc) I think you should a alright, especially if the goods really are used. 3 suitcases solely of electronics will get you questioned however.

And books are always tax free IIRC.

Getting the certificate from the consulate is a great idea! This forum can be so helpful!

 

[BA Art]

Customs are concerned with you bringing in electronics for resale or gifts so anything new in a box will catch their eye. I arrived in BA yesterday and had my 2 bags full of electronics searched. Everything I own looks new so they questioned that. I had to explain to them my items were more than a year old. I did make a mistake by bringing in a brand new camera in it's box for a friend and they asked me if I had family or friends here. My reply, "Of course not". They asked me the worth of the camera and just replied jibberishly, $30-$40-$35. I know there is a cut off on the amount but I didn't know what it is. Anyways, all went well as they couldn't conclusively find a reason to question me further.

 

[Fabe]

I brought a container with my belongings
I was duped by an argentine woman named Pillie. She was an unauthorised agent.She stole a good ammount of items from the container. The container company I used ,Evergreen , was equally shady. Or perhaps it was their argentine offices. An invoice i should have been given stateside ,cost me fifty dollars for their office to give me a printout. The scummy corrupt fella in aduanas , his name is Daniel Millian, ALSO asked be for a bribe that I did NOT give him , I DID threaten to send him to jail.Make no mistake , aduanas , or customs is a verry profitable mafia in buenos aires. The "Despachantes" or the private agents you hire to take care of all the paperwork are part and parcel of that racket , they are the ones that stand between you and the customs agent and collect the bribe.
Go to your consulate , and if you can prove you have been in the states 5 years or more , you can even bring a car , free of duty , but not free of other taxes.The car I brought has a kelly blue book value of 1500 US , and for that I was charges way over 3000 US to enter it into the country . The land transportation charged me another 1500 us , and stole items from my container , the name of that company is LOZANO and they are based in quilmes
Think SCAM, stay awake , dont be intimidated.
Best

 

[bloody_bloo]

Fabe, I'm so sorry you had to go through that.

Buenos Aires City existed in the first place only for the smuggling business.

I need to bribe in a daily base. It's the way things work here, specially with customs.

Logistics fees are completely out of chart since they monopolize transport and deposits.

An advice: do not bring anything.

 

[MatiArg]

Oh, what great news!! One question: you have not lived here for more than 3 months the year before, right? Because, when I had to renew my Arg passport last December, they told me that I was now considered an Arg resident again due to having been here for more than 3 months... this made me think they may tell me that, "hey, you are now a resident bringing stuff from abroad and not just moving back" when I pass through Customs again with my stuff...

Nope, my previous visit have never lasted more then 3 months. They didnt even check my passport. Just try bringing everything in suitcases and let your argentine spirit out if they ask anything! To those thinking of bringing things on containers i would recommend you to avoid the hassle.

 

[Silvi]

Ceci,

You shouldn't have a problem with clothes or books. I brought back 6 suitcases and two huge boxes...on the airplane...they contained:

Clothing
Books
Shoes
Purses
Personal Items, decorative stuff

When I arrived, I found a guy with a huge cart and he loaded all of my stuff, took me directly through the line where the manager of Aduana was, the Aduana guy asked me a couple of questions..no big deal....and that was it...Always enter Argentina with your American Passport....they know you are Argentine because it's in your passport....they will just ask you what you have...just tell them used items, clothing, books...regarding electronics, whaever you bring, take it out of the boxes, etc....and hide the brochures, etc....you should have no problem at all...Oh, and I tipped the luggage guy $20 or $40 USD and he was pissed off....he wanted more money and tried to make me feel bad saying that I went through Aduana with no problems because of him...totally not true.....I didn't need him...Anyway, you don't need to explain too much....if they ask, you tell them that you live in both places....it shouldn't be a problem.