Moving to Argentina.

[steveinbsas]

Kurt, Check your wife's DNI to see what the "categoria de ingreso" is. If there is a box with the words "temp" and "perm" on the second page, one will be crossed out. That should tell you all you need to know. Of course both of you will enter Argentina with your US passports. If you wife does have permanent residency, you will go through different lines at the airport. She should present her US passport and her DNI and she will be granted an unlimited stay. You will just get the 90 day tourist visa unless you apply for and receive permanent residency through the consulate in the US IF that is possible. If not, you can do it here.

Just be sure to bring all of the necessary docs from the US. I suggest two certified and apostilled copies of your birth certificate (one for migraciones to get the visa and one for the registro to get your DNI). As they are now requiring an advance appointment to apply for the visa, it might be a good idea to have someone here call and make an appointment for you prior to your arrival. Just leave enough time for you to have your docs translated and legalized and for you to get an Argentine criminal report once your here. The report only takes a day or two and translations can be done almost as fast if you make advance arrangements as well.

I'm curious to know if you actually showed your wife's DNI to the consulate personel in LA or just received information over the phone. Its' not unusual here to get conflicting information from immigration regarding the requirements on the phone versus what is said (enforced) in person when actually presenting documents.

There have been recent posts that the FBI report takes a month or so. If your wife has permanent residency in Argentina, I don't think she will need one. But if she has to reapply for the visa at migraciones, they will probably want one for her, too. When applying for a new visa, the regulations require the criminal background check for the country of residence for the previous five years. This is a great example where you could get one answer at the consulate and a different one in BA.

If your wife indeed has permanent residency, I suggest you call the consulate again and ask if you can apply for permanent residency there. If so, you will then only have to apply for the DNI after arriving in Argentina.

 

[Kurt75]

Hey Steve,
As always, thanks for your prompt reply. OK, I checked my wife’s DNI, next to the categoria de ingreso, the temp is crossed out and the perm is visible.
There is no expiration date listed at all.
So basically, what will have to do is enter as tourists or visitors. And than we or rather I adjust status there in Argentina, right?
We did show the DNI to the consulate in LA, they said it has to be renewed, which doesn’t really make sense, but whatever.
Now we are contemplating whether to just wing it and travel to Argentina together or she goes ahead first to take care of things and than we take it from there.
The consulate people said that they couldn’t help us anymore as she is not an Argentine citizen. I don't think they were very helpful, but what can you do.
Considering her parents are Argentina born citizens and the fact that she lived there for 12 years. I was assuming we shouldn’t have any problems. We also have property in her name in Cordova.
My intent was to apply for my DNI before leaving cause that way by the time we get to Argentina we can take care of other things. However, it does not seem possible right now. Appostile is quite expensive here, its about $200 per document, just ridiculous.
I will keep you posted on how things go, thanks once again Steve and everyone.

Kurt.

 

[steveinbsas]

Kurt, you are a victim of misinformation and your request might actually be causing confusion at the consulate. A resident visa and a DNI are two different things. If you try to apply for a DNI there they will always say no. You cannot apply for a DNI outside of Argentina. No one can. For them to tell your wife she needs to renew her DNI shows that they simply may not know what they are talking about, either.

As I wrote in my previous post, your wife should enter in the line for residents and produce her DNI along with her US passport. To fail to do this might actually hurt your ability to get a resident visa while you are here, especially if migraciones wants to see her passport when you apply for residency as her husband. If all of her "doccuments" to obtain residency are on file here, migraciones will no doubt review them prior to granting your residency. That's probably the main reason the Argentine consulate in the US can't do anything for you.

You will need to have your passport translated here along with the your birth certificate and marriage license. I don't think the FBI report needs to have the Apostille, but I think it also needs to be translated .

As far as I know, every Secretary of State in the US has the ability to perform the Apostille and the cost is usually about TEN dollars per document. I requested documents on line from Utah and Illinois and even had them Apostilled and sent to me when I was visiting in the US. Three years ago, apostille.com offered to Apostille all the docs and send them to BA for $200 total. Nonetheless, this is something you should be able to do yourself at a very low cost. I would be shocked to know that the Secretary of State of California charges $200 dollars per document for the Apostille. Check on line with the appropriate Secretary of State website(s) and you should know in a few minutes.

You should be able to request a "certified copy" of you birth certificate from the Secretary of State where you were born and perhaps they can perform the apostille as well (prior to sending it to you). Hopefully, the same will be true for your marriage license (which also must be an "official certified" copy.

If you aren't here, your wife cannot do much for you. It doesn't sound like you are in the position to pay an "immigration attorney" or agency to get you the visa (you shouldn't). Anyway, you will have to be here in person to obtain the AR criminal background check (even though you just arrived). You can submit the paperwork at migraciones yourself (and be photographed and provide your thumbprint). There is no "application" to fill out.

You can only apply for the DNI after your residency is granted.