Need advice on digital nomad visa vs work visa

[foobar]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for some advice on different visa options for me to live together with my girlfriend in Argentina.

We are a long distance couple since almost 1 1/2 years now, her being argentine and me being german. I'll finish my bachelors degree around may 2026 and we're planning to move in together in Argentina afterwards as she still needs to finish studying.
I'm studying digital engineering (a mixture of computer sience and electrical engineering) and am working part time as a working student in FPGA / chip design. My company already offered me to continue to employ me, even 100 % remotely from Argentina (although we haven't spoken about the details yet, so I'm keeping it in mind as a potential option).
I've been to Argentina twice so far to visit my girlfriend. Unfortunately I have a very limited amount of vacation and am quite restricted in terms of finances as a student, so it has only been 2 weeks + 5 weeks = 7 weeks in total. I've started to learn spanish but am still working on A1 level so I still have quite a way to go there too.

Now my girlfriend and I started to do some research and came up with a different strategies on how to move in together:

1. Start with a digital nomad visa + prolonging it so I can stay in Argentina for one year.
   
   Advantages: The visa is comparatively easy to get. I'd be working for my current company and receive a good and stable sallary. Also it would give me time to learn / improve my language skills
   
   Disadvantages: Unclear how to proceed after one year. If I manage to improve my spanish enough I could consider doing a master's / especalizacion and get a study visa. Second option would be switching jobs to a local company and get a work visa but so far I haven't seen any job offers in my field. Third option we consider would be marriage and getting temporary residency this way. We want to marry at some point anyways (if our relationship continues as well as it did so far) but I'm not sure if we'd have enough time for all the paperwork involved.
   Also I wouldn't get a DNI which makes renting an appartment rather complicated as she doesn't have a regular income except for a small scholarship she gets every month.
   
   
2. Looking for a job in Argentina and immigrating with a regular work visa.
   
   Advantages: No pressure to find a follow up solution after just one year, could be prolonged for up to three years and then turned into a permanent residency. Also I'd get a DNI which would largely simplify renting an appartment etc.
   
   Disadvantages: I'd loose my current job that I really enjoy and as stated above there don't seem many if any alternatives in the semiconductor / electronics industry in Argentina. Also I'd be highly dependent on the argentine company + I'm not sure whether my language skills will be enough by that time.

Sooo does anyone here have any advice on which option to go with? Are there any alternatives we haven't considered yet?
In case a situation like ours was already discussed in the forum, please forgive me for reposting, I couldn't find anything with our combination of requirements so far. If there's other good resources on this I'd also be very happy to receive those! I've already had a consultation on this here in Germany but it was more about the german side of legal requirements (which are a lot already ...) and didn't include any direct experience with the current situation in Argentina.

Thanks a lot to everyone!

 

[Alby]

A better idea might be to come for 90 days as a tourist, work remotely for your company, extend for another 90 days to make it 6 months in total. If the relationship survives that test, you can investigate the options you mention, and others.

 

[foobar]

A better idea might be to come for 90 days as a tourist, work remotely for your company, extend for another 90 days to make it 6 months in total. If the relationship survives that test, you can investigate the options you mention, and others.

That's of course another possibility we haven't even considered yet^^ Though what would be the advantage of doing this "trial period" as a tourist vs doing it as a digital nomad?

Immigrating as a tourist is less initial paperwork but it adds another layer of complexity later on. Of course we should consider the possibility of our relationship failing at some point but I don't see how it failing during a tourist stay woud be different to any other visa?
And of course we wouldn't be doing this if we weren't reasonably sure that we'll get along with each other very well. So things working out between us should still remain the default case which means we are looking for a path that allows me to stay in Argentina without having to leave the country in between changes of the visa. So far I feel like being on a tourist visa would make all organizational stuff even more stressful because of the more limited time.

 

[devilclam]

I agree with Alby. If you're earning in Euros you definitely do NOT want to trade it for a job in Argentina that's in pesos. The digital nomad visa was buggy when I applied a few years ago, so it's hard to say.

Just enter and exit every 90 days until you're ready to get married

 

[Yuyo]

Hey, I was/am in the exact same boat on this one coming from the u.s.
Long distance relationship for years until I got settled in career and could start remote work. Then spending much of the year in Argentina.

I personally vote for the remote visa. I've gotten it a couple times. It's a small headache but simple enough, and I'm just too anxious to play around the rules without it. A lot of people have no issue coming as a tourist, renewing, and then hopping over the border to restart the counter. I just get the feeling the migrations staff are getting fed up with that and are trying to cut down on it. Besides, being able to renew a 6 month to a year is easier than gaming 90 days, but again, seen plenty of other have zero issues with that.

For the disadvantages on that option, yea, it offers no path to permanent residence aside from eventually getting married. To my understanding, after being here a while to prove a "legit" relationship and getting married you can get permanent residency straight away.

A tip for remote work, look into portable routers that can have VPNs built in, just in-case there are any work functions that lock when at an IP address out of country. My job it fine with being abroad, but some websites and the sort will freak out if it sees an Argentine IP (unless you IT department is cool and will install their own IP changing VPN).

 

[foobar]

@Joddson That indeed sounds exactly like my situation!
I also fear playing the system by just relying on the tourist visa and it seems they are introducing more and more regulations to prevent exactly that. Also I'm not sure how things would be in terms of taxes this way.

Let's assume we'll go for the digital nomad visa.

1. How long do I need to leave the country before I can enter again on a second round as a digital nomad?
2. Is there any limits on how many times one can get the digital nomad visa?
3. How does income tax work? As far as I'm aware I need to pay tax in argentina when staying for more than 183 days in one year, is that correct?
4. What's the route like after marriage? I've also read about being able to apply for permanent residency immediately but I haven't found any official website on that. So far I only found something about temporary residency (https://www.argentina.gob.ar/servicio/obtener-una-residencia-temporaria-por-reunificacion-familiar) and this family reunification visa (https://cancilleria.gob.ar/es/servicios/visas/visa-por-reunificacion-familiar). Can anyone give me a hint in the right directon on this?

 

[Yuyo]

@Joddson That indeed sounds exactly like my situation!
I also fear playing the system by just relying on the tourist visa and it seems they are introducing more and more regulations to prevent exactly that. Also I'm not sure how things would be in terms of taxes this way.

Let's assume we'll go for the digital nomad visa.

1. How long do I need to leave the country before I can enter again on a second round as a digital nomad?
2. Is there any limits on how many times one can get the digital nomad visa?
3. How does income tax work? As far as I'm aware I need to pay tax in argentina when staying for more than 183 days in one year, is that correct?
4. What's the route like after marriage? I've also read about being able to apply for permanent residency immediately but I haven't found any official website on that. So far I only found something about temporary residency (https://www.argentina.gob.ar/servicio/obtener-una-residencia-temporaria-por-reunificacion-familiar) and this family reunification visa (https://cancilleria.gob.ar/es/servicios/visas/visa-por-reunificacion-familiar). Can anyone give me a hint in the right directon on this?

So, I'll have to lead this with saying I'm not an expert and may not be 100% right, but

1. I have gotten one issued within 3ish months after heading back home to see family. I don't think there is actually a cooldown so to say.
2. Have gotten it twice minding that 3ish month gap, saw no sign of limit. I'd guess they're just happy to collect the $200 fees since its so easy to abuse the tourist visa as an alternative.
3. *GRAY AREA* Something like 40% of the country works off books and outside the bank system. Personally, New York law still labels me a New York resident with my income being "earned" and taxable there, so I just have no tax or bank presence in Argentina. That being said, I remembering seeing some people say when the nomad visa was new, that it was based on no tax liability to Argentina. Very easy to live here soley using out of county cards and non bank systems. Your local tax laws may determine which way you want to push for that.
4.*NOT A LAWYER* To my understanding, "visas" are only for entering a country, so that visa page link is only meant for people who can't get into Argentina to begin with (like if you cant enter as tourist or nomad). If you're in Argentina already and qualify, I think this link it the correct program (https://www.argentina.gob.ar/servicio/radicaciones-residencia-permanente). I believe that this path just leads to full perm. residency and they'll just want to verify its not a sham marriage, so have fun and take travel pictures and the sort.

As I get it, migrations just wants to verify you qualify and that whatever means you are living off aren't criminally earned. Tax and the sort, separate ball game that Argentina has a long history playing.

But feel free to ping if any random asks come to mind, always happy to help another poor soul that got hooked & dragged down here.

 

[Alby]

1. How does income tax work? As far as I'm aware I need to pay tax in argentina when staying for more than 183 days in one year, is that correct

No.

You only become a tax resident after 12 months of having been issued a temporary residency (residencia temporaria) by Migraciones. And if, during the 12 months, you stayed out of Argentina for more than 90 days, you remain non-resident for tax purposes. If you were to skip the temporary residency process by getting married and going straight to permanent residency, upon Migraciones granting you the permanent residency, you become a tax resident.

If you were to get a a job with an Argentine company on a contract of less than five years duration and be granted a temporary residency by Migraciones on that basis, you would remain a non-tax resident for the term of that employment. That may be a factor to consider in weighing up your employment options.

 

[foobar]

Thanks a lot to everyone for all the information already!

If you're in Argentina already and qualify, I think this link it the correct program (https://www.argentina.gob.ar/servicio/radicaciones-residencia-permanente).

I think I saw this page before but I assumed that it doesn't apply because it doesn't mention marriage anywhere on that page. After roughly translating the metioned Ley 25.871 it seems to include marriage too

Many thanks again for the offer to ping you on further questions @Joddson, I'll definitely make use of that!
Maybe a quick question already: How long did it take in your case for the two applications to be completed? I remember reading something about 10-45 days, but I'm not sure.

Also Thanks to @Alby for clarifying tax stuff, seems like I got some things mixed up there. I'll check again for local regulations too.

 

[Yuyo]

Thanks a lot to everyone for all the information already!


I think I saw this page before but I assumed that it doesn't apply because it doesn't mention marriage anywhere on that page. After roughly translating the metioned Ley 25.871 it seems to include marriage too

Many thanks again for the offer to ping you on further questions @Joddson, I'll definitely make use of that!
Maybe a quick question already: How long did it take in your case for the two applications to be completed? I remember reading something about 10-45 days, but I'm not sure.

Also Thanks to @Alby for clarifying tax stuff, seems like I got some things mixed up there. I'll check again for local regulations too.

No problem, I think mine never took over 2 weeks. Mind, they are only valid to use within 3 months of getting, so don't apply to early. Also, make it very clear when entering that you have it, they booked me in as a tourist last time because I didn't explicitly state I had the visa. Don't trust the computer systems or staff here to have things covered.

Also, woa, that link definitely used to specifically list spouse as a permanent residency qualification. I had it saved in my favorites and swear it used to be in there. I hope they aren't trying to change the law to push marriage to temp. residency only.

I saw something about the president trying to screw with some immigration laws for citizenship and the sort that are being fought out in the courts right now, so maybe the websites aren't 100% reliable right now. Looks like they are trying to use executive power to skip the courts and make marriage get temp. only (still with pathway to perm./citizen).