New rentista visa requirements

[davonz]

Immigration has started to implement the US$2000 per month income requirement for rentista.

I went to renew my visa with what i was told i needed to renew 3 weeks ago, and they wouldnt take my application - but i do have a months grace to get new required documentation..

They wouldnt accept the letter from my bank and bank statement, they are now wanting a letter from an accountant stating that i WILL have an income of US$2,000 (8000 pesos) or more per month for the next year. This letter has to be certified and legalised by the embassy in my home country and then translated and certified here.

They also require a Argentina Bank account. But it doesnt have to have funds in it or have money transferred to it on a regular basis. When i said to open a bank account you need a DNI, and a DNI takes 6 months or more to get, she said they can let the visa go through without the bank account.

They told me the law has been changed recently (as has been mentioned on here by steve i think) and the above are the new requirements for visa renewals.

 

[Sleuth]

Yep, the joys of Argentine bureaucracy. When I got my rentista visa last year they had just added the requirement that you also had to stipulate the source of the funds, so that meant getting another apostiled letter for me as well.

Luckily, I used an attorney and he took care of getting me a bank account with just my passport number. They were supposed to transfer it over to my DNI when I got it, but here we are a year later and it's still under my passport number at the bank. Oh well...

 

[garygrunson]

You can get a bank account at HSBC without a DNI, you just need a AR Tax ID which is easy to get. You may have to remind HSBC about their own rules posted on their own website about account requirements, but after some time, they came around to opening an account for me.

Now that I have a DNI, the bank has been unable to update my account with my DNI number, so I finally just gave up and left it listed under my passport number. It all works fine and so I am happy.

Good luck.

 

[gunt86]

Immigration has started to implement the US$2000 per month income requirement for rentista.

I went to renew my visa with what i was told i needed to renew 3 weeks ago, and they wouldnt take my application - but i do have a months grace to get new required documentation..

They wouldnt accept the letter from my bank and bank statement, they are now wanting a letter from an accountant stating that i WILL have an income of US$2,000 (8000 pesos) or more per month for the next year. This letter has to be certified and legalised by the embassy in my home country and then translated and certified here.

They also require a Argentina Bank account. But it doesnt have to have funds in it or have money transferred to it on a regular basis. When i said to open a bank account you need a DNI, and a DNI takes 6 months or more to get, she said they can let the visa go through without the bank account.

They told me the law has been changed recently (as has been mentioned on here by steve i think) and the above are the new requirements for visa renewals.

The only recent change to the law regarding rentista visas is the requirement of AR$8000/month income, up from AR$2400 per month. The requirement of a letter from your accountant has been been the case for a long time. The need for a ARG bank account has been the case for 2 years already.

 

[davonz]

The only recent change to the law regarding rentista visas is the requirement of AR$8000/month income, up from AR$2400 per month. The requirement of a letter from your accountant has been been the case for a long time. The need for a ARG bank account has been the case for 2 years already.

I never needed a letter form my accountant when i applied before. And the brochure i was given by immigration 2 weeks ago only states "certificación del banco donde recribe su renta, en la que especifique la cantidad de dinero recibido en el último año, origen del mismo y que seguirá percibiendose.", nothing else to do with income.

Anyways i dont have an accountant, and i dont see how an accountant can say what i am going to earn in the future, or would be willing to write a letter stating that i will earn US$2000 plus per month for the next year - i dont even know what i will earn.

 

[gunt86]

Anyways i dont have an accountant, and i dont see how an accountant can say what i am going to earn in the future, or would be willing to write a letter stating that i will earn US$2000 plus per month for the next year - i dont even know what i will earn.

A rentista visa is for people who have income from investments. Income that is supposed to be stable, like interest payments from bonds. Any accountant can draft a letter stating that you have stable income from investments of US$2000/month, if in fact you do actually have that. If you don't have this type of income from investments, then you are not qualified for this type of visa.

 

[steveinbsas]

I never needed a letter form my accountant when i applied before. And the brochure i was given by immigration 2 weeks ago only states "certificación del banco donde recribe su renta, en la que especifique la cantidad de dinero recibido en el último año, origen del mismo y que seguirá percibiendose.", nothing else to do with income.

The above quote actually says everything you need regarding income. Here is my translation.

An applicant for the visa rentista is required to present "certification of the bank where he receives (deposits) his income which specifies the quantity of money received in the last year, the origin of the income, and demonstrates that the income will continue.

I never presented a letter from a CPA, just a notarized letter from a bank officer that certified all of the above. I was never asked for bank statements, but I also provided a copy of the irrevocable trust that generated the income on a monthly basis. I attached an original cover letter from the law firm that set up the irrevocable trust. The lawyer's signature was notarized and the letter received the seal of the Apostille form the Illinois Secretary of State. The fact that the trust is irrevocable means the income will continue in the future and migraciones clearly understood and accepted this. I presented an updated version of the same letter from the bank for each of my three renewals (2007-2009), but I only gave them the copy of the trust with the cover letter when I first applied in 2006.

I realize you are not from the USA, and though all applicants for this type of visa must meet the same requirements, the actual papers presented can vary slightly, as long as they provide the required information. Do you know if the AR consulate in NZ actually submitted your documents to migraciones in Buenos Aries in the first place or if they just issued the visa there?

 

[davonz]

Do you know if the AR consulate in NZ actually submitted your documents to migraciones in Buenos Aries in the first place or if they just issued the visa there?

I have no idea what the AR consulate did in NZ, I just met the consul, he finger printed me, i signed some forms, and gave him copys (certified) of my birth certificate (apostille), bank statement and a letter from my bank, and my passport. Nothing more.

The consulate put a stamp in my passport, it says its a temp residency visa valid for 1 year, I was then given 2 envelopes, 1 to be handed to immigration on arrival to arg, and the other to be used for visa renewal - which i have since found out is about as much use as hip pocket in a tank-top.

Anyways, now i have to decide if i can be bothered getting the new requirements or just think its in the "to hard" basket and find somewhere else i like. 4 trips to immigration already, 4 different things i have been told.

 

[French jurist]

You can get a bank account at HSBC without a DNI, you just need a AR Tax ID which is easy to get. You may have to remind HSBC about their own rules posted on their own website about account requirements, but after some time, they came around to opening an account for me.

Now that I have a DNI, the bank has been unable to update my account with my DNI number, so I finally just gave up and left it listed under my passport number. It all works fine and so I am happy.

Good luck.

Just to clarify and not give hopes to others :
Well, the fact that foreigners can open a bank account at HSBC has been debated a few times on this site.
At least three people, including you, have been able to do so while others have been rejected.
About a month ago (lazy to search for the thread), someone in your situation got his account locked up (I don't remember if it was Santander Rio or HSBC though). Anyway your situation is different since you now have a DNI.

Apertura de cuenta : HSBC website logically refers to BCRA (Banco Central) regarding rules.
Rules edicted by the BCRA for a cuenta corriente are here (I didn't search for cuenta de ahorro though) : http://www.bcra.gov.ar/pdfs/texord/t-ctacte.pdf

If you read 1.3.1.9 section IV, the situation for people -supposedely- here for less than three months requires a permiso de ingreso (it's something apart from the visa) so it probably refers to a special category of residentes transitorios or something like this.

I point this out because this question -or affirmation- is raised every month on this forum and it's better for newcomers to clarify a bit the facts.
For sure AttorneyinBA could bring a definitive answer to this.

 

[steveinbsas]

Anyways, now i have to decide if i can be bothered getting the new requirements or just think its in the "to hard" basket and find somewhere else i like. 4 trips to immigration already, 4 different things i have been told.

Even if you are able to meet the new requirements and renew your visa, just remember that an $8000 peso per month income would be subject to taxation in Argentina, and so would the assets you have that generate the income. Few temporary residents have paid taxes on their foreign income and assets in the past, but that may soon change with the higher income requirement. If and when you renew the visa you will be leaving a paper trail for AFIP to follow.