new to BsAs 2010

Kirst

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Hello guys! I am one of the many it seems heading to BsAs soon. The start of 2010 to be precise for at least a one year sabatical. Admittedly I am fairly obsessed with Argentina, 3 trips in 6 months.

I have thought about doing voluntary work in exchange for board & lodgings to minimise my outgoings for a year. I know eg I could teach poor kids English in a school in BsAs in return for lodgings. My aim is to have a lot of fun & learn Spanish. Of course I'd prefer paid work but in reading all the posts on this site, one thing I have realised is not to take anything for granted!!

I have more than 15 years experience working in private client investments for major UK companies. I am in France currently working for a worldwide bank. My mother tongue in English & I am also fluent in French. I also have my TEFL certificate. I have made a few inquiries which are looking promising but if they don't work out, I need my fall back position.

Anyways, any suggestions workwise from anyone?

Also, are the authorities ok if I arrive at the aiport with a one way ticket? Plus what is the best way for transfering money ie not taking out cash advances on the credit card at huge costs!!

I am so looking forward to it & to meeting some of you at some point!!

ciao
kirst
 
Get a flexible two way ticket with a 6 month to a year difference. If you some day have to return you are phone call away from changing your ticket

Best and easiest way to get cash is to go to the ATM and I personally pay my rent with Euro's I take with me
 
It seems to me that the last thing that poor kids need is to learn English. Maybe you could teach poor kids English and the families could give you a place to stay in a shantytown. Sounds like a great experience. You could write a book, go on Oprah.
 
Welcome to the forum, Kirst.

Kirst said:
Also, are the authorities ok if I arrive at the aiport with a one way ticket?
It is of course impossible to give you a guarantee, but I have never been asked to show a return ticket - 8 or 9 arrivals in EZE.

What I have done is to add 1 to my flight number (e.g. LA3731 to LA3732) then write the latter on the visa form - or you can use LA5720, which I know is a legit LAN flight number Santiago de Chile to Madrid.

Nobody has ever bothered to check, they seem to be content with any possible number

Kirst said:
Plus what is the best way for transfering money ie not taking out cash advances on the credit card at huge costs!!
The really smart way is to get an account with an Argentinian bank.

Be warned that I haven't tried it myself yet, but read Realba's article about how it's done: DNI
- disregard the title, it's about getting a bank account with a CNI, not a DNI.

The best banks for this should be Itaú and Banco Piano.

With an Argentinian bank account it goes like this:

From any bank account in the world to any other bank account, all you need to know is two numbers of the receiving account:

1. IBAN: International Bank Account Number
2. SWIFT: Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication

The Argentinian bank should be able to tell you the numbers.

The first time you transfer a small amount to verify them, so you don't land 5,000 Euro on señor Gomez Salerapido's account, only to find him salir very rapido to Peru with your hard earned.

This procedure has been challenged as regards Argentina, but by someone who hasn't tried it himself - and others have actually done it, e.g. tangobob : http://baexpats.org/newcomers-forum/5778-banking-ex-pats.html#post34784

Another alternative is to use e.g. Western Union http://www.fexco.com/ but they charge close to 5% on large amounts and considerably more on small ones - calculate optimum carefully, as theirs is a staircase fee (from xx to zz costs yy); also take in consideration that the value of the peso is closely related to the US$ and may be devaluated any time, nobody knows for sure if or when.
 
fred mertz said:
It seems to me that the last thing that poor kids need is to learn English. Maybe you could teach poor kids English and the families could give you a place to stay in a shantytown. Sounds like a great experience. You could write a book, go on Oprah.

Fred, it's not just teaching English, lots of other things & organised by an international recognised company. I'd rather help poor underprivileged kids than rich spoiled ones!!

Thanks for the encouragement! not!
 
John.St said:
Welcome to the forum, Kirst.

It is of course impossible to give you a guarantee, but I have never been asked to show a return ticket - 8 or 9 arrivals in EZE.

What I have done is to add 1 to my flight number (e.g. LA3731 to LA3732) then write the latter on the visa form - or you can use LA5720, which I know is a legit LAN flight number Santiago de Chile to Madrid.

Nobody has ever bothered to check, they seem to be content with any possible number

The really smart way is to get an account with an Argentinian bank.

Be warned that I haven't tried it myself yet, but read Read Realba's article about how it's done: DNI
- disregard the title, it's about getting a bank account with a CNI, not a DNI.

The best banks for this should be ITAU and Banco Piano.

With an Argentinian bank account it goes like this:

From any bank account in the world to any other bank account, all you need to know is two numbers of the receiving account:

1. IBAN: International Bank Account Number
2. SWIFT: Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication

The Argentinian bank should be able to tell you the numbers.

The first time you transfer a small amount to verify them, so you don't land 5,000 Euro on señor Gomez Salerapido's account, only to find him salir very quickly to Peru with your hard earned.

This procedure has been challenged as regards Argentina, but by someone who seemingly hasn't tried - and others have actually done it, e.g. tangobob : http://baexpats.org/newcomers-forum/5778-banking-ex-pats.html#post34784

Another alternative is to use e.g. Western Union http://www.fexco.com/ but they charge close to 5% on large amounts and considerably more on small ones - calculate optimum carefully, as theirs is a staircase fee (from xx to zz costs yy); also take in consideration that the value of the peso is closely related to the US$ and may be devaluated any time, nobody knows for sure if or when.

John, thankyou so much for your very helpful & positive reply.
k
 
Kirst said:
John, thankyou so much for your very helpful & positive reply.
k
De nada.

Kirst,

as you know, when you have arrived you are issued a tourist visa for 90 days.

There are two ways to extend it.

You can renew it (also 90 days) at migraciones, that'll set you back AR$ 300.
This can be done once only, then you'll have to leave the country and return to get a new tourist visa - no problem.

The other alternative is described here - assuming you are staying in BsAs http://baexpats.org/expat-life/5699...-visa-affect-chances-work-visa.html#post34277

I advice this the very first time if you haven't been there already, because then you'll see pretty little Colónia del Sacramento in Uruguay. After a few trips you'll probably prefer the migraciones method every second time - Colónia is small and it ain't that interesting, same with Rio de la Plata - cross it once and you have got what you need for a lifetime.

When/if you are fed up with BsAs, take a trip to the provinces, beautiful Córdoba, Mendoza, Catamarca, Tucumán, Salta, Bariloche (don't go there if you have visited Lapland i Sweden, Norway or Finland) and other smaller towns - on second thoughts don't, you'll want to stay there :D
 
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