Pensionado visa

newtraderoute

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hola, Has anyone applied for a pensioner visa? Who did you use to help you? How long did it take? Does the 6 months in the country need to be in the calendar year or is is based on 12 months from when it starts? Thanks!
 
hola, Has anyone applied for a pensioner visa? Who did you use to help you?
I got the visa pensionado in 2006 and the woman who went to migraciones with me to act as a "friendly translator" has also done so for several other members of this group since then.

I contacted her recently on behalf of another member and she is still avialble.

How long did it take?

I got the precaria as soon as I presented the documents (which I got on my own). I received my DNI a few months later (it took longer then to get the DNI).
Does the 6 months in the country need to be in the calendar year or is is based on 12 months from when it starts? Thanks!
I was never absolutely sure about this as I received my temporary residency in October of 2006 and was in the counrty for more than six months of each year until I got the cambio de categoria to permnent residency in 2009.
 
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PS: The precaria is good for 90 days (and is even renewable) while migraciones reviews your documents, but it should not take anywhere near that much time to get the approval for a visa pensionado and receive your DNI.
 
PS: The precaria is good for 90 days (and is even renewable) while migraciones reviews your documents, but it should not take anywhere near that much time to get the approval for a visa pensionado and receive your DNI.
thanks, so you didnt use an immigration attorney to guide you?
 
thanks, so you didnt use an immigration attorney to guide you?
My Argentine girlfriend at the time insisted that I use her attorney, but I soon realized that I would have to get all of the required documents on my own (with help from my brother and a friend.in the USA) and also that the attorney had no experience whatsoever regarding immigration.

I dumped the lawyer as well as my Argentine girlfriend after she told me I could only legally buy a property in her name and I would have to send the money to a "special account" in her lawyer's name.

After getting all of the requred documents and the translations, I went to migraciones with a woman I actually met on the sidewalk in front of the building where my girlfriend and her lawyer worked. The woman stopped me to ask some questions for a survey she was conducting. She gave me her number and about two months later I called her and asked if she would be willing to go to migraciones with me to act as a translator.

Patricia was able to answer questions migraciones asked regarding my source of income that I might not have been able to if I had gone there by myself. I had to return the next day after getting ATM receipts to show that I was receiving the funds in Argentina. I got the precaria on the second day and then applied for my DNI on my own. At that time it was necesary to apply for the DNI at a different location and there was a 90 day wait to receive the DNI after applying for it.

This forum is the best place I know of to ask any questions you have about the required documents for the visa pensionado and how to get them, so you should not need to hire a lawyer or a "gestor" to help you.

If you are cionfident with your ability to comunicate in Spanish, you should be able to do everything on your own.

PS: I bought an apartment in my own name less than a week after receiving the precaria and I transferred the money to myself using a casa de cambio (without having a bank account in Argentina).
 
This forum is the best place I know of to ask any questions you have about the required documents for the visa pensionado and how to get them, so you should not need to hire a lawyer or a "gestor" to help you.
As I previously indicated, you don't need a lawyer or a gestor, and if you speak some basic Spanish, you should not need a translator, either.

If you are receiving Social Security payments from the USA, all you will need to prove your source of income is an official benefits letter with the Apostille which you will have to have translated in Argentina. I believe you will also need to have the FBI report translated. Transaltors are easy to find and easy to deal with as anyone you will use will speak English. The translator can also have the translations "legalized" for you.

.It is not the same kind of legalization that is required for translated documents.

Of course you will need the FBI report and it must be certified (Apostilled?) by the State Department. This is best done while you are still in the USA. I believe you have 90 days from the date it is issued to present it at migraciones. I hope others will confirm the 90 day time frame.

I got the Argentine crimininal background report (penales antecedentes) on my own without speaking much Spanish and it is even easier now than the three times I did it over ten years ago. You must have this report before you came make an appointment (turno) on line present your documents at migraciones.

If you don't yet speak much Spanish, I suggest you begin by teaching yourself words and phrases that are relevant to getting the visa pensionado.

You can use google translate to create a list and also download a "talk and translate" app to speak in English and then hear the translations in Spanish.

You could even use the app in you cell phone if you go to migraciones on your own without someone to help with the translations.

I have used the app at pharmacies and "health food" shops to insure that I was able to buy exactly what I wanted and the English word was not at all similar.

The best example was the time I wanted to buy turmeric. Here it is known by one of its ingredients, curcuma.

The app was also useful when I needed to buy ball joints for the front suspension of my car and the Spanish word for them is rotulas.

PS: It was much easier to buy Ivermectin (over a year ago) in a pharmacy as the Spanish word for it is Ivermectina. There was actually a sign on the plexiglass shield above the counter which indicated that it was available for direct purchase without a prescription, so I didn't have to use the app.

Ultimately, if you feel uncomfortable about going to migraciones alone, you can go with anyone who speaks Spanish and English well enough to act as your translator. They really don't have to know anything about the visa you are applying for and you might be able to return the favor by buying them a nice lunch.or dinner insted of paying them

I can share Patricia's contact information with you in a PM if you desire. The cost for one trip to migraciones is $175USD and she will go with you a second time for an additional cost of $75USD, but if all you need to do is provide an additional document, you can probably do that on your own.

I returned to migraciones on my own the day after Patricia went with me for the first time. All I had to do was give the same woman we had spoken with the previous day some ATM recepts. I was then told to take a seat and wait. In a little while I was given the precaria.
 
Just an FYI... To receive a Federal apostille, the Social Security Income Verification letter MUST be signed, and have both the signer's name and position printed below the signature. HOWEVER, Social Security stopped issuing signed letters when they consolidated their operations in Baltimore a while back.Technically, it is therefore no longer possible to have them apostilled by the U.S. State Department.

Social Security at the embassy might be able to help, or find some cooperative soul at a local U.S. S.S. office (which is how I got mine apostilled in February).
 
As far as
Just an FYI... To receive a Federal apostille, the Social Security Income Verification letter MUST be signed, and have both the signer's name and position printed below the signature. HOWEVER, Social Security stopped issuing signed letters when they consolidated their operations in Baltimore a while back.Technically, it is therefore no longer possible to have them apostilled by the U.S. State Department.

Social Security at the embassy might be able to help, or find some cooperative soul at a local U.S. S.S. office (which is how I got mine apostilled in February).
This information may be out of date, but far as I know, the Social Security benefits letters which are issued by the US Embassy are in Spanish and do not have to have the Apostille as they originate in Argentina, but they must be legalized here. I believe the office to do that is on Aranales near the Plaza San Martin and an advance (online) turno is required.
 
Thank you - We are thinking to go with a lawyer.They quoted 1250 each plus the yearly renewal. It seems like they could do all from there.They could get all the documents without us bringing anything.They said it could be done in a few months.Did you become temporary residents ? or continue to renew the visa? how many years you can renew it.- I understand for this type of a visa you have to stay in Argentina at least six months a year.
 
Thank you - We are thinking to go with a lawyer.They quoted 1250 each plus the yearly renewal. It seems like they could do all from there.They could get all the documents without us bringing anything.They said it could be done in a few months.Did you become temporary residents ? or continue to renew the visa? how many years you can renew it.- I understand for this type of a visa you have to stay in Argentina at least six months a year.
Pensioners visa. You renew the visa three times. The fourth time, you get your Permanent Residency visa.
 
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