Proof of income - Reunificación familiar

[islandemoji]

Hey all!

I'm in the final stages of getting my temporary residency through reunificación familiar by marrying my gf who is herself a temporary resident.

Migraciónes just emailed me asking for means to be in the country. Here's the exact message.

Estimado/a _______ titular del expediente migratorio nro. _______ , me comunico por este medio a fin de hacerle saber que desde el Área de Servicio Social de la Dirección Nacional de Migraciones nos encontramos trabajando su expediente por motivo de su regularización migratoria. En este sentido, para la prosecución del tramite, se solicita que EN EL PLAZO DE 10 DIAS envié por este medio la siguiente documentación:

• Acreditación de medios económicos para su subsistencia en el país (suyos o de su cónyuge): recibos de sueldo, constancia de monotributo, declaración jurada de ingresos o acreditación de un beneficio (percibido en Argentina o en el exterior).

I just wanna make sure I'm not opening a taxable can of worms by sending them my pay stubs from my remote job. I've had a precaria since January, but before then I was here as a tourist for quite awhile, and of course you can't be working while on a tourist visa.
If I send them my bank docs from the last three or four months, could that lead to any sort of tax liability? I don't think so since this is migraciones and not ARCA, but I just wanna be sure.
Thanks!

 

[steveinbsas]

Hey all!

I'm in the final stages of getting my temporary residency through reunificación familiar by marrying my gf who is herself a temporary resident.

Migraciónes just emailed me asking for means to be in the country. Here's the exact message.


I just wanna make sure I'm not opening a taxable can of worms by sending them my pay stubs from my remote job. I've had a precaria since January, but before then I was here as a tourist for quite awhile, and of course you can't be working while on a tourist visa.
If I send them my bank docs from the last three or four months, could that lead to any sort of tax liability? I don't think so since this is migraciones and not ARCA, but I just wanna be sure.
Thanks!

I don't think that you have to be worried.
Here's what Google AI just told me when I asked :


On the ⁠BA Expats Forum, posters facing this exact situation—applying for residency through marriage after working informally on a tourist visa—frequently receive reassurance that Argentina's Immigration Department (Migraciones) does not audit past informal remote work during the marriage visa application process.The core concern of "working en negro" (under the table) while on a tourist visa is common, but the practical and legal reality in Argentina is broken down into clear categories by forum veterans:

1. Migraciones vs. ARCA (Tax Authority) Separation of Entities: ⁠Migraciones and ARCA (formerly AFIP, the tax authority) operate completely independent databases.

When applying for temporary residency via marriage (Family Reunion), Migraciones focuses strictly on proving the legitimacy of the relationship, clean criminal records, and identity documents.

Past Income is Not Screened: You are not required to show a clean tax history or prove how you funded your stay as a tourist to get your initial marriage visa approved.

2. Legal Realities of Argentine Tax ResidencyThe 12-Month Rule: Under Argentine tax law, a foreigner on a tourist visa only triggers local tax residency (and thus liability for worldwide income) after spending 12 continuous months in the country."

Note: I assume that "as a legal temporary resident" could correctly be added to the end of the last sentence, but I am not absolutely certain. If the income was paid outside of Argentina by a foreign entity, to your foreign account, then ARCA has no record of the payments or how long you have been recieving them.

 

[Alby]

I don't think being in the country as a tourist in any way leads to tax residency. And, despite what Google AI might say (point 2 of Steve's message above), it's not actually possible to be in the country as a tourist for 12 months.

However, if your precaria began in January, you may (technically) fall into tax residency next January, but only on a very legalistic interpretation of the ganancias law tax residency clauses. In a practical sense, nothing to worry about. Once you are issued your temporary residency, though, the 12-month clock to tax residency definitely begins to tick: a non-legalistic reading makes that clear. Whether your worldwide income 12 months later comes over the ganancias threshold to actually have any tax to pay would be another question, as would be whether you would bother to register to pay the tax and whether, if you didn't, your spending profile and electronic behavior would put you at risk of ever becoming interesting to ACRA.

 

[steveinbsas]

I don't think being in the country as a tourist in any way leads to tax residency. And, despite what Google AI might say (point 2 of Steve's message above), it's not actually possible to be in the country as a tourist for 12 months.

Good catch. Google actually included the "fact" that being in the country as a tourist for twelve months would only have been possible by making visa runs (which don't seem to be an alternative at this point). It did not mention overstays at all. I cut short Google's answer, knowing the OP had overstayed and at this point the question is about opening a can of worms with ARCA by revealing the foriegn income to migraciones during the overstay.

PS: I asked the question in the context of a search for previous answers in this forum to the OP's concerns (as opposed to Google's opinion based on all information available on the web).

 

[steveinbsas]

PS2: The OP did not indicate that he ever overstayed a tourist visa, only that he's been working and being paid remotely, apparently before and after recieving the precaria.

I can understand being concerned about opening a can of worms with ARCA by revealing this information to migraciones, but the only way to find out for sure is to provide the information migraciones has asked for.

Not to provide it would probably open a bigger can of worms with the girlfriend.