Rentista on royalty income — has anyone actually done this?

[Keniksko]

Hi all. Planning a move to BA and trying to figure out if rentista is realistic for me before I book anything.

I'm a self-employed game developer. My income is Steam royalties — Valve pays out monthly, has done for a few years now, around $5K a month. Nothing dramatic, but steady. I also have savings sitting in a foreign account, roughly $200K, if that matters.

A lawyer told me rentista needs a contract with a fixed monthly amount in it. Problem is royalties don't work that way — the number moves every month. But dividends and rent don't have fixed amounts either and those are literally in the regulation, so I'm not sure the lawyer is right, or maybe I just got a lazy answer.

So:
Anyone here approved on royalties, or IP/licensing income generally? What did you actually hand in?
And the other thing — Disp. 1732/2023 seems to also let you qualify on money held in a foreign account rather than monthly income. Anyone gone that way? Feels cleaner in my case but I've found basically nothing about it.


Cheers.

 

[steveinbsas]

You might be able to pull it off by doing tthis:

Self fund an irrevecocable trust with enough funds to satisfy the monthly income reqirement for at least one year (two may be much better). The trust document will show you as the trustor and the beneficiary. Name a trusted friend as the trustee.

Open a checking account at a bank in your home country with the name on the check as (for example):

Joe Gamer Trust Account
(Friend's name)Trustee

Your friend will have the sole power to sign the checks. Start having checks sent to you each month at least two months before applying for temporary residency.

 

[Cordoba]

You might be able to pull it off by doing tthis:

Self fund an irrevecocable trust with enough funds to satisfy the monthly income reqirement for at least one year (two may be much better). The trust document will show you as the trustor and the beneficiary. Name a trusted friend as the trustee.

Open a checking account at a bank in your home country with the name on the check as (for example):

Joe Gamer Trust Account
(Friend's name)Trustee

Your friend will have the sole power to sign the checks. Start having checks sent to you each month at least two months before applying for temporary residency.

I think you could accomplish it with a single payment immediate annuity. Most have a 5 year certain payout option as the shortest standard option but could probably work it out for as little as 1 year depending on the company. Might be the easier route since you can purchase without needing to form a Trust or have Trustee.

 

[Keniksko]

Думаю, это можно осуществить с помощью единовременной выплаты по аннуитету. У большинства компаний есть вариант с гарантированной выплатой в течение 5 лет в качестве самого короткого стандартного срока, но, в зависимости от компании, можно уложиться и в 1 год. Возможно, это более простой вариант, поскольку вы можете приобрести аннуитет без необходимости создания траста или назначения доверительного управляющего.

Возможно, вам удастся это сделать следующим образом:

Создайте безотзывный траст с достаточными средствами для обеспечения ежемесячного дохода как минимум в течение одного года (два года могут быть гораздо лучше). В учредительном документе траста вы будете указаны как учредитель и бенефициар. Назначьте доверенного друга управляющим траста.

Откройте расчетный счет в банке в вашей стране, указав на чеке (например):

Доверительный счет Джо Геймера
(Имя друга) Попечитель

Ваш друг будет обладать исключительным правом подписывать чеки. Начните получать чеки каждый месяц как минимум за два месяца до подачи заявления на получение временного вида на жительство.

Thanks both — though trusts and annuities feel pretty US-specific. I'm in Armenia, civil law jurisdiction, trusts basically don't exist here and a local bank would just stare at me. Annuities aren't really a product here either.

Also the $200K isn't spare cash — the plan is to buy a place in BA with it, so locking it into something irrevocable for years kind of defeats the point.

What I'm really after is whether the paperwork can just reflect what's already true: I do have steady monthly income, it's simply royalties rather than a fixed figure. Someone in another thread here got approved on non-passive contractor income using an accountant's letter, which suggests the fixed-contract thing isn't absolute.

And still curious about the other route — Disp. 1732/2023 also lets you qualify on funds held in a foreign account instead of proving monthly income. Has anyone actually gone that way?

 

[LuckyLuke]

Thanks both — though trusts and annuities feel pretty US-specific. I'm in Armenia, civil law jurisdiction, trusts basically don't exist here and a local bank would just stare at me. Annuities aren't really a product here either.

Also the $200K isn't spare cash — the plan is to buy a place in BA with it, so locking it into something irrevocable for years kind of defeats the point.

 

[srpez]

Since you've already talked to a lawyer about this, you're probably best off taking whatever advice they gave you.

Having said that, the lawyer may not have explained why something might be clearly written in the law but not accepted in practice. I am not an expert on migrations and these are just my own opinions based on the interactions I've had with migrations plus what I've learned about Argentine bureaucracy over the last few years, but they might help you understand the situation on the ground here.

For best success, you need to make things as easy as possible for the immigration agent reviewing your case. Imagine that your file is going to be reviewed by someone having a very bad day looking for any excuse possible to reject your case. Or, if you want to be more generous, imagine that your file is going to be reviewed by an overworked, underpaid, and under-trained employee with very little time to review your file who will suffer no consequences for rejecting it but who could get fired if they wrongfully approve it. In both cases, if your reviewer can't quickly check all of the boxes they're looking to check in the order they were trained to check them, they're going to send it back to you with a request for more documentation, which will move your application to the back of the queue where it take months from the date you attach the new documentation until it gets reviewed again.

You and I know how royalties work and we know that 5k/month from Valve is better than a flimsy rental contract with a no penalty cancellation clause, but you should assume that the person reviewing your case doesn't, isn't interested in learning, and there's nothing you can do about it. They know pensions and rentals because those are forms of passive income they see in their daily lives. They want to see a line that says "Keniksko is guaranteed to receive the sum of $$/month between the dates X and Y" where $$ is greater than whatever the minimum required amount is and the entirety of your requested visa stay is between the dates X and Y. If you show them a document stating that you own a property plus a contract with your friend to pay you $$/month to live there for the next three years, that's easy for them to approve.

Royalties and funds held in foreign accounts may be included in the law, but unless you're looking to litigate that with a lawyer, you should try to make your application as boring and as simple as possible. If you really want to stick with royalties, maybe you can convince an Armenian accountant to draft a letter saying "I certify that Keniksko has received an average of $X/month in passive income from Valve, Inc between January 1, 2023 and July 31, 2026 and is projected to receive an average $/month between X and Y" and then get that letter apostilled and officially translated.

 

[LuckyLuke]

That's an interesting one...

Royalties could certainly be passive though it depends whether you are actively working for Steam on new projects, which would show an active employer relationship.

Frankly, seeing at this is your primary source of income, I'm struggling to see how any of this is "passive".

A translation of the requirements for the Rentista visa state:

"Prove that income constitutes a benefit from assets incorporated into the applicant’s assets (financial instruments, real estate, stakes in companies), not including in this category remuneration obtained for personal work."

What you have are the following:

1) Assets that you are not willing to invest ($200k)
2) Personal self employment income (which is not allowed)

I think Cordoba's idea is a great one. Per google, there are international annuities for expats for this exact purpose. I would check with Schwab International to see if they have any. Another idea might be that the royalties are sent directly to your investment account, which could be transferred into the annuity (assuming it allows flexible contributions).

I understand you would prefer to purchase a property but I think your putting the cart way ahead of the horse. You need to renew your rentista visa for years before getting a permanent residency. I would not purchase a house down here until you have that residency in hand.

 

[USAtoBA]

High bank balances should also help according to both lawyers I spoke to.