Transferring money to Argentina from the US

RichardP

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I know this has been discussed at length in the past. I also know that things tend to change often in Argentina. What is currently the safest and most economical manner to wire dollars to Argentina from the United States? The funds would be for the purchase of a property.
Thanks in advance
 
Do you have a bank account?

In 2008 I transferred funds form my UK account to my HSBC account here in Argentina to buy a property. The funds get converted to AR$pesos when they enter Argentina, so it you want u$s you have to convert back (more commission). As it's for real estate I signed a form with the HSBC to say its was for Real estate and stated the origin of the funds to make it legal (everything goes through Banco Central). I think the transfer fee was 1.5%.
 
Plus the costs for converting the US$ to pesos and back to US$
 
I think it is fairly simple providing you go straight to escritura. The problems will come if you are purchasing new property where they require a 50% deposit.
My advice is simply do not go there. If you are contemplating new PM me, I will tell you how I managed it, but the way I did it may not work for others, and in the end I realise I should have bought used.
 
flyfreely said:
A lot of expats have realized that the simplest and cheapest way to transfer money from the outside involves buying extra large underwear :)

That's what I did!
But then I encountered the problem of having to explain the origin of the cash when I tried to bank it. I was lucky that I found a 'friendly' bank manager....details of whom I can't divulge!

;-)
 
You are supposed to declare cash in excess of x dollars (10000?) when entering Argentina. It won't cost you anything, just to fill a declaration.
BUT: there have been cases of people mugged on the way from the airport to the city. Somehow the thieves knew those people were carrying money. Quite surely the thieves received the information from someone working at the airport's custom office.
The fines if you are cuaght with undeclared money at Ezeiza are quite high though.
I don't know which risk is higher: to declare the money at EZE or not.
 
malbec said:
You are supposed to declare cash in excess of x dollars (10000?) when entering Argentina. It won't cost you anything, just to fill a declaration.
BUT: there have been cases of people mugged on the way from the airport to the city. Somehow the thieves knew those people were carrying money. Quite surely the thieves received the information from someone working at the airport's custom office.
The fines if you are cuaght with undeclared money at Ezeiza are quite high though.
I don't know which risk is higher: to declare the money at EZE or not.
From what I understand, if you are caught with more than 10,000US undeclared dollars at Ezeiza, the money may be held pending an investigation of its origin. One stands to lose quite a bit of it if such an investigation is even done.
I would also like to avoid walking out of a bank with cash and become a victim of the ever present "salidera" whereby a thief somehow knows that you are carrying cash.
 
I wired the money from my NYC bank account to my Buenos Aires bank account here at HSBC. The process was fairly simple, was done and over within 3 days, however you do have to prove that those funds are coming from an account you own and that you have had those funds for some time, AND that they are going to be used to purchase real estate. I showed them 12 months bank statements (in the comercion exterior office) at HSBC and banco central released the funds and they were given to the construction company (I bought a new apartment) at the escritura.
 
Davidglen77, but that money was converted to pesos after arriving at your bank in BA, wasn't it?
How much were you charged for the transfer ?- if I may ask.
 
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