Taking Money out of Argentina, the Legal Way (Expat Guide)
Problems With Argentina Regulations About International Money Transfer
Many expats who relocate to Argentina face a huge problem when it comes to transferring their hard earned money out of the country. I assume all the readers are already aware of these problems and are looking for some legal solution.
Now you may be thinking what is new in it and we all know its difficult. Well new thing is I have a legal and safe solution wherein you can transfer up to USD 1500 out of Argentina every month. You can transfer money from an Argentinean Bank to a bank in your home country if you have some dependents living in your home country. Dependents may include parents, children, spouse etc. I would personally prefer any of these whose name is present on your passport page showing relation between you and your dependent.
Lets see the steps in detail with example: Lets assume that your home country is India and you are working in Buenos Aries (Argentina Capital) and have a salary account in the Citi Bank there. Your mother resides in Mumbai(India). If you show her as a depended and want to transfer money to her account then you need to follow below steps:
Step 1: First thing you need is to have a notarized affidavit from your mother that she resides at her local address (in Mumbai) in India. In India you can have this done on a stamp paper of Rs.100 from any authorized notary center. Similar process can be done by people from other countries.
Step 2: This is a precautionary step as there are no standard rules and they vary from bank to bank in Buenos Aries: You should have a scanned copy of her bank pass book and if your passport has her name mentioned on it then it good document to prove the relation. Some banks do not go into much details but if you get unlucky then they can ask you for more details. So better keep all this information handy. Bank passbook is needed to establish the relationship between the bank account and your dependent (your mother in our example).
Step 3: Now that you have all the documents, just show scanned copies of your passport and this notarized affidavit to the bank employees and fill a form requesting to transfer up to USD 1500 to your mother's account.
Step 4:The bank authorities will process your request and within 3 days your money will be safely and officially transferred to your beloved mother. You need to repeat this process every month as there is limit on the amount to be transferred.
Processing fee: The processing fee for this is negligible as compared to other options which are illegal as well as costly ( purchasing US dollars from black market). So I would recommend you this option. Hope this article helps the expats and they don't end up in wasting their hard earned money in illegal ways. As of 2019 the processing fees was around USD 100 for any money transfer up to USD 12000 dollars.
Note: This article is relevant only during the time when Argentina imposes regulations on buying dollars. This country has a history of currency crisis and you can see this happening in the future as well so keep this article handy and your documents ready before travelling or relocating to Argentina. Also latest news is that they have again imposed currency restrictions with the left Government back in power and you are allowed to get only USD 200 per month from the bank. So carrying cash with you may not be an option.
This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.
© 2015 Shrikant Jadhav