Applying for our Argentine work visas
Kragen and I turned in our application for temporary residency in December 2008. We started gathering all of the required documentation together in 2007. In December, 2008, we received “residencia temporaria precaria” which is valid for 90 days while our trámite is in progress. In March 2009 we went back to migraciones to see if the trámite was finished. It was not. So, we paid ten pesos each and received another 90 days of extension. During this last 90 day period we received two letters from migraciones which were a bit frightening.
The first letter asked to see the original copy of my birth certificate within ten business days. I freaked. I had turned in my birth certificate – along with Kragen’s – and other official documents with our original application in December. As far as I knew, immigration office had lost them and was now asking for them again which meant more delays, while I got a new copy of my birth certificate from Marin County, got someone in the Bay Area to Apostille it and then send it to us here in Buenos Aires to have it officially translated and certified by the Colegio de Traductores all over again, which would have been impossible to complete by migraciones’s deadline. I tried not to stress over the weekend, but I couldn’t help it. I berated myself for not making certified copies of all the documents that we had turned in, which is always a good idea. I am an administrator – this is what I do – I should have known better.
The next week I met with our immigration lawyer to ask him what I should do. He explained that migraciones didn’t have the originals, that they never hold on to them. I tried to remain calm. He then said he had them. I again, tried to remain calm. He said he was keeping them all so that when we make our application for our Documento Nacional de Identidad (DNI) we would be ready to go. This was an important bit of information that he had just neglected to inform us. I calmly took the original documents and left.
When I went to migraciones with my original birth certificate as they requested I saw why they needed it. Whoever had made a photocopy of my translated, apostilled, birth certificate had failed to make a photocopy of the actual certificate. They had all the supporting documentation, but not the certificate itself. I handed them the photocopy that I had made and they compared it to the original and took it and gave me a letter saying that I had given them what they asked for within their deadline. I walked out of there feeling a bit better about their bureaucracy. They hadn’t actually lost the important document, just failed to copy it correctly. Whew.
In April we received a second letter asking Kragen for the “último ejercicio contable”. We again contacted our lawyer, this time to see what the heck this was. He informed us that it is the company’s annual financial report from 2008. We contacted our accountant and told them to get to it! We had twenty business days to comply with their request, otherwise all of our efforts would be in vain. We didn’t hear back from our accountant for a while. I pestered them again, Kragen met with them, and finally we got the documents – which were pretty bare as we hadn’t done much business at all in 2008. This had to be signed by the president of our company, Luciano, and then certified by the Consejo Profesional de Ciencias Economicas de la Cuidad Autonomia de Buenos Aires. Kragen took care of these requirements and then went to migraciones with one day to spare. He handed in a photocopy and got a letter saying that he’d done what they’d asked by their deadline. Again – whew!
This week, Kragen and I went to migraciones as our “residencia temporaria precaria” expires on June 15. One thing we have learned is to not wait until the last minute with these types of requests as there is always something that goes wrong when we do. For example, June 15th is flag day and a national holiday and last year the office was closed. So, we took the bus to Retiro and walked to migraciones to building five. They took our documents and after a wait they told us that our trámite has finished!! BUT, it lacks the final signature, so, we get another 90 day extension. However, we should get the signature within 30 days or so. We will go back in July to see if we get our one-year work visa: residencia temporaria. This has been a long time coming and I’m trying to not count our chickens before they’re hatched, but it’s looking good! One thing I have learned about the bureaucratic maze of Argentina is to not think you’re done until you are really out. Being close doesn’t cut it. So, keep your fingers crossed and we’ll hopefully update with good news soon.
Uncategorized, bureaucracy | beatrice 2009-06-11
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