Kaiya

Hi, new to these forums and just looking for a bit of advice as I seem hopelessly lost as to what to decide.

Myself and my partner are considering a move to Argentina, mainly the Cordoba or Rosales areas. We've heard that BA isn't a very safe area (is this true?) Is the economy as bad there as it is in Birtain at the moment?


What are the best options for finding house rentals? (links appreciated since I'm not 100% sure best places to look). People that have already made the move from the UK how did you find somewhere to live over there? was it arranged whilst still here in the UK or once you had moved out there?
I read somewhere that non-nationals are charged a higher rate to rent a property.

Also, would the best route be to find some type of casual work once there untill we find our feet or will it be better to do some sort of study course to learn a new skill/trade to improve our chances over there?

We also need to find an English speaking school for my daughter (she's 13).

I have so much buzzing round in my head at the moment that some of it I can't make sense of, so all advice is appreciated

Many thanks in advance

elhombresinnombre

I'd strongly endorse the usual advice that, before making any decisions you should visit Argentina for a few weeks on a tourist visa and decide for yourselves if this might be the place for you. In the meantime, a glance at the website of the Argentine Embassy in the UK will tell you what you need to know about visas: to obtain temporary residence as a worker you will have to have a job to come to but it is possible to obtain other visas based on your ability to support yourselves including from external sources. A tourist visa lasts for 90 days and is renewable under certain circumstances but does not give the right to work or to sign long-term rental contracts and temporary rentals are always more expensive than permanent rentals wherever you are. The only English-language schools that I personally know of are in and around the Buenos Aires area but most big cities have at least one privately-run bilingual school where pupils will study the Argentine curriculum for part of the day and the the British/USA curriculum for the remainder. You can find a lot of things by using the Argentine version of Google at google.com.ar and clicking the button for results from Argentina only. Property sales and rentals would be located by entering the name of the city and propiedades or inmobiliaria; schools by searching for escuela/colegio/instituto and any other tags in Spanish that you consider appropriate.

Kaiya

Thanks for that. We've looked a bit more into it, and even without taking a visit over we're sure it's what we want and the right thing to do. (You may think I'm mad doing this on spec) but all of us (the family) are longing for a much needed change and new way of life.

Before we move over though, I'm looking at updating teaching skills before taking the proverbial plunge and apply for some jobs before landing there. I want to do this all legally but in the shortest time possible

We're still aiming for the Cordoba region, so if any of you are in that location any tips would be appreciated

el rubio

I think elhombresinnombre's advice is very sensible.

As a Brit who has had one foot in Argentina (BA) for 28 years (I obviously love the place) I'd suggest you ask yourself the following questions:

Do I have anyone there that I can rely on for help?
How will I get decent healthcare?
Do I have a 'business plan'?
How will I set about getting a job?
Do I know enough about the culture and lifestyle to be sure that I'll like it and that I'll fit in?
Has all the family bought into the idea?
Is language going to be a problem?
Have I tried this kind of thing before? Did it work out?
Could I pull the plug and come back if I needed to?

If you can't give yourself positive answers to these questions then you would be very brave to proceed with your plan as described in my view, but it depends what is at stake.

The Argentine economy has always been volatile though it is fairly stable at the moment. For example, in 2001 the government sequestered funds from private bank accounts and devalued the currency by 70% which left many many people in a desperate situation. The present government is very unpopular in most sectors of society and nothing there can be ruled out in terms of economic or political upheaval. You have to be quite savvy in terns of personal finance to minimise your exposure to all this.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Kaiya

Thanks to all of you for the advice and help.

After weighing up all the pros and cons and many a night of serious discussion on this, although we'd all still love to relocate to Argentina it's not within our financial budget at the moment
We've decided on a safer more economical move to Germany for now. But, with hope, in a few years down the line we will be over in BA.

Again, thanks for all the advice

babsi

Maybe this is redundant as you aren't going but if you are thinking of going to a place like Argentina then you have to see how it is first, that is a must.

And if we did ever go, we wouldn't be employed there and be employed by a place overseas (which is what I am doing now). The wages are lower and there just isn't much job security.

I am lucky as my OH is from there, we have talked about it, maybe for a short time we might do it, a couple of years something like that.

And a decent health plan is a necessity there.