MILNGAVIE

My wife and I are moving to Argentina and I would appreciate help from any expats as to whether we should take our television with us - will it or won't it work.?

Any other tips you could offer would also be appreciated as we have a door to door service quote from the removal company - any pitfalls to watch out for?

matttheboy

Unless you already have your visa secured and stamped in your passport do not ship anything at all or you'll be charged a huge amount of import duty and rent on your container per day until the mess is sorted out.

MILNGAVIE

All done matttheboy.

matttheboy

In that case, take the telly...Argentina is 220-240V like back in Britain (i'm guessing you're scottish from your username..my cousins are from Milngavie!). Take all your electrical goods are they're 50-75% more expensive in Argentina due to high import duties. Buy any adaptors before you leave as it's hard to find UK plug adaptors in Argentina (although Easy should stock them as should a few of the electrical shops of Parana between Rivadavia and Corrientes in BA).

Other things to take with you: Tea, gravy and Indian spices.

MILNGAVIE

Thanks for the tips matttheboy. Yes living in Milngavie and getting ready for the move in October.
Yes I don't care too much for the Liptons tea so shall take some Typhoo and as I am partial to Indian food I shall heed your advice about the spices.

MichelleAlison

Hi, we moved to Argentina last October (from London) and even though my husband is Argentinian, it took us three months to get our goods out of the port!!!!

We didn't bring any electrical goods with us, and although it is much dearer here, it might be better to purchase them here. I believe you can be charged 50% of their value as taxes. Make sure you have receipts for everything. The advantage of buying here, is that you can buy extended warranties. When our laptop went wrong, as we had been out of the UK for more than 90 days, the warranty was invalid and we had to pay for the repair (expensive for here, but cheaper than the UK). When my Palm and my son's Ipod went wrong, we decided to send them back to London by DHL to my sister, who sent them back under warranty. Both items were replaced. I was advised by DHL, not to have them sent back because I would be charged import taxes. My sister will bring them in December. DHL cost £75, but it was well worth it as the two items cost over £400 and they couldn't repair them here.

PM me if you need any information. Where are your coming from and why Argentina?

Michelle

MILNGAVIE

Hi Michelle

Was your removal a door to door service or just to the port and you had to arrange transport to your home? We were advised by the removal company that the door to door option is better as doing it the other way causes problems.
Why Argentina you ask? Well my wife is from there and we have a house and as I was recently made redundant with no prospect of a job we decided the life in Argentina was better for us,we also have a dog which we miss terribly.
I love it there as well and to be honest the way things are going in the UK it was not a hard decision to make.We live in Milngavie near Glasgow at present.

MichelleAlison

Hi again,

One really important thing is that your shipping should be done in your wife's name and NOT you name. We only shipped personal goods, so we used a company called Seven Seas. The service was excellent, but they didn't provide us with good information about customs this end. The problem with Argentina, you get different information everytime. Eventually after going to the port three times, we had to pay someone to do the work for us. Seven Sea's agent in BA recommended these people and they knew what they were doing. We also managed not to pay the storage charges!

Hopefully your wife has visited Argentina in the years since she has left and they will want to check how many stamps she has in her passport. This is so that you do not have to pay import charges. They told us that if my husband had not returned to his country since he had left, he would be classed as an immigrant who has to pay taxes.

I could write a book about moving here, so please feel free to ask any questions. We have also gone down the immigration path and loads of advice about documents you need.

Although the Port was a long saga, one day our boxes just turned up out of the blue, full of "typhoo tea" sheer bliss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regards

Michelle

PS moving here was the best thing we ever done.

MILNGAVIE

Hi
Thanks for the extra info, we have visited Argentina at least once mostly twice a year every year since coming to the UK together. Our removal company seem to be on the ball as they have prepared us for having the necessary documents.
We went to London to the Argentine consulate and I got my permanent residence visa and my wife got her Resident Abroad document which in order to get you have to prove you have not spent more than 40 days in Argentina during the last year, she has dual nationality.
We have the sole use of a 20 foot container in the door to door service and the price also includes the customs clearance which the agent in BA shall take care of hopefully, as well as the transportation from the port to our house.Of course something is bound to hold things up somewhere along the way so we shall see.

MichelleAlison

Hi, I suppose you would call us impulsive. After my two sons were mugged, the younger one at 1.30 in the afternoon almost outside our house, got us moving quicker than we had planned. We immediatey sold our properties and arrived in Mar del Plata on tourist visas and with only a hotel reservation. We did everything this end. We did try in London, but we did not have enough time and we found that the information they gave us was wrong.

At the moment the children and I have temporary residence which has no restrictions and we can work and travel without any problems. Hopefully, by the time we have to renew our documents, our permanent residency would have come through. My husband also has dual nationality and being that he is Argentine, it was fairly straightforward. In fact, here in Mardel, there weren't any queues at immigration.

If you need any advice, please feel free to ask.

Good luck with your move and we will have to meet up in BA sometime soon!!!

Michelle

MILNGAVIE

Hi
No wonder you moved so quickly - best move you ever made I bet.

We were advised that I should get the permanent residence before travelling as it is supposed to be a bit of a hassle to get it in BA and can be a drawn out process, it also helps with the removal as they take a photocopy and pass it on to agent in BA.

We had to fly down to London for the day, the Consulate staff rushed it for us as I neeed to keep my passport for another trip so couldn't leave it as it usually takes a few days, they processed it within a couple of hours - they really were fantastic and very helpful, mind you it did cost about £130.

Yes a coffee in BA sounds good.

MichelleAlison

Hi, it sounds like you were lucky when you went to the consulate in London. We visited on a few occasions, but without success. Each time they gave us different information. My husband wanted to renew his Argentine passport and when he told them he didn't have his DNI as it was lost, they told him it would take 8 months to get a new DNI in London! This was when we decided to give up. On his arrival in BA, he got a new DNI within days and was then able to get a new passport.

Please let us know how your move goes and hopefully your shipping will be ok.

Look forward to the coffee in BA (just about running out of Engish tea bags "help").

Chau

Michelle

gamequeen88

coffee in BA?

hope you are enjoying you time in Argentina.

good luck.

walkingtwig

Hi just thought i would post here as i just joined as a member. I'm scottish and my fiance is argentine and we are hoping to move to argentina within next year. I like to be prepared so am trying to research early on what to do. Just wondering which company you are using for shipping MILNGAVIE? Im sure ill have many other questions as time goes on, especialy with the obessiveness arg seems to have with form filling :curse: hehe

Twig

MILNGAVIE

Hi walkingtwig.

We are using a local company - Gerards (http://www.gerardremovers.co.uk/) who are based in Glasgow and so far they seem to know their stuff. We were advised to take the door to door service to avoid too many hassles in Buenos Aires if you have to collect your container at the port.
It also aids any insurance claims that may have to be made if only one company is involved - we were not pushed by them to take this service it was our decision.
They will also advise on what paperwork you need to have in place.
Let me know if there is any more info you need.