Returning to Argentina

A few days back a reader wrote in with a question about returning to Argentina. I'll do my best to answer this.

Reader's Question

I was born in Argentina, but my parents moved us to Miami when I was two. Luckily, I'm a US citizen and and Argentine citizen. I do have to get a DNI when I get there and renew my Argentine Passport. Do you have any information on whether things will be eaiser for me as far as renting/purchasing property, starting a business, etc. because I was born there and I speak fluent Spanish?

My Response

I do know that there is a law that states Argentine citizens must enter the country using their Argentine passport. This is very common throughout the world -- citizens are always requested to enter their country using their country's passport.

In reality, I doubt this is enforced. You said yourself that you've been several times to Argentina before. Nevertheless, you may want to contact the Argentine consulate to see if they could get you your documents before you go. I do remember when I was back at the Argentine consulate a year and a half ago, I overheard someone who was in the same situation as you. His parents moved him to the U.S. and he had no connection with Argentine. Well, now he was trying to travel outside the country and needed a passport. Since he wasn't a U.S. citizen, he was there trying to get an Argentine passport.

The consulate made him fill out some paperwork and informed him that he must get his DNI first and only then would they give him the passport. I imagine its the same thing for you. You'll need to apply for your DNI and then get your passport. If you need help, I'd recommend you contact ARCA and I'm sure they'd be able to look up your status with the National Registry and tell you what to do.

Starting a Business

As an Argentine citizen who speaks fluent Spanish, I can say that you will surely have an advantage over us yanquis who don't. I'm forced to rely on my staff to deal with a lot of the people I would rather be interacting with directly. If I had the ability to speak fluent Spanish, I'm positive things would be much easier and quicker for me here.