When newly-arrived foreigners open a bank account in Argentina, they’re usually advised to bring all the documents you’d expect — precaria, passport, CUIL number, and so on. However, nobody mentions the most important item: patience.

If you’re an expat, getting a bank account can be a complicated and illogical process. In digital nomad and expat group chats, foreigners swap stories of the bizarre paperwork needed to open an account and how many banks rejected them. However, there’s a certain logic to the madness. Here’s a rundown of what you need.

The most important consideration when opening a bank account as a foreigner is what your immigration status is. If you’re a foreign national in the middle of applying for residence, you probably have a precaria — this is a permit granted by the government to temporarily live in the country while they process your application. It allows you to study and work legally.

Central Bank regulations allow you to open a bank account in Argentina with a precaria, as long as you have all of the necessary documentation, as detailed below.

However, many foreigners report being turned down by the banks because they don’t yet have the actual DNI (documento nacional de identidad or national identity document). If you have all of the appropriate paperwork and a bank refuses to open an account for you, you’re encouraged to file a complaint with the Central Bank.

Tourists who aren’t planning to apply for residence technically have the option of opening a tourist bank account. These tourist accounts were introduced in 2021  — but they were a massive flop. Since their conception, not a single account has ever been opened, according to a Central Bank spokesperson. He attributed this to tourists not needing bank accounts, and most cards giving good exchange rates.

Documentation

Foreigners can open bank accounts with the following documentation.

People who hold either a certificate of transitory residence or a precaria have to show either their passport or a national identity document. Those who need a visa to be in Argentina may need to show that, too. 

These are the requirements established by the Central Bank. A representative from Banco Provincia provided a similar list to the Herald in regards to the documentation foreigners must show in order to open an account. 

But the plot thickens, and while ideally opening an account as a foreigner in Argentina would follow the guidelines set out by the Central Bank, that’s not always the case.

Patience above all

Some foreigners have stories of going to five different bank branches before finally being accepted, while the lucky ones were able to open an account on the second try.

For Victor Boström, an expat from Sweden who’s lived in Argentina for four years, it was finally on the third bank he tried that he was able to open an account. At the time he was applying for a rentista visa and approached the banks with a precaria and a CUIL (a Unique Code for Labor Identification).

However, even when Banco Nación eventually opened an account for him, they initially told Boström that they couldn’t do so without a DNI. It was only after he pushed back with a letter from the Migration office that they took his case to a supervisor, who then checked with a third employee before finally accepting his request.

When asked about opening a bank account in Argentina, Aaron Hodges, an expat from New Zealand, told the Herald that his only comment was: “Good luck.” He first opened a bank account in 2019 with his working holiday visa, which required bringing his CUIL and visa into a specific Banco Ciudad branch.

He ran into difficulties when he tried to open a second account last year. At this point he was in the application process for his rentista visa, and was told by a handful of banks that they wouldn’t open an account without a DNI. Banco Ciudad agreed to open an account for him, but after the application process Hodges was told that they were unable to open the account because there are letters in his passport number and the system couldn’t process it. He was finally able to open an account at Banco Galicia with his CUIL, passport and precaria.

Many expats share stories of not being able to open accounts with only their precaria and passport. Agreeing that, essentially, it comes down to which bank you choose, what branch you go to, and the employee who attends to you.

Pamela Funes, who helps foreigners with their paperwork during the citizenship process as part of an Argentinian law firm, says that she recommends foreigners who have a precaria to also bring a CUIL, which can be obtained from ANSES, as well as — for self-employed, freelancers, and other sole traders — proof that they’re in the monotributo unified tax system.

However, not everyone’s economic circumstances require them to be in the monotributo system, and several people told the Herald they had been able to open accounts without it.

While opening a bank account in Argentina as an expat can be a bit of a crapshoot, you can help your chances by showing up prepared and with more documentation than required. You’ll want to familiarize yourself with the guidelines set out by the Central Bank so that you can reference them if necessary. Don’t hesitate to ask to speak with a supervisor if need be, and do yourself a favor: double up on the patience.