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Question Any one banking or plan to bank in El Salvador?

What you guys suggested here beside South Africa is ridiculous I would any time choose Dubai over the El Salvador or Paraguay - money is not all in live.
 
3 BTC is way too much money for that dumpster. I was able to get a residence permit in western europe for a $5K bank deposit which is mine to keep I just have to maintain that amount or more in the local bank. Why on gods green earth would anyone with money spend $100K to live in la la land down there. I'll be stunned if a single person does this program.
 
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I think Paraguay is a better alternative to El Salvador.

View attachment 2672
paraguayan here cig-:,
Safe place to live I highly doubt (unless you live in a close country club).
High quality? Not even close, it’s cheap yes.. that’s all.. roads are a disaster, health system is a joke, and it’s better you don’t get into troubles with the police or judicial system, then you’re done
 
paraguayan here cig-:,
Safe place to live I highly doubt (unless you live in a close country club).
High quality? Not even close, it’s cheap yes.. that’s all.. roads are a disaster, health system is a joke, and it’s better you don’t get into troubles with the police or judicial system, then you’re done
well thanks for the notice haha
in that case, are there any countries in the region that you'd consider as a choice of banking that meets the bare minimum?
 
I don't think El Salvador is a good place to have a bank account, one of the reasons for the popularity of BTC (beyond the usage in illegal activities) is the rejection of the population to the local banks.

Most of the locals don't use bank accounts and prefer cash and most of the remittances (that represent a big percentage of the GDP of the country) are done through cash pickups (e.g in Western Union), crypto has some potential in this area as a bridge to send money avoiding WU or bank fees but I don't think its legal usage will expand much beyond this.

To reply to your question, as foreign I doubt you will be able to apply to banks in El Salvador, the two biggest banks Davivienda and Banco Agricola (Bancolombia) apply the same rules for all the countries in the region, they don't accept foreign clients without a residence permit and if you have a temporary residence permit they'll cancel your account as soon as it expires. Although they're happy to accept you as a foreign client in their Panamian branches (Bancolombia Panama and Davivienda Panama).
why not their branches in Colombia?
 
3 BTC is way too much money for that dumpster. I was able to get a residence permit in western europe for a $5K bank deposit which is mine to keep I just have to maintain that amount or more in the local bank. Why on gods green earth would anyone with money spend $100K to live in la la land down there. I'll be stunned if a single person does this program.
where?
 
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why not their branches in Colombia?

Banks in Colombia only open accounts to individuals with "Cedula de Extranjeria" (Foreign ID Card) and you can get this only if you are a temporary or permanent resident of the country, staying in the country for 90+ days is a requirement to be able to get the required ID.

If you open the account with a temporary residence permit the bank is going to call you to cancel your account as soon as your permit expires, I've known people that have lost their bank accounts because of this.
 
3 BTC is way too much money for that dumpster. I was able to get a residence permit in western europe for a $5K bank deposit which is mine to keep I just have to maintain that amount or more in the local bank. Why on gods green earth would anyone with money spend $100K to live in la la land down there. I'll be stunned if a single person does this program.
Hmmm, sounds like you got your residence 20 years ago. Because there are no countries in Europe who give you residence permit for 5k deposit now, imo
 
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Hmmm, sounds like you got your residence 20 years ago. Because there are no countries in Europe who give you residence permit for 5k deposit now, imo
naaa there is look up DAFT Visa in Netherlands.. It's tricky to find even on the immigration portal for NL. It's only available for US Citizens and Japanese though. You make 4500 euro deposit, can only be self employed, and is valid 2 years renews to 5 years. I am eligible for a Dutch passport next year thank to having a Dutch spouse also. :p I never hear the DAFT talked about probably cuz it's only available to two nationalities.
 
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Netherlands. 4500 euros into your business banking account, self employment permit, valid for 2 years extends to 5 years. ONLY AVAILABLE FOR US CITIZENS/JAPANESE CITIZENS. Drops all the self employment requirements for other nationalities down to just that for US/Japanese. I legit never hear the program talked about the dutch government doesn't seem to promote it and on the immigration website you will find details of it buried under the self employment visa.

If your american or japanese it's fairly straight forward to get I heard in recent years they tightened the renewals(denying renewals for people not actually running a business but simply keeping the 4500 euro in their accounts and being retired etc) but if your actually running a business then its a very nice visa to have and live in the netherlands with. If your not american/japanese then indeed the regular self employment permit is a lot harder. My lawyer told me while nearly all DAFT self employments are approved.. nearly all regular self employment visas are denied.
 
naaa there is look up DAFT Visa in Netherlands.. It's tricky to find even on the immigration portal for NL. It's only available for US Citizens and Japanese though. You make 4500 euro deposit, can only be self employed, and is valid 2 years renews to 5 years. I am eligible for a Dutch passport next year thank to having a Dutch spouse also. :p I never hear the DAFT talked about probably cuz it's only available to two nationalities.
Ok thanks for clarification. I really didn't know about this before
 
Netherlands. 4500 euros into your business banking account, self employment permit, valid for 2 years extends to 5 years. ONLY AVAILABLE FOR US CITIZENS/JAPANESE CITIZENS. Drops all the self employment requirements for other nationalities down to just that for US/Japanese. I legit never hear the program talked about the dutch government doesn't seem to promote it and on the immigration website you will find details of it buried under the self employment visa.

If your american or japanese it's fairly straight forward to get I heard in recent years they tightened the renewals(denying renewals for people not actually running a business but simply keeping the 4500 euro in their accounts and being retired etc) but if your actually running a business then its a very nice visa to have and live in the netherlands with. If your not american/japanese then indeed the regular self employment permit is a lot harder. My lawyer told me while nearly all DAFT self employments are approved.. nearly all regular self employment visas are denied.
That is very interesting and a good way into long stay Schengen.

However the Netherlands is unattractive in terms of quite high wealth taxes besides having a 50% income tax. Also living cost in Amsterdam is high for what you get.
 
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That is very interesting and a good way into long stay Schengen.

However the Netherlands is unattractive in terms of quite high wealth taxes besides having a 50% income tax. Also living cost in Amsterdam is high for what you get.
leaving to Dutch Caribbean where there is 0% wealth taxes in 2 years here;) Wealth tax is like 1% on 1M roughly below that its even less. I pay no where near 50% tax here on 6 figures. I'm paying half what I would in the US(Minnesota) because of SME deduction and other tax credits that add up. Employed persons the tax rate is rough ya but for self employed/business with proper structuring you will find it on par with the US tax wise that is. I'd never live in Amsterdam it's too expensive and a waste for the prices you pay in such a small country. I look forward to getting my Dutch passport and building a big house with a pool down in the Caribbean soon here.

NL I've found is very much a two tiered system my partner makes less than me at a job and pays far more in taxes and i mean substantially more. If you were a very small business earning under $100K here you shouldn't pay more than a measles few grand after SME deduction, hour criteria deduction, and there is a self employment pension scheme allowing to deduct up to 9.8% of your profits also... I as an American do not use that it would save me a further few grand in taxes but with US citizenship what I save in Dutch taxes will just result in higher American tax compliance costs so its a wash or net negative to add in a foreign pension. I'm keeping it as simple as possible until I hit the exit door on the US passport and by doing so though missing out in thousands in tax savings for the last 2 years and remaining 2.

Netherlands tax system to me looked bad until I moved here however with paying less than half my US tax liability im not complaining lol along with I dont collect VAT cuz my business services only American customers so I have a fairly good deal over here. Wealth taxes can also be mitigated pretty easily using the dutch equivalent of a foundation(stichting) or simply move the Caribbean part of the kingdom where there is no capital gains/wealth tax + its la la land tax enforcement wise down there anyway.

The Dutch will be the first to tout a progressive system skinning the grocery bag boy for 35% of his wages while Dutch millionaires are not paying that if they have any resemblance of tax planning. I'll take my "50%" tax rate here any day of the week over my taxes in America. If I was using the 9.8% pension deduction I'd be doing very well compared to my american taxes better than under half.
 
@Vor Interesting insight.
 
I helped a buddy of mine execute a DAFT visa. Everything said above is correct and accurate. It was straightforward and took about four months start to finish. He landed in Amsterdam and was working as a self employed consultant. 4,500 euros was all that was needed. FYI , I also hear the DAFT visa can be used in some of the Netherlands Caribbean territories like Bonaire and Curaco, but this needs to be double checked.
 
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leaving to Dutch Caribbean where there is 0% wealth taxes in 2 years here;) Wealth tax is like 1% on 1M roughly below that its even less. I pay no where near 50% tax here on 6 figures. I'm paying half what I would in the US(Minnesota) because of SME deduction and other tax credits that add up. Employed persons the tax rate is rough ya but for self employed/business with proper structuring you will find it on par with the US tax wise that is. I'd never live in Amsterdam it's too expensive and a waste for the prices you pay in such a small country. I look forward to getting my Dutch passport and building a big house with a pool down in the Caribbean soon here.

NL I've found is very much a two tiered system my partner makes less than me at a job and pays far more in taxes and i mean substantially more. If you were a very small business earning under $100K here you shouldn't pay more than a measles few grand after SME deduction, hour criteria deduction, and there is a self employment pension scheme allowing to deduct up to 9.8% of your profits also... I as an American do not use that it would save me a further few grand in taxes but with US citizenship what I save in Dutch taxes will just result in higher American tax compliance costs so its a wash or net negative to add in a foreign pension. I'm keeping it as simple as possible until I hit the exit door on the US passport and by doing so though missing out in thousands in tax savings for the last 2 years and remaining 2.

Netherlands tax system to me looked bad until I moved here however with paying less than half my US tax liability im not complaining lol along with I dont collect VAT cuz my business services only American customers so I have a fairly good deal over here. Wealth taxes can also be mitigated pretty easily using the dutch equivalent of a foundation(stichting) or simply move the Caribbean part of the kingdom where there is no capital gains/wealth tax + its la la land tax enforcement wise down there anyway.

The Dutch will be the first to tout a progressive system skinning the grocery bag boy for 35% of his wages while Dutch millionaires are not paying that if they have any resemblance of tax planning. I'll take my "50%" tax rate here any day of the week over my taxes in America. If I was using the 9.8% pension deduction I'd be doing very well compared to my american taxes better than under half.
Very interesting
 
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I helped a buddy of mine execute a DAFT visa. Everything said above is correct and accurate. It was straightforward and took about four months start to finish. He landed in Amsterdam and was working as a self employed consultant. 4,500 euros was all that was needed. FYI , I also hear the DAFT visa can be used in some of the Netherlands Caribbean territories like Bonaire and Curaco, but this needs to be double checked.
interesting I was never aware if it could work in the Caribbean part of the kingdom! I spend about 5 months down in Aruba every year currently, spouse is originally from there so planning to move there permanently when I have my Dutch passport. :)
 

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