I have a formal job, I have moved on, been promoted, I am a project leader. I have a good wage, a good life level, I live in Belgrano, share an apartment with a friend, but I could live alone”, says Luis Manrique (30 years old), a Venezuelan systems engineer, who arrived to the country in July 2015 and works in the company IT Resources for Citibank.

Back in Caracas, Luis used to work as a consultant, but lived at his parents’ home due to the government’s policy of price freeze, which caused people not to rent their homes. He sends money to his father and elder sister, who remain in Venezuela, but will soon move to Chile, where his other sister and his mother currently live.

Venezuelan immigration in Argentina, caused by the economic and social crisis that the country governed by Nicolas Maduro endures, has a particular aspect: most migrants are middle class young professionals who do not have difficulties to get a job. In addition, many of them held engineering degrees, which are scarce in Argentina. As a consequence of the Bolivarian government’s expropriations, several oil and food companies closed down, and Venezuelan engineers started looking abroad to find a job.

According to official data from the National Direction of Migrations, 31,167 Venezuelans were granted their Argentinian resident visa – 27,075 got permanent resident visas, almost three times the number of 2016-. Among them, 15,680 have a university degree. Last year, 4,116 engineers, 1,599 business administrators, 1,143 technicians, 856 lawyers, 615 journalists, 245 chefs, and 250 architects settled down in Argentina.

Horacio García, National Director of Migrations, says that the first Venezuelan migration was mostly of Venezuelan who could afford paying their plane tickets. Slowly, this trend is changing, and people who are starting to arrive have secondary school degrees. The poorest cannot leave Venezuela.

“A great number of engineers came. We are thinking how to use this workforce to benefit the country. Oil engineers have come to a country that has plenty of oil and few engineers. It is a highly qualified human resource that we must seize. Migration flows must be directed to the areas where Argentina needs them. The Ministry of Education has also helped with this process. People come here with no documentation, as they cannot get it in Venezuela, so the rules have become more flexible”, says Garcia.

He also points out that Venezuelans have been properly integrated in the country: “I haven’t heard anyone talking against Venezuelan immigration. They stand out in shops as they show a sort of kindness that contrasts the harshness that Argentinians have developed when dealing with costumers.”

Manrique says he likes how people in Buenos Aires treat him, especially when they learn that he is a professional and has come to work. In addition, becoming a resident is easy, as requisites are minimum when compared to other countries. Manrique says it was rather easy to get a job: he arrived in July and started working in September.

Venezuelan lawyers have more difficulties finding a job. They cannot litigate and the country is filled with colleagues, so competition is harder.  However, they do get a job.

Victoria Maneiro is a young lawyer from Maracaibo who arrived to Buenos Aires on July 2015 with family that brought her as a nanny. “I was working freelance, got my degree in 2014 and the money I made was not enough. I was living with my parents”, she says. Since April 2016 she has been working for Accenture, which needed a professional who could speak English and Portuguese to do offshore tasks, helping lawyers in the United States and England.

Victoria lives in Núñez and says that her salary is “just enough”. “Venezuelan engineers do very well, because they told that there is a lack of engineers here, so they start working quickly, just like accountants, and they get paid a lot”, she claims.

Luisa Franco (22 years old), was about to have her degree in industrial engineer. But the economic crisis of the country made it imposible for her parents to keep on paying her studies. So, she decided to follow her older brother and move to Argentina, where she will start attending university to complete her studies and graduate.

“Back in Venezuela, there are lots of engineers. I have many classmates who are considering coming here. Since we have been gone, my parents say there is no food, which is devastating. Lots of people have nothing to eat. They drink a glass of water or eat a banana per day”, says the young woman, who arrived in November and is already working in Volmedia, an advertisement company.

Luisa, who lives in Palermo, has an older brother who is a chemical engineer and works at the medical laboratory Baliarda. His case was different, as he came to the country with an interview with a gas company.

Luisa came to the country with her boyfriend, who is also studying industrial engineer and will graduate at the UTN. “Since there are not many engineers, there are plenty of opportunities. We came with my 15 years old sister who will start attending classes in a private school and is quite happy”. Her parents will soon follow her path, and the family will reunite in Argentina.

Source: La Nación