Let’s look at five things U.S. employers should know about background checks in Argentina.

Global Backgrounds offers a complete line of international background checks on Argentine nationals who are in the U.S. already or have applied for work during the process of immigrating here.

Argentines are a small minority among Latinos in the U.S., but 59 percent of Argentines here, compared with 33 percent of all U.S. Latinos, are foreign-born. That means that as a group, much of their career and educational experience is from their native country, making an international background check a wise investment for potential U.S. employers.

Argentina, like some other countries, has tightened control of data to put it more squarely in the hands of the subjects of background searches, requiring their permission to conduct. Global Backgrounds, however, requires permission of all of its subjects, so it can conduct Argentina background checks unencumbered.

Here are five things to know about Argentine background checks:

1. Many people who live in the U. S from Argentina have a higher education.

It’s not at all unusual for an Argentine to hold a bachelor’s degree. That may be because in Argentina, the government heavily subsidizes public colleges and universities, with public institutions of higher learning tuition-free to Argentine citizens, much as California did for many years for its residents. According to the Pew Research Center, a non-political research organization that assembles facts from its studies, 40 percent of native Argentines in the U.S. hold a four-year degree, far exceeding the 16 percent average for all Latinos here.

One result is that Argentines in the U.S. hold jobs that help them earn more than Latino immigrants as a whole.

Of course, not all Argentines have a degree. A Global Backgrounds education check can verify education credentials for Argentines in their home country. Degrees held, years attended and graduation dates are information an employer should know.

2. Criminal record checks in Argentina are done on the local court level with permission of the subject.

Once a job candidate supplies information on where he lived and worked in Argentina, the criminal background check can be run. It will show major offenses within the past seven years. An employer can see crimes with which a candidate was charged; disposition, including convictions; and the sentences that were given out, including prison terms. Felony-level crimes that could be revealed include DUIs, important if the job candidate would be driving corporate vehicles, whether full time or less frequently, and thefts or embezzlement, which might preclude a candidate from working a job that involves handling money.

Global Backgrounds requires written permission from every subject of its background checks. It conducts the searches within the laws and regulations that govern such investigations in the U.S., including state and local ban-the-box laws that delay the searches until after a conditional job offer has been made.

3. An Argentine civil court check can uncover significant court actions that criminal checks do not.

A person can have an unblemished criminal record but have an extensive civil court record. In Argentina, civil court searches, like criminal record searches, are done at the local level, but they reveal different information. Civil courts involve actions the subject might have taken against another party or actions others might have taken against him. While a criminal court trial might exonerate someone of criminal charges, a civil court trial might find that person negligent or at fault for their conduct in the same incident, resulting in damages or reparations.

Examples of civil court actions that might color the record of a job candidate are cases that involve unpaid bills, disputes with contractors or customers, disagreements with landlords or tenants (especially if they show a pattern of behavior), and slander.

4. Driving Records in Argentina Are Private

If a U.S. employer wants to see driving violations committed in Argentina by its job candidates, the violations will almost have to be felony-level violations, such as driving under the influence or vehicular homicide, which would show in a criminal check. That’s because an Argentine driving record per se is available only to drivers who request their own record.

That said, Argentina has DUI laws that are more severe than in the U.S. Drivers with blood-alcohol content of 500 milligrams per liter of blood can be charged with felony-level DUI. That’s about 60 percent of levels allowed in the U.S.The blood-alcohol limit for motorcycle operators is even lower.

Since Argentine driving records are not considered public information, employers should order a criminal background check from Global Backgrounds as soon as laws in their state and locality permit. They also may want to require Argentine job candidates to obtain their Argentine driving record and share it with the potential employer.

5. An Argentina credit report can reflect financial problems — or merits — that a domestic credit check does not

An Argentina credit report can reflect financial problems — or merits — that a domestic credit check does not.

Timeliness of payments and retirement of debts are good indications of trustworthiness for any job candidate, regardless of nationality, and a credit report can demonstrate those qualities.

An immigrant may have established credit in the U.S. and in his native land. That’s why it’s a good idea to order both Global Backgrounds domestic and international background checks on an immigrant to determine employment suitability. The Argentine credit report may reveal data that the domestic credit report does not. The last wave of Argentine emigration was due largely to an economic downturn in Argentina, with the U.S. becoming the second-highest landing spot for Argentines.

Credit reports from Global Backgrounds adhere to all U.S. regulations promulgated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other laws.

Other Global Backgrounds Services

In addition to the background checks above, Global Backgrounds offers these Argentine background checks:

International watch list checks.
Identification verification.
Passport checks.
Professional license verification.
Professional reference checks.
Employment verification up to seven years.

More Information

Contact Global Backgrounds for details on its domestic and international background search services for Argentina and other nations. Telephone 877.70.GLOBAL (877-704-5622) or contact us using our online quick-response form.