How to get Argentine citizenship in 2026

What changed with Argentine citizenship in 2025-2026

On 30 June 2026 Argentina's National Electoral Chamber (Cámara Nacional Electoral, CNE - the country's highest court for electoral matters) declared null the presidential decree 366/2025 that had moved citizenship decisions to the immigration service. For applicants this is the turning point of the year: an Argentine passport is once again obtained through a federal judge under Citizenship Law 346, a statute that has been on the books since 1869.

Decree 366/2025 is a DNU (decreto de necesidad y urgencia, a necessity and urgency decree: the president issues it in place of a law when he argues Congress cannot be waited for). It was published on 29 May 2025 and rewrote article 2 of Law 346. Only legal residence would count, the two years had to be spent without a single trip abroad, and applications went to the National Directorate of Migration (Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, DNM) instead of a court. The same decree added a new route: citizenship for a significant investment.

The courts pushed back. Their core argument: article 99 of the Constitution bars the president from regulating electoral matters by decree, and citizenship brings the right to vote. Judges also noted that Congress was sitting normally in 2025, so there was no emergency that could justify a decree.

The uncomfortable truth: in 2026 the rules run on two tracks. The government treats the decree as valid, and the DNM naturalization page still describes filing through the RaDEx online system with two years of legal residence and no trips abroad. The courts, following the Chamber's ruling, take cases under Law 346. Until the Supreme Court settles the matter, the route and the requirements depend on the individual case, and your plan should allow for that.

Who can get Argentine citizenship and on what grounds

Almost every foreigner who becomes Argentine takes the same road: two years of living in the country and a petition to a federal judge. The other grounds are narrow, and the most talked-about of them, citizenship by investment, has only been announced.

When a court will refuse

Decree 3213/84 lists the grounds for refusal. No lawful occupation or honest means of support. Pending criminal proceedings in Argentina or abroad. A conviction for an intentional crime carrying more than three years in prison, unless five years have passed since the sentence was served. A court may not refuse on political, religious or racial grounds.

Do you need Spanish

Law 346 sets no Spanish exam, which makes Argentina softer than Brazil, where naturalization requires a Portuguese certificate. But the judge talks to the applicant at the hearing. The federal court in Oberá, for example, lists command of the national language among its requirements. Going before a judge without basic Spanish is a risk.

Marriage to an Argentine citizen

Marriage alone does not produce a passport. It gives the right to residence through family reunification and, under Decree 3213/84, the right to apply for citizenship without the two-year period. Courts still look at whether the couple really lives in Argentina. A sham marriage for papers is grounds under article 62 of Migration Law 25.871 to cancel residence and deport.

How to get Argentine citizenship through the courts: step by step

Under the implementing decree a judge must rule within 90 days of receiving reports from government agencies. Those reports take months to arrive, so the real timeline is many times longer. Here is the road from residence permit to passport.

1. Residence and the two-year clock. You apply for residence online through RaDEx (Radicación a Distancia de Extranjeros, the DNM's electronic filing system) and then attend an in-person appointment. While the case is pending you receive a residencia precaria - a provisional permit to live, work and travel, usually valid for up to 90 days and renewable.
2. Documents for the court. Your passport and foreigner's DNI (Documento Nacional de Identidad, the national identity card), a birth certificate with an apostille and a translation by an Argentine sworn translator (traductor público), a criminal record certificate from your home country, and proof of address, income or occupation: an employment contract, bank statements, or receipts for monotributo, the simplified tax regime for the self-employed. Residence is shown with a DNM certificate of entries and exits. If you have Argentine children, add their birth certificates.
3. Filing. In Buenos Aires, at the intake desk of the National Federal Civil and Commercial Court of Appeals at Talcahuano 550, which assigns the case to a court. In the provinces, with the federal judge for your place of residence. The law does not prevent filing without a representative. But the case already takes one to five years, and every missed court request adds months to it. That is why court representation is handled by Murblz specialists together with partners licensed in Argentina.
4. Checks. Within three days the judge requests reports from the DNM, the Federal Police, the National Criminal Records Registry (Registro Nacional de Reincidencia), RENAPER and the intelligence service. A prosecutor gives an opinion, and a notice of the petition runs in a newspaper twice within 15 days.
5. Ruling and oath. If everything checks out, the judge grants the petition, you swear loyalty to the Constitution and receive the carta de ciudadanía - the certificate of citizenship.
6. DNI and passport. With the certificate you go to RENAPER: first the Argentine DNI, then the passport.

How long the court case takes

The federal court in Oberá says on its website that the process takes about a year. In busy courts the route stretches to 2-5 years, depending on the court and its caseload. Buenos Aires and the suburban courts are the slowest, while smaller provincial courts are usually faster. The promise of a passport in 6 months that circulated in advertising for years does not match real practice.

Can you leave the country during the process

Law 346 speaks of two years of continuous residence, and Decree 366/2025 spelled it out as not a single trip abroad. Since the CNE ruling courts read the law their own way, and a short trip does not always break the period. But until the Supreme Court rules, the safer course is to live two years before filing without long absences and keep evidence of life in the country: a lease, bills, tax payments. The papers you need in the first months are listed in our article on documents for living in Argentina.

Which residence permit you need for Argentine citizenship

The two years to citizenship do not start when you buy a plane ticket; they start with a clear status in the country. Back in 2009, in the Ni I Hsing case, Argentina's Supreme Court held that what matters for naturalization is actually living in the country, not the immigration category, and the CNE relied on that position in 2026. Decree 366/2025 demanded the opposite: legal residence, with the residencia precaria expressly excluded. The practical takeaway is simple: get a residence permit straight away and you qualify under both readings.

How the application works, how long it takes and which travel rules apply are covered on our Argentina residence permit page.

How much income a rentista needs

A worked example. From 1 October 2026 the SMVM (Salario Mínimo, Vital y Móvil - Argentina's national minimum wage) is 391,200 pesos under Resolution 4/2026 of the National Minimum Wage Council. Five minimum wages come to 1,956,000 pesos a month, about $1,300 at the official Central Bank of Argentina rate (roughly 1,520 pesos to the dollar). The minimum wage rises to 398,800 pesos on 1 November, so the threshold climbs every month. The figure of about $1,000 that many still repeat is out of date.

How not to lose residence before you file

Article 62 of Migration Law 25.871, as amended by Decree 366/2025, lets the DNM cancel residence if a temporary resident spends 6 months or more abroad, or a permanent resident a year or more, without authorisation. The CNE ruling was issued in one applicant's citizenship case, and the government treats this rule as in force, so plan around it. Leaving for six months and coming back straight to the judge will not work: by then you may no longer hold the status.

The file also needs an Argentine criminal record certificate: how to get it is covered in our step-by-step guide.

How much Argentine citizenship and a passport cost

The court case for Argentine citizenship is itself free: the court charges no filing fee, and you pay only for official reports, a proof-of-address certificate and the newspaper notice. The real money goes on residence, documents, translations and two years of living in the country. The official 2026 figures:

Migration fees are set in UMSM units (Unidad de Medida de Servicios Migratorios, the migration services unit of value), and tariffs are revised after inflation, so for the current tariff ask an expert before paying.

A worked example for one adult on a rentista permit, counting only mandatory state fees: residence $70, renewal or permanent residence $70, a regular passport $70. Total about $210, plus the RENAPER fee for an Argentine identity card (DNI). Housing, health insurance, translations and support are not included and usually cost many times more.

Tax is a separate question. Citizenship by itself creates no tax obligations; tax residence does, and after two years of living in the country you will most likely be an Argentine tax resident. What that means for income from abroad is covered on our page on taxes in Argentina.

Compare with all programs: second passport cost in 2026

Can you get Argentine citizenship by investment

Not yet, but the price has been named. On 2 October 2026 the Ministry of Economy announced the programme: US$350,000 as a non-refundable payment to the Treasury or US$800,000 in a government bond. Applications are promised to open in the fourth quarter of 2026.

There is still nowhere to file: no resolution setting the amounts and no application portal. And the programme's legal basis, Decree 366/2025, was declared null in June 2026. We cover all the terms and risks in our article on Argentine citizenship by investment.

The timeline is short. Decree 366/2025 added a new ground to Law 346: citizenship for a foreigner who has made a significant investment in the country, regardless of time lived there. An Agency for Citizenship by Investment Programs was set up under the Ministry of Economy, and Decree 524/2025 of 31 July 2025 described how applicants would be vetted. The ministry was supposed to decide which investments counted as significant. Amounts were named only in the announcement of 2 October 2026; no regulation sets them yet.

Then everything stalled. On 14 April 2026 Ministry of Economy Resolution 522/2026 cancelled the international tender for a consultant to design and launch the program. On 30 June 2026 the CNE declared the whole of Decree 366/2025 null, investment ground included. The government's appeal awaits a Supreme Court ruling, and the government treats the decree as valid.

Investment is still useful for a move. Migration Law 25.871 has an investor category (inversionista), and income from capital held abroad qualifies for rentista status. Residence then starts the ordinary two-year road to court.

What an Argentine passport gives you: visa-free countries

An Argentine passport opens 169 destinations you can enter without obtaining a visa in advance.

Visa-free travel to the US has not returned, and it is not a matter of the coming months. On 28 July 2025 US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem signed a statement of intent in Buenos Aires to bring Argentina back into the VWP. The department says plainly that Argentina still has to meet the program's requirements and that the work will take the coming years. In 2026 the United States is still on the list of countries where an Argentine needs a visa.

The right to live in neighbouring countries

The MERCOSUR Residence Agreement lets an Argentine citizen obtain residence in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and other members without an employer or an investment. There is a catch that is rarely mentioned: article 2 of the agreement extends these rights to naturalized citizens only five years after they acquired citizenship. More on regional rights in our article on what Argentine citizenship gives you.

Dual citizenship

Law 346 does not require you to give up your previous passport, so a Russian or Ukrainian who becomes Argentine legally keeps their original citizenship. The obligations arise on the other side: Russian citizenship law requires you to notify the Interior Ministry of a second citizenship within 60 days, and Ukrainians should check their own country's rules on multiple citizenship separately. What happens if you miss the deadlines is covered in our article on dual citizenship.

What taxes an Argentine citizen pays

A passport on its own does not make you a tax resident: Argentina looks at where you live. A citizen who lives in the country is always a tax resident and pays income tax on a progressive scale on worldwide income. A citizen working abroad loses residence from the first day of the 14th month, or earlier if they obtain permanent residence in another country. A foreigner becomes resident even before citizenship after 12 months of living in the country, and immediately with permanent residence.

If you get the passport and live in another country, Argentina taxes only Argentine-source income. Moving to Argentina for good changes the picture: foreign income enters the Argentine tax base. Details are on our page about taxes in Argentina.

Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay or Chile: where is the passport faster

On the minimum period Argentina is still one of the fastest countries in the Americas: two years, against three in Uruguay and Paraguay, four in Brazil and five in Chile. Where it loses is predictability. Its neighbours keep their naturalization rules in statutes and constitutions, while Argentina tried to rewrite its rules by decree, and the dispute is still in the courts.

If speed is what matters, Argentina and Brazil, with its shorter period for parents, lead. If you need visa-free entry to the United States, Chile is the only one of the five that offers it: it is the only country in the region in the VWP. If stable rules matter most, Uruguay wins: its citizenship rules are written into the constitution. The full world ranking is in our overview of the 2026 passport ranking.

Giving birth in Argentina and the child's citizenship

A child born in Argentina is a citizen from birth, and Decree 366/2025 did not touch that rule. For the parents, the birth is a ground for residence through family reunification, while the road to their own passport depends on how the naturalization dispute ends. The same decree explicitly called birth tourism an abuse of immigration law. State the real purpose of your trip at the border, give your real address and submit only genuine documents: fake residence leads to refused entry, cancelled status and criminal cases. Budget for the birth on the basis of a private clinic. Details are on our page on giving birth in Argentina and the child's citizenship.

Argentine citizenship for Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians

There are no special rules for citizens of Russia, Ukraine or Belarus: the courts and the immigration service apply the same norms as to any other foreigner from outside MERCOSUR. The differences lie in document logistics and in what happens to your old passport.

• Entry. Citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus need no visa for short trips to Argentina. A tourist stamp gives you time to apply for residence, but under Decree 366/2025 it does not count toward citizenship, and years without a residence permit are harder to prove in court.
• Criminal record certificates. For residence you need a certificate from every country where you lived for more than a year during the last three years, plus an Argentine certificate from the National Criminal Records Registry for everyone over 16. If you left Russia or Ukraine and spent a year in, say, Georgia or Turkey, you will need certificates from there too.
• Apostille and translation. Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian documents are apostilled in the issuing country and translated in Argentina by a sworn translator, with the translation legalised by the Translators' Association. Our document translation service can arrange apostilles and translations from abroad.
• Money. A rentista must show that income arrives through banks authorised by Argentina's Central Bank. Because of sanctions, transfers from Russian banks are often unavailable, so prepare an income stream and an account in a third country in advance.
• Your old passport. Argentina does not require you to renounce your previous citizenship. Russians must notify the Interior Ministry of a second citizenship within 60 days; Ukrainians should check their own country's rules.

For an unvarnished look at life in the country, read our article on whether moving to Argentina is worth it.

The pitfalls and who Argentina is not for

A short period on paper is only half the story. The other half is the courts, inflation and a dispute over the rules that the courts are still hearing in 2026.

The pitfalls

• Court dispute. The government is appealing the CNE ruling. If the Supreme Court sides with the decree, naturalization could move back to the DNM with the requirement of two years without a single trip abroad.
• Court backlogs. The implementing decree gives a judge 90 days, but agency reports arrive slowly. In Buenos Aires a case can drag on for years.
• Genuine life in the country. The court checks more than stamps: whether you actually live in Argentina, with an address, work or income, taxes, children in school. Two years on paper without a life in the country do not work.
• Losing residence. Six months abroad for a temporary resident, or a year for a permanent one, gives the DNM grounds to cancel the status.
• Sham arrangements. Article 62 of the Migration Law allows residence to be cancelled and the holder deported if they used forged documents, a sham marriage or concealed a criminal record to obtain status or citizenship. Only genuine documents and a real address work.
• Inflation and the peso. Fees and the rentista income threshold are tied to the peso and the minimum wage, and they are revised often. Keep a two-year budget in hard currency with a margin.
• No instant right to live next door. Naturalized citizens get the benefits of the MERCOSUR Residence Agreement only five years after receiving their passport.

Who Argentina is not for

People who cannot live in the country for two years. The passport here is not bought and not obtained remotely. Citizenship by investment has not launched yet, and the court looks at your actual life.

People who need a passport by a deadline. A court may rule in one year or in five. If you need a second passport by a specific date, Argentina is a risky bet.

People who need visa-free entry to the United States. An Argentine passport does not provide it, and the talks on returning to the VWP will take years. Among the neighbours, only Chile's passport does.

People looking for the most stable rules. Uruguay and Brazil change their citizenship rules less often: they sit in the constitution and in statute, not in a presidential decree.

It suits people who want to live in Latin America, earn income from abroad or are ready to work locally, speak or are learning Spanish, and can wait calmly for a court decision.

What an Argentine passport gives you

How to get Argentine citizenship: step by step

FAQ

169 visa-free destinations with an Argentine passport