Getting and Applying for Permanent Residency in Argentina

What you’ll need for applying for permanent residency in Argentina

These are the persons who can apply for permanent residency in the Argentine Republic:

  1. Parent/s of a child born in the country or a naturalized citizen who is still not an adult (younger than 18 years)
  2. Spouse of an Argentine citizen, be it native or naturalized.
  3. Child of an Argentine native or naturalized Argentine citizen.
  4. Parent of a permanent resident of Argentina
  5. Spouse of a permanent resident of Argentina
  6. Student
  7. Pensioner
  8. Financier
  9. Business person/entrepreneur
  10. An immigrant with a certain amount of capital (investment needed)
  11. Staff working for an Argentinean company with a contract
  12. Owner of a non-Argentinean company

 

Paperwork related to permanent residency application

 

The following is a list of documents that every person who wants to apply for permanent residency in Argentina must provide:

A birth certificate from your country of origin (not a hospital copy). Keep in mind that you have to provide an apostilled certificate, translated by a certified translator and verified by a certified translator in Argentina.

Passport. Make a hardcopy of every page, even the blank pages in the passport. In case the passport is not biometric, you will have to translate it. Carry the original passport with you when submitting the application.

A record check from FBI or corresponding national agency (only for applicants older than 16 years). This record check must be apostilled and not older than six months. Translate it in the same way as the birth certificate. Province, regional or state criminal check is not acceptable.

 

Antecedentes Penales or Argentinean criminal record check for persons that are 16 years old or older. Visit the federal police and explain the situation. You will get fingerprinted and after that, you’ll have to download payment coupons from the official immigration site. Use these downloadable coupons in the Banco National to pay the fee. Deliver this packet with the coupons inside to the address highlighted in the forms.

– In case you are applying via “family status” due to the fact that you are married to an Argentine national or you have a child (under 18 and not married) who was born in Argentina, you’ll have to submit the spouse’s/child’s DNI (national identity document) and copies of every page in this document. Bring the original documents with you.

– In case you are applying because you have a child born in this country, you’ll have to provide a copy of the birth certificate of the child and the original document too. In case you are applying because you are married to an Argentinean citizen, take the original marriage certificate and a copy of it.

Photographs. Remember that passport photographs are inadequate because they are large. The photos used in DNI are smaller. In addition, they require a small turn of the head. You can take photos like this in professional photo shops in Argentina. Ask them to take DNI photos. Bring two photographs like this with you.

– Once you submit all the documents and papers and get a confirmation that everything is fine, the authorities will give you payment coupons. Head to the Banco Nacional and pay the fee (600 ARS). Get back to the office with the coupons right away and give these coupons to the immigration officer.

– An invoice of a public service with your name on it or a certificate of domicile. In case you don’t have any utility bills with your name on them, you should get a certificate of domicile from the nearest police station.

 

When you finish these formalities, you will get a CERTIFICADO DE RESIDENCIA PRECARIA (A certificate for permanent residency). Thanks to this certificate you will get a wide range of rights including:

– The right to be paid for work legally

– The right to obtain housing

– The right to study legally

– The right to exit and enter Argentina with this document

Keep in mind that CERTIFICADO DE RESIDENCIA PRECARIA is not the same thing as DNI. In addition, you can’t get a DNI with this document. This certificate gives you the abovementioned rights. At the same time, the authorities are processing the request for permanent residency. The document lasts for 6 months. Before the document expires, go to the nearest immigration office and ask for a renewal. In some cases, the local military base (Gendarmeria) has officers like this.

There is an official government site where individuals can check the status of their request. But, this website is not updated regularly.

Getting and applying for permanent residency in Argentina: a few useful tips

 

– De-stress. There is no doubt that this can be a stressful process, but there is no need for that. Sit back and relax and think about other things. The Argentinean authorities are not the fastest ones and there is nothing that you can do to speed up the process. Find a way to de-stress and relax.

– Ask for help. In some cases, your Argentinean friends can help you with this process, but it’s a better idea to look for professional help. The best option is to hire an experienced immigration lawyer in Argentina like Kier Joffe. These professionals know the laws and regulations and they can do their best to accelerate this process and get you a permanent residency without any hassles.

–  Prepare yourself. In case you didn’t provide one document, this mistake can slow down the process of application. In some cases, it can take weeks to get that document and some of the existing documents may expire. Double check the documents and obtain them as soon as possible.

– Stay informed. Once you submit the paperwork there is really nothing that you can do in this process. However, making phone calls from time to time and asking for the status of your request is a smart idea. In some cases, you will be asked to bring a document that is missing even though they said that everything was fine. Remember that they won’t call you if a document is missing.