Visa & Residency Guide to Argentina

Want to know how to live in Argentina or with residency?

This article will provide you with the basics of how to achieve that.

 By first talking about living in Argentina on a tourist visa…

Then moving onto the nuances of that…

Such as the possibility of doing a visa run….

And also the consequences of overstaying your visa…

Before ending it on the topic of the temporary and permanent residency programs that exist.

For those who wish to live in this country longer than what a tourist visa allows…

And do to so legally and with more security.

So let’s get to it!

The Tourist Visa

I remember when I first entered Argentina some odd years ago…

They made me spend some money online before I could enter the country – like around 160 bucks more or less.

I think they called it “reciprocity fee” or something like that.

Last I checked though as of 2016, supposedly this fee no longer exists.

Either way, the typical tourist visa allows you to be in the country for between 30 to 90 day consecutively apparently depending on your country of origin obviously.

For Americans, it seems to be for 90 days.

And also you can extend your visa for about 600 pesos for another 90 days from what I have read online.

Overstay the Visa?

From what I read, the fine for overstaying the visa is 1,500 pesos.

And you have to visit the Migration Office and the Banco de Nacion to pay for the permit to leave Argentina.

They will then give you 10 days to leave the country with that permit.

Visa Runs?

Not being experienced doing visa runs myself from Argentina…

I looked at expat forums in Argentina online and apparently you can do visa runs.

If you are living in Buenos Aires, then obviously it would be best to do a visa run to Uruguay as the boat trip across the river is only an hour or two long and is not too expensive overall.

Of course, if you are living in other parts of Argentina, then it might be ideal to instead travel to Chile, Bolivia, Brazil or Paraguay.

Either way, visa runs are allowed so you can extend your time in Argentina that way.

The only word of caution is that I read online that apparently Argentina has some history of cracking down on visa runs specifically to Uruguay as that would be an obvious choice to do a visa runs for many expats living there.

Therefore, based on what I read, I suppose it would not be a bad thing to use Uruguay as your first or maybe second trip for a visa run…

But after that?

If at all possible, perhaps aim for other nearby South American countries.

Temporary Residency in Argentina

In order to get temporary residency in Argentina, you have to qualify for any of the different categories that apply for it.

This is for folks who wish to spend time in Argentina for only a limited time beyond the tourist visa.

The categories include, for example, 23A – which is for those who will have a salaried job in Argentina.

And also 23E – which is for those who have come to study for example from my understanding.

For either situation, you will need an entry visa (which your employer can provide), a passport, 3 passport-style photos, a contract relevant to your visa and birth certificate.

There are other ways to get temporary residency in Argentina but those are the typical ways outside of retirement from my understanding.

Permanent Residency in Argentina

 To apply for permanent residency in Argentina, you will need to have been a temporary residency for two years and provide the following documents:

• Birth certificate
• Photocopy of your passport
• Proof of residency in whatever country you come from
• Proof of financial security
• And the birth certificate of any children you may have

And that’s the basic information you need.

If you have any experiences or questions related to this topic, let me know below.

And follow my Twitter here.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Matt