Most Argentine paperwork turns on one card, the DNI (ID card), and you cannot get it until Migraciones approves your residence. Until then you may hold only a temporary certificate, and many offices, banks and companies will ask for a DNI you do not have yet.
People who have been through it report the same things again and again: long waits, files that stall and answers that change from desk to desk. Knowing the pattern makes the waiting easier to plan around.
The DNI comes last
- For most people who apply from inside Argentina, the first DNI is requested together with the residence application, at Migraciones.
- A DNI cannot be issued until temporary or permanent residence is approved.
- While you wait, Migraciones may give you a precaria (temporary certificate). It is not automatic. Each one lasts up to 90 days and can be renewed.
- Once residence is approved, the DNI is mailed to the address you declared.
- Reported waits for the card range from weeks to months. We found no official figure.
The DNI is what employers, banks and landlords ask for. A consumer guide lists formal work, bank accounts and cards, and contracts such as leases among the things that depend on it.
Online first, then in person
For most residence routes you start in RADEX (the online filing system).
- You must be inside Argentina to file there.
- You upload scans or phone photos of your documents.
- Within 24 hours of sending, Migraciones emails you either an appointment or a request for more documents.
- Your turno (appointment) is at the Migraciones office nearest the address you declared. Walk-ins are not accepted.
- The in-person stage is for your biometric data and your original documents.
- A turno preferencial (paid earlier appointment) brings your date forward. It does not speed up the decision.
Migraciones says the residence procedure is personal and needs no gestor (paid fixer). It also says the only payments are the ones its platform generates. Treat any other request for payment with caution.
Email is how Migraciones talks to you
- You must declare a real address, a legal address and a domicilio electrónico (electronic address), which is an email address.
- Messages sent to that email address count as legal notice.
- Migraciones warns that its emails may land in spam. Check that folder every time you check your inbox.
- If you move, you must report the new address to Migraciones within 3 business days. A false address can lead to refusal, cancellation or expulsion.
Files stall, and nobody may tell you
Migraciones publishes no fixed time for a decision. Forum reports from 2026 describe long waits: friends waiting over a year with complete rentista files; a lawyer-filed case with no visible progress after 4 months.
One forum thread from September 2026 is a warning worth reading: A couple renewed a precaria every 90 days for over 12 months because a document was missing from the digital file and "officials never flagged it".
What you can do:
- Check your digital file line by line. Make sure every document you uploaded is there.
- Check the status of your case in the Migraciones online portal, the same one used to renew a precaria.
- Keep every payment receipt. A study of the system's early years found no receipt for a pending filing other than the payment ticket.
- If your file stalls for a long time, speak to an independent lawyer. Forum users report lawyers filing an amparo por mora (court action over delay). We cannot say what would happen in your case.
Same rule, different answer
Outside Migraciones, much depends on who you speak to.
- Banks. Central Bank rules are reported to allow a bank account on a precaria. In practice, applicants describe visiting several branches, results that depend on the employee, and one bank's system that could not process a passport number containing letters. If a bank refuses despite complete paperwork, the formal remedy is a complaint to the Central Bank.
- Proof of address. In Buenos Aires City, forum users describe an online request for a certificado de domicilio (address certificate) that did not work, a need for 2 Argentine witnesses, and appointment waits of about 1 month.
- Apps and services. Forum users report that Mercado Pago does not work without a DNI, and that some home internet providers ask for a DNI or a CUIL (work ID number).
- Renting. Proof of income and a guarantee are now the main obstacles, more than price.
Reports describe answers that vary from branch to branch and from one employee to the next, so one refusal is not always the final word.
How to make it easier
- Prepare your documents from home early. Foreign documents need an apostilla (apostille) or consular legalisation, and those not in Spanish need a translation by a traductor público (sworn translator). See apostilles and sworn translations.
- Keep copies of everything you upload and every receipt.
- Watch your email, including spam.
- Note your precaria's expiry date. You can ask to renew from 15 days before it expires. Your plan can remind you.
What to do next
Read the precaria explained and DNI, CUIL, CUIT: which number you need. If you have not chosen a route yet, start with the Route Finder.