Mercosur residency: living in Argentina by nationality

You hold the nationality of a Mercosur (South American trade bloc) country or an associated state. This route rests on your nationality. You do not need to show income, and you do not need a sponsor. It is temporary residence, and it can lead to permanent residence.

It fits:

• native nationals of Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname;
• people naturalised in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, who have held that nationality for at least 5 years.

If you were naturalised in a country that is not on the second list, or more recently than that, the route does not fit as Migraciones (Argentina's immigration authority) describes it. Ask a lawyer before you plan.

You file from inside Argentina, after a legal entry.

Nationality. Migraciones grants this residence on nationality. There is no income test and no sponsor test.

Native or naturalised. Native nationals of every listed country fit. Naturalised nationals fit only for the shorter list of countries, and only after at least 5 years with that nationality.

The rest of the file. You still need the core documents every route asks for, including police certificates, proof of address and proof of legal entry.

How long it is granted for. Up to 2 years. You can extend it, and it allows multiple entries.

The rule. The route is article 23 l of the migration law, Ley 25.871, and Migraciones Disposition 1.637/2022.

Migraciones publishes no fixed decision time. Nobody can promise you one, and we do not.

At home. Police certificates and apostilles take as long as each country takes. We have not found reliable ranges for them, so find out early how long each one takes.

Filing. You file online in RADEX, from inside Argentina. One filing can cover a whole family. Card payments are credited at once. Cash payments take 5 business days. After you upload your documents, Migraciones emails you within 24 hours with an appointment or a request for more documents. Check your spam folder. The appointment is at the Migraciones office nearest your declared address, and there are no walk-ins.

Waiting. Migraciones may give you a precaria (temporary certificate) while it decides. We have found no official statement of when the first one is issued. Each one lasts up to 90 days. It lets you stay, leave, re-enter, work and study. It is not a promise of approval. You can request a renewal online from 15 days before it expires, and only from inside Argentina.

The decision. We have found no figure for this route from a source we can cite.

The ID card. If your residence is approved, your DNI (ID card) is mailed to your declared address. We found no official delivery time. A consumer guide describes it as "generally in a few weeks" after approval, by post.

You pay government fees yourself, directly. When you finish the online form, RADEX produces 3 payment slips: the residence fee, the ID card and the Argentine criminal-record check. You pay each one by card or cash. Migraciones says the procedure is personal, no agent (gestor) is needed, and the only payments are the ones the system generates. We never collect government fees.

For one adult Mercosur national:

• Residence fee: ARS 50,000 (about USD 32 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026).
• ID card: ARS 20,000 (about USD 13 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026).
• Argentine criminal-record check: the national criminal-records registry charges from ARS 1,000 (about USD 1 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) to ARS 8,500 (about USD 6 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) for its certificate, depending on how fast it is delivered. We have not confirmed the amount on the RADEX slip.

The fee table has a Mercosur rate and a higher rate for everyone else, ARS 100,000 (about USD 65 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026). We have not confirmed whether the Mercosur rate covers every nationality on this route's list. Your RADEX slip shows the amount.

Some applicants pay no residence fee: under-18s applying with a parent; refugees; recognised clergy; people certified as vulnerable (Decreto 584/2024 art. 4 I).

Other costs:

• Apostilles, paid in each country that issues a document. Prices vary by country.
• Sworn translations, for documents not in Spanish. The translator sets their own fee. A simple legalisation of each translation at the translators' college in Buenos Aires City costs ARS 33,000 (about USD 21 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) per document, paid to the college.
• Renewing a precaria can cost ARS 5,000 (about USD 3 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) at the Mercosur rate, when the fee table treats the renewal as attributable to you. We have not found when that applies.
• A preferential appointment costs extra. It brings your appointment forward. It does not speed up the decision.
• Each renewal, and the later change to permanent residence, costs ARS 50,000 (about USD 32 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) at the Mercosur rate. A late renewal costs 50% more.

We charge nothing for this guide. You file and pay everything yourself. If you need a lawyer, you choose them and pay them directly.

Mercosur residence is temporary. Migraciones grants it for up to 2 years, and you can extend it. You can file the renewal from 60 days before expiry. Check the Migraciones renewal page for where and how to file.

If you miss the expiry date, you have 30 days to file, at 50% more. After that, the right to renew lapses.

Permanent residence. Mercosur nationals may apply for permanent residence after 2 years of temporary residence, if they meet the conditions. The page says this for Mercosur nationals. If your country is an associated state, confirm that the shorter period applies to you. The conditions:

• You were in Argentina for more than 50% of the period granted. Two Migraciones pages disagree on whether exactly 50% is enough, so plan for more.
• You were never abroad for 6 months or more in a row.
• You can prove medios económicos suficientes (sufficient economic means). We have not yet read the list of accepted documents that Migraciones links to, and we have found no published amount.

Time on a precaria does not count toward those years.

Keeping your status. Being abroad for 6 months or more cancels temporary residence, unless an exception applies, such as express permission from Migraciones. Whether those months must be in a row is not clear, so ask before a long trip. Report any change of address to Migraciones within 3 business days.

Work. Under the migration law, temporary residents may work during their authorised stay.

Tax. Residence and tax residence are separate questions. Speak to an accountant before you move.