Police certificates: which countries and how fresh

You need a police certificate from every country where you lived for more than 1 year during the last 3 years, if you are 16 years or older. How recent it must be is not set in the rules we found, so the freshness advice on this page is our own cautious practice rule, not law.

Which countries

Migraciones asks for a certificate of no convictions or pending proceedings from each country you lived in for more than 1 year during the last 3 years. The wording is the same on the rentista, pensionado, work, student, Mercosur, family and permanent-residence pages.

• It depends on where you lived, not on your passport. If you are Irish and lived in Australia for long enough to meet the test, you need the Australian certificate.
• Each person applying who is 16 years or older needs their own certificates.
• Some points are not clear. Does the time in a country have to be continuous, or can separate stays add up? Is the look-back counted from your filing date? If you are close to the line, ask a lawyer, or get the certificate anyway.

The Argentine certificate as well

You also need an Argentine criminal-record certificate if you are 16 years or older. You do not order it separately. When you finish your order in RADEX (the Migraciones filing system), one of the payment slips is for this certificate.

If you buy a turno preferencial (preferential appointment), you must get the Argentine certificate yourself and bring it on the day.

• The standalone certificate is for people aged 18 years or over. The registry's page does not say how a 16- or 17-year-old gets one.
• You book online, bring your passport and a copy, and give fingerprints on site. It arrives by email link.
• It is valid for 5 business days from receipt.
• It costs from ARS 1,000 (about USD 1 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) for the slowest delivery to ARS 8,500 (about USD 6 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) for the fastest. These are the fees on the registry's page, last modified in October 2024; we have not checked for later increases.

The Argentine certificate and the foreign ones are separate items on the list. If the foreign test applies to you, you need both.

Getting foreign certificates ready

Each foreign certificate needs an apostille or legalisation by the Argentine consulate in the country that issued it. If it is not in Spanish, it also needs a sworn Spanish translation, legalised in Argentina. See apostilles and sworn translations.

We have not researched how Ireland, the UK, the US, Canada or Australia issue police certificates. Order yours from the police or government body of each country, starting from that government's own website.

How fresh it must be

• The rules we found set no validity period for foreign police certificates. That does not mean any age is accepted.
• One forum post, by an unverified commercial poster, says an FBI check older than 90 days may be rejected. That is one report, not a rule.
• For the Irish Working Holiday visa only, the embassy in Dublin asks for a certificate issued as close as possible to the travel date.

Our practice rule: aim to file before each foreign certificate is 90 days old. This is our own caution, not a Migraciones rule. Your plan shows it with the label "Our practice rule".

A sensible order

1. List every country you lived in for more than 1 year during the last 3 years.
2. Gather your other documents first.
3. Order the police certificates last, so they are as recent as possible when you file.
4. Get each one apostilled or legalised in the country that issued it.
5. Travel, have them translated and legalised, and file.

Work back from a realistic filing date, not from the day you start.

If anything might show up

For migration purposes, a criminal record is wider than a conviction. Not only convictions: non-final sentences and indictments count; omitting to declare a record is itself a ground for refusal.

If anything might appear on any certificate, speak to an independent lawyer before you file.

What to do next

Use the Route Finder to see the routes you may fit. It asks which countries you have lived in, so your plan can show which certificates to order.