Family residency: joining an Argentine or resident relative

You have a close family tie to an Argentine, or to a temporary or permanent resident of Argentina. This is the reunificación familiar (family reunification) route. It is temporary residence, and it can lead to permanent residence.

It fits if you are:

• the spouse, parent or child of an Argentine, whether Argentine by birth, by naturalisation or by option;
• the spouse or parent of a temporary or permanent resident;
• the unmarried child under 18 years, or the adult disabled child, of a temporary or permanent resident.

The relative you rely on is your dador de criterio (sponsoring relative).

Married to an Argentine? Since Decreto 366/2025, the spouse or parent of an Argentine no longer gets permanent residence straight away. This temporary route comes first.

Born abroad to an Argentine parent? The Migraciones (Argentina's immigration authority) page on permanent residence lists children of Argentines born abroad as a direct category. You may also fit citizenship by descent. Read the descent page, and speak to a lawyer before you choose.

Not married? The family page speaks of spouses. We could not confirm from a source we can cite whether an unmarried partner counts, or what proof would be needed. Ask a lawyer before you plan on this route.

This guide covers people who can visit Argentina without a visa. If you need a visa to visit, speak to a lawyer before you plan.

The family tie. You prove the tie with a marriage certificate or a birth certificate. A foreign certificate needs an apostilla (apostille) or legalisation by the Argentine consulate in the country that issued it. If it is not in Spanish, it also needs a sworn translation made in Argentina.

Your relative's ID. You also give the ID document of your sponsoring relative.

Income. The family page for filing in Argentina lists the certificate and your relative's ID as the documents specific to this route. It lists no proof of income. CAREF, a non-governmental organisation, reports that proof of means is being asked for when people renew temporary residence. That is a report, not a published rule.

How long it is granted for. If your relative is Argentine or a permanent resident, Migraciones grants up to 3 years. If your relative is a temporary resident, your residence runs for the same period as theirs. You can renew it.

Starting from abroad. There is also an entry-permit route. Your relative in Argentina asks Migraciones for a permiso de ingreso (entry permit). After it is approved, you apply for the visa at the Argentine consulate. A copy of the Migraciones page lists the marriage or birth certificate and proof of your relative's means, such as their last 3 payslips or a certified income statement. This guide covers filing from inside Argentina.

The rule. The route is article 23 ñ of the migration law, Ley 25.871. Decreto 366/2025 added it.

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

At home. 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:

• Residence fee: ARS 100,000 (about USD 65 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026), or ARS 50,000 (about USD 32 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) for Mercosur nationals.
• 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.

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. 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 10,000 (about USD 6 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026), or ARS 5,000 (about USD 3 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) for Mercosur nationals, 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 100,000 (about USD 65 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026), or ARS 50,000 (about USD 32 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) for Mercosur nationals. 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.

Family residence is temporary. You renew it before each grant ends. You can file the renewal from 60 days before expiry. Check the Migraciones renewal page for where and how to file. That page lists no proof of income, but CAREF, a non-governmental organisation, reports that proof of means is being asked for at renewals.

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

Permanent residence. After 3 years of temporary residence, or 2 years for Mercosur nationals, you may apply for permanent residence if you meet 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.