Rentista residency: living in Argentina on investment income

You live on income from things you own. That can be rent from property, interest or dividends from investments, or income from shares in a company. The assets must be in your name.

This is the rentista route (residence for people who live on income from their assets). It is temporary residence, and it can lead to permanent residence.

It is not for a salary or for freelance work. Income from your own work does not count, even when it is paid from abroad. If you work remotely, read the digital nomad page instead.

If you live on a pension, the pensionado page is the closer fit. If you hold a Mercosur nationality, read the Mercosur page first. That route has no income test.

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.

Where the money comes from. Your income must come from assets in your own name, not from work. Migraciones (Argentina's immigration authority) lists financial investments, property and shares in a company. It may accept other assets.

A salary or freelance income does not count, even if it is paid from abroad. If that is your income, the rentista route does not fit. Read the digital nomad page instead.

How much. At least 5 times the minimum wage (SMVM) a month. The SMVM is Argentina's national minimum wage. This month the figure is ARS 1,956,000 (about USD 1,270 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026) for each applicant. The minimum wage is currently rising every month, so this figure rises too. Check it again on the day you file.

Each applicant counts separately. One filing can cover your whole family. But each applicant must show the income separately, from assets in their own name. A spouse without income of their own may fit the family route instead, as the spouse of a resident. Whether each child needs the full amount is not clear. Ask before you file.

Getting the money into Argentina. Before residence is granted, the money you need for the period you ask for must come into Argentina. It must arrive through a bank or financial institution authorised by the BCRA (Argentina's central bank). We could not find guidance from Migraciones on how much must arrive up front, or when. Ask before you move money.

Money held abroad. Funds in a foreign bank account count only if you can clearly prove their lawful origin.

Exchange rates. We could not find which exchange rate Migraciones uses to convert foreign income. Leave yourself a margin.

The rule. The test is set by Migraciones Disposition 1732/2023. It replaced an older rule that fixed a peso amount, so figures in older articles no longer apply.

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. 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. There is no official figure. On one forum thread, people reported friends waiting over a year with complete rentista files; a lawyer-filed case with no visible progress after 4 months. In another thread, for precaria holders, people reported waits of at least 9 months. These are second-hand reports, not rules.

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. On its rentista page, 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 who is not a Mercosur national:

• Residence fee: ARS 100,000 (about USD 65 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.

Mercosur nationals pay a residence fee of ARS 50,000 (about USD 32 at ARS 1,540 on 6 October 2026). 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, again for a non-Mercosur national:

• 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) 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). 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.

Rentista residence is temporary. Migraciones grants it for 1 year at a time, so you renew it before each grant ends. You can file the renewal from 60 days before expiry, in RADEX, from inside Argentina. Each renewal needs proof that your income has continued and still meets the threshold then in force, a fresh Argentine criminal-record check and proof of address.

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, 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 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.

Tax. Residence and tax residence are separate questions. Argentina taxes its residents on worldwide income, subject to tax treaties. Speak to an accountant before you move.