More and more people visit Argentina every year and more of them stay for longer periods of time as well, either on sabbatical, for work or, as in my case, because they ended up with an Argentinean partner.
Since bureaucracy in Argentina can work in mysterious ways, especially if your Spanish is not yet perfect, it seems a good idea to post the current (september 2011) procedure here in Buenos Aires.
This may be of help if you want to stay in Argentina for a longer period of time without renewing your 90-day Tourist Visa every time by crossing the border with Uruguay.
Of course not everybody can apply for permanent or temporary residency, but there are quite a few categories that qualify. These range from spouses and relatives of Argentines to work visa and from students to persons who can show enough foreign income to qualify as “pensionado”. Requirements for each category can be found here for permanent residency and here for temporary residence.
I qualified for permanent residency because of my marriage to an Argentine spouse, so details and needed documents may be different depending on your situation, but the basics are the same for most residency appointments (tramites) at Migraciones in Buenos Aires.
Most important change of late is that since the 29th of August of this year, they no longer give out numbers for an appointment on the spot. The only way to get one is online at this website: http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/accesible/?residencias and then click on the "continuar para obtenar su turno online" button on top of the page.
You can then choose from three dates and a timeframe on those dates (8-10, 10-12, etc). Waiting time normally is around a week. To make the appointment online you need to enter the name of the neighborhood where you live in Buenos Aires.
More importantly you need to enter the Tramite number on your Argentina criminal record (or more accurately: the lack thereof) that you get at the Registro Nacional de Reincidencia. The number is at the top right corner below the barcode and starts with the letter P followed by 7 numbers.
So make sure you get this first (all info here: http://www.dnrec.jus.gov.ar/AtPartic_Personalmente.aspx ) before you attempt to get your turn online.
When you actually go to the appointment at Migraciones at Avenida Antartida Argentina 1355 you enter almost the first door coming from the direction of Retiro train station. This is called "building number 4" and it has some big signs outside and a stream of people entering, so you should have no trouble finding it. Inside it's one big open space with attendance windows with immigrations staff on both sides and seats in the middle. The windows are divided in different sections, clearly labeled above each section.
One thing not mentioned on the website or anywhere else that I could find, is that your Internet turno does not mean you can sit down in the Tramites Non-Mercosur section for example and wait for them to call you. You first have to attend another section. As you enter building number 4, immediately to your left you will see a section of windows labeled "Biometria/Biometrics". This is the only section that has a long line in front of it, often extending to the back of the building, and this is the one you first have to enter.
After about 45 minutes you’re at the front of the line and go up to the window. Here you show your proof of appointment as printed from the Migraciones website, your passport, hand over one of your 4x4 cm photos (see required paperwork below) and have your fingerprints taken electronically. This takes about 5 minutes and from this window you receive a piece of paper that has your photo glued on and the actual number of your turn as shown on the electronic boards above the other sections of windows inside building number 4. Only then are Mercosur (most countries in the cone of South-America are part of this economic union, comparable to the EU or NAFTA) and Non-Mercosur nationals separated and attended to in different sections.
I was early for my official appointment but in the end nobody looked at that paper (you leave it at the Biometrics window) and the number you receive at Biometrics is the only one that counts. Going earlier therefore seems a smart idea, specially given the line at Biometrics.
With the paper received at the Biometrics windows you move about 5 meters to the section of windows directly to the right after the entrance of building number 4 labeled "Tramites Non Mercosur". It has an electronic sign and your turn should come up within a few minutes.
When called up to the window, it's time to show all your paperwork.
The paperwork needed for temporary residence (study, work, rentista, pensionado, priests, etc) can be found here by clicking on your category: http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/accesible/?nomercosur_temporaria
All the papers you need for permanent residency for non-Mercosur nationals (as in my case) are listed here: http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/accesible/?nomercosur_permanente
In short they are:
1. Passport with valid visa stamp (may be a tourist visa)
2. Birth certificate from country of birth with apostille, both translated in Spanish by official translator and legalized by the Colegio de Traductores
3. Proof of lack of criminal record from your home country with apostille, again both translated as under .2 if not in Spanish. In the USA this is given out by the FBI, but in the Netherlands by the Department of Justice for example, so make sure to check the procedures for your country of origin
4. Proof of lack of criminal record in Argentina as given out by the Registro National de Reincidencia (the one you need to actually make the appointment at Migraciones as mentioned above)
5. Certificado de Domicilio, obtainable for 10 pesos at your local neighbourhood police station by showing your passport and leaving the address you currently stay at. This may even be a hotel. A cop will bring it by your place within 2 or 3 days normally
6. Photocopy of all pages in your passport even the blank ones
7. 2 photos 4x4 cm from the front with a white background showing your face and upper part of your chest and shoulders
Plus the specific documents depending on why you can claim residency. In my case:
8. Marriage certificate
9. DNI of my wife
10. Photocopy of the main pages of wife's DNI
11. Photocopy of marriage certificate
Bring 2 copies of everything with you, just to be sure, as it says in a couple of places that if you don't have all your copies, you will forfeit your turn. In actual fact they hardly look at most of it.
One thing I already heard earlier, which I can confirm from my own experience, is that they do not want to see your birth certificate anymore. This can save you some money on obtaining and translating, though is of course at your own risk, as it is still listed at the website as obligatory.
You also need to write down the names of your parents on a piece of paper and a telephone number where you can be reached.
From the criminal records and certificado de domicilio they keep the originals, so you do not need photocopies. Passport, DNI and original marriage certificate are returned directly and they keep the photocopies, which is why you only need those. In the end you do not need any more photos either as the one you gave at Biometrics is scanned later, so one photo seems to be enough nowadays.
After handing over the papers and waiting for some 5 minutes, you receive two invoices. One for 600 pesos (300 pesos for Mercosur nationals) for your immigration and one for 40 pesos for your DNI.
With these two invoices you walk to the left far corner of building number 4, where there are 4 cashiers windows. You pay the immigration invoice at cashier "1" or "2" whereas the DNI invoice needs to be paid at cashier window "4". This whole part takes no more than 10 minutes and after that you return with the stamped invoices to the person who helped you at the Tramites Non-Mercosur where you should be attended almost directly.
You get to check if all your registered details are correct and sign for them. After that they print your Temporary Residence paper (Certificado De Residencia Precaria) valid for 3 months which already allows you to work, study, travel outside the country etc., as long as you show it together with your foreign passport.
They also hand you the invoice for the DNI that has a barcode at the top which you have to hand over to the mailman to take delivery of your DNI which is sent automatically to your home address in around 30 days.
All in all you are normally in and out of there in about 1,5 hours with most time spent in line for the Biometrics window. Everybody is very friendly and helpful and if you follow the steps lined out on their website or in this posting, things could not be more simple, even if you speak very limited Spanish.
Unless you are in special circumstances regarding your immigration status, there seems absolutely no need to spend a lot of money on handlers or immigration experts. The process seems smooth and Argentine bureaucracy really seems to have been coming a long way compared to my first visits here some 15 years ago.
The only remaining advantage I noticed was some foreigners with local handlers jumping the queue at the Biometrics window, which saved them maybe 30 minutes, but on all other windows they had to wait their turn just the same, so you might well be tempted to spend your hard earned money on enjoying BA nightlife instead.
Hope this helps some people, feel free to update or correct as things inevitably change over time and enjoy your extended stay in this sometimes weird but, for me at least, above all wonderful country.
Since bureaucracy in Argentina can work in mysterious ways, especially if your Spanish is not yet perfect, it seems a good idea to post the current (september 2011) procedure here in Buenos Aires.
This may be of help if you want to stay in Argentina for a longer period of time without renewing your 90-day Tourist Visa every time by crossing the border with Uruguay.
Of course not everybody can apply for permanent or temporary residency, but there are quite a few categories that qualify. These range from spouses and relatives of Argentines to work visa and from students to persons who can show enough foreign income to qualify as “pensionado”. Requirements for each category can be found here for permanent residency and here for temporary residence.
I qualified for permanent residency because of my marriage to an Argentine spouse, so details and needed documents may be different depending on your situation, but the basics are the same for most residency appointments (tramites) at Migraciones in Buenos Aires.
Most important change of late is that since the 29th of August of this year, they no longer give out numbers for an appointment on the spot. The only way to get one is online at this website: http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/accesible/?residencias and then click on the "continuar para obtenar su turno online" button on top of the page.
You can then choose from three dates and a timeframe on those dates (8-10, 10-12, etc). Waiting time normally is around a week. To make the appointment online you need to enter the name of the neighborhood where you live in Buenos Aires.
More importantly you need to enter the Tramite number on your Argentina criminal record (or more accurately: the lack thereof) that you get at the Registro Nacional de Reincidencia. The number is at the top right corner below the barcode and starts with the letter P followed by 7 numbers.
So make sure you get this first (all info here: http://www.dnrec.jus.gov.ar/AtPartic_Personalmente.aspx ) before you attempt to get your turn online.
When you actually go to the appointment at Migraciones at Avenida Antartida Argentina 1355 you enter almost the first door coming from the direction of Retiro train station. This is called "building number 4" and it has some big signs outside and a stream of people entering, so you should have no trouble finding it. Inside it's one big open space with attendance windows with immigrations staff on both sides and seats in the middle. The windows are divided in different sections, clearly labeled above each section.
One thing not mentioned on the website or anywhere else that I could find, is that your Internet turno does not mean you can sit down in the Tramites Non-Mercosur section for example and wait for them to call you. You first have to attend another section. As you enter building number 4, immediately to your left you will see a section of windows labeled "Biometria/Biometrics". This is the only section that has a long line in front of it, often extending to the back of the building, and this is the one you first have to enter.
After about 45 minutes you’re at the front of the line and go up to the window. Here you show your proof of appointment as printed from the Migraciones website, your passport, hand over one of your 4x4 cm photos (see required paperwork below) and have your fingerprints taken electronically. This takes about 5 minutes and from this window you receive a piece of paper that has your photo glued on and the actual number of your turn as shown on the electronic boards above the other sections of windows inside building number 4. Only then are Mercosur (most countries in the cone of South-America are part of this economic union, comparable to the EU or NAFTA) and Non-Mercosur nationals separated and attended to in different sections.
I was early for my official appointment but in the end nobody looked at that paper (you leave it at the Biometrics window) and the number you receive at Biometrics is the only one that counts. Going earlier therefore seems a smart idea, specially given the line at Biometrics.
With the paper received at the Biometrics windows you move about 5 meters to the section of windows directly to the right after the entrance of building number 4 labeled "Tramites Non Mercosur". It has an electronic sign and your turn should come up within a few minutes.
When called up to the window, it's time to show all your paperwork.
The paperwork needed for temporary residence (study, work, rentista, pensionado, priests, etc) can be found here by clicking on your category: http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/accesible/?nomercosur_temporaria
All the papers you need for permanent residency for non-Mercosur nationals (as in my case) are listed here: http://www.migraciones.gov.ar/accesible/?nomercosur_permanente
In short they are:
1. Passport with valid visa stamp (may be a tourist visa)
2. Birth certificate from country of birth with apostille, both translated in Spanish by official translator and legalized by the Colegio de Traductores
3. Proof of lack of criminal record from your home country with apostille, again both translated as under .2 if not in Spanish. In the USA this is given out by the FBI, but in the Netherlands by the Department of Justice for example, so make sure to check the procedures for your country of origin
4. Proof of lack of criminal record in Argentina as given out by the Registro National de Reincidencia (the one you need to actually make the appointment at Migraciones as mentioned above)
5. Certificado de Domicilio, obtainable for 10 pesos at your local neighbourhood police station by showing your passport and leaving the address you currently stay at. This may even be a hotel. A cop will bring it by your place within 2 or 3 days normally
6. Photocopy of all pages in your passport even the blank ones
7. 2 photos 4x4 cm from the front with a white background showing your face and upper part of your chest and shoulders
Plus the specific documents depending on why you can claim residency. In my case:
8. Marriage certificate
9. DNI of my wife
10. Photocopy of the main pages of wife's DNI
11. Photocopy of marriage certificate
Bring 2 copies of everything with you, just to be sure, as it says in a couple of places that if you don't have all your copies, you will forfeit your turn. In actual fact they hardly look at most of it.
One thing I already heard earlier, which I can confirm from my own experience, is that they do not want to see your birth certificate anymore. This can save you some money on obtaining and translating, though is of course at your own risk, as it is still listed at the website as obligatory.
You also need to write down the names of your parents on a piece of paper and a telephone number where you can be reached.
From the criminal records and certificado de domicilio they keep the originals, so you do not need photocopies. Passport, DNI and original marriage certificate are returned directly and they keep the photocopies, which is why you only need those. In the end you do not need any more photos either as the one you gave at Biometrics is scanned later, so one photo seems to be enough nowadays.
After handing over the papers and waiting for some 5 minutes, you receive two invoices. One for 600 pesos (300 pesos for Mercosur nationals) for your immigration and one for 40 pesos for your DNI.
With these two invoices you walk to the left far corner of building number 4, where there are 4 cashiers windows. You pay the immigration invoice at cashier "1" or "2" whereas the DNI invoice needs to be paid at cashier window "4". This whole part takes no more than 10 minutes and after that you return with the stamped invoices to the person who helped you at the Tramites Non-Mercosur where you should be attended almost directly.
You get to check if all your registered details are correct and sign for them. After that they print your Temporary Residence paper (Certificado De Residencia Precaria) valid for 3 months which already allows you to work, study, travel outside the country etc., as long as you show it together with your foreign passport.
They also hand you the invoice for the DNI that has a barcode at the top which you have to hand over to the mailman to take delivery of your DNI which is sent automatically to your home address in around 30 days.
All in all you are normally in and out of there in about 1,5 hours with most time spent in line for the Biometrics window. Everybody is very friendly and helpful and if you follow the steps lined out on their website or in this posting, things could not be more simple, even if you speak very limited Spanish.
Unless you are in special circumstances regarding your immigration status, there seems absolutely no need to spend a lot of money on handlers or immigration experts. The process seems smooth and Argentine bureaucracy really seems to have been coming a long way compared to my first visits here some 15 years ago.
The only remaining advantage I noticed was some foreigners with local handlers jumping the queue at the Biometrics window, which saved them maybe 30 minutes, but on all other windows they had to wait their turn just the same, so you might well be tempted to spend your hard earned money on enjoying BA nightlife instead.
Hope this helps some people, feel free to update or correct as things inevitably change over time and enjoy your extended stay in this sometimes weird but, for me at least, above all wonderful country.
