Improving Argentina's Immigration System. Episode 1: The Tourist Who Isn't a Tourist.
- MH Legal Hub
- Jun 16
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 29
In our daily practice, we see the same situation over and over: people who want to spend three, four, maybe six months a year in Argentina, without knowing exactly how many, and without wanting to take on the physical presence requirements that come with residency.
Today, the law gives them no real option.
Article 24.A of Decree 616/2010 establishes that a 90-day tourist stay can only be extended once. Resolution 4362/2014 goes further: it defines the "false tourist" and sets out a protocol to identify them. Among the most relevant points of that resolution:
It caps the tourist category at two 90-day periods.
It requires immigration officers to verify whether the person previously paid fines for illegal overstays.
It establishes a set of questions and checks to determine whether someone attempting to enter or re-enter the country is, in reality, a concealed resident.
Decree 366/2025 reinforced this trend. The updated text of Article 29 makes clear that permanent tourism will be increasingly less tolerated, and that shift is already being felt at the border.
The problem is that the alternative doesn't work either. Anyone seeking residency must comply with Article 62 of the Immigration Law: spending at least half the residency period in the country. In practice, that means a minimum of six months a year.
So the person ends up stuck between two realities: being a tourist is illegal if repeated indefinitely, and being a resident requires a level of physical presence that many cannot or do not want to commit to.
Consider someone who bought an apartment in Buenos Aires and wants to use it three or four months a year. Today, they have no clear legal path. They are either a tourist, with all the risk that entails, or a resident, with physical presence requirements that do not fit their life.
What could a better system look like?
We see two distinct proposals that could address this gap.
Proposal 1: A long-stay visa.
Argentina could create a dedicated visa category for people with genuine economic ties to the country, such as property owners, local bank account holders, or investors, who want to spend extended periods here without committing to full residency. No minimum physical presence requirement. A renewable authorization that lets someone use their Buenos Aires apartment for four months a year without living in a legal gray area. Countries like Spain, Portugal, and Mexico have versions of this. It is not a new idea, and Argentina has every reason to adopt one.
Proposal 2: Updating residency by investment.
Argentina's residency by investment category exists in the law but has been dormant for over two decades. Reviving it, with a modernized presence test, would open a more powerful path: one that gives holders the ability to work, incorporate companies, and operate freely in Argentina, without the rigid six-months-a-year requirement that currently applies to all temporary residencies.
Specifically, the physical presence requirement for renewal should be replaced with a three-alternative test. The requirement would be met if any one of the following is true:
The applicant was physically present in Argentina for at least 183 days per year, or
A cohabiting family member (spouse, parents, registered partner, or dependent minor children) was physically present for at least 183 days per year, or
The investor's assets underpinning the residency remained in Argentina throughout the period.
This approach recognizes that capital and family presence are both genuine ties to the country, and that the law should treat them as such.
These are two different proposals, and they are not mutually exclusive. One targets people who simply want to visit more freely. The other targets people who want to put down real roots, economic and legal, while maintaining the mobility that modern life requires.
We think both conversations are worth having.
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