Argentina Family Residence for British Spouses and Parents

A British citizen married to an Argentine can enter Argentina visa-free for 90 days, then apply inside the country for temporary family residence at Migraciones (Dirección Nacional de Migraciones). Parents of Argentine children have the same route. It costs 100 UMSM, or ARS 100,000 (about US$65 in September 2026), has no income test and provides a precaria that allows work while the application is pending.

The old expectation of permanent residence on marriage has changed. Under DNU 366/2025, spouses and parents first receive temporary residence for up to three years, renewable, before seeking permanent residence through arraigo, usually after three years. The early work is documentary: UK records need apostilles and Argentine sworn translations, so filing during the first six weeks of a 90-day visitor stay leaves more room than waiting until its final days. Migraciones does not publish a fixed decision time; the precaria certificate (or the status shown in RaDEX) covers the wait.

Which family ties qualify

Article 23 ñ) of Ley 25.871, as amended by DNU 366/2025, covers the spouse, parent or child of an Argentine by birth, naturalisation or option, as well as close family of a resident. Family temporary residence runs for up to three years and permits multiple entries and exits. The Argentine spouse's citizenship counts regardless of where the couple previously lived.

Unlike the rentista or pensionado routes, which require monthly income from own assets or a pension of five times the minimum wage (ARS 1,956,000 a month in October 2026) and bar local work, family residence has no income floor and allows work for any employer. A work-route applicant needs an Argentine employer's pre-contract and works for that employer. Those routes can lead to permanent residence after three years; digital nomad permission for remote income abroad carries neither local work rights nor time towards permanent residence. The reverse move, taking an Argentine partner to the UK, falls under Home Office income rules, visa fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge.

UK documents before departure

For a UK marriage or birth, the starting point is a certified certificate from GRO in England and Wales, NRS in Scotland or GRONI in Northern Ireland. Criminal record certificates are also needed from the UK and from each country where the applicant lived for a year or more over the previous three years. Depending on where in the UK they lived, the UK record comes from ACRO Police Certificates, Disclosure Scotland or AccessNI; Migraciones expects these records to be around three months old.

The FCDO Legalisation Office apostilles public-registry certificates and the relevant police records. In September 2026, standard paper legalisation costs £45 per document and takes up to 25 working days, plus postage or courier from £6 within the UK or £42 abroad. The £35 e-Apostille takes two working days but excludes GRO and ACRO certificates; same-day and next-day options are for registered businesses only. The apostille belongs on the certified document itself, rather than a photocopy. A marriage recorded in a third country is apostilled there.

Translation happens in Argentina through a traductor público (sworn translator). The Argentine spouse's DNI also needs to be current; an expired one can be renewed through the Argentine Consulate General in London. The document order and timings are explained in apostilling UK documents for Argentina.

Filing in Argentina and living on a precaria

A British passport provides visa-free entry for 90 days, extendable once for another 90 days at Migraciones for a fee. Before the stay expires, the applicant assembles the Argentine translations and local criminal record. A traductor público translates each foreign certificate and the CTPCBA (Colegio de Traductores Públicos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires) legalises the translation, typically taking 3–7 working days at about ARS 40,000–80,000 (about US$25–50) per certificate. Anyone aged 16 or over requests an Argentine record online from the Registro Nacional de Reincidencia.

Migraciones also asks for evidence of a shared address, such as a lease in both names or a utility bill showing the same address. The RaDEX application at radex.migraciones.gob.ar takes the passport, apostilled certificates and translations, both sides of the Argentine spouse's DNI and the address evidence. The 100 UMSM fee equals ARS 100,000; an optional preferential appointment adds 50 UMSM (ARS 50,000). If called to attend, the applicant brings originals and their spouse or the spouse's original DNI for photographs and fingerprints.

Once Migraciones accepts the application, the downloadable residencia precaria lasts 90 days and can be renewed while the decision is pending. Under Article 20 of Ley 25.871 as amended by DNU 366/2025, it permits staying, working, studying, leaving and re-entering Argentina. ANSES can issue a provisional CUIL (work and social security number) on the passport and precaria, allowing an employer to register the worker before the DNI arrives. Renewal dates matter while the decision is pending: time on an extended precaria does not count as residence for arraigo or citizenship.

The DNI and longer-term status

The first DNI is linked to the residence file. Its ARS 20,000 (about US$13) charge goes with the RaDEX filing; after approval, RENAPER produces the card and sends it to the declared Argentine address in about 2–6 weeks. A separate RENAPER first-DNI application is needed only when the file has no DNI request. The DNI guide explains tracking and failed deliveries.

A British national can pursue permanent residence through arraigo after three years of temporary residence, with at least half that time spent in Argentina and no absence of six consecutive months or more. The filing fee is ARS 100,000 again. Permanent residency for UK citizens covers that later application. If the marriage ends before permanent residence, renewal requires another qualifying basis, such as an Argentine child, a job or rentista income.

Citizenship has its own timeline: Ley 346 allows a petition after two years of continuous legal residence. DNU 366/2025 moved decisions from federal courts to Migraciones, but the Cámara Nacional Electoral annulled that transfer on 30 June 2026. The petition goes to the federal court with electoral jurisdiction in the applicant's area.

Couples, children and documents that do not match

Argentina has recognised same-sex marriage since 2010 under Ley 26.618, the first such law in Latin America. A same-sex spouse follows the same family-residence procedure. A UK civil partnership is less certain because Argentina has no equivalent institution; unmarried couples may instead register a unión convivencial at their local Registro Civil after two years of living together.

Argentina's Gender Identity Law, Ley 26.743 of 2012, allows a change of name and gender on Argentine documents without a medical requirement. Argentine DNIs have also offered a non-binary X marker since 2021. Where a passport and certificate show different names, an apostilled deed poll or Gender Recognition Certificate connects the records.

A baby born in Argentina is Argentine by birth, except where the parent is a foreign diplomat. British parents can apply for family residence on the basis of that child's status, and British children born in Argentina covers British registration. A UK-born child of an Argentine parent can usually acquire ciudadanía por opción through the London consulate without residing in Argentina. Non-Argentine children apply as family of a resident with apostilled birth certificates; if their other parent remains in the UK, that parent's consent is signed before a UK notary and apostilled. Once a child is resident, departure with just one parent requires an autorización de viaje, signed before an escribano (notary) or at the Registro Civil.

For a family of three moving from the UK, three apostilles cost £135 plus postage. Three Argentine sworn translations at ARS 40,000–80,000 each, the ARS 100,000 residence filing and ARS 20,000 DNI produce an Argentine-side estimate of ARS 240,000–360,000 (about US$155–235), before other document costs. It is the lead time on certificates and translations, rather than the lack of an income threshold, that most shapes when this family can file. If the Argentine partner is moving to Britain instead, the relevant route is the UK visa for Argentine partners, not Argentine family residence.