Argentina · Passive income
Temporary Residency as a Rentista
Administered by the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones via the RaDEX online system. The income test is indexed to the Salario Mínimo Vital y Móvil, so it moves with Argentine wage policy rather than staying fixed in dollars.
This is the standard vehicle for a non-Mercosur family that wants the two-year citizenship clock running without a job or a company. The income must be genuinely passive — rent, dividends, interest, securities — and must be wired into Argentina through a BCRA-authorised institution, which is the part that defeats most applicants.
Qualifying routes
the figure is a multiple, not an absolute: 5 × SMVM per month. With the SMVM around ARS 363,000 in mid-2026 that is roughly ARS 1.8m/month. The dollar equivalent moves constantly — verify at filing.
The facts
- Qualifying figure
- 5 ARS
- Total landed cost
- roughly USD 2–5k in legal and government fees
- Timeline
- 3–9 months — RaDEX filings have been faster than the old in-person process but backlogs persist
- Physical presence
- Since DNU 366/2025, temporary residency can be cancelled after an absence of six months or more — a material tightening
- Family
- spouseminor childrendependants included on the principal's file
- Permanent residency
- 3 years of temporary residency (2 years for Mercosur nationals)
- Citizenship
- 2 years of residence under Ley 346
- Language test
- none formally
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- passive income of at least 5× the SMVM per monthincome must derive from assets, not personal labourfunds must be remitted into Argentina via a BCRA-authorised institutionclean criminal record from country of origin and residence, apostilledArgentine criminal record check and proof of address
- The income must be a return on assets in your patrimony — property, financial instruments, company holdings. Earnings from personal work are expressly excluded, which rules out consultants and remote employees.
- You must prove the funds actually enter Argentina through a BCRA-authorised bank or financial institution. Given Argentina's exchange-control history this is the binding constraint, and it means converting hard currency at whatever official rate applies.
- The threshold is denominated in multiples of the minimum wage, which is a political variable in a high-inflation economy. Your qualifying income can fall below the line without you doing anything.
- DNU 366/2025's six-month absence rule for temporary residents is a real trap for a family that files and then leaves.
- Argentine tax residency generally attaches after 12 months of residence, bringing worldwide income tax and Bienes Personales on worldwide assets. The immigration plan and the tax plan must be designed together or the passport will cost far more than the fees.