Opening a Bank Account
The central bank has told financial institutions in terms that a deposit account can be opened for a foreigner without a DNI, including someone still regularising their immigration status, and for non-residents. Identity is proved with the document that identifies you in your country of residence, consularised or apostilled. Whether a particular bank will do it is another matter - the regulator has removed the excuse, not the discretion.
At a glance
- Account for a non-resident
- Expressly possibleas of 2023-09-27
- Account without a DNI
- Expressly possible
Including someone still regularising their immigration status
- Identity document
- The one that identifies you where you live
Legalised consularly or apostilled
- Instrument
- BCRA Comunicación "B" 12635/2023
A Comunicación 'B' of the central bank, published in the official gazette, addressed to the banks rather than to the public.
Requirements
- For non-residents: the document that identifies you in your country of residence, issued under that country's law and legalised consularly or by apostille
- For immigrants without a DNI: any document the migration directorate accepts for identification
- The requirements of the applicable regulations still apply in full, including anti-money-laundering identification and know-your-customer rules
In detail
What the regulator settles and what it does not
A communication of this kind binds what banks may do, not what they must do. It establishes that an account for a non-resident or for someone without a DNI is permitted and that a foreign identity document suffices, so a refusal cannot rest on the rules forbidding it. It does not oblige any particular bank to accept you, and the anti-money-laundering identification requirements it preserves are where most refusals actually live. The practical reading is that the answer is yes in law and bank-by-bank in fact.
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«les señalamos que resulta factible la apertura de cuentas de depósito a extranjeros en vías de regularización migratoria (sin DNI) y a personas humanas no residentes en el país, para lo cual deben observarse los requisitos previstos en las normas reglamentarias respectivas.»Our translation - not official
we point out to you that it is feasible to open deposit accounts for foreigners in the process of regularising their immigration status (without a DNI) and for natural persons not resident in the country, for which the requirements set out in the respective regulations must be observed.
Note the framing: this is a reminder to banks rather than a new rule, which tells you what was happening in practice. 'Resulta factible' establishes that a bank cannot refuse on the ground that it is not permitted.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Argentina's official gazette. An act is not merely announced here, it takes legal effect on publication, which is why a decree carries the gazette's issue number and date as part of its identity. Decree 366/2025 appears here as issue 35.676 of 29 May 2025.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It publishes instruments as enacted and does not consolidate them. What you read here is the amending act, not the amended law, so an article number in a decree is an instruction to amend and does not correspond to the article number in the law that results. An article number cited from a decree therefore needs translating into the article of the law it amends. The consolidated text is a different publisher: see `ar-infoleg`.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«de las personas humanas no residentes en el país mediante la presentación del documento que lo identifique en el país de residencia (expedido de conformidad con las normas legales vigentes en la materia en ese país y legalizado consularmente o por el sistema de apostilla).»Our translation - not official
for natural persons not resident in the country, by presenting the document that identifies them in their country of residence (issued in accordance with the legal rules in force on the matter in that country and legalised consularly or through the apostille system).
About this source
Argentina's official gazette. An act is not merely announced here, it takes legal effect on publication, which is why a decree carries the gazette's issue number and date as part of its identity. Decree 366/2025 appears here as issue 35.676 of 29 May 2025.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It publishes instruments as enacted and does not consolidate them. What you read here is the amending act, not the amended law, so an article number in a decree is an instruction to amend and does not correspond to the article number in the law that results. An article number cited from a decree therefore needs translating into the article of the law it amends. The consolidated text is a different publisher: see `ar-infoleg`.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The communication is addressed to financial institutions, so it is worth knowing it exists if a branch tells you it cannot be done.
We have not sourced what any individual bank requires, nor the anti-money-laundering rules the communication refers to, which is where the real friction is.
- issuesBCRA Comunicación "B" 12635/2023 - apertura de cuentas a no residentes
Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina
About this source
Argentina's official gazette. An act is not merely announced here, it takes legal effect on publication, which is why a decree carries the gazette's issue number and date as part of its identity. Decree 366/2025 appears here as issue 35.676 of 29 May 2025.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It publishes instruments as enacted and does not consolidate them. What you read here is the amending act, not the amended law, so an article number in a decree is an instruction to amend and does not correspond to the article number in the law that results. An article number cited from a decree therefore needs translating into the article of the law it amends. The consolidated text is a different publisher: see `ar-infoleg`.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source