Country-wide policy
Decree 366/2025 - Physical Presence & Healthcare Access Reform
A decree of necessity and urgency published on 29 May 2025 that rewrote parts of four laws at once - the Migration Law 25.871, the Citizenship Law 346, the Higher Education Law 24.521 and the National Education Law 26.206. It is modelled here as a country-level policy rather than inside any one topic because a single instrument changed entry conditions, healthcare access, university fees, permanent-residency requirements and the grounds for cancelling a residence permit simultaneously. If you hold or are applying for any Argentine residence permit, this is the instrument most likely to affect you.
Topics it changes
- Residency on passive income
- Residency as a retiree
- Residency under a regional treaty
- Access to healthcare
What it requires
- Entering the country requires a sworn declaration of the purpose of the trip and of holding health insurance to meet your medical needs (Ley 25.871 art. 34, as substituted by decree art. 9)
- Temporary residency may be cancelled where the holder has remained OUTSIDE Argentina for a continuous period of six months or more; one year for permanent residency (Ley 25.871 art. 62(e), as substituted by decree art. 16)
- That cancellation ground does not apply where the absence was for Argentine public office, or for activities, studies or research that DNM judges to be in Argentina's interest, or where the immigration authority has expressly authorised it - authorisation can be requested through Argentine consulates
- At health establishments administered by the national state, ordinary care is given only against health insurance or prior payment, on conditions to be set by the Health Ministry (Ley 25.871 art. 8, as substituted by decree art. 3)
- Emergency care cannot be refused or restricted to anyone, whatever their immigration status; permanent residents access the public system on equal terms with citizens
- Free undergraduate study at state institutions is limited to Argentine citizens and foreigners with permanent residency
At a glance
- Published
- 29 May 2025
Boletin Oficial No. 35.676. A decree of necessity and urgency, so it took effect without passing through Congress
- What it is
- An amending instrument
It rewrites articles of Ley 25.871 and three other laws. Cite the amended law article, not the decree article - see the note below
- Continuous absence that can cancel temporary residency
- 6 months
- Continuous absence that can cancel permanent residency
- 1 year
- Exceptions to the absence rule
- Argentine public office; activities, studies or research DNM judges beneficial; express prior authorisation
- Who sets the healthcare payment conditions
- The Ministry of Health
The decree delegates the detail rather than setting it
What actually changed
Decree 366/2025 is a decree of necessity and urgency, which in Argentine practice means it took effect without passing through Congress first. It did not create a new migration statute: it substitutes articles of the existing Ley de Migraciones 25.871, and of three other laws. That distinction has a practical consequence for anyone checking this material. The operative rules live in the amended law, not in the decree, so the correct citation is 'Ley 25.871 art. 8, as substituted by Decreto 366/2025 art. 3' rather than 'Decreto 366/2025 art. 8' - which does exist and says something else entirely. An earlier version of this page made exactly that mistake.
The absence rule, stated precisely
This is the provision most often repeated wrongly, including in an earlier version of this page. Article 62(e) of the migration law lists remaining outside the country for a continuous period of six months or more as a ground for cancelling temporary residency - one year for permanent residency. It is not a requirement to be physically present for half the year. The two read similarly and behave differently: someone who takes two separate five-month trips has spent ten months abroad and has not engaged article 62(e) on its wording, while someone who stays away for seven months straight has. The article also carries its own exceptions, in the same sentence: absence for Argentine public office, absence for activities, studies or research that DNM judges to be of interest or benefit to Argentina, and absence covered by express authorisation from the immigration authority - which the text says can be requested through Argentine consulates, and so can be arranged before you go rather than argued about afterwards. Separately, changing category by passage of time requires effective presence of more than half the authorised period. That is a genuine presence quota, but it governs upgrading your status, not keeping it.
Healthcare, and why the answer is 'it depends which hospital'
Article 8 keeps emergency care unconditional for everyone regardless of status, in terms that leave no discretion. Permanent residents access the public system on equal terms with citizens. Everyone else gets ordinary care only against insurance or prior payment - and the article ends by delegating the conditions to the Ministry of Health rather than setting them itself, so the detail lives in ministerial rules we have not yet read. The restriction as drafted binds establishments administered by the national state, while most Argentine public hospitals are run by provinces. Those two gaps together are why there is no single answer to 'will I be charged'. The planning assumption that survives either way is that a temporary resident should hold private cover.
What the law says
«e) luego de haberle sido otorgada la residencia permanente o temporaria, hubiese permanecido fuera del territorio nacional por un período igual o superior a UN (1) año, o SEIS (6) meses si se tratara de residencia temporaria, excepto que la ausencia obedeciere al ejercicio de una función pública argentina o se hubiese generado en razón de actividades, estudios o investigaciones que a juicio de la DIRECCIÓN NACIONAL DE MIGRACIONES pudieran ser de interés o beneficio para la REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA, o mediara autorización expresa de la autoridad migratoria, la que podrá ser solicitada por intermedio de las autoridades consulares argentinas»Our translation - not official
e) after permanent or temporary residency has been granted, the holder has remained outside the national territory for a period equal to or greater than one (1) year, or six (6) months in the case of temporary residency, except where the absence was due to the exercise of an Argentine public function, or arose from activities, studies or research which in the judgement of the NATIONAL DIRECTORATE OF MIGRATION may be of interest or benefit to the ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, or where there was express authorisation from the immigration authority, which may be requested through the Argentine consular authorities
A cancellation ground for a continuous absence, not a minimum-presence quota. Two separate five-month trips do not engage it on this wording; seven months away in one go does. The authorisation route matters: it can be requested in advance, through a consulate.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Ministry of Justice's legal information service, published under argentina.gob.ar/normativa and still signing its editorial notes "Nota Infoleg". It maintains the text of a law as amended, annotating each article with the instrument that substituted, incorporated or repealed it and its gazette date, and listing superseded wordings under "Antecedentes Normativos". This is where Ley 346 art. 2 can be read as it stands rather than reconstructed from Decreto 366/2025, and where the repeal of arts. 3, 4, 5 and 11 is visible at all.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: One instrument has two addresses here and they are not interchangeable: /actualizacion is the consolidated text, /texto is the text as enacted and carries no amendment annotation whatsoever. Not every instrument has a consolidated text, and its absence is not evidence that nothing has amended the original - Decreto 616/2010 is available here only at /texto, so its art. 22 reads as live while Decreto 366/2025 has overtaken what it provides. The consolidated pages also carry no date of consolidation: there is no "as at" line, so the page cannot tell you whether an amendment published last week has been worked in yet. And consolidation is the Ministry's editorial work rather than an enacted instrument - where it and the gazette disagree, the gazette is what took legal effect.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«En casos de emergencia, no podrá negársele ni restringírsele el acceso a la asistencia social o a la atención sanitaria a todos los extranjeros que lo requieran, cualquiera sea su situación migratoria. Los extranjeros residentes permanentes podrán acceder al sistema de salud público en igualdad de condiciones que los ciudadanos argentinos. Por fuera de los supuestos establecidos en los párrafos precedentes, en los establecimientos que brinden atención sanitaria administrados por el ESTADO NACIONAL, solo se brindará tratamiento médico o atención sanitaria habitual contra la presentación de un seguro de salud o la previa cancelación del servicio, de conformidad con las condiciones que establezca el MINISTERIO DE SALUD»Our translation - not official
In emergencies, access to social assistance or health care may not be denied or restricted to any foreigner who requires it, whatever their immigration status. Foreigners holding permanent residency may access the public health system on equal terms with Argentine citizens. Outside the cases set out in the preceding paragraphs, at health establishments administered by the NATIONAL STATE ordinary medical treatment or health care will be provided only against presentation of health insurance or prior payment for the service, in accordance with the conditions established by the MINISTRY OF HEALTH.
The closing delegation matters and is usually dropped: the decree does not set the payment conditions, the Health Ministry does. The restriction also binds nationally-administered establishments, while most Argentine public hospitals are provincial.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Ministry of Justice's legal information service, published under argentina.gob.ar/normativa and still signing its editorial notes "Nota Infoleg". It maintains the text of a law as amended, annotating each article with the instrument that substituted, incorporated or repealed it and its gazette date, and listing superseded wordings under "Antecedentes Normativos". This is where Ley 346 art. 2 can be read as it stands rather than reconstructed from Decreto 366/2025, and where the repeal of arts. 3, 4, 5 and 11 is visible at all.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: One instrument has two addresses here and they are not interchangeable: /actualizacion is the consolidated text, /texto is the text as enacted and carries no amendment annotation whatsoever. Not every instrument has a consolidated text, and its absence is not evidence that nothing has amended the original - Decreto 616/2010 is available here only at /texto, so its art. 22 reads as live while Decreto 366/2025 has overtaken what it provides. The consolidated pages also carry no date of consolidation: there is no "as at" line, so the page cannot tell you whether an amendment published last week has been worked in yet. And consolidation is the Ministry's editorial work rather than an enacted instrument - where it and the gazette disagree, the gazette is what took legal effect.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«deberán presentar una declaración jurada en la que manifiesten el propósito de su ingreso, que cuentan con un seguro de salud para atender sus necesidades médicas y las demás condiciones que establezca la reglamentación»Our translation - not official
they must present a sworn declaration stating the purpose of their entry, that they hold health insurance to meet their medical needs, and the other conditions established by the regulations
About this source
The Ministry of Justice's legal information service, published under argentina.gob.ar/normativa and still signing its editorial notes "Nota Infoleg". It maintains the text of a law as amended, annotating each article with the instrument that substituted, incorporated or repealed it and its gazette date, and listing superseded wordings under "Antecedentes Normativos". This is where Ley 346 art. 2 can be read as it stands rather than reconstructed from Decreto 366/2025, and where the repeal of arts. 3, 4, 5 and 11 is visible at all.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: One instrument has two addresses here and they are not interchangeable: /actualizacion is the consolidated text, /texto is the text as enacted and carries no amendment annotation whatsoever. Not every instrument has a consolidated text, and its absence is not evidence that nothing has amended the original - Decreto 616/2010 is available here only at /texto, so its art. 22 reads as live while Decreto 366/2025 has overtaken what it provides. The consolidated pages also carry no date of consolidation: there is no "as at" line, so the page cannot tell you whether an amendment published last week has been worked in yet. And consolidation is the Ministry's editorial work rather than an enacted instrument - where it and the gazette disagree, the gazette is what took legal effect.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Cite the amended law article, not the decree article: the decree's own article numbers are the instructions to amend, and they do not line up with the numbers in the resulting law.
The absence exceptions can be arranged in advance - the text expressly allows authorisation to be requested through Argentine consulates.
The health insurance requirement at entry applies to admission under any immigration category, tourists included.
The conditions governing payment for healthcare are set by the Ministry of Health, not by this decree; we have not yet sourced them.