Mercosur Citizenship-Based Residency
This replaces the general rule for you
Mercosur Residency by Nationality - Argentina Publishes Its Own List, and Panama Is Not on It
Argentina runs this route under its own migration law rather than by applying the 2002 Residence Agreement directly, and it publishes the nationalities that qualify. Among the countries associated with Mercosur the list names Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana and Surinam. It does not name Panama, so on the directorate's own page a Panamanian passport does not open this route. The list is wider than the agreement in the other direction: Guyana and Surinam are on it here, while Brazil publishes a separate route for exactly those nationalities because the agreement is not in force between them. Two conditions attach that are easy to miss. If you hold the nationality by naturalisation rather than by birth, five years must have passed since you were naturalised - and the page names a shorter list of countries for that case, from which Guyana and Surinam are absent.
By default this route does not exist for a given applicant: it is open only to nationals of Mercosur member and associated states. If that is you, the conditions are set out below - and they are notably lighter than any other route into Argentina.
At a glance
- Duration
- Up to 2 years, renewable
Colombia grants its equivalent once only; Uruguay renews once
- Entries and exits
- Multiple, unrestricted
- Income test
- None
- Also open to
- Naturalised citizens of those countries, after five years
Someone born outside the bloc who naturalised in a member state at least five years ago qualifies
- Legal basis
- Ley 25.871 art. 23(l), Decreto 616/2010, Disposicion 1.637/2022
Article 23(l) of the law creates the category for Mercosur nationals; Decreto 616/2010 and Disposición DNM 1.637/2022 set the procedure the directorate applies.
Requirements
- Citizenship of a Mercosur member or associated state
- Without that, this route is closed and the income or employment routes apply instead
Country-level policy
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.
What applies to you
Mercosur Residency by Nationality - Argentina Publishes Its Own List, and Panama Is Not on It
Argentina runs this route under its own migration law rather than by applying the 2002 Residence Agreement directly, and it publishes the nationalities that qualify. Among the countries associated with Mercosur the list names Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana and Surinam. It does not name Panama, so on the directorate's own page a Panamanian passport does not open this route. The list is wider than the agreement in the other direction: Guyana and Surinam are on it here, while Brazil publishes a separate route for exactly those nationalities because the agreement is not in force between them. Two conditions attach that are easy to miss. If you hold the nationality by naturalisation rather than by birth, five years must have passed since you were naturalised - and the page names a shorter list of countries for that case, from which Guyana and Surinam are absent.
- Native nationality of Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana or Surinam - these are the associated states Argentina's migration directorate names
- Panama is not on the directorate's list, so this route is not open on a Panamanian passport
- If the nationality was acquired by naturalisation rather than by birth: at least five years since the naturalisation
- Naturalisation counts only if it happened in Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador or Peru - naturalisation in Guyana or Surinam is not on that second list
- Identity proved by a valid passport, or by one of the documents listed in Annex I of the Mercosur travel documents agreement
- Argentine criminal record certificate, plus a record certificate from each country where you lived for more than a year in the last three
- Proof of address, and lawful entry
- No minimum income or savings requirement
What the law says
«Residencia Temporaria para ciudadanos de Estados Parte y Asociados al MERCOSUR, permite permanecer en el país por dos (2) años, prorrogables con entradas y salidas múltiples.»Our translation - not official
Temporary residency for citizens of Mercosur Member and Associated States, permitting a stay of two (2) years, renewable, with multiple entries and exits.
Renewable, unlike Colombia's equivalent, which the resolution grants 'por una sola vez'.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Argentina's migration directorate. It runs RaDEX, the online residency system, decides applications, and publishes the requirements for each residency category along with the fee schedule.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its service pages are the agency's own summary of the law it applies, not the law. They cite the underlying instruments - Ley 25.871, Decreto 616/2010, the relevant DNM Disposición - but paraphrase their content, and the agency can change what it asks for without any statute moving. Where the requirement matters, the instrument itself is the better source.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Podes tramitar tu residencia temporaria por nacionalidad si sos nacional nativo de:»Our translation - not official
You can apply for temporary residency by nationality if you are a native national of:
The list that follows on the page is Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Surinam. It names Venezuela despite its Mercosur membership being suspended, and it is the list this site's origin groups are now built from.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Argentina's migration directorate. It runs RaDEX, the online residency system, decides applications, and publishes the requirements for each residency category along with the fee schedule.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its service pages are the agency's own summary of the law it applies, not the law. They cite the underlying instruments - Ley 25.871, Decreto 616/2010, the relevant DNM Disposición - but paraphrase their content, and the agency can change what it asks for without any statute moving. Where the requirement matters, the instrument itself is the better source.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- administersObtener una residencia temporaria por nacionalidad - Mercosur
Direccion Nacional de Migraciones / Argentina.gob.ar
About this source
Argentina's migration directorate. It runs RaDEX, the online residency system, decides applications, and publishes the requirements for each residency category along with the fee schedule.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Its service pages are the agency's own summary of the law it applies, not the law. They cite the underlying instruments - Ley 25.871, Decreto 616/2010, the relevant DNM Disposición - but paraphrase their content, and the agency can change what it asks for without any statute moving. Where the requirement matters, the instrument itself is the better source.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- administersVisa by nationality section (mechanism partially confirmed; full country list not pulled directly)
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto (Argentina)
About this source
Argentina's foreign ministry, which runs the consular network and publishes what consulates require of applicants abroad, including the nationality-based routes under regional agreements.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: It describes consular practice rather than setting the underlying rule, and its pages are written for applicants rather than for citation - they rarely carry article numbers. The full list of nationalities qualifying under the Mercosur route has still not been read from a specific page here, which is why our own group membership remains unconfirmed on the Argentine side.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source