Legal update on the competent authority
Decree 366/2025 amended Law 346, transferred to the National Directorate of Migration the power to decide naturalization applications, and created the legal framework for citizenship by investment. On 30 June 2026, the National Electoral Chamber declared the decree null, holding that the Executive had encroached on a matter linked to political rights and therefore barred from emergency decrees.
The nullity is not final: two routes coexist
The National Electoral Chamber's ruling is — or will be — appealed by the national government. As it is not final, the nationality process before the National Directorate of Migration remains in force and its digital platform is still operative.
In practice, two routes coexist today: the administrative one, before Migration, and the judicial one, before the federal courts, whose jurisdiction the court reaffirmed. Which one to start must be assessed case by case, according to the file date, jurisdiction, migratory background and the applicant's risk profile.
There is therefore a period of institutional transition that does not close the administrative route, but requires choosing, with judgment, the safest procedural path for each situation — and even preparing both in a coordinated way where the case justifies it.
Naturalization is the route for adult foreigners who have established residence in Argentina and express their will to join the national community in law. The traditional regime of the National Constitution and Law 346 contemplates:
- being of age;
- two years of continuous residence in Argentina;
- express declaration of the will to be Argentine;
- absence of legal impediments.
Following the National Electoral Chamber's ruling of 30 June 2026, the most recent judicial criterion reaffirms the jurisdiction of the federal courts. As that decision is appealed by the Government and not final, Migration's administrative platform remains published and operative: therefore, naturalization may today proceed via the administrative or the judicial route, as best suits each file.
Residence must be real and provable
The historic case law of the Supreme Court distinguished between migratory status — which regulates the entry and stay of foreigners — and the residence required to acquire citizenship — which relates to effective stay and ties in Argentina. Migratory categories are not, by themselves, decisive.
How is residence proven?
Relevant items may include: entry and exit records, DNI and migratory certificates, lease agreements, utility bills, tax registration, work or commercial activity, bank movements, corporate documentation, medical care, schooling, birth certificates of Argentine children, proof of address, administrative or judicial proceedings, and testimony supported by objective documentation. No single piece of evidence can replace the whole history: the file must allow a consistent reconstruction of when residence began and how it was maintained.
Is speaking Spanish mandatory?
Law 346 does not set knowledge of Spanish as a requirement for naturalization. In Liu, Cairong it was held that judges cannot add as an implicit requirement a condition the legislator expressly removed. A lack of Spanish may complicate a hearing and require an interpreter, but should not in itself become a standalone legal barrier.
Irregular entry and expulsion orders
An irregular migratory situation is not automatically equivalent to a lack of residence. However, an expulsion order, a re-entry ban or an unchallenged proceeding may produce relevant consequences. Before starting naturalization, Migration measures, expulsion orders, criminal records and pending court proceedings must be checked.
Requirements to be analysed
- Time of effective presence in Argentina.
- Entries into and exits from the country.
- Temporary, permanent, provisional residence or irregular status.
- Domicile and family ties.
- Employment, professional, commercial or business activity.
- Lawful means of living.
- Argentine and foreign criminal records.
- Immigration proceedings, summonses or expulsion orders.
- Consistency between civil, immigration and tax records.
Usual documents
- Valid passport.
- Argentine DNI and proof of residence.
- Certificate of immigration movements.
- Apostilled and translated birth certificate.
- Argentine criminal record certificate.
- Criminal record certificates from other countries.
- CUIT or CUIL tax registration.
- Proof of address.
- Pay slips, contracts, tax registrations or corporate records.
- Proof of income and means of living.
- Marriage certificates and children's birth certificates.
- Records of previous immigration proceedings.
How we structure the case
- People who travelled during the two years.
- Applicants with expired residence or irregular periods.
- People with criminal records or open proceedings.
- Applicants with an expulsion order.
- Cases started before Decree 366/2025.
- Files rejected or delayed by Migration.
- People who have already started court proceedings.
Assess my residence for naturalization
We calculate the creditable period and identify the available legal route before the file is opened.