I regularised my status last year in July 2025 (meaning I got precaria) after being married in a civil ceremony in June 2025 (overstayed some 6 months or more I think). Migraciones still have not granted residency, I am married now for nearly 15 months, I entered Argentina in I think November 2024. We recently submitted a pronto despacho to make them hurry up. But there has been no issue with getting a long stream of precarias.
Migraciones have made several visits and our recent toma de vista (view of their official file on you, which you can request) looks good in general now, although they are still reviewing financial status I believe... I think they are just overloaded lately, everything seems to have ground to a halt.
There was no fine when we went to inform them of my status. They understood I was going to regularise my status, gave me a temporary 2-3 day precaria over the weekend, and renewed it for 90 days when we came back the following Monday. So we did not have to appeal anything.
The actual big appointment was booked for September at that stage. At the appointment and they said "this is just a formality" (never believe that, nothing the government or banks do is ever "just a formality", I can assure you) and asked us to explain our entire situation here, to give as much history as possible, to share what brought you together and keeps you together, family / friends, including your relationship with spouse's parents, etc. etc. They ask also about your ties to your home country, or other countries you've lived in lately, if any. And they will ask how you have been supporting yourself so far.
Yes, they absolutely do home visits, we have had I think 4 or 5 so far (in our case the process took longer as I was staying on my wife's land for a while and she could not live there for various reasons she was with her family in town, so they were concerned about convivencia / cohabitation -- since resolved as per the vista of my Migraciones file). I suspect most people might get 2 to 3 visits over a period of some months, that is just speculation on my part, however. I'm not sure if it works the same in CABA.
During visits, they:
1. Ask things primarily about living conditions and sanitation, whether you are living together, ask to see proof that you are living together such as shared bedroom, bathrooms, eating and sleeping together (they are careful not invade privacy or ask "weird" questions though), and in these things they do ask to be allowed free access to your abode. They would like photos of you together, obviously even better if you are with your spouse's family or other friends. They will ask about your friendships and relationships with your spouse's family and maybe also friends (we had some of her friends as our witnesses to the civil ceremony). They talked with our landlady and her family who live alongside us, on several occasions as an independent witness to our cohabitation and rental payments (as our agreement is informal). Do not give them reason to question any of these things. They send a qualified social worker along for these visits, she will have a sharp eye as you will find out if you ever do a toma de vista after the fact.
2. Ask repeatedly about finances and will ask for at least some proof -- you should give as much as possible. They want to know your costs per month for living expenses vs rent (if you are renting). They want to see if possible a shared rental agreement in your names, if not shared bank accounts (Galicia is helpful for foreigners to open accounts with just passport, lately), and of course sources / proof of yours and spouse's income. I do not think they care that much if the spouse is working, although you do have permission to do so on precaria usually; the main thing is that your combined income or income+savings is enough to get you by while the process is underway. Any suggestion that your spouse's family is fully capable and willing to support your relationship are also taken favourably into consideration of the final outcome, as I understand it. If you are not working, they will want to know what you *are* doing with your time -- in my case, I have an unpaid vocation that I engage in with potential for future income, and they accepted that so far, given my wife's job, my savings, and our apparently acceptable living conditions and personal ease between us as a couple (which they also observe). They do understand it seems (!) that people's circumstances are likely to change once they have DNI / residency to rely upon.
We are in one of Argentina's furthest provinces from the capital, but Jerarquico (headquarters in Av. Antartida in B.A.) controls the final review of the files anyway; as I understand it, the final decision lies always with them. The provinces just have to undertake the visits, review of living conditions etc. and report that to them. So it is your responsibility to ensure your division report favourably to Jerarquico.
My strongest advice to you is, if you don't have it already, get a paid rental in both your names if you don't have a place to stay like your spouse's parents' / family home that can be proven with title deed, make sure they have no reason to believe you don't live together, and make sure your financial situation is provable at the drop of a hat. That way, you ensure the most rapid handling of your case, possible. If you have a photographically provable relationship with your spouse's family and friends, that will be ideal.
Do not assume that they interview everyone you mention to them, it is at their discretion them to do so and I think it is based on their current workload, among other things. Also remember, they are not the police, and there are things they cannot prove or disprove reliably, so it is very much a discretionary outcome. It is ultimately up to you to follow the process via toma de vista, and inject legal documentation into what is very much an administrative, document-driven process, using a lawyer if and where you have concerns that things are not going well for your application.
