Legal Risks of Irregular Immigration Status

[Stafford]

I wanted to share something that came up during a casual conversation with a friend of mine who’s an attorney, working directly for Migraciones.

According to my friend, if someone is living in Argentina with an irregular status (for example, overstaying a tourist visa) and ends up detained or accused of a crime—even something minor—they could be required to fix their immigration status within a very short period of time. She said that in practice, the deadlines are often completely unrealistic and that it’s nearly impossible to regularize your status in the time given. If you don’t comply, Migraciones can initiate expulsion proceedings.

This authority comes from revisions to Ley 25.871, which allows the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM) to enforce immigration rules quickly in these scenarios. While you can appeal an expulsion order and may be granted a temporary stay while it’s resolved, it’s not a pleasant process.

She specifically warned against being in Argentina with an irregular status—especially with a far-right government in power that could prioritize stricter enforcement.

The general consensus on this forum seems to be that it’s safe to overstay a tourist visa in Argentina. And in most cases, that does seem to be true—people usually just pay a fine when they leave and face no major issues.

In my years reading posts on this forum I haven't seen something like this happen in reality.

But it's a different perspective that I wasn't aware of and could be a good reason to seek legal immigration status, for anyone on the fence.

 

[steveinbsas]

This reminded me of an old post in which a member who knew knew someone who worked at the office of migraciones indicated that the employees there laughed when they were told about expats who were worried about their (what then was often called) "illegal" status.

So I searched the words "migraciones" and "laughing" and found this:

Thread 'Overstaying 90-day limit' https://baexpats.org/threads/overstaying-90-day-limit.39638/

I think it's worth noting that, based on a post bt Bajo_cero2, that a DNI is required if an individual applies for citizenship without a lawyer. While it may be possible to obain citizenship after an ovestay of two years (as suggested/claimed recently in another thread), it would not be possible without legal representation costing thousands of dollars.

 

[Stafford]

This reminded me of an old post

From before we had a far right president in power.

To add context, in a meeting of an NGO where I volunteer, we were discussing the legal ramifications that homeless / disadvantaged people could face if they were detained or suspected of having committed a crime. If one is "irregular", their situation is much different than someone with a DNI.

Expats were not part of our initial conversation. But I brought it up and she said, technically yes, the same rules would of course apply.

That being said, expats with dollars are not a target. But I brought it up because we have an unpredictable government and if anyone is on the fence about getting a DNI versus being "irregular", it may help with their decision.

 

[ArgentinaVet]

Keep it mind that unless you are involved in a violent altercation (street fight, bar fight, domestic violence etc) the chances of being arrested or detained in the City of Buenos Aires are virtually zero. There are many good reasons to get temporary/permanent residency and/or citizenship but fear of arbitrary arrest/detention is not one of them.

 

[Stafford]

Keep it mind that unless you are involved in a violent altercation (street fight, bar fight, domestic violence etc) the chances of being arrested or detained in the City of Buenos Aires are virtually zero.

That's reassuring