Milei tightens Argentina’s immigration rules in nod to Donald Trump

[MilHojas]

Client Challenge

Archived version

Milei clamps down on immigration to ‘make Argentina great again’

Argentina has long welcomed immigrants with relatively open arms, even offering free healthcare and education to foreign residents. But Milei’s government wants to reverse that.

www.batimes.com.ar

Milei’s Argentina eyes deportations, tightens immigration rules

Milei government says it will tighten access to citizenship, accelerate deportations of foreign nationals with criminal records and make foreigners pay for state healthcare and university education.

www.batimes.com.ar

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-tightens-entry-requirements-foreigners-2025-05-14/

Argentine President Javier Milei's office on Wednesday said that the leader had issued a decree to tighten migration into the South American nation, cracking down on those with criminal records and requiring travelers hold health insurance.

Archived version

Harsh reform to restrict foreigner's access to public services in Argentina - Buenos Aires Herald

The government also announced requirements for entry and citizenship, even though these measures were already in place from previous administrations

buenosairesherald.com

 

[MilHojas]

Argentina’s Milei toughens migration legislation via Trump-like decree - Buenos Aires Herald

The new measures include foreigners’ restrictions on accessing public services and a relaxation on deportation requirements

buenosairesherald.com

 

[Alby]

"The text also adds the requirement of proving people have “sufficient financial means to subsist in the country” to obtain a permanent residence. In the meantime, they may be granted a temporary residency (called “precaria”), but from now on, it will last 90 days instead of the former 180 and will no longer serve as proof of roots to obtain citizenship or permanent residency."

A fairly silly paragraph. It makes it seem like the precaria is something new. Throughout 2019, 2020, and 2021, I was granted no fewer than 11 consecutive precarias, each of 90 days. If only the imaginary 180-day precarias had existed, I would have only needed to queue up at Avenida Antártica at 5 am twice a year instead of four times. None of that time during those nearly three years counted towards permanent residency. So nothing new there either.

Nor is it new that residency applicants have to show “sufficient financial means to subsist in the country”. What is now unclear is whether sufficient financial means will continue to be demonstrated, in categories like Rentista and Pensionista, by the applicant having regular financial resources the equivalent of at least 5 times the minimum monthly wage. The decree says:

Al tramitar el pedido de residencia, el interesado deberá acreditar que cuenta con los medios económicos suficientes para subsistir en el país y que no cuenta con antecedentes penales que pudieren motivar el rechazo de la solicitud, todo ello de acuerdo con las condiciones que establezca la reglamentación.

It would seem that either the current rules (5 times the minimum monthly wage) continue, or we can expect some new formulation from Migraciones at a later date.