Residencia Transitoria/Temporaria por estudios & other issues

[marrekesz]

It helps to clarify terminology and use it carefully. There are no "visas" and thus no "student visa" or "work(ing) visa". "Visa" is a term we foreigners here tend to default to as a kind of jargon we are used to, but it confuses matters. In Argentina there are just "residences" (residencias) and three categories thereof: (i) transitoria (transitory), for just a few months, seemingly non-renewable and seemingly no DNI issued, (ii) temporaria (temporary--for one year, and renewable for up to three, entailing also a DNI), and (iii) permanente (permanent). The first two have sub-categories, e.g., in temporaria there are, among others, trabajador migrante (for coming to work, an as employee) and estudiante (for coming to study). Two successive temporaries lead to permanent residency for Mercosur foreigners; for non-Mercosur, it is three successive temporaries. There is also a estudiante (student) sub-category in the transitoria category, introduced in 2023 to cover newer types of short term study such as language programs, internships, exhanges. Anyone hoping to progress to permanent residency starting as a student will need to know which of the two student sub-categories they are in. And it needs to be the one in the temporaria category. A language program sounds to be me like the transitoria, which leads nowhere at the end except out of the country. The institution itself must know and be able to tell the candidate.

Start here: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/migraciones/residencias
Then click on each of "Residencia Transitoria" and "Residencia Temporaria" to see the respective "Estudiante" sub-categories.

(Citizenship is a different category altogether. But let's get the basic concepts and language around residencias clear first.)

At Wanderlust, they specifically have said the following:

 

[escape004]

At Wanderlust, they specifically have said the following:

View attachment 10719

Is there a link to this? Id like to ask them about it myself. The language is vague, so the groundwork may be helping you enroll in a university or something that gets you temporary residency. There are no classes until Jan so you may not get a response if you are asking them questions now.

The only thing here that i can confirm is that transitory residency is renewable. It may not technically renew the way temporary residency does, but i have classmates who are on their second year with it. It may be something you can get multiple times.

 

[marrekesz]

The link is here: https://wanderlustspanish.com/blog/...rgentine-visa-with-wanderlust-spanish-school/

At this point, I may change my plans and sign up for a carrera de posgrado (I have a BA and an MA from England already) at the UBA, something I have thought of before anyway. My only issue is that in summers I must go back to Europe for my work and family affairs for a bit, and some classes still run in June-August. Apparently it is no issue to skip July exams... I shall get informed.

 

[escape004]

The link is here: https://wanderlustspanish.com/blog/...rgentine-visa-with-wanderlust-spanish-school/

At this point, I may change my plans and sign up for a carrera de posgrado (I have a BA and an MA from England already) at the UBA, something I have thought of before anyway. My only issue is that in summers I must go back to Europe for my work and family affairs for a bit, and some classes still run in June-August. Apparently it is no issue to skip July exams... I shall get informed.

Universities here take attendance and are strict about the number of days you can miss. It shocked me. So, that plan may not work. There are some universities that have some virtual classes, but if its 100% online you may not get the constancias you need for the visa. The big issue is that the university asesores will say yes to anything you ask to get you to enroll. We need to speak to the people in administration, but its hard to talk to them before enrolling. Don't trust the asesor, they are used to Mercosur students who can easily get residency. They dont even know what a constancia de inscripcion (estudios OFICIALES) is (thats gold for us foreigners).

Also, getting your foreign educación recognized here is a huge pain in the ass and takes months. Even getting the online "appointment" is difficult and causes much of the delay. The entire process is online, but you can only submit your documents with a cita. The service is only opened on the few first business days of the month and if you miss your chance you have to wait until the next month and try again. I originally submitted in Dec 2024, got rejected in Feb 2025 and submitted again in March 2025, finally getting my convalidacion in May 2025. Things could have changed since then.

The appointments opening on the first business day of the month isnt written anywhere. Its info scared among foreigners. I tried uselessly for months before finding out. If you are considering studying, get everything legalized from the UK now and make sure that your transcript and your diploma have separate apostilles.

 

[Konner_Long]

It helps to clarify terminology and use it carefully. There are no "visas" and thus no "student visa" or "work(ing) visa". "Visa" is a term we foreigners here tend to default to as a kind of jargon we are used to, but it confuses matters. In Argentina there are just "residences" (residencias) and three categories thereof: (i) transitoria (transitory), for just a few months, seemingly non-renewable and seemingly no DNI issued, (ii) temporaria (temporary--for one year, and renewable for up to three, entailing also a DNI), and (iii) permanente (permanent). The first two have sub-categories, e.g., in temporaria there are, among others, trabajador migrante (for coming to work, an as employee) and estudiante (for coming to study). Two successive temporaries lead to permanent residency for Mercosur foreigners; for non-Mercosur, it is three successive temporaries. There is also a estudiante (student) sub-category in the transitoria category, introduced in 2023 to cover newer types of short term study such as language programs, internships, exhanges. Anyone hoping to progress to permanent residency starting as a student will need to know which of the two student sub-categories they are in. And it needs to be the one in the temporaria category. A language program sounds to be me like the transitoria, which leads nowhere at the end except out of the country. The institution itself must know and be able to tell the candidate.

Start here: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/migraciones/residencias
Then click on each of "Residencia Transitoria" and "Residencia Temporaria" to see the respective "Estudiante" sub-categories.

(Citizenship is a different category altogether. But let's get the basic concepts and language around residencias clear first.)

For perm res its three years for non-mercosur and two years for mercosur. Its pointed out in your link as well.

I was told two consecutive temporaries for non-mercosur if you want to apply for perm res as you need to have a regular residence status when you apply. The temporary residence can only ever give you three years max then you have no regular residence status after its done. Thus you need to apply for a second temporary so you are regular as you apply for perm residency.

 

[marrekesz]

Universities here take attendance and are strict about the number of days you can miss. It shocked me. So, that plan may not work. There are some universities that have some virtual classes, but if its 100% online you may not get the constancias you need for the visa. The big issue is that the university asesores will say yes to anything you ask to get you to enroll. We need to speak to the people in administration, but its hard to talk to them before enrolling. Don't trust the asesor, they are used to Mercosur students who can easily get residency. They dont even know what a constancia de inscripcion (estudios OFICIALES) is (thats gold for us foreigners).

Also, getting your foreign educación recognized here is a huge pain in the ass and takes months. Even getting the online "appointment" is difficult and causes much of the delay. The entire process is online, but you can only submit your documents with a cita. The service is only opened on the few first business days of the month and if you miss your chance you have to wait until the next month and try again. I originally submitted in Dec 2024, got rejected in Feb 2025 and submitted again in March 2025, finally getting my convalidacion in May 2025. Things could have changed since then.

The appointments opening on the first business day of the month isnt written anywhere. Its info scared among foreigners. I tried uselessly for months before finding out. If you are considering studying, get everything legalized from the UK now and make sure that your transcript and your diploma have separate apostilles.

I am devastated, it seems that the inscripción for the maestrías del posgrado at the Facultad de la Filosofía y Letras at the UBA closed...4 days ago. Do you think sending all required documents to them via e-mail in January could work? I mean the classes don't start until March anyway...

 

[Alby]

For perm res its three years for non-mercosur and two years for mercosur. Its pointed out in your link as well.

I was told two consecutive temporaries for non-mercosur if you want to apply for perm res as you need to have a regular residence status when you apply. The temporary residence can only ever give you three years max then you have no regular residence status after its done. Thus you need to apply for a second temporary so you are regular as you apply for perm residency.

The first paragraph is exactly what my post said: "Two successive temporaries lead to permanent residency for Mercosur foreigners; for non-Mercosur, it is three successive temporaries.". The second paragraph is impossible to follow on every level.

Let's lay it out this way (again leaving the vexed question of eventual citizenship to one side):

• To get to permanent residency (residencia permanente), a non-Mercosur individual must apply for (and be issued--usually some months after the initial application) a residencia temporaria (365 days), renew it once in the same subcategory (i.e., obtain a second set of 365 days at the conclusion of the first set), renew it a second time in the same subcategory (i.e. obtain a third set of 365 days at the conclusion of the second set). Having then completed the third set of 365 days, the non-Mercosur individual is now eligible to apply for residencia permanente (permanent residency).

That's the path: simple, explicit and chronological.

Wanderlust's claims in its brochure seem to be clearly misleading. It (Wanderlust) does not have an "immigration regulatory framework"; Argentina does. By the looks of it, Wanderlust's program does not get one directly on the path to permanent residency under Argentina's regulatory framework: it only gets an individual inside the country in the first instance and at best a serious of short residencia transitorias. And residencia transitorias are not a path to permanent residency. Having arrived here via Wanderlust, a person needs to find a non-Wanderlust option to get onto the residencia temporaria path that leads (several years down the track) to permanent residency.

The most recent contributor to this website on the more serious path to permanent residency in the sub-category of Estudiante (in the category of residencia temporaria) was Autoluminescent in his/her thread:

Immigration changes: Health, Education, Deportation.​

Look it up. The basic message (at least from that person's experience) is that even going via a serious Migraciones-approved university program, it is extremely difficult to pull off. That said, Autoluminescent has not posted back for some months, so we don't know how it worked out in the end.

 

[escape004]

I am devastated, it seems that the inscripción for the maestrías del posgrado at the Facultad de la Filosofía y Letras at the UBA closed...4 days ago. Do you think sending all required documents to them via e-mail in January could work? I mean the classes don't start until March anyway...

Im not sure, but you would have an attendance issue with UBA if you leave for 4 months. You need the attendance to maintain your status as an alumno regular. You can ask them and try. If you are studying a masters degree and not another bachelors, you may be able to skip the convalidacion process i mentioned, im not sure.

 

[marrekesz]

Im not sure, but you would have an attendance issue with UBA if you leave for 4 months. You need the attendance to maintain your status as an alumno regular. You can ask them and try. If you are studying a masters degree and not another bachelors, you may be able to skip the convalidacion process i mentioned, im not sure.

The course I am interested in is in modalidad sincrónica (Maestría en Estudios de Teatro y Cine Latinoamericano y Argentino) but the Google research suggests one would still need to sign up as for any other course at the UBA and the constancia de inscripción would be the base for a temporary residency.
I wonder if you specifically have experience with the Secretaria de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la UBA.
Plan B is now the Universidad Nacional de las Artes.

 

[escape004]

The course I am interested in is in modalidad sincrónica (Maestría en Estudios de Teatro y Cine Latinoamericano y Argentino) but the Google research suggests one would still need to sign up as for any other course at the UBA and the constancia de inscripción would be the base for a temporary residency.
I wonder if you specifically have experience with the Secretaria de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la UBA.
Plan B is now the Universidad Nacional de las Artes.

No experience with them, sorry. Contact them and let them know about your planned absences.

Also, if its 100% online, make sure you can still get the constancia de inscripción since you dont technically need to be in Argentina to study.