Argentina Retirement Visa | An Incomplete Guide

What is retirement visa?

Retirement visas are a type of passive income visa that has been popular worldwide since the 1980s. Typically, they are issued to retirees who have sufficient retirement funds or stable income.

In general, global retirement visas have the following characteristics:

1. Applicant Qualifications: Typically, retirement visas require applicants to be retirees, reach a certain age, or have retirement funds.

2. Restrictions on Employment: Visa holders are usually not allowed to work locally.

3. Path to Permanent Residency: After residing in the destination country for a certain period, retirement visa holders can often apply for permanent residency or even citizenship.

If you’re interested in retirement visas or passive income visas, you might want to read our informative article: ‘Global Passive Income Visa | An Incomplete Guide‘.

Argentina Retirement Visa:

Argentine Retirement Visa (Pensionado Visa) visa is issued to overseas retirees who can obtain a stable and permanent pension income from government agencies, international organizations, or large insurance companies.

The financially requirement for this visa is that you need to have a pension income not less than five times the local minimum wage. As of February 1, 2024, the minimum wage in Argentina is 180,000 Argentine Pesos (ARS) per month. Therefore, in the current application process, you need to prove that you have at least 900,000 ARS in pension income, which is equivalent to a monthly pension income of approximately 970 USD.

In addition, the holder of the retirement visa must also meet basic conditions such as being in good health, having no criminal record, and not being allowed to work locally (though you can start a business or engage in freelance work).

The legal retirement age for Argentine retirees is 65 for men and 60 for women. However, this requirement is not strictly enforced in the retirement visa program.

Application Process:

The entire application process for the Argentine retirement visa can be completed online via the RADEX platform of the Ministry of the Interior. However, some required documents for this visa, such as opening an account in an Argentine bank and preparing a commonly used Argentine address, require the applicant to handle them locally.

Overall, the application process for the retirement visa can be roughly divided into the following steps:

1. Entering Argentina: First, you need to apply for a tourist visa or another valid visa to enter Argentina, and complete tasks such as establishing a local address and opening a bank account.

2. Submitting the Application: In this step, you need to log in to the RADEX system of the Argentine Ministry of the Interior, register and submit your application, and pay the visa fee (initial application: $3,000; renewal: $2,000 per person).

The required documents for this program include:

• Applicant’s Identity Documents: Including all valid passports of the main and secondary applicants; passport-sized photos; and relationship proof documents such as birth certificates and marriage certificates.

• Pension Proof: You need to provide a detailed proof document that includes the amount, duration, and terms of the pension, proving that you will continuously and permanently receive pension income for the rest of your life.

• Criminal Record Proof: All adult main and secondary applicants need to provide detailed criminal record proof, showing no criminal activities in any region where they have lived for more than a year in the past three years.

• Health Insurance Proof: You need to purchase a valid health insurance policy in Argentina for each main and secondary applicant every year.

• Local Argentine Information: The main applicant needs to provide proof of actual residence in Argentina, such as name, address, and utility bills.

All documents from outside Argentina must be notarized, and all non-Spanish documents must be translated into Spanish.

If your application is approved, you will receive a confirmation email, which will serve as your short-term residence visa. Afterward, you will need to have an interview with an Argentine visa officer.

3. Interview: After online approval, the RADEX system will provide you with an interview date. You need to prepare all required documents and go to the Argentine Immigration Office for the interview and fingerprinting.

Once you pass the interview, you will receive an Argentine ID (DNI: National Identity Document), allowing you to live freely in the country.

The entire visa processing period generally takes about 2 to 3 months, with government fees reaching up to $6,000.

Dependents:

For Argentine Retirement Visa, The main applicant’s spouse and financially dependent children under 25 can obtain the visa as secondary applicants.

Visa Validity:

The Argentine retirement visa is valid for one year and can be renewed twice, for a maximum of three years.

After legally residing in Argentina for two years, retirement visa holders can apply for Argentine citizenship, or they can apply for permanent residency after residing in the country for three years.

Useful Links:

RADEX：https://www.migraciones.gov.ar/radex/