In June 2023, Argentina changed the Rentista Visa regulations, together with the requirements for the Retiree Visa (Pensionado).
The biggest change is in the amount required for these visas, and the fact that it will be dynamic, based on the minimum salary in Argentina.
Let’s dive into the details of these temporary residence changes for this visa category.
Detailed overview of the Rentista Visa Changes
The previous regulations dated from 2016, and stated that an applicant for the rentista visa or passive income permit only needed $30,000 pesos of minimum monthly income in order to apply for these visa options.
Since the Argentine peso has devalued pretty substantially and will continue to do so, requiring a fixed amount in pesos doesn’t make sense after a while.
It makes sense for Argentina to change this regulation, because 30k pesos is by now a ridiculously low amount, not enough to rent and live on. In practice, Argentine migrations were already applying a much higher amount (around 1k-2k USD) in order to approve petitions for the Rentista visa. But this was never officialized, which created confusion because nobody was really sure how much passive income was needed for the visa.
The amount of foreign income required for the Rentista Visa is now set to 5 times the minimum salary. By changing the fixed amount to “5 times a minimum salary” Argentina doesn’t need to update the amount anymore, and it will follow the minimum wages, which tend to follow inflation and are usually around $400-$500 USD/month.
This is comparable to the Mexico Rentista visa, which has a similar setup.
What is the monthly income requirement for this temporary residence visa?
A fixed amount equivalent to FIVE (5) Minimum Salaries will be the minimum amount necessary to prove the residency status of applicant. In the case of family groups, said income must be accredited for each residence applicant.
As of May 2023, the “salario mínimo vital y móvil” or minimum salary is $87,987 pesos ($350 USD at the official rate).
So that would translate to around $439,935 pesos per month, which is roughly $1,800 USD/month at the official rate, and $1,150 USD/month at the blue rate (parallel market rate).
The same changes apply to the Pensionado visa (retiree visa).
Money deposited in foreign banks is now taken into account
Another change is the following:
Funds deposited in bank accounts abroad will be admissible, as long as the legality of the origin of said funds is unquestionably accredited.
However, these funds do still need to be wired to Argentina on a monthly basis in order to get the visa approved.
These funds can be deposited in USD in a local USD account (avoiding conversion to pesos at unfavorable rates), and can be withdrawn in USD cash.
This means that afterwards you can still swap these on the black market at the blue rate and get twice the amount of pesos or just keep the USD cash for whenever you need pesos (recommended).
How long is this temporary resident visa valid?
The time hasn’t changed, the validity of the visa is three years, and both visas are extendible after that. So keep in mind that this visa category does not lead to permanent residency automatically.
What are the other visa options for Argentina?
You can learn more about other visa options for Argentina here, depending on your goals (some people never get an Argentina visa and just stay on a Argentina tourist visa while paying a fine for overstaying).
Personally I would not recommend that, because rules and regulations change all the time, and it could well be that Argentina starts adopting less lenient migration policies in the future.
