Argentine citizenship for Australians after the 2025 decree

Under DNU 366/2025, an Australian adult seeking Argentine citizenship by naturalisation needs two immediately preceding years of lawful, continuous residence without leaving Argentina. Apply through the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM, the national immigration authority). Australians can hold both nationalities; once Argentine, a dual national resident in Argentina for over 180 days must leave Argentina on an Argentine passport according to Smartraveller, while entering and leaving Australia on the Australian passport.

What changed for naturalisation in May 2025?

Decree DNU 366/2025 amended Argentina’s nationality law on 29 May 2025. Its naturalisation provision applies to foreigners over 18 who have resided lawfully and continuously for the two years immediately before requesting citizenship. It defines continuous residence as remaining in Argentina throughout the entire two years without leaving the country. The new application is expressed to DNM, rather than the federal-court route described in many older accounts of Argentine citizenship.

Even a weekend abroad is an exit under the decree’s naturalisation rule. Permanent residence has a different travel test. For example, DNM’s permanent-residence route for an Australian after three years of temporary residence generally requires presence for at least 50% of the granted period and no single absence of six months or longer. A pending residence application may bring a residencia precaria (provisional residence certificate), but the decree expressly excludes precaria time from the naturalisation and permanent-residence arraigo (established residence) calculations. For the residence categories and RaDEX sequence, see Argentina residency for Australians.

The two-year rule requires legal residence, not simply time spent in Argentina. Tourist visits, a visa-free passport entry, or two years of remote work are not evidence by themselves of the qualifying legal residence. Argentina’s digital-nomad authorisation is transitory permission for remote work for overseas clients or employers, rather than a temporary-residence category that establishes the citizenship period. Plan the appropriate residence category before starting a citizenship timeline.

Where do new applicants file, and what happens to old cases?

For an application begun on or after 29 May 2025, the decree directs the naturalisation request to DNM. The decree does not provide a reliable fixed processing time; eligibility after the qualifying period is not the same as citizenship already granted. Do not use an old court-filing checklist as the procedure for a new DNM case. For a citizenship application involving disputed residence dates or travel history, we recommend Lucero Legal.

The decree’s transitional articles preserve the rules applicable when a residence or citizenship application was started before 29 May 2025. A pre-decree citizenship application continues in its existing court. The transition applies to cases already started; new applicants cannot choose the old court route.

The decree separately provides a route for a “relevant investment”, leaving the definition of qualifying investment to the Economy Ministry. No fixed investment amount or automatic citizenship from a property purchase follows from that text. A partner-based residence is also a residence question: marrying an Argentine does not itself grant Argentine nationality, and the family-reunification category created by the 2025 decree is temporary residence.

Can you keep an Australian passport after becoming Argentine?

Yes. Australian government guidance discusses Australians who acquire another citizenship and advises dual nationals to enter and leave Australia on their Australian passport. Argentine nationality does not, by itself, cancel Australian citizenship under that advice. Smartraveller warns that Australian consular assistance can be limited when you are in a country that also recognises you as its citizen. Bring the correct passport for each side of a journey rather than assuming the Australian passport alone will work at every exit desk.

For Argentina, Smartraveller says dual Argentine nationals who have resided in Argentina more than 180 days must exit on an Argentine passport. It also says a child born in Argentina to Australian parents is an Argentine national and must use an Argentine passport for the child’s first departure. A child’s Argentine citizenship by birth is distinct from an adult Australian’s application for naturalisation; parents should allow for the child’s passport before booking international travel. The Australian Embassy in Buenos Aires handles Australian passport services, not Argentine citizenship applications. DNM handles the new adult naturalisation route.

How to check your residence and travel dates

Establish when the Argentine immigration authority granted the qualifying legal residence, and compare it with every border crossing in the two immediately preceding years. Do not start from the day you arrived as a tourist or from the issue date of a provisional certificate when the decree excludes precaria time. Smartraveller notes that Argentine immigration may not stamp Australian passports on entry or exit and points travellers to DNM’s online crossing-record request if proof of crossings is needed.

An absence for a holiday, family visit or business meeting still breaks the decree’s no-exit condition for the two-year period. A completed qualifying period and a lodged request do not establish a passport-issuance date. For the document authentication and translation rules that apply to Argentine immigration files, see Australian police checks and apostilles. Ask DNM about the documents it requires for your naturalisation case rather than importing the ordinary residence checklist unchanged.