If you were born outside Argentina but have native Argentine parents born in Argentina, you can claim Argentine citizenship by descent.
This means you are automatically eligible for Argentine nationality through your parents. Children of native Argentines may acquire citizenship through the “option for Argentine citizenship” in three ways. If you are abroad, the process can be carried out at the Argentine consulate. If you are in Argentina, the process can be carried out at the RENAPER (National Registry of Persons) or at local civil registry offices. Essentially, children of Argentine citizens can choose to become Argentine citizens and may also hold a foreign passport. Once they acquire Argentine citizenship by option, they can transmit permanent residency to their foreign children.
All individuals born in the territory of the Argentine Republic are native Argentines (jus soli), regardless of their parents’ nationality. Even if they hold a foreign passport and do not have an Argentine passport, they are still considered native Argentines. As long as you have an Argentine birth certificate, you are recognized as Argentine, no matter your parents’ nationality. This means everyone born in Argentina is legally part of the nation from birth, and their children can apply for Argentine citizenship by descent (jus sanguinis).
If you were born in Argentina and have lost your birth certificate, we offer a comprehensive Birth Certificate Search Service in Argentina. This service includes locating your record through the Registro Civil or RENAPER and legalizing official digital copies of the birth certificate. If necessary, the search can extend to civil registries, archives, and hospitals, navigating all legal requirements, even for hard-to-find records.
To get started, you will need to provide your date and place of birth, your parents’ full names, your parents’ DNI (if available), your full name as it appears on your passport, and any name changes. The process, from submission to obtaining an apostille from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, may take 1–3 months, depending on the complexity of the case.
You can choose the process of becoming an Argentine citizen in two ways:
1. inside Argentina, by applying directly at Registro Civil, the fastest method, or
2. outside Argentina, either through a power of attorney granted to an attorney in Buenos Aires or at the nearest Argentine Embassy. But, no matter where you do it, you’ll need to make sure your official birth certificate’s digital copy is verified or registered with the Argentine Embassy or Consulate that covers your place of birth beforehand.
Applicants must prepare and submit the following documentation:
I. Power of Attorney (POA):
Must be notarized and apostilled. (required if you choose the processing option through the court remotely)
II. Applicant’s Birth Certificate:
Legalized and apostilled if issued abroad. Original birth certificate, legalized and apostilled in the country of origin, translated by a certified translator if not in Spanish, consular attestation if your country is not a Hague member, or registration from the Foreign Jurisdiction Book of the Civil Registry of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires or provincial civil registries.
III. National ID or Birth Certificate of the Native Argentine Parent:
The parent must be a native Argentine citizen (not naturalized).
IV. Passport or ID of the Applicant:
If the applicant has changed their surname due to marriage, the marriage certificate must also be apostilled to prove the name change.
V. Passport or ID of Both Parents and the Applicant:
If the Argentine mother has taken her spouse’s surname, a marriage certificate is required to prove the name change to match the parent’s name on the applicant’s birth certificate.
Another important factor to consider during document preparation is whether the Argentine parent(s) ever had a DNI (National Identity Document). First, it is essential to determine whether they never had a DNI or once had one but no longer have it. This distinction is important because it affects the documentation strategy.
It is also necessary to confirm whether the Argentine parent is still alive or deceased, as the required documents and approach may differ depending on their status. If the parent passed away and never obtained a DNI, we will need to evaluate alternative documents that can be used to prove their Argentine nationality.
For example, if your parent was born in Argentina in 1953 and moved to the USA in 1983, they lived in Argentina for approximately 30 years. During that time, it is very likely that they had some form of Argentine identification, such as a DNI, an older identity document, a voter registration card, or another official record.
Another useful clue for locating an ID number is your parents’ Argentine marriage certificate. If they were married in Argentina, the certificate often includes the ID numbers of both spouses. This information can be extremely helpful when searching for official records.
Even if the original document has been lost, finding any evidence of their identity, such as an old ID card; a photograph of the Libreta de Enrolamiento for men, la Libreta Cívica for women, and la Cédula de Identidad policial; or simply their ID number, can be extremely helpful when locating official records and preparing the citizenship application.
If you do not speak Spanish, the Civil Registry may require the assistance of an official interpreter during your appointment to ensure that you fully understand the proceedings and any documents you are signing.
Note: All foreign documents must be translated in Argentina by a certified translator.
It is recommended to send scanned copies before apostilling to ensure compliance with requirements.
The process within the country is much easier than processing it through Argentine embassies because you will have direct access to the local authorities. For instance, if you want to go through the process for Argentine citizenship in Argentina, ensure that you have your Native Argentine parents’ birth certificates before initiating the citizenship application within the country.
For the Citizenship by Descent in-person processing option, first, you must declare your citizenship through the Registro Civil, which is usually a relatively fast step and can take a few days. After that, you apply for the DNI with the option of Argentine nationality. Once the DNI application is submitted, the processing time is longer and typically takes approximately one month or more. During this period, you can travel abroad and return when it’s ready, or grant PoA to someone who can ship it via DHL if you prefer.
Once your DNI is issued, you may obtain your passport at an airport in Argentina, where instant passport issuance can be completed within one day. In summary, citizenship by descent is processed quickly, DNI issuance is slow, and passport issuance is fast.
As a result, if you are short on time, you may need to travel to Argentina twice: first, to process citizenship and submit the DNI application, then return once the DNI is ready to obtain the instant passport in a single day. Alternatively, you may apply for the passport at an Argentine consulate abroad; however, consular passport processing typically takes longer. For accurate and up-to-date timelines, you should contact the relevant consulate directly, as processing times vary by location.
Choosing citizenship by descent through the court by granting a Power of Attorney (POA) to a lawyer is not faster. In fact, it is generally a longer process than administrative registration in Argentina. The main advantage, however, is that you do not need to travel to Argentina at all.
In this route, your citizenship by descent is processed through the court system. Once the case is approved and you receive the Carta de Ciudadanía, you then visit the Argentine consulate in your country of residence to apply for your DNI and passport. While this option saves travel, consular processing times are typically longer than in-person processing in Argentina.
The prosecutor:
α.) Verifies that the legal requirements are met (Article 1, paragraph 1, of Law 346).
β.) Checks for impediments (for example, a criminal record).
γ.) May request reports from other agencies if deemed necessary (such as Immigration or Interpol).
δ. ) Issues a favorable or unfavorable opinion.
Once the prosecutor issues a ruling, the file returns to the court, and the judge may:
a) Immediately issue a sentence if the ruling was favorable.
b) Or request further evidence if the prosecutor made observations.
If the citizenship letter was granted, the next step will be registration at the relevant government offices and civil registry, and then you can print your DNI and passport at Renaper. More information is here.
The immigration reform introduced by Decree (DNU) 366/2025 has impacted the process of obtaining Argentine citizenship by descent through the courts.
Recently, Argentine courts have begun rejecting applications filed through judicial routes explaining that citizenship procedures are administrative in nature and should no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the judiciary.
As a result, applicants seeking Argentine citizenship by descent should now apply through the appropriate government authorities, such as RENAPER, rather than through the courts.
However, this interpretation is not uniform across all courts. Other prosecutors or judges may interpret the DNU differently, which means some courts may still accept citizenship by descent applications.
Your birth certificate (“longer process”), which should be apostilled by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and translated into Spanish. Information on obtaining an Apostille. You will need to bring the original, and it will not be returned to you now, as it’s filed in the Book of the Civil Registry.
– Your Argentinian parents’ birth certificate (You will need to bring the ORIGINAL on the day of the appointment). You can request an online birth certificate through this link if Buenos Aires Province, or this link if the Capital city BA, or contact us.
– Your passport (You will need to bring the ORIGINAL on the day of the appointment)
– Your Argentinian parents’ DNI. You can bring originals if you have them handy, but high-quality coloured copies will be fine otherwise.
Important Note: Your parents’ names shall appear the same on your birth certificate AND the DNI and/or passport you are submitting for this. Should a name be different, you will need to request an amendment to the certificate at the Civil Registry.
Note: Your name will be registered as it appears on your home country’s birth certificate. If you wish for it to appear with accents (tildes), but they are not included in the certificate, you will need to rectify it before starting the process. Your last name (when including the Argentine parents’ surname) should be as it appears on the Argentine documents. Otherwise, the birth certificate will need to be amended before the process can begin.
Then, you will book your two appointments for the same day once you have sent the consulate all the above information, and the consul confirms everything is in order. The first appointment (in the morning) is for you to sign a Notarial Record, whereby you opt for Argentine citizenship. Please bring all the documents listed above. The SECOND appointment (in the afternoon) is for you to apply for a DNI. The documents required are the same as those from this morning. If you agree, they will keep them and return them to you after you have applied for the DNI.
In general, DNIs take 6-8 weeks to arrive from Argentina.
All fees are estimated as they depend on the exchange rate of each month.
If you need legal service assistance, you must provide a power of attorney at the MOFA (Foreign Affairs) or with a notary that offers the Hague Apostille Service.
Now, let’s discuss the scenario. When you choose to pursue Argentine citizenship by Option while living abroad in the US, you’ll need to go through the process at the Argentine Embassy in that Specific country. In this scenario, please consider the following:
For those born in the US and currently residing there, you can handle your birth certificate registration and Argentine citizenship application during a single visit to the Embassy, as explained above.
But, if you’re living in the US and were born somewhere else, you’ve got to do things a bit differently. Before you set up an appointment for Argentine citizenship at the Embassy in the US, you first need to get your birth certificate registered at the Argentine Embassy or Consulate for the place where you were born. If you can’t make the trip back to your birthplace, you can get help from the Argentine Embassy in the US by sending an email.
Once you’ve finished the Argentine citizenship process at the Embassy, you’ll receive an Argentine DNI, and it will be mailed to the Embassy for you to pick up.
Applicants under 14 years old can also request a new Argentine biometric Passport or an Emergency Passport.
If the applicant is 14 years old or older, they can apply for an Argentine passport only after receiving their first Argentine DNI.
Individuals under 18 years of age must opt for Argentine citizenship, provided that both parents accompany them. Applicants aged 18 and above can independently carry out the procedure without requiring parental consent.
You’ll need the applicant’s birth certificate issued by local authorities in your home country. Make sure it’s signed and stamped by an official from the relevant Local Government authority. Also, the official’s signature should be legalized with an apostille by a notary public. The birth certificate should contain information about the child born outside Argentina, as well as their parents. Additionally, the birth certificate should include the child’s date of birth (e.g., “Alejandro Fernandez was born on June 10, 2002”), which you’ll need to request from your home country authorities using the necessary procedure.
For Children in Another Country of Residence:
You must provide a certificate of registration of the birth certificate granted by the Argentine Embassy or Consulate with jurisdiction over the place of birth.
Argentine Parents’ Birth Certificate:
You need the Argentine birth certificate of either the father or the mother. If both parents are Argentine, just one certificate is sufficient.
For Applicants Under 18 Years:
You should provide the DNI of both parents (only if both are Argentinian). If one parent is Argentinian and the other is not, you need the DNI of one Argentinian parent and the passport of the non-Argentine parent.
In Case of a Deceased Parent:
If one parent has passed away, you’ll need to provide documentary evidence of their death. Submit a certified death certificate if the death occurred in Argentina. If the death occurred in your home country, you should provide the equivalent document from your home country’s authorities, also with a Spanish translation. For deaths in a third country, submit the equivalent document from the relevant authorities, legalized at the Argentine Embassy/Consulate with jurisdiction over the place of death.
In essence, there are different requirements for different situations. Argentina’s immigration system is complex, just like those of many other countries. Reach out to Immi Legal to get help from our Professional Team.
