Doble Nacionalidad IT-AR (Acuerdo 1971 + Protocolo 2007)

This route covers dual nationality between Italy and Argentina under the Italy–Argentina Dual Nationality Agreement of 1971 and its Additional Protocol of 2007.

Eligibility in brief: Italian citizens may acquire Argentine nationality without losing their Italian nationality, under the 1971 Dual Nationality Agreement (ratified in Argentina by Ley 20.588) and the 2007 Additional Protocol (ratified by Ley 26.228). Under the Agreement's mechanics, the rights attached to one of the two nationalities remain suspended until the person takes up domicile in the country of origin — only one nationality is fully operative at a time.

Operational context: The route operates within Argentina's constitutional framework: Art 75 inc 12 of the National Constitution (which reserves the general naturalization law to Congress), Ley 346/1869 (Citizenship Law), and Art 75 inc 22 of the Constitution (the federal block of human-rights treaties with constitutional hierarchy). Ley 346 of 1869 (the "Ley Avellaneda") is Argentina's fundamental citizenship statute:

• Art 1.1 — jus soli without conditions;
• Art 1.2 — jus sanguinis, subject to consular registration or option;
• Art 2 — naturalization after 2 years of residence;
• Art 2 bis — meritorious exceptions (expanded by Ley 24.951/1998);
• Art 8 — loss of citizenship through voluntary acquisition of another nationality where no agreement applies;
• Art 9 — reacquisition.

The statute is implemented by regulation Decreto 3213/1984.

Key case law:CSJN "Hooft" (Fallos 327:5118, 2004) is the pillar of Argentina's pro-dual-nationality doctrine. Under Argentine doctrine, Argentine citizenship — whether acquired by birth or by naturalization — cannot be renounced except in the strict, exhaustively listed terms of Art 8 of Ley 346, which is interpreted restrictively. The case law confirmed bilateral agreements as a mechanism that excludes automatic loss of Argentine citizenship.

The documentation for this route is anchored to primary sources: the National Constitution, Ley 346, the implementing regulation Decreto 3213/1984, the National Registry of Persons (Registro Nacional de las Personas, ReNaPer), and the consular manual of the Foreign Ministry (Manual Consular, Cancillería).

This route rests on the bilateral dual-nationality framework between Italy and Argentina, operating inside Argentina's general constitutional and statutory citizenship architecture.

Core bilateral instruments

• Italy–Argentina Dual Nationality Agreement (Acuerdo de Doble Nacionalidad Italia-Argentina), signed in Buenos Aires on 1971-10-29.
• Argentine ratification: Ley 20.588/1973 (ratification law) — enacted 1973-11-29, published in the Official Gazette (Boletín Oficial) on 1974-02-07.
• Italian ratification: instruments of ratification exchanged in Rome on 1974-09-12 (operative entry into force).
• Additional Protocol of 2007: ratified in Argentina by Ley 26.228/2007 (Boletín Oficial 2007-04-26).

Constitutional framework

The Argentine National Constitution (Constitución Nacional, adopted 01-05-1853, reformed 22-08-1994) provides the foundation:

• Art 75 inc 12 — power of Congress to legislate on citizenship and naturalization;
• Art 75 inc 22 — constitutional hierarchy of human-rights treaties (the federal treaty block);
• Art 20 — foreigners enjoy civil rights equivalent to those of nationals (a foundation of the Cohelo and Hooft doctrine);
• Art 89 and Art 91 — citizenship-based eligibility rules for President and Senators.

Principal statutes

• Ley 346 (Citizenship Law, 29-10-1869) — Argentina's fundamental citizenship statute. Routes in the DSC group operate within the framework of Ley 346, Ley 23.059 and subsequent reforms, while vesting and procedure follow each route's own specific design.
• Ley 23.059 (22-03-1984) — restoration and reconstruction of citizenship lost during the military regime.
• Ley 26.957 (2014) — accession to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; Argentina deposited its instruments on 17-09-2014 and 01-06-2015 respectively. This is the framework for statelessness prevention and the residual ius soli safeguard for children (see route AR-BTH-04).
• Ley 24.071 (1992) — accession to ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples; Argentina was the 7th country to ratify (after Norway 1990, Mexico 1990, Colombia 1991, Bolivia 1991, Costa Rica 1993 and Paraguay 1993). This is the framework for the Indigenous Peoples route (AR-SPC-02): recognition, cultural autonomy and administrative bilingualism.
• RIGI — Ley 27.742/2024 (Incentive Regime for Large Investments, Régimen de Incentivos para Grandes Inversiones), promulgated 08-07-2024, with its regulatory decree DNU 366/2025: establishes a 30-year fiscal and foreign-exchange stability regime for investments of USD 200M or more in strategic sectors. It does not create a direct citizenship-by-investment pathway (unlike, for example, Portugal's Golden Visa), but it can accelerate permanent residence and, from there, naturalization under Ley 346 via the 2-year reduced track.

Courts and competent authorities

• Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación, CSJN) — apex constitutional court.
• National Electoral Chamber (Cámara Nacional Electoral, CNE) — exclusive appellate jurisdiction in citizenship and electoral matters.
• Federal courts with electoral competence in each provincial district.
• Federal Court of Appeals in Administrative-Law Matters (Cámara Federal de Apelaciones en lo Contencioso Administrativo, CFCA) — appellate review of administrative decisions.
• National Registry of Persons (Registro Nacional de las Personas, ReNaPer); National Directorate of Migration (Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, DNM); Ministry of the Interior (Ministerio del Interior); and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto, MRECIC) — the latter for consular registrations.

Leading case law

• CSJN "Hooft" (Fallos 327:5118, 2004) — the pillar of Argentina's pro-dual-nationality doctrine: it established the principle of structural equality between Argentine citizens by birth and by naturalization for electoral purposes — naturalized citizens may not be arbitrarily excluded from elective public office. Its broader effect invalidates discriminatory provincial exclusions.
• The CSJN has also issued several rulings interpreting dual-nationality agreements, including questions of reservations and reciprocity.

Related bilateral and regional frameworks

• Ibero-American dual-nationality treaty cluster: Argentina maintains dual-nationality agreements (reciprocity plus no-renunciation) with 12 Ibero-American countries — Spain, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala — permitting dual citizenship without renunciation and an amplified equality of status.
• MERCOSUR Residence Agreement (signed in Brasília, 06-12-2002) — a 2-year residence fast track for nationals of MERCOSUR member and associated states (Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela), operating in combination with Ley 25.871 (Migration Law) and its regulatory Decreto 616/2010.
• Italian Legge 74/2025 (Law 74 of 24-05-2025, which amended Italy's citizenship law, Legge 91/92, introducing an amended Art 17): opens a reacquisition declaration window from 01-07-2025 to 31-12-2027. It does not affect the 1971 bilateral Agreement itself — it changes Italy's internal reacquisition procedure — and its direct impact reaches an estimated ~1.5M eligible persons of Italian descent resident in Argentina.
• Spain's Ley 20/2022 (Democratic Memory Law) — a window open until 31-10-2026 for grandchildren and great-grandchildren of republican exiles, and for spouses of Spanish women who lost their nationality through marriage before 1978; the Spanish Embassy in Buenos Aires estimates roughly 80,000 eligible persons in the Argentine-Spanish community.
• First Transitional Provision of the 1994 Constitution (Disposición Transitoria Primera): "The Argentine Nation ratifies its legitimate and imprescriptible sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas, Georgias del Sur and Sandwich del Sur and the corresponding maritime and insular spaces." This is the constitutional framework relevant to Argentines connected with the claimed territories (see route AR-EXT-01); it is not administratively operative while the de facto British administration persists.