Naturalización por antecedentes científico-artísticos

Eligibility synthesis: A foreign national with extraordinary scientific or artistic achievements is exempt from the standard 2-year residence requirement (Art 2 bis of Ley 346, the Citizenship Law, introduced via Ley 24.951/1998).

Operational context: This route operates within the constitutional framework of Art 75 inc 12 CN (Constitución Nacional — the provision reserving the general naturalization law to Congress), Ley 346/1869 (the Citizenship Law), and the federal human-rights treaty block under Art 75 inc 22 CN. RIGI — the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (Régimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones), established by Ley 27.742/2024 (the "Ley Bases") — provides a framework for investments above USD 200M. DNU 366/2025 (an emergency executive decree, published in the Official Gazette on 2025-05-29) regulates Art 2 bis of Ley 346 by treating a "relevant investment" as a path to naturalization without ordinary residence. Under the procedure of Decreto 524/2025, the Citizenship by Investment Programs Agency (Agencia de Programas de Ciudadanía por Inversión) assesses applications and the National Directorate of Migration (DNM) decides within 30 business days. A significant unresolved legal question remains: DNU 366/2025 may be ultra vires of Art 75 inc 12 CN, which reserves the general naturalization law to Congress.

Key legal sources: Ley 346 (Citizenship Law); Ley 24.951/1998; the pre-decree Federal Naturalization Court framework; Decreto 524/2025 (creating the Citizenship by Investment Programs Agency); DNU 366/2025; and the federal human-rights treaty block under Art 75 inc 22 CN.

Detailed criteria (cumulative):

• (a) Residence: 2 years of continuous residence (Art 2 of Ley 346), subject to the Art 2 bis exceptions added by Ley 24.951/1998 — voluntary military service, extraordinary public services, marriage to an Argentine citizen, or extraordinary scientific/artistic achievements.
• (b) Competent authority: Before DNU 366/2025 (an emergency executive decree, published in the Official Gazette on 2025-05-29), naturalization fell within the judicial competence of the Federal Naturalization Court (Tribunal Federal de Naturalización). After DNU 366/2025, competence is administrative, before the National Directorate of Migration (DNM). A significant unresolved legal question exists as to whether this is ultra vires, because Art 75 inc 12 of the National Constitution (CN) reserves the general naturalization law to Congress.
• (c) Documentation: residence DNI (national identity document), clean criminal-record certificate, proof of domicile, and proof of means of subsistence.
• (d) Examination: the Spanish-language and constitutional-values examination administered by the DNM after DNU 366/2025 (shared with the standard naturalization route AR-NAT-06).
• (e) Related investment pathway: under DNU 366/2025, Art 2 bis also underpins a separate citizenship-by-investment route (AR-SPC-INV) with no residence requirement.

Key legal sources: Ley 346 (Citizenship Law); Ley 24.951/1998; the pre-decree Federal Naturalization Court framework; Decreto 524/2025 (creating the Citizenship by Investment Programs Agency); DNU 366/2025; and the federal human-rights treaty block under Art 75 inc 22 CN.

Phase 2 — Before DNU 366/2025 (an emergency executive decree, published in the Official Gazette on 2025-05-29): judicial proceedings before the Federal Naturalization Court (Tribunal Federal de Naturalización), with intervention of the Federal Prosecutor General (Fiscal General Federal) and a court judgment.

Phase 2 (alternative) — After DNU 366/2025: administrative competence of the National Directorate of Migration (DNM). A significant unresolved legal question exists as to whether the decree is ultra vires of Art 75 inc 12 of the National Constitution (CN), which reserves the general naturalization law to Congress; constitutional protection actions (amparos) before the Supreme Court (CSJN) are pending in 2025-2026, and review of the decree under Ley 26.122 (the law governing congressional control of emergency decrees) remains pending before the Chambers.

Phase 3 — Documentation: residence DNI; clean criminal-record certificate (from the Argentine Federal Police, PFA, and from the country of origin, apostilled); proof of domicile; proof of means of subsistence; plus the Spanish-language and constitutional-values examination administered by the DNM (shared with the standard naturalization route AR-NAT-06).

Phase 4 — Decision: citizenship charter (carta de ciudadanía), Argentine DNI, and the naturalization record issued by the National Registry of Persons (RENAPER).

Phase 5 — Investment variant (AR-SPC-INV) under DNU 366/2025 and Decreto 524/2025: the Citizenship by Investment Programs Agency (Agencia de Programas de Ciudadanía por Inversión) assesses eligibility, then the DNM decides within 30 business days.

Key legal sources: Ley 346 (Citizenship Law); Ley 24.951/1998; the pre-decree Federal Naturalization Court framework; Decreto 524/2025 (creating the Citizenship by Investment Programs Agency); DNU 366/2025; and the federal human-rights treaty block under Art 75 inc 22 CN.

Operational executive authorities:

• National Directorate of Migration (Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, DNM), Ministry of the Interior — after DNU 366/2025 (an emergency executive decree, Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia), it holds administrative competence over naturalization. A significant unresolved legal question exists as to whether this transfer is ultra vires, since Art 75 inc 12 of the National Constitution (CN) reserves the enactment of the general naturalization law to Congress.
• National Registry of Persons (Registro Nacional de las Personas, RENAPER) — issues the Argentine DNI (national identity document) and handles late exercise of the citizenship-by-descent option (opción tardía).
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto, the "Cancillería") — approximately 75 operational consulates handle registration of citizenship by descent; the ministry also administers the bilateral dual-nationality agreements with Italy and Spain.

Judicial authorities:

• Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación, CSJN) — the Hooft decision, Fallos 327:5118 (2004), is the pillar of the pro-dual-nationality doctrine; constitutional protection actions (amparos) challenging DNU 366/2025 are pending in 2025-2026.
• Federal Naturalization Court (Tribunal Federal de Naturalización) — held judicial competence over naturalization before DNU 366/2025.
• National Chambers (Cámaras Nacionales) — review of emergency decrees (DNUs) under Ley 26.122 (the law governing congressional control of decrees of necessity and urgency).

Specialist authorities for related routes:

• Indigenous-peoples route: National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (Instituto Nacional de Asuntos Indígenas, INAI), National Registry of Indigenous Communities (Registro Nacional de Comunidades Indígenas, RENACI), and the Territorial Survey programme (Relevamiento Territorial, RETECI).
• Investment route: Citizenship by Investment Programs Agency (Agencia de Programas de Ciudadanía por Inversión), created by Decreto 524/2025.
• Malvinas-related route: the Argentine Consulate in London and the Cancillería's Directorate for the Malvinas and South Atlantic (Dirección Malvinas y Atlántico Sur).

Key legal sources: Ley 346 (Citizenship Law); Ley 24.951/1998; the pre-decree Federal Naturalization Court framework; Decreto 524/2025 (creating the Citizenship by Investment Programs Agency); DNU 366/2025; and the federal human-rights treaty block under Art 75 inc 22 CN.