Old immigration rules vs new: Uncertain of My Status

[ROCK]

Hi everyone! My name is Rock. Many thanks for allowing me to become a member of your forum.

I’m trying to find out two things: 1) If I fall under the old immigration rules or the new rules. And 2) If the time taken while my temporary residence application is being processed is deducted from the over all length of time of my first year residency ie; First 12 month temporary residence approval minus the number of months my application has taken to be approved ---- as is what my lawyer told me during my initial video conference. I realize these are questions that I should be asking my lawyer, however, my lawyer doesn’t speak English, and all correspondence in sent via WhatsApp to my friend (never to me) who translates it verbally for me into English. I have asked my friend many times to ask my lawyer to verify questions 1 and 2 above plus, provide me with the exact date of when my residence application was first submitted, but he doesn’t always fully understand some of the questions that I ask him to convey to my lawyer, hence I’m left in the dark.

I hired my lawyer around late March or early April 2025. I believe my lawyer first submitted my temporary residence application along with the first batch of required documents around mid April 2025. For other documents that needed to be notarized and apostelled in my home country, I traveled back home to get them. Before I returned to BA I emailed copies to my lawyer to be added to my application. I returned to BA with the originals.

NOTE: On my first precaria, as well as the ones following, it states on all of them: Fech inicio *-04-2025 (day omitted for security reasons). I’m presuming this is the date of when my temporary application was first submitted by my lawyer. Please correct me if I’m wrong, if you know.

I’ve purposely kept this post brief. However, if any more information is required then I’m happy to provide it.

I would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who can offer some input.

Thanks for reading,

Best regards, from Rock.

 

[Betsy Ross]

Hi everyone! My name is Rock. Many thanks for allowing me to become a member of your forum.

I’m trying to find out two things: 1) If I fall under the old immigration rules or the new rules. And 2) If the time taken while my temporary residence application is being processed is deducted from the over all length of time of my first year residency ie; First 12 month temporary residence approval minus the number of months my application has taken to be approved ---- as is what my lawyer told me during my initial video conference. I realize these are questions that I should be asking my lawyer, however, my lawyer doesn’t speak English, and all correspondence in sent via WhatsApp to my friend (never to me) who translates it verbally for me into English. I have asked my friend many times to ask my lawyer to verify questions 1 and 2 above plus, provide me with the exact date of when my residence application was first submitted, but he doesn’t always fully understand some of the questions that I ask him to convey to my lawyer, hence I’m left in the dark.

I hired my lawyer around late March or early April 2025. I believe my lawyer first submitted my temporary residence application along with the first batch of required documents around mid April 2025. For other documents that needed to be notarized and apostelled in my home country, I traveled back home to get them. Before I returned to BA I emailed copies to my lawyer to be added to my application. I returned to BA with the originals.

NOTE: On my first precaria, as well as the ones following, it states on all of them: Fech inicio *-04-2025 (day omitted for security reasons). I’m presuming this is the date of when my temporary application was first submitted by my lawyer. Please correct me if I’m wrong, if you know.

I’ve purposely kept this post brief. However, if any more information is required then I’m happy to provide it.

I would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who can offer some input.

Thanks for reading,

Best regards, from Rock.

Your lawyer doesn't speak English and you don't speak Spanish? Who are you using? Why did you hire them if you can't communicate with them? That doesn't seem like a good idea. That happens a lot here with legal stuff and typically doesn't turn out well if you can't even communicate or ask them questions easily.

​

 

[Esposas]

Hi everyone! My name is Rock. Many thanks for allowing me to become a member of your forum.

I’m trying to find out two things: 1) If I fall under the old immigration rules or the new rules. And 2) If the time taken while my temporary residence application is being processed is deducted from the over all length of time of my first year residency ie; First 12 month temporary residence approval minus the number of months my application has taken to be approved ---- as is what my lawyer told me during my initial video conference. I realize these are questions that I should be asking my lawyer, however, my lawyer doesn’t speak English, and all correspondence in sent via WhatsApp to my friend (never to me) who translates it verbally for me into English. I have asked my friend many times to ask my lawyer to verify questions 1 and 2 above plus, provide me with the exact date of when my residence application was first submitted, but he doesn’t always fully understand some of the questions that I ask him to convey to my lawyer, hence I’m left in the dark.

I hired my lawyer around late March or early April 2025. I believe my lawyer first submitted my temporary residence application along with the first batch of required documents around mid April 2025. For other documents that needed to be notarized and apostelled in my home country, I traveled back home to get them. Before I returned to BA I emailed copies to my lawyer to be added to my application. I returned to BA with the originals.

NOTE: On my first precaria, as well as the ones following, it states on all of them: Fech inicio *-04-2025 (day omitted for security reasons). I’m presuming this is the date of when my temporary application was first submitted by my lawyer. Please correct me if I’m wrong, if you know.

I’ve purposely kept this post brief. However, if any more information is required then I’m happy to provide it.

I would very much appreciate hearing from anyone who can offer some input.

Thanks for reading,

Best regards, from Rock.

The Fecha Inacio is your start date your lawyer officially initiated your application in the Radex system and the case file was opened. So, your process officially began in April.

You are caught right in the middle of a transition, so the answer is really tough to answer epending on what specific rules you are referring to. I had a friend that was in the same situation as you. She was so frustrated.

You application under the old rules: Because your application was submitted in April 2025, your baseline eligibility (such as the required monthly income amounts for a Rentista or Pensionado visa, and the required apostilled documents you brought from home) is locked in under the rules that were active at the time of your filing.

But the future of your case is under the new rules. In May 2025, the government issued Decree 366/2025, which introduced massive, sweeping changes to immigration policy. Because these are new national laws, they will apply to you moving forward. This includes the new rules stating temporary residents no longer receive free public healthcare, stricter policies on background checks, and new rules regarding how many months you are allowed to leave the country without losing your residency status.

The processing time is NOT deducted from your case. My friend had this exact same situation and she said it's not. This is most likely a case where your friend totally misunderstood the lawyer and mistranslated the legal concept to you.

Here is how the timeline actually works in Argentina:

The precaria: This is a provisional permit that gives you the legal right to live in Argentina while you wait.

Temporary residency: If you applied for a 1-year temporary residency, that 1-year clock does NOT start ticking until the exact day the Migraciones director signs your final approval (known as the Disposición).

The confusion: When your 1-year residency is finally approved, you get a full 365 days from that date. The processing time is not deducted from your temporary residency. However, the time you spent waiting on your precaria DOES count toward your overall, long-term timeline if you eventually want to apply for Permanent Residency or Citizenship.

Your lawyer was likely trying to explain that your waiting time isn't "lost" in the grand scheme of things, but the translation made it sound like your initial 1-year visa was being shortened.

Given how complex immigration law is, relying on a friend to verbally translate highly specific legal terminology is a recipe for disaster and unnecessary anxiety. It might be worth asking your lawyer if they can communicate directly with you via email or WhatsApp text, so you can run their exact words through DeepL or Google Translate yourself.

What specific sub-category of temporary residency did you apply for (e.g., Rentista, Pensionado, Mercosur), and what are your long-term goals for staying in Argentina?

I hope this helps. I have had a few friends go through the process but lately a few of them said things are totally stalled. It seems Milei fired all the staff.

 

[ROCK]

Your lawyer doesn't speak English and you don't speak Spanish? Who are you using? Why did you hire them if you can't communicate with them? That doesn't seem like a good idea. That happens a lot here with legal stuff and typically doesn't turn out well if you can't even communicate or ask them questions easily.

​

Hi Betsy Ross. I fully understand what you're saying. Looking back, I agree. At the time, I decided to go with a known quantity ---- the lawyer who helped a lady I know from Venezuela get her residency here and now she is finalizing her citizenship. In hindsight, I have my regrets. I didn't know that my first time at this was going to be as difficult or as complex as it is. But then nothing in life is ever easy. I believed having a friend who spoke both Spanish and English would be advantageous. I had no way of predicting things would get lost in translation. My bad. And now I'm paying the price. Lesson learned.

 

[oil rush]

Hi Betsy Ross. I fully understand what you're saying. Looking back, I agree. At the time, I decided to go with a known quantity ---- the lawyer who helped a lady I know from Venezuela get her residency here and now she is finalizing her citizenship. In hindsight, I have my regrets. I didn't know that my first time at this was going to be as difficult or as complex as it is. But then nothing in life is ever easy. I believed having a friend who spoke both Spanish and English would be advantageous. I had no way of predicting things would get lost in translation. My bad. And now I'm paying the price. Lesson learned.

Where are you from Rock? You have to understand that it is MUCH easier for someone from Venezuela with Mercosur vs an American as crazy as that sounds. My friends from Brazil or Venezuela have an easier time than my American or British friends.

 

[import export]

Hi Betsy Ross. I fully understand what you're saying. Looking back, I agree. At the time, I decided to go with a known quantity ---- the lawyer who helped a lady I know from Venezuela get her residency here and now she is finalizing her citizenship. In hindsight, I have my regrets. I didn't know that my first time at this was going to be as difficult or as complex as it is. But then nothing in life is ever easy. I believed having a friend who spoke both Spanish and English would be advantageous. I had no way of predicting things would get lost in translation. My bad. And now I'm paying the price. Lesson learned.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Don't beat yourself up over that. How much did they charge you? I agree probably better to just communicate directly with Google Translate so the translation isn't getting lost. These days it is very easy. Safer than asking your friend to be the go between. Most professionals here use Whatsapp to communicate anyway which has translation built in now.

 

[Silvia]

Hi Esposas, Many thanks for your reply. Your information was great and well received. I can now see exactly how much was lost in translation. I explained to Betsy Ross the reason why I chose my lawyer who is a very nice person and not trying to rip me off. If I spoke Spanish / understood Spanish better than I do then I'm sure we would have communicated much better and avoided misunderstandings regarding legal complex matters. I've been trying to learn Spanish, but despite me speaking several other languages, I find the language a little difficult. But it's coming along very slowly.

I applied for the Pensionado visa.

You asked what are my long-term goals for staying in Argentina. My long-term goals in general were to find a country that I enjoyed; one that was welcoming and where I could buy a house and live comfortably off my pension. And a country that had a reasonable cost of living. My friend here in A

Argentina wasn't the first country on my list of prospective countries to retire to. A couple years earlier I checked out Thailand. It was alright, but I couldn't see myself retiring there. Then I check out Malaysia. Got really sick in my first few days --- so bad that I returned home to recover. I rested for several months then began looking again. Portugal had by then dumped their special D7 visa (no tax on pensions for 10 years), and had become over-blown with expats and others causing housing prices / rentals to skyrocket. After Malaysia, I wanted to visit eastern Europe, stay a few months in each Balkan country, and then visit Argentina for a few months and then compare what country that I felt best suited me for retirement. However, because of the war in Ukraine and its possible spreading to other Balkan countries, I decided to visit Argentina first and then head to the Balkans when the war was over. I didn't know it would last as long as it has. Arrived in BA early October 2024. During my first 3 months in BA I had to have a tumor removed. I needed to stay in BA for regular post op visits to the surgeon, so I extended my tourist via for a further 3 months. I really liked BA. Found it to be a very vibrant city, even though I prefer a quieter life. I don't get a huge amount of money for my pension ---- enough to qualify for the Pensionado visa

Very interesting. I had a friend that went to Malaysia and they said the same thing as you. Very boring but they said it was very cheap!
Terrible that you got sick. The healthcare is very good in Buenos Aires so I hope you had a good experience here.

Ba is a wonderful city. I am glad you love my country. I feel proud when people want to move here.

 

[ROCK]

Where are you from Rock? You have to understand that it is MUCH easier for someone from Venezuela with Mercosur vs an American as crazy as that sounds. My friends from Brazil or Venezuela have an easier time than my American or British friends.

I come from the land down under ---- Australia for those unfamiliar with that song. And yes, I eat Vegemite ---- well, actually a vegetarian version of it. 🙂

 

[ROCK]

Hindsight is always 20/20. Don't beat yourself up over that. How much did they charge you? I agree probably better to just communicate directly with Google Translate so the translation isn't getting lost. These days it is very easy. Safer than asking your friend to be the go between. Most professionals here use Whatsapp to communicate anyway which has translation built in now.

I paid about US$33.00 for the initial video consultation. One and a half hours. Then paid around US$132 for lawyer to begin application in April 2025. Then around October paid US$154.00 for lawyer to continue. By the time the application is approved / not approved, the total cost shouldn't be any more than US$500. Maybe less. I'm definitely not complaining about the cost.

 

[Wally]

I paid about US$33.00 for the initial video consultation. One and a half hours. Then paid around US$132 for lawyer to begin application in April 2025. Then around October paid US$154.00 for lawyer to continue. By the time the application is approved / not approved, the total cost shouldn't be any more than US$500. Maybe less. I'm definitely not complaining about the cost.

That is really a low price. As long as it gets done. Good luck Rock. Esposas sounds like she knows the process well. A few friends have been just waiting for the past year with no progress.

 

[Bingo]

I paid about US$33.00 for the initial video consultation. One and a half hours. Then paid around US$132 for lawyer to begin application in April 2025. Then around October paid US$154.00 for lawyer to continue. By the time the application is approved / not approved, the total cost shouldn't be any more than US$500. Maybe less. I'm definitely not complaining about the cost.

$500 isn't cheap if it never gets done.

I used Argentina Residency. They have a money back guarantee. Lorena is very nice and got my DNI.

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