Refugee status in Argentina in 2026: applying to CONARE, timelines, rights and appeals

In short

• What people call “political asylum” is, for an individual in Argentina, recognition of refugee status under Law 26,165. The decision is made by the National Commission for Refugees — CONARE — not by Migraciones.
• You can apply only from inside Argentina: at the border or airport, in Buenos Aires at CONARE’s secretariat, elsewhere at a Migraciones office. You cannot apply through a consulate abroad. The procedure is free.
• While your case is reviewed you get a provisional document valid for 90 days, renewable: it lets you live, work, study and use public healthcare legally. You must not leave the country — leaving counts as withdrawing the application.
• An ordinary decision takes up to 1 year; the summary procedure, up to 6 months. If recognised, you get 2-year temporary residence and a free DNI. If refused, you have 5 business days to appeal in court through a lawyer.
• The ground is a personal risk of persecution. It is not a way to legalise your stay for economic reasons: for moving “to stay” there are other routes, listed at the end of this article.

Who refugee status is for

Law 26,165 protects a person who is outside their country and has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, and who cannot or, owing to that fear, will not seek the protection of that country. The law also includes the broader regional definition: a threat to life, safety or freedom from generalised violence, internal conflict or mass human rights violations.

What matters in practice:

• Your personal circumstances decide the case: what happened to you, why you cannot return and what supports it. The general situation in your country is usually not enough.
• Your account must be consistent: contradictions between the form, the interview and your documents are a common reason for refusal.
• Status is not granted to people who committed serious or international crimes or are linked to terrorism; in 2024 DNU 942/2024 broadened these exclusion grounds.
• If your reason for moving is economic, or you simply need legal status, international protection is the wrong procedure — and it uses up time you could spend on a suitable route.

Asylum vs refugee status

In everyday speech “political asylum” and “refugee status” are used interchangeably. Argentine law also has diplomatic and territorial asylum under inter-American conventions, but that is granted by the state in special cases and is not a procedure an individual starts. For a person already in Argentina, the working route is an application to CONARE for recognition of refugee status. The rest of this article is about it.

How to apply

1. Where. At the border or airport — to Migraciones border officers; in Buenos Aires — at CONARE’s secretariat (SECONARE); in other cities — at the nearest Migraciones office. You apply in person; no intermediaries are needed.
2. What you need. A form explaining why you left and why you cannot return (and whether you sought protection in another country); a passport or other ID — or an explanation if you have none; any evidence you have; up-to-date phone and e-mail.
3. Admissibility. For applications at the airport CONARE decides within 72 hours; for applications inside the country, within 10 days. A manifestly inadmissible application can be rejected immediately (rechazo in limine) — the appeal deadline is again 5 business days.
4. Then come the provisional document, the interview and the decision.

While the application is pending, the person cannot be returned to the country they fled — a core principle of international protection that the law applies to applicants too.

The provisional document

• It proves you are an applicant and legally in Argentina. It is free.
• It is valid for 90 days and renewed as many times as needed until the decision. Renew it at least 5 days before it expires: in Buenos Aires and its suburbs by appointment at SECONARE, elsewhere at a Migraciones office.
• With it you can travel within the country, study, use public healthcare and work formally. To work you need a CUIL, issued by ANSES.
• Leaving Argentina before the decision is treated by CONARE as withdrawing the application.

The interview

• In person, at the invitation of CONARE’s secretariat.
• A free interpreter; you may ask for an interviewer of the gender you prefer; you may bring a lawyer.
• Everything you say is confidential and is not shared with the authorities of your country.
• Free legal help for applicants is available from the Defensoría General de la Nación.

Prepare for the interview as seriously as for court: dates, places, events, who did what and which documents support it. You will have to explain any differences from your form.

Timelines and the decision

If you are recognised:

• 2-year temporary residence, then renewal for another 2 years or a move to permanent residence;
• a free DNI; a travel document at the same price Argentine citizens pay;
• you may travel, but an absence of more than 6 consecutive months must be reported to SECONARE, which may check whether protection is still needed;
• you can apply for family reunification: status can extend to a spouse or partner, children, parents and economically dependent close relatives.

If you are refused

• The appeal deadline is 5 business days from notification. A lawyer files a written, reasoned appeal through CONARE’s secretariat; the Federal Administrative Court of Appeals decides within 10 business days.
• While the appeal is pending, the refusal is not enforced.
• After a final refusal you need another migration ground to stay legally — or you must leave.

The short deadlines are the main trap: find a lawyer early, when you apply.

What changed in 2024–2025

• DNU 942/2024 (October 2024): broader exclusion grounds, the appeal deadline cut from 10 to 5 business days, appeals go straight to the federal court of appeals.
• Decree 646/2025 (September 2025) — new regulations for the law: three procedure types (ordinary, summary, extradition-related), immediate rejection of manifestly inadmissible claims within 10 days, rules on family members.
• CONARE Resolution 491/2025 (October 2025): who within the commission decides which procedure applies, and how immediate rejection works.

The new rules are being challenged: in March 2026, for example, the federal court of appeals in Resistencia refused to apply the shortened appeal procedure to a case begun before the reform. Practice keeps changing — check it before you apply.

Russian citizens: what the numbers show

According to CONARE data cited by Chequeado, 1,714 refugee applications were filed in Argentina in 2024; 878 of them (51%) came from Russian citizens. During the year the commission closed 2,988 cases: 343 people were recognised, 33 were refused, 1,960 cases lapsed and another 481 were closed as withdrawn — most often because the applicant did not renew the document, did not respond to a summons or left the country.

Two practical conclusions: the decision depends on a personal, documented account, not on nationality; and many cases are lost through missed deadlines rather than refusals on the merits.

Common mistakes

• Applying for refugee status “just to get legal” when another ground fits.
• Not renewing the provisional document on time or missing a summons — the case lapses.
• Leaving Argentina before the decision — it counts as withdrawal.
• Telling a different story at the interview than on the form without explaining the differences.
• Looking for a lawyer only after a refusal: the appeal window is 5 business days.

If refugee status is not for you

Most families moving to Argentina get residence on ordinary migration grounds: income from abroad (rentista residency), work, study, marriage to a citizen or family reunification; the parents of a child born in Argentina apply on the “Argentine child” ground (“Parents’ residence and DNI”). Ordinary residence is filed online via RaDEX. All grounds are in Residence, permanent residence and citizenship.

How we help

International protection cases are handled by lawyers — we do not run them and do not promise outcomes. We help you see whether your family has another, better-suited residence ground, prepare documents, find a lawyer and a sworn translator, book appointments and keep track of renewal deadlines.