Organisations helping migrants in Argentina: CAREF, CELS, the migrants' pastoral service and public bodies

Information checked on 2 November 2026.

In an emergency in Argentina, call 911 (ambulance or police). 107 reaches SAME, the medical emergency service, and 144 helps victims of gender-based violence (it is not an emergency line: in immediate danger, call 911). For your papers, a refugee claim or a right that is refused, the most useful organisation helping migrants in Argentina is CAREF, which runs a free legal clinic with CELS and the University of Buenos Aires. CELS defends migrants' rights before the courts and international bodies, the Catholic migrants' pastoral service (CEMI, with its foundation FCCAM) works through its delegations across the country, and IOM runs projects on jobs and access to rights. On the public side: the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM), CONARE for refugee status, and the Defensoría General de la Nación, which gives refugee claimants a free lawyer.

This guide presents these organisations helping migrants in Argentina: what each does, for whom, where, and the link to reach it. It points you in the right direction; it does not give legal advice. Compatri has no link with any of them.

Organisations helping migrants in Argentina at a glance

Opening hours and addresses change, so they are not listed here. Open the organisation's link before you go.

Before a first appointment, gather your passport or any ID, every paper received from the DNM or CONARE, proof of address and a written list of your questions. Mention any deadline straight away: a residence about to expire, a summons, an expulsion order.

Papers and residence: the DNM, and what has changed

The Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM) manages residence. Its official page distinguishes three categories: transitory residence (one year at most, without a DNI), temporary residence (up to three years, with a temporary DNI) and permanent residence (no end date, with a permanent DNI). The category depends on the activity, the nationality and family ties with Argentina. An application made from inside Argentina is called a radicación; from abroad, it is an entry permit. Part of the procedure starts online (the RaDEx system), and an official table lists the current migration fees: check it before you pay anything.

What has changed since decree 366/2025. This necessity and urgency decree (DNU) amended migration law 25,871. According to CAREF, CELS and the organisations that denounced it before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on 27 October 2026, it removed a regularisation route that South Americans had used for twenty years, now requires proof of sufficient economic means through registered work, and no longer grants permanent residence on the sole ground of an Argentine child or spouse. CAREF published an analysis of its constitutionality in August 2026. These rules are contested and may still change: before taking any step, have your situation checked by CAREF's legal clinic.

On the date of checking, the DNM's official page announces no regularisation programme under way. Special schemes have existed in the past; if someone offers you one, ask for the official reference and check it on argentina.gob.ar.

CAREF gives free individual guidance, focused on documents. The legal clinic, run with CELS and the law faculty of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), also trains final-year law students. You request an appointment through the social service's online form. CELS also gives free legal advice, but on other subjects (detention, institutional violence, health, housing, disability): for a migration question, it refers people to CAREF's clinic.

Claiming refugee status in Argentina

Anyone, whatever their nationality, can apply for refugee status in Argentina. CONARE (the National Commission for Refugees) decides. Its official FAQ sets out the essentials:

• the application, the provisional document and the DNI of recognised refugees are free;
• the provisional document is renewed in person every 90 days, at CONARE or at the DNM delegation for your home;
• with this document you can get a CUIL from ANSES in order to work, and open a bank account;
• a lawyer is not compulsory, but every claimant is entitled to a free lawyer from the Defensoría General de la Nación, at every stage;
• a refugee claim and a residence application at the DNM are not mutually exclusive;
• under decree 646/2025, CONARE has one year to decide in the ordinary procedure (counted from fifteen days after the interview) and six months in the summary procedure;
• the information in the claim is confidential and is not passed to the country of origin.

Once recognised, a refugee obtains temporary residence, and the DNM states that refugees are exempt from the migration fee.

Health

Migrants' access to health care has been the most sensitive issue since 2025. According to CAREF and the organisations heard by the Inter-American Commission, outside emergencies, free care in the national public system is now guaranteed only to permanent residents, and some provinces have added their own restrictions. These organisations also report the Commission's reminder: medical care cannot be refused to a migrant because of their migration status. In an emergency, call 911 or 107. If care is refused, contact CAREF, which published a report in September 2026 on migrants' access to health care in Misiones, Jujuy, Mendoza and Córdoba.

Work, integration and rights

• IOM Argentina runs a pilot project on jobs for migrants and support for small businesses, a business development fund, workshops on access to rights and complaint mechanisms, and a programme for migrants' participation in local life.
• The Catholic Church's migrants' pastoral service (CEMI, Argentine Bishops' Conference) states that donations to its foundation FCCAM help migrants, refugees and asylum seekers through the commission and the pastoral delegations across the country. Its website is moving to a new site.
• CELS and CAREF document expulsions and checks: according to their October 2026 file, 691 control operations took place between 1 January and 8 August 2026.

Associations of African residents. The Senegalese community is the most visible African diaspora in Buenos Aires, and residents' associations exist. We found no active official website for them that would let us verify their activities in 2025-2026, so they are not listed here. Your community of fellow nationals on Compatri is the simplest way to reach them.

For the order of settling-in steps (housing, bank, phone), see also administrative steps on arrival, where to start.

Beware of scams

A serious organisation never promises residence or refugee status. Only the DNM and CONARE decide. The refugee claim is free, and a lawyer from the Defensoría General de la Nación is free for claimants: nobody needs to sell you an appointment or a "guaranteed file". A lawyer is registered with a bar (colegio de abogados): ask which one and check. The organisations in this guide sell no outcome.

Never hand over your passport, keep a copy of every document you give, and sign nothing you do not understand. The same traps exist everywhere: our guide to avoiding immigration scams describes them in the United States.

Compatri: fellow nationals in Argentina

An organisation handles a file; a community surrounds you. On Compatri, a community brings together a country of origin and a city: Buenos Aires and Córdoba. Diaspora pages lead to yours: Senegalese in Argentina, Cape Verdeans in Argentina, Nigerians in Argentina. Those who arrived before you know which DNM delegation answers and where to learn Spanish. Read how mutual aid between compatriots works, how to find fellow nationals on arrival, and browse all communities. The directory of diaspora associations mostly lists associations in Belgium for now.

To compare with other countries, see organisations helping migrants in Europe and the Americas, then our guide for Brazil.

Sources

• CAREF: home
• CAREF: legal clinic
• CAREF: contact
• CAREF: complaint before the IACHR, 28 October 2026
• CAREF: DNU 366/2025 and its unconstitutionality, 6 August 2026
• CELS: migrants
• CELS: legal consultations
• CEMI, Argentine Bishops' Conference
• IOM Argentina
• Dirección Nacional de Migraciones
• DNM: residence
• CONARE: frequently asked questions
• DNM: temporary residence for refugees and asylees
• argentina.gob.ar: emergency numbers