NATURALIZATION AND CIUDADANIA ARGENTINA

Act No. 14.354

Sanctioned: 28/9/1954

promulgated: 19/10/1954



ARTICLE 1 - Native Argentines are born:

(a) In Argentine territory.

(b) In Argentine warships or aircraft

(c) Internationally under the Argentine flag.

(d) Abroad, native Argentine parent, in any of the following cases:

1. May the father or mother be an agent of the foreign service of the Nation.

2. That the laws of the place of birth do not grant the children nationality.

3. May the children establish their domicile in the Argentine Republic and keep it for at least one uninterrupted year before the age of 18.

All native Argentines shall enjoy the rights that the Constitution and the laws accord to those born in Argentine territory.

ARTICLE 2° - It is excluded from the first three subparagraphs of the previous article to the alien ' s child who is an agent of the foreign service of another nation, provided that the latter ' s laws have a nationality.


ARTICLE 3° - Foreign nationals who obtain Argentine nationality are naturalized subject to the rules of this law and the regulations that are issued accordingly.


ARTICLE 4° - Argentine citizenship is an attribute of nationality and implies the enjoyment of political rights under the Constitution and laws of the Republic.

ARTICLE 5° - They enter the exercise of citizenship:

(a) Native Argentines at the age of 18.

(b) Naturalized Argentines, over 18, after five years of acquiring nationality.


ARTICLE 6 Native Argentines lose citizenship:

(a) For betraying the Nation or incurring the acts condemned by articles 15 and 21 of the National Constitution.

(b) For deserting the Argentine armed forces in case of war.

(c) To be naturalized in a foreign country.

ARTICLE 7° - Native Argentines and naturalized people lose citizenship for accepting honours or distinctions granted by foreign governments, without giving immediate account to the executive branch or holding such honours or distinctions, or accepting employment without their authorization.


ARTICLE 8° - They obtain, upon their request, Argentine nationality for naturalization, aliens with two continuous years of residence in the territory of the Republic who comply with the other requirements prescribed by article 10 of this law.

ARTICLE 9 Aliens with five years ' continued residence in the Republic automatically acquire such naturalization, provided that they are not affected by some of the impediments identified in article 11.


ARTICLE 10. - These are requirements for voluntary naturalization:

(a) Provide basic national language notions

(b) To have elementary notions about the political and social organization of the Nation, as well as its history and geography.

(c) Not mentally disabled.

(d) Have honest means of life and good conduct.

(e) Not to be a national of a country at war with the Republic.

(f) Do not engage in activities that disgust articles 15 and 21 of the National Constitution.

(g) Have not lost Argentine nationality, except as provided for in article 20.

ARTICLE 11. - They are impediments to automatic naturalization:

(a) Mentally disabled.

(b) To lack honest livelihoods.

(c) Not to observe good conduct.

(d) To be a national of the country at war with the Republic.

(e) To carry out activities that challenge articles 15 and 21 of the National Constitution.

(f) Have lost Argentine nationality, except as provided for in article 20.


ARTICLE 12. - The National Register of Persons is the competent authority for the granting of naturalization.

ARTICLE 13. - Aliens over the age of 18 years, with at least two permanent residences in the country, who wish to obtain Argentine nationality, must be managed by accrediting the extremes which, in accordance with the provisions of this law, require regulation.

ARTICLE 14. - Aliens over the age of 18 and under the age of 70, with more than five years of continuing residence in the country, must be present within the time limits established by the Executive Branch, so that they are granted Argentine nationality or express that they do not wish to acquire it.

ARTICLE 15. - Justified, according to the case, the compliance of the requirements or the absence of the impediments prescribed by articles 10 and 11, respectively, shall be granted the nationality prior oath of fidelity to the Nation and compliance with its Constitution and laws.

ARTICLE 16. - If they are minors under the age of eighteen, their parents or legal representatives may manage Argentine nationality on their behalf.

ARTICLE 17. - From the ruling of the registry denying naturalization, recourse may be made to the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, whose decision shall be final.


ARTICLE 18. - Citizenship acquired subject to the provisions of Law 346 imports the acquisition of Argentine nationality.


ARTICLE 19. - The naturalized Argentine loses its acquired nationality:

(a) For having concealed facts or circumstances which, if known at their time, would have prevented naturalization.

(b) For performing any of the acts that, according to Article 6°, determine the loss of citizenship for the native Argentinean.

(c) For direct or indirect involvement in illegal drug trafficking, trafficking in whites or activities punishable by article 17 of Law 12.331.

(d) To perform, within or outside the country, acts that amount to the exercise of their nationality of origin.


ARTICLE 20. - The loss of citizenship or acquired nationality shall be disposed of by the Executive Branch, after hearing of the affected person.

The executive branch shall also be empowered to agree on the rehabilitation of citizenship or acquired nationality, but may not do so three years after the date on which the loss has been made.


ARTICLE 21. - Aliens who, unwarrantedly, do not comply with the obligation under article 14 shall incur arrest of ten to sixty days. If, after serving the sentence, they remain in violation, they shall be placed in the situation of which they have entered the country in violation of the respective laws and regulations.

ARTICLE 22. - A fine of two hundred to five thousand pesos or imprisonment of one to six months shall be imposed:

(a) The official who, by negligence, diverts, destroys or disables any document entrusted to his custody for the purposes of this Act.

(b) Any person who misuses an annulled or replaced document or who corresponds to another, provided that the act does not amount to a more severe offence.

(c) Any person who misuses in a statement concerning data of interest to his or her own naturalization or third parties, if the act does not matter a more severe crime.


ARTICLE 23. - All administrative or judicial procedures relating to the naturalization of aliens shall be exempted from performance and any other tax, fee or right, including postal and telegraphic fees.

ARTICLE 24. - The functions entrusted by this Act to the National Register of Persons may be exercised through delegations established pursuant to article 3 of Law 13.482. The Minister of the Interior and Justice may also arrange to act for this purpose as delegations of the National Register of Persons, delegations or units of the Federal Police, National Maritime Prefecture, National Gendarmerie, Police of National Territories and other agencies of the Federal Security Council, as well as the electoral secretariats and public offices to be determined by the Ministry itself.

ARTICLE 25. - Without prejudice to the provisions of the previous article, all national, provincial and municipal administrative agencies and public offices are obliged to provide the National Register of Persons and their delegations with the necessary collaboration for the better performance of the functions in question.

ARTICLE 26. - The rules of this law will begin to govern the hundred and eighty days of its promulgation. From that moment on, Law 346 will be repealed and how many provisions are opposed to the present. Requests for naturalization at that time pending before national judges will be resolved by them with the application of the above standards.

ARTICLE 27. - The expenses that demand the application of this law shall be covered by general incomes with charge to it.

ARTICLE 28. - Contact the Executive.

Given in the meeting room of the Argentine Congress, in Buenos Aires, twenty-eight days of the month of September of the year thousand nine hundred and fifty-four.