ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Agustin Ferrari, Hernán Alal and Astrid Nottebohm, Naveira, Truffat, Martínez, Ferrari & Mallo Abogados
conditions, to operate domestic services using foreign aircraft and/or foreign crew members, enabling opera - tors to wet-lease aircraft during peak demand periods. Rural Land Argentina has a specific legal regime restricting for - eign ownership of rural land under Law 26.737 (the “Rural Land Law”), enacted in 2011. In December 2023, Milei’s government issued Decree of Necessity and Urgency No 70/2023, where Article 154 provided for the repeal of the Rural Land Law. However, the repeal was suspended by a preliminary injunction, and in 2024 a federal appeals court declared it unconstitu - tional and referred the matter to the Supreme Court of Argentina, meaning the law remains in force pending a final ruling. In parallel with this judicial process, in March 2026 the government announced its intention to submit to Congress a bill that would repeal the existing caps on foreign private ownership of rural land. The proposed reform makes up part of a broader legislative pack - age aimed at strengthening private property rights, and is intended to facilitate the inflow of international investment into strategic sectors, including agricul - ture, energy and mining. The Rural Land Law limits ownership of land by for - eign persons and entities (defined as control by a for - eign person) as follows: • no more than 15% of land (calculated on national territory and on the territory of the province and county) can be owned by foreign persons; • foreign persons of the same foreign nationality can - not hold more than 30% of the above-mentioned 15% limit; • rural land owned by foreign individuals may not exceed 1,000 hectares in core zones or the equiva - lent surface area as determined by the Interminis - terial Council of Rural Lands; core zones represent the most fertile agricultural lands of Argentina; and • foreign persons are prohibited from acquiring riparian land along large and permanent bodies of water. Foreign investors interested in acquiring rural land that are not included in the exceptions listed above are
required to obtain a certificate of approval to purchase the rural land issued by the Office of the National Reg - istry of Rural Land. Foreigners i) with ten or more years of continuous resi - dency in Argentina; ii) with sons or daughters who are Argentine citizens and have five years of continuous residency in Argentina; or iii) those married to or in a registered domestic partnership with an Argentine citizen for five years and with an equally long con - tinuous residency in Argentina are exempt from the restrictions of the Rural Land Law. In parallel with the judicial review of the 2023 repeal, in December of 2025, the Consejo de Mayo – a govern - ment-convened advisory body created in 2024 to draft and promote legislative reforms – proposed to limit the restrictions exclusively to foreign states and state- controlled entities. As a result, the current caps on foreign private ownership, including the 15% national, provincial, and municipal limits and the 1,000-hectare cap in the core agricultural zone, would be eliminated for private investors, while a registry would be main - tained and exceptions could still be granted to foreign states if the investment serves the public interest and does not pose risks to national security or sovereignty. Border Security Zones Foreigners are generally prohibited from owning or possessing land in designated border security zones. Border security zones are considered sensitive for national security and sovereignty reasons. If a for - eigner wishes to acquire land in these areas, they must obtain prior consent from the Ministry of the Interior. Foreign Argentine naturalised persons with less than five years of continuous residency in Argen - tina, non-naturalised foreign persons, and foreign enti - ties (incorporated abroad or controlled by foreigners) must undergo a cumbersome administrative process considered “exceptional”, requiring them to submit an investment plan in which they must prove the pub - lic interest of the project. Naturalised persons with at least ten years of continuous residency in Argentina are also required to undergo an administrative process to obtain an authorisation, but rather than “excep - tional” it is considered an “ordinary” process aimed at determining national security is not at risk (ie, by checking for criminal records).
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