Getting a UK or Canada visa from Argentina

Which route fits you

Canada: Express Entry. No job offer needed. You are scored on age, education, language and work history, and the highest scores are invited. Until 2 November 2026 a job offer adds no points. From 3 November 2026 an offer in a high-wage occupation adds 50 to 100 points, with no LMIA needed (what changes). Category draws can invite lower scores: the current categories include healthcare and social services, STEM, trade, education and transport occupations, and French-language proficiency (IRCC category-based selection).

Canada: Provincial Nominee Programs. A province nominates you, which adds 600 points and effectively guarantees an invitation. Worth checking if your Express Entry score is mid-range.

Canada: Study permit. You need a place at a designated learning institution and proof that you can pay tuition, living costs and the trip home (IRCC study permit). Canadian study can lead to a post-graduation work permit, and Canadian work experience is what the Canadian Experience Class rewards.

UK: Skilled Worker. You need a licensed employer to sponsor you first. Then the salary rule applies: you must be paid whichever is higher, the general threshold or the going rate for your specific job. Care worker recruitment from overseas has closed since July 2025; agents still selling UK care jobs in Argentina cannot honour that route.

UK: Health and Care Worker. Lower fees and no health surcharge for eligible health occupations; the sponsor requirement is the same.

UK: Student. A place on a course with a licensed student sponsor, enough money for the course and your living costs, and English (gov.uk Student visa). The UK Ancestry visa does not apply: it is for Commonwealth citizens, and Argentina is not a member.

→ Work out your Canadian points: it takes about two minutes and tells you where you stand before you spend anything.

What it costs from Argentina

Fees are set in Canadian dollars and pounds, and that is what you pay. We do not convert them to pesos: check the day's rate on the HMRC monthly exchange rates page or with your bank, and expect your bank's rate to be worse.

The health surcharge is what most people miss. Over three years it costs more than the visa itself, and it is paid upfront. Canada adds settlement funds on top: $15,263 (IRCC, effective July 7, 2025) for one person, held in an account you control.

What is different for Argentina

Spanish earns no points, and you are not exempt from the English test. Canada measures English and French only; the approved tests are CELPIP, IELTS General Training and PTE Core for English, and TEF Canada and TCF Canada for French (IRCC language tests). The UK exempts nationals of 18 majority-English-speaking countries and Argentina is not one of them, so Skilled Worker needs an approved test at level B2, or a degree taught in English confirmed by Ecctis (Appendix English Language).

You may be able to fly to Canada on an eTA, and the UK needs only an ETA. Work and study visas are a separate application in both countries; this is about going to look first. Argentina is on Canada's list of travellers who need a visa, but it is one of 17 countries whose citizens can apply for an eTA instead if they have held a Canadian visitor visa in the past ten years or currently hold a valid US non-immigrant visa, and are arriving by air; by car, bus, train or boat you still need the visa (IRCC eTA for visa-required countries). Argentina is not on the UK's visa national list, so a visit of up to six months needs an electronic travel authorisation, bought online before you fly (gov.uk ETA).

No TB test for the UK. Argentina is not on the gov.uk list of countries whose residents need a tuberculosis test, so there is no clinic visit and no certificate to add to a long-stay application. The test is still required if you have lived for six months or more in a listed country, such as Bolivia, Paraguay or Peru, and were living there within the last six months (gov.uk TB test countries).

Your Canadian police certificate must carry one specific phrase. IRCC accepts only the Certificado de Antecedentes Penales issued by the Registro Nacional de Reincidencia of the federal Ministry of Justice, and it must say "con excepción al artículo 51 del Código Penal" or it will be rejected; certificates from any other federal or provincial office are not accepted. From outside Argentina you apply online, and consular certificates are not accepted (IRCC Argentina). The Registro's own site lets you request it online with a Mi Argentina account (Registro Nacional de Reincidencia).

Your degree needs assessing for Canada. An educational credential assessment from an IRCC-designated organisation must be less than five years old both when you enter the pool and when you apply (IRCC ECA). For the UK Skilled Worker visa there is no equivalent step: Ecctis only comes in if you rely on an English-taught degree or a PhD (gov.uk Skilled Worker documents).

The UK Ancestry visa does not apply. It requires a Commonwealth citizen with a grandparent born in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man (Appendix UK Ancestry), and Argentina is not one of the 56 Commonwealth members (The Commonwealth).