Why it is here
Why Mendoza is on the list.
A city is listed when there is evidence that people move there. This is the evidence.
- The city proper is small, but Gran Mendoza is the fourth largest urban area in Argentina: Wikipedia gives a metropolitan population of 1,055,679 at the 2010 census, and a Billiken article listing INDEC 2020 estimates puts Gran Mendoza fourth at 1,024,388 (both secondary). [B1] [B2]
- The Dirección Nacional de Migraciones has a Delegación Mendoza; a 2024 disposition (published 18 June 2024) closed the San Rafael office and gave its cases and functions to it. [D1]
The Fernshore Index
How it grades, factor by factor.
Each grade is against a published measure, with its source and the date we checked it. It is research information, not advice. Where we have no figure, the row says Unknown.
Cost of living
73 of 100StrongCountry figure
Price level 0.457 of United States prices (2025). The index moves with the exchange rate and was 0.472 in 2023.
Source: Price level index (GDP), Argentina. Checked 15 October 2026.
Climate
59 of 100MixedOwn figure
Mendoza Observatorio (WMO 87420): 8 comfortable months a year (February to May and September to December). June to August highs are 14.7 to 17.6 °C and January's is 30.7 °C. Rain is light: 8.1 to 44.3 mm a month.
Source: Climate normals 1991–2020, Mendoza Observatorio (WMO 87420). Checked 15 October 2026.
Safety
46 of 100MixedCountry figure
Global Peace Index 2026: 72nd of 163, down 20 places on the year before.
Source: Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank. Checked 15 October 2026.
Healthcare
80 of 100StrongCountry figure
WHO UHC service coverage index 80 (2023), exactly on the strong line.
Source: UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1). Checked 15 October 2026.
Schools
UnknownCountry figure
Our research doesn't cover schools yet.
Community
UnknownCountry figure
Not covered by Expat Insider 2026
Lifestyle
UnknownCountry figure
Not covered by Expat Insider 2026
Work and career
50 of 100MixedCountry figure
Mixed: a residence route for remote workers exists (the digital nomad transitory residence, 180 days plus one extension), but fixed broadband is 26.10 per 100 people (2024), under the 30 line.
Source: Obtener una residencia transitoria como Nómada Digital; Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Argentina. Checked 15 October 2026.
Retirement
85 of 100StrongCountry figure
Strong: rentistas and pensionados are temporary residents (income of at least 5 minimum monthly wages; no age minimum and no deposit stated), and the 2010 regulation lets someone with 3 continuous years of temporary residence apply for permanent residence. Decreto 366/2025 rewrote the permanent-residence article of the law without a waiting period; whether the 3-year rule survives in a new regulation was not confirmed.
Source: Obtener una residencia temporaria como rentista; Obtener una residencia temporaria como pensionado; Ley de Migraciones 25.871, article 23 (original text); Decreto 616/2010, regulation of Ley 25.871, article 22 c); Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia 366/2025, article 5 (new article 22 of Ley 25.871). Checked 15 October 2026.
Internet
58 of 100MixedCountry figure
26.10 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people (2024).
Source: Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Argentina. Checked 15 October 2026.
English
84 of 100StrongCountry figure
EF EPI score 575, above the 550 anchor (rank 26). The country page does not print its edition year.
Source: EF English Proficiency Index: Argentina. Checked 15 October 2026.
Visa, United States passport
UnknownCountry figure
Research for US passports is being checked
Visa, Canada passport
UnknownCountry figure
Research for CA passports is being checked
Visa, Australia passport
UnknownCountry figure
Research for AU passports is being checked
Visa, New Zealand passport
UnknownCountry figure
Research for NZ passports is being checked
The country
More on Argentina.
Cities
Other cities in Argentina.
Questions about Mendoza.
How big is Mendoza?
The city proper (the capital department) had 127,160 residents at the 2022 census. Around it, Guaymallén has 321,966, Las Heras 234,401, Maipú 219,402, Godoy Cruz 195,159 and Luján de Cuyo 175,056. Together they make up Gran Mendoza, which secondary sources rank the fourth largest urban area in Argentina.
What is the weather like in Mendoza?
At the Observatorio station (827 m, 1991 to 2020), monthly average highs run from 14.7 °C in July to 30.7 °C in January. Rain is light: 8.1 mm in June to 44.3 mm in February. The city lies in foothills on the eastern side of the Andes.
Is Mendoza safe, and is it an earthquake zone?
Canada says petty crime and muggings are common in Mendoza and some incidents have involved violence; it advises care in General San Martín Park and avoiding unpopulated areas at night. It also lists Mendoza, Salta, San Juan, Jujuy and Tucumán provinces as a seismic zone subject to earthquakes.
How much is rent for a one-bedroom flat in Mendoza?
One advert for a furnished 35 m² one-bedroom flat in the city, seen on 15 October 2026, asked ARS 580,000 a month (about US$383 at the Banco Central rate of 14 October), with building fees from ARS 60,000 including gas. It was shown as posted 41 days earlier and may be gone. One advert is not an average.
Is there an immigration office in Mendoza?
Yes: the immigration authority (DNM) has a Delegación Mendoza. A 2024 disposition, published on 18 June 2024, closed the San Rafael office and gave its cases and functions to the Mendoza delegation. We did not read its address or opening hours; ask DNM for an appointment.
Sources
Where each figure comes from.
Every figure on this page links to the page we read, with the date we checked it.
- [N1] Censo 2022: población por departamento, cuadro 1.13 (provincia de Mendoza), Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC). Checked 15 October 2026. Capital department: 127,160 residents in 2022 (115,041 in 2010); province total 2,043,540. The department is the city of Mendoza proper. The five departments around it (Godoy Cruz 195,159, Guaymallén 321,966, Las Heras 234,401, Luján de Cuyo 175,056, Maipú 219,402) are the rest of Gran Mendoza.
- [B1] Mendoza, Argentina, Wikipedia (secondary). Checked 15 October 2026. Coordinates 32.8897 S, 68.8444 W (the city), used for the map point. Introduction: the city lies "in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern side of the Andes"; 2010 census population 115,041 and a metropolitan population of 1,055,679, "making Greater Mendoza the fourth largest census metropolitan area in the country".
- [B2] Los aglomerados urbanos con más población en Argentina, Billiken (magazine, secondary). Checked 15 October 2026. Ranks aglomerados from INDEC estimates for April 2020 (based on the 2001 and 2010 censuses): Gran Buenos Aires 15,397,410, Gran Córdoba 1,562,487, Gran Rosario 1,320,733, Gran Mendoza 1,024,388. Estimates, not census counts; the 2022 census was not yet published.
- [D1] Disposición DNM 1627/2024, cierre de oficinas migratorias, Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina. Checked 15 October 2026. Dated 13 June 2024, published 18 June 2024. Articles 1 to 3 close the San Rafael, Paso de los Libres and El Calafate offices and authorise the Delegaciones Mendoza, Corrientes and Río Gallegos to take over their functions and pending cases. The page address carries a 2025 date; the notice itself is the 2024 one.
- [G2] Datos sobre la Argentina, Educ.ar (Secretaría de Educación; table sourced to INDEC). Checked 15 October 2026. Highest peaks table: Cerro Aconcagua (Mendoza), 6,959 m. Page last modified 13 August 2025.
- [W1] Climate normals 1991–2020, Mendoza Observatorio (WMO 87420), Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (WMO Climate Normals 1991–2020 via NOAA NCEI). Checked 15 October 2026. Station 87420, 32°53'41"S 68°52'22"W, 827 m. Monthly mean daily highs (°C): 30.7, 29.2, 26.5, 22.0, 18.0, 15.3, 14.7, 17.6, 20.5, 24.0, 27.3, 30.0. Rain (mm): 39.6, 44.3, 35.7, 23.3, 14.8, 8.1, 8.3, 10.1, 14.6, 13.9, 26.5, 27.8. 8 comfortable months (the airport station, WMO 87418, gives 7). Mean temperatures 7.4 to 24.4 °C, 17.0 apart, which makes "seasons".
- [C1] Price level index (GDP), Argentina, World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2025: 45.72 (United States = 100), read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026. The index moves with the exchange rate: 2024 was 45.84, 2023 47.15 and 2022 46.85. The latest year, 2025, is used.
- [S1] Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank, Institute for Economics and Peace. Checked 15 October 2026. Argentina ranks 72nd of 163 countries (score 1.922). The report says Argentina had the largest percentage deterioration in South America in 2026 (6.1 per cent), driven by the Ongoing Conflict domain, with deaths from internal conflict rising from 0 to 114.
- [H1] UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1), World Health Organization. Checked 15 October 2026. Argentina: 80 out of 100 (2023), read from the WHO GHO API on 15 October 2026.
- [K1] Obtener una residencia transitoria como Nómada Digital, Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (argentina.gob.ar). Checked 15 October 2026. No publication date shown. A transitory residence of up to 180 days, extendable for the same period, for foreign nationals of countries that do not need a tourist visa who work remotely for people or companies based abroad. Proof of the activity (contract, company endorsement, or income receipts) and a short CV; no income amount is stated. The procedure is in person, from inside Argentina.
- [K3] Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Argentina, International Telecommunication Union, via the World Bank. Checked 15 October 2026. 2024: 26.10 per 100 people (2023: 25.36), read from the World Bank API on 15 October 2026.
- [R1] Obtener una residencia temporaria como rentista, Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (argentina.gob.ar). Checked 15 October 2026. No publication date shown. Art. 23 b) of Ley 25.871. Income from assets held abroad (not from personal work) of at least 5 Salarios Mínimo Vital y Móvil, with funds brought in through banks authorised by the Central Bank. The page says the residence is given for 1 year, renewable. No age minimum and no deposit are stated. The current peso value of 5 SMVM was not read.
- [R2] Obtener una residencia temporaria como pensionado, Dirección Nacional de Migraciones (argentina.gob.ar). Checked 15 October 2026. No publication date shown. Art. 23 c) of Ley 25.871. A certificate of a regular, permanent pension or retirement benefit from a government, international body or private company, of at least 5 SMVM. The page says the residence is given for 1 year, renewable. No age minimum is stated.
- [R3] Ley de Migraciones 25.871, article 23 (original text), Honorable Congreso de la Nación Argentina (copy published by InfoLEG). Checked 15 October 2026. Article 23 b) rentista and c) pensionado: a term of residence of up to three years, renewable, with multiple entries and exits. This is the law as first enacted; Decreto 366/2025 later replaced article 22 (R5).
- [R4] Decreto 616/2010, regulation of Ley 25.871, article 22 c), Poder Ejecutivo Nacional (argentina.gob.ar, "texto original"). Checked 15 October 2026. Permanent residence can be asked for by someone with "arraigo": 2 continuous years of temporary residence for Mercosur nationals and 3 continuous years in other cases, plus the conditions the Dirección Nacional de Migraciones sets for the type of temporary residence. This is the original 2010 text; whether Decreto 366/2025 led to a replacement regulation was not confirmed.
- [R5] Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia 366/2025, article 5 (new article 22 of Ley 25.871), Poder Ejecutivo Nacional (argentina.gob.ar). Checked 15 October 2026. Signed 28 May 2025, published in the Boletín Oficial 29 May 2025. Article 5 replaces article 22 of the law: a permanent resident is someone who obtains that admission from the migration agency; the applicant must show sufficient means to live in Argentina and no criminal record, according to the conditions the regulation sets. It sets no waiting period. Article 6 adds family reunification as a temporary category. Whether the decree is still in force was not confirmed from an official source: it was still the text on argentina.gob.ar, and no source opened showed Congress rejecting it.
- [F1] EF English Proficiency Index: Argentina, EF Education First (private test-taker index). Checked 15 October 2026. Score 575, global rank 26, 13 points up on the previous score. The country page does not print its edition year; the EF EPI home page read the same day names "EF EPI 2025" as the current edition.