As a tourist you can stay for 90 days, then you can renew for another 90 days at Immigration in Buenos Aires (Migraciones) and then you have to leave the country and re-enter. Most people in Bs. As. do this by going to Colonia, Uruguay on the fast ferry. It's a day trip, or you can spend a night. Then you get another 90 days, can renew for 90 more at Immigration. If you are in Cordoba you can go to the nearest border crossing. People do this for a few years without a problem, but you cannot legally work. (In practice, this means you could teach English but nothing else - no one else will hire you without residence and your DNI, national ID card).

To get legal residence you can marry, enroll as a student, or invest money in Argentina (there is a minimum), or show you have funds (trust fund, or retirement funds, outside Argentina) and apply for residence through your local Argentine consulate, before going.
(check Migraciones website for current situation and details for the categories of residence).

In theory, you could also go to Argentina as a tourist and then find an employer there willing to sponsor your work visa, but it basically never happens, except in the case of some maids whose employers want them to become legal. If that happens, you still have to go back to your home country, apply for the work permit, and re-enter Argentina!

Once you get the residence permit, you can get the foreigners' DNI which is like the green card.

Note that if you do this paperwork in the US or in Argentina, when you have to present copies of your birth certificate, they have to be "legalized" by the Argentine consulate in the area where you were born, which may not be where you live now. Just adds to the paperwork!

If you get married, it doesn't matter if it is in the US or Argentina, but it's easy enough in Argentina. So you could go as a tourist, marry there, and then apply in Argentina for residence and DNI.

See the info on the Registro Civil website if you are going to marry in Argentina. If married, you can apply for residence. With that, you get the DNI, and with that, you can work. It takes months to process and it is highly recommended that you use a "gestor" if you do this in Argentina (ask Downtown Newcomers for a recommendation).

There is a group of expats married or living with Argentines in Buenos Aires, and they have an email group called CCC (cross cultural club). You can ask about it on BANewcomers, which is a yahoo group that is for expats in Argentina (not the same as the Downtown Newcomers organization for expats living there, for social networking).

Good luck!

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Thank you so much for your informative reply to my query. I really appreciate the exchange of information!

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