The Tax Exemption Office can grant courtesy number plates to diplomats or administrative staff when they have purchased a car in Argentina or imported a car without the exemption of taxes or duties. In all cases, the car in question must be registered, in the name of the Mission, in the DNRPA National Directorate of Automotive Property Registry.
A Courtesy Number Plate will be granted upon presentation of a copy of the Vehicle Ownership Title issued by the DNRPA - National Directorate of Automotive Property Registry, for applications filed within 6 months of the date of issue of this Title. If this is not the case, an updated ownership certificate issued by the National Registry of Motor Vehicle Ownership must be presented.
Granting Courtesy Number Plates is strictly subject to the principle of reciprocity. The requesting State must grant at least equal benefits to the Argentine Mission and its members.
The staffs from Honorary Consulates and persons who are residents in Argentina and hold Argentine nationality do not benefit from Diplomatic Privileges and therefore cannot be granted Courtesy Number Plates. There is an exception to this restriction: when the civil servant in question explicitly enjoys limited immunities and there is reciprocity between the countries.
In all cases, the total number of Number Plates that the Tax Exemption Office can issue per civil servant from a foreign Mission, considering those issued to national cars purchased with the benefit of Law N°19.486, those issued to cars imported in the framework of Decree N°25/70 and those issued to cars with Courtesy Number Plates, shall not exceed 3.
The application for a Courtesy Number Plate must be filed within 30 days after the car's customs clearance or car's purchase date.
In the case of members of the administrative staff, Courtesy Number Plates can be granted only if they are requested within 6 months of the applicant's arrival in Argentina.
Courtesy Number Plates do not exempt the foreign Mission from paying the relevant provincial or municipal taxes.
Procedure
1. Note of the Mission: The foreign Mission must apply for a Courtesy Number Plate by means of a note, signed by the Chief of Mission (or legal surrogate) and by the car's owner, both of them bearing their full names and positions within the Mission.
2. Please attach Form FDF 0010 entitled “Chapa Patente de Cortesía para el Automotor de un Funcionario” (Courtesy Number Plate for the Car of a Civil Servant).
3. If the application is filed within 6 months of the date featuring on the Vehicle Ownership Title issued in the name of the interested party by the National Directorate of Automotive Property Registry, please attach a COPY of this Title CERTIFIED by the Chief of Mission (or legal surrogate).
Otherwise, please attach the ORIGINAL updated ownership certificate in the name of the beneficiary issued by the National Directorate of Automotive Property Registry.
Vehicle Technical Inspection: This inspection (different from the inspection carried out in the DNRPA) must be carried out on used cars registered in provinces where this Technical Inspection is required. For new cars, this Inspection is not required..
5. Please attach a NON-CERTIFIED COPY of the Driving License of each of the drivers, issued by a competent authority of Argentina, up to a maximum of THREE (3) persons.
6. Please attach a COPY, CERTIFIED by the Chief of Mission (or legal surrogate), of the document, issued by the relevant body, establishing that the person authorized to drive has no record of traffic violations.
- For an imported car, granting Courtesy number plates is strictly subject to reciprocity between the requesting State and Argentina.
- Only members of the car owner's family, persons at his/her service and other members of the foreign Mission to which he/she belongs will be authorized to drive the car, and only up to a maximum of three (3) people including the car owner. For this purpose, those considered to be members of the car owner's family are his/her descendants, ascendants, including adopters and adoptees, spouse, collateral relatives up to the third degree of kinship and persons for whom he/she is legally responsible and who live in the same house as him/her.
- Authorization to drive for personnel at the service of the car's owner, is subject to their accreditation in the National Protocol Department.
- In the case of private cars belonging to Chiefs of Mission only, persons at his/her service can also include local employees of the foreign Mission who are officially accredited or registered in the National Protocol Department.
- Please attach a NON-CERTIFIED COPY of the Driving Licenses, issued by the relevant Argentine authority, of each of the persons authorized to drive the car and of the car owner (beneficiary).
- ID windshield sticker: The Number Plate will be delivered together with an ID windshield sticker. The validity of this ID windshield sticker expires annually and no later than December 31st, renewal must be requested (30) days before its due date. When renewing the ID windshield sticker, it will be requested a copy of the annual valid insurance policy, as required by Law 24.449.
- The Number Plate will be issued only if the car is covered by the compulsory insurance (Law 24.449).
- Number Plates may be collected only by personnel registered before the National Protocol Department upon presentation of a personal identification document (passport, diplomatic ID card, etc.).