Buenos Aires – Argentina is preparing to offer one of the world’s most unusual routes to citizenship: wealthy foreigners will be able to apply for an Argentine passport by making a substantial financial contribution to the state or investing in a government bond.
The program, announced by Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Chief of Cabinet Diego Santilli during an investment event in Paris on Friday, is scheduled to become operational during the fourth quarter of 2026.
Under the scheme, a foreign applicant will have two principal options: make a non-refundable contribution of $350,000 to Argentina’s Treasury, or subscribe to a specially created $800,000 government bond. The bond is expected to have a seven-year term.
The initiative is being promoted by President Javier Milei’s government as a way to attract foreign capital and deepen Argentina’s integration with international investors.
It also places Argentina in the small group of countries that offer citizenship by investment, commonly known as a “golden passport” program.
What Exactly Is Argentina Offering?
Citizenship by investment is different from the more common “golden visa” model. A golden visa generally gives a foreign investor residency in exchange for an investment.
Citizenship by investment goes further: after satisfying the program’s requirements, an applicant can obtain nationality and a passport, with the political and legal rights that come with citizenship.
Argentina’s new program is designed to bypass the normal residency route for qualifying investors.
The country’s amended Citizenship Law provides that foreigners who make a “relevant investment” in Argentina can apply for naturalization regardless of how long they have lived in the country.
The framework was introduced by Executive Decree 366/2025, which also created the Agency for Investment Citizenship Programs, or APCI.
The government subsequently established a formal procedure through Decree 524/2025.
Under that procedure, an applicant’s investment is first assessed by the citizenship-investment agency.
Security and financial authorities can then examine the applicant’s identity, criminal record, source of funds and potential risks to national security before a decision is made.
The government says the screening process will incorporate standards associated with the OECD and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international body responsible for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
How Much Does It Cost?
The basic individual options are:
| Route | Amount | What happens to the money? |
| Treasury contribution | $350,000 | Non-refundable |
| Government bond | $800,000 | Invested in a special seven-year government bond |
The family structure is different from simply multiplying the individual fee.
According to Argentina’s government, a spouse and children can also participate. A spouse or child aged 18–25 who is unmarried and has no children would require a $100,000 contribution, while children under 18 would require $25,000.
For example, the government says a family consisting of one principal applicant, a spouse and two minor children could obtain citizenship for a total contribution of $500,000.
The contribution route is important to understand: the $350,000 is not an investment that is returned to the applicant. It is explicitly described by the government as a non-refundable contribution to the National Treasury.
The alternative is considerably more expensive in nominal terms, but it is structured as a government-bond investment rather than a donation. AP reports that the bond is to be held for seven years.
Why Is Argentina Doing This?
The stated objective is to attract foreign capital. Argentina has spent years struggling with access to international financing, foreign-exchange shortages and large debt obligations.
The government is therefore looking for ways to bring additional dollars into the country while simultaneously presenting Argentina as a destination for international investors.
AP reported that Argentina faces almost $25 billion in foreign-currency debt payments in 2027, while the Financial Times put the country’s dollar-denominated debt obligations due by 2027 at around $29 billion.
Government advisers estimate that the citizenship program could generate as much as $2.5 billion if it attracts the expected number of applicants.
That makes the program about more than immigration policy. It is also part of Argentina’s broader attempt to attract foreign capital.
What Does the Buyer Actually Get?
The principal asset is Argentine citizenship, rather than simply a residence permit. That means access to an Argentine passport and the rights associated with Argentine nationality.
The passport itself has significant international mobility. According to Henley & Partners, the Argentine passport provides visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to more than 160 destinations, while AP cites more than 140 destinations depending on how access is counted.
Argentine citizenship also has particular regional significance because of the country’s membership in MERCOSUR, South America’s major regional economic bloc. Henley describes freedom of movement within MERCOSUR as one of the benefits associated with Argentine citizenship.
For a wealthy foreign investor, therefore, the attraction is not simply the ability to live in Argentina. It can also be the acquisition of a second nationality with relatively broad international travel access.
Argentina Is Not the First Country to Sell Citizenship – But It Is an Unusual Entrant
Citizenship-by-investment programs already exist in a number of countries, particularly small Caribbean and Pacific states.
They have become controversial because citizenship is fundamentally different from granting temporary residence.
The European Union has taken a particularly skeptical view of the model. In 2025, the European Court of Justice ruled against Malta’s citizenship-by-investment scheme, concluding that EU citizenship could not simply be treated as a commercial transaction.
Malta’s program was the last such scheme operating in the European Union after similar programs had been discontinued elsewhere.
The Financial Action Task Force has also warned that citizenship- and residency-by-investment programs can be exploited by criminals seeking to obscure identities, launder money or evade justice.
Argentina says it intends to address those concerns through extensive background and financial checks.
The government says applications will be reviewed by several institutions, including the financial intelligence authorities, security agencies and intelligence services.
The process is designed to examine the applicant’s identity, criminal history, reputation, wealth and the legal origin of the money being invested.
But There Is a Major Legal Question Surrounding the Program
One of the most important details – and one that is largely missing from promotional descriptions of the scheme – is that Argentina’s citizenship-by-investment framework has already faced a significant judicial challenge.
In June 2026, Argentina’s National Electoral Chamber declared Decree 366/2025 invalid. The court argued that citizenship is closely connected to political rights and therefore falls within an area in which the executive branch has limited authority to legislate through a decree of necessity and urgency.
The court also questioned whether the circumstances justified bypassing the normal legislative process. That matters because Decree 366/2025 is the legal foundation for the investment-citizenship mechanism.
The Milei administration said it would appeal the ruling to Argentina’s Supreme Court, according to Argentine media reports.
As a result, the program’s political and legal framework is not entirely settled, even though the government has proceeded with its implementation and announced the financial terms.
This is an important distinction: the question is not whether Argentina’s government has announced the program – it has. The question is whether every element of the legal framework on which it rests will ultimately survive judicial review.
A New Kind of “Investment Migration”
The Argentine program reflects a broader transformation in the global market for investment migration.
For decades, wealthy investors were primarily offered residency programs. More recently, a smaller group of countries began offering direct citizenship in return for financial contributions.
Argentina’s entry is notable because it is a G20 country of roughly 46 million people, rather than a small island state.
AP describes it as poised to become the first South American country with an active citizenship-by-investment program.
The government is effectively attempting to combine two propositions: Argentina needs foreign capital – and foreign investors may value Argentine citizenship.
Whether those two interests can be successfully combined will depend on the number and quality of applicants, the amount of capital ultimately raised, the effectiveness of background checks and, importantly, the durability of the program’s legal framework.
For now, Argentina is preparing to test whether a country of continental scale can turn its passport into an instrument for attracting international capital.
Insurance in Times of Uncertainty: For Many People, the Opportunity to Live Far Away Is Becoming Increasingly Attractive
For some families, however, a second citizenship can represent something very different from a financial privilege: a form of insurance in an increasingly uncertain world.
Years of war in Europe, geopolitical tensions and fears about the future have encouraged some people to think about having a legal foothold in a distant, politically stable country – a place they could move to if circumstances at home were to deteriorate dramatically.
That helps explain the interest in destinations as geographically remote as New Zealand, Australia, Uruguay or – in this case – Argentina.
For internationally mobile families, distance itself can become an asset: a country far from the major geopolitical fault lines, with political stability, strong institutions and a well-established rule of law.
In that sense, a second home, citizenship or residency in a distant country does not necessarily mean abandoning one’s home. For some, it is simply a way of buying an option – the option to leave if one day staying is no longer safe.
Sources:
- Argentine Government – Citizenship by Investment announcement
- Argentine Citizenship Law – updated text
- Decree 366/2025 – official text
- Decree 524/2025 – application procedure
- Reuters – Argentina announces citizenship-by-investment program
- Associated Press – Argentina’s $350,000 “golden passport” program
- Financial Times – Argentina to sell “golden passports” by end of year
- Argentina’s National Electoral Prosecutor’s Office – court ruling on Decree 366/2025
