The legal basis is a May 2025 decree that tightened naturalisation requirements — with two years of continuous residence — and created an investment route, with a dedicated agency Argentina’s government has unveiled a citizenship-by-investment programme that will allow foreigners to obtain an Argentine passport in exchange for a non-refundable US$350,000 contribution to the Treasury or the purchase of US$800,000 in a seven-year government bond. Applications would open before the end of the year.
Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Cabinet Chief Diego Santilli announced the programme on Friday at the Argentine embassy in Paris, during Argentina Week, the investor gathering led this week by President Javier Milei. Amounts rise with family size: an extra US$100,000 for a spouse and for each unmarried, childless son or daughter aged 18 to 25, and US$25,000 for each child under 18. A family with two minor children would pay US$500,000.
The stated aim is to attract foreign currency. The Treasury faces substantial foreign-currency debt payments in 2027, and the government has postponed its return to international bond markets in a week when country risk hit its highest level of the year. According to estimates by a consortium of firms advising the government, cited by the Associated Press, the programme could raise up to around US$2.5 billion if it reaches the expected number of applicants.
The Argentine passport is highly valued, accepted in more than 140 countries, Caputo said, referring to destinations that do not require Argentine citizens to obtain a visa in advance, including the Schengen area. According to the minister, the idea emerged in July 2024, when US technology executives expressed interest in Argentine citizenship during a visit by Milei to Sun Valley, Idaho.
The legal basis is a May 2025 decree that tightened naturalisation requirements — with two years of continuous residence — and created an investment route, with a dedicated agency. The international tender to run the programme was cancelled in April this year.
Argentina would be the first South American country with such a programme. Only about a dozen states, several of them Caribbean islands, offer citizenship by investment, while some 60 grant residence. It’s not just about the advantages you get inside Argentina; you also get global benefits in terms of where you can go, said Kristin Surak, a professor at the London School of Economics.
Such programmes have been criticised for their vulnerability to corruption. The Financial Action Task Force has warned they can be used to conceal identities, launder money and evade justice, and the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Malta’s programme unlawful in April 2025. Caputo said intelligence services and financial oversight bodies would vet applicants’ identities, criminal records and sources of funds, to protect the international standing of Argentine citizenship.
