Argentina Announces the Launch of Its Citizenship by Investment Programme

Argentina has announced that its citizenship by investment programme will open to applications in the fourth quarter of 2026. Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced this on 2 October 2026 during Argentina Week in Paris, alongside Chief of Cabinet Diego Santilli.

The programme offers two routes to citizenship: a contribution of US$350,000 to the National Treasury, which is not refundable, or the subscription of a US$800,000 government bond created specifically for the programme. Spouses and children may join the application. Each application is assessed by the Agency for Citizenship by Investment Programmes, and the National Directorate of Migration makes the final decision.

In this article, we cover the investment routes, family contributions and approval process, the legal steps behind the launch, and the court rulings and opposition bills now facing the programme.

The Announcement of Argentina CBI Programme

The announcement marks a new stage in Argentina’s efforts to establish its citizenship by investment programme, following the legal and administrative steps introduced since May 2025. The government plans to begin accepting applications during the fourth quarter of 2026, although it has not announced a specific opening date or published the full application instructions.

Under Decree 366/2025, investors can apply for Argentine citizenship regardless of how long they have resided in the country, without meeting the two-year residence requirement for ordinary naturalisation. However, the decree’s legal validity is currently under judicial review.

What Are the Investment Options for Argentine Citizenship? 

Applicants will choose between two options:

• A contribution of US$350,000 to the National Treasury, which is not refundable
• The subscription of a government bond worth US$800,000, created specifically for the programme

Both mechanisms are designed to be simple and transparent. All funds must pass through the formal financial system and meet the applicable standards on money laundering prevention, counter terrorism financing, and financial transparency.

According to IMI, the bond is expected to have a seven-year term, pay no interest, and cover only the main applicant.

Which Family Members Can Be Included, and How Much Does It Cost?

A spouse and children may join the application if they prove the family relationship and make the contribution set for their category:

• Spouses: US$100,000
• Children aged 18 to 25 who are unmarried and have no children: US$100,000
• Children under 18: US$25,000

A family made up of a main applicant, a spouse, and two minor children would pay US$500,000 in total under the Treasury route. According to IMI, the bond covers only the main applicant, so dependants make the same Treasury contributions on either route, bringing the bond route total for the same family to US$950,000. IMI also reports that children in the older age band must never have married, but do not need to prove financial dependency.

The Due Diligence and the Approval Process

The Agency for Citizenship by Investment Programmes (APCI) will lead the assessment of each application, working with several public bodies, including the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE), the Financial Information Unit (UIF), the Ministry of Security and the Ministry of the Interior.

Checks will cover, among other areas:

• Identity verification
• Traceability and lawful origin of funds
• Assets and financial position
• Jurisdictional risk
• Criminal and reputational records
• Immigration history

Once its assessment is complete, APCI sends a recommendation to the National Directorate of Migration, which approves or rejects each application. The government states that due diligence, financial transparency and risk management will follow recommendations from the OECD and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and that a group of international firms specialising in investment migration is advising it on international best practice.

How Strong Is the Argentine Passport?

According to the Passport Index, the Argentine passport has a Mobility Score of 160 and a Passport Power Rank of 14 as of October 2026.

The score covers destinations accessible visa-free, with a visa on arrival, or through qualifying electronic travel authorisations and eVisas. Figures differ between indexes and can change over time.

Why Argentina Is Launching the Programme

The programme is part of Argentina’s wider effort to open its economy to international investment. It sits alongside a set of reforms designed to improve the investment climate and attract foreign capital into the country.

The government has set three aims for the programme: to strengthen Argentina’s ties with the rest of the world, to raise the international profile of Argentine citizenship, and to establish the country as an open and reliable nation. Funds raised through the programme will go toward strengthening Argentina’s fiscal and financial position.

Who Is Advising the Government, and What Demand Is Expected? 

Those advisers are a consortium of five firms operating through a company named Argentina Mobility for Investment and Global Opportunity Limited (AMIGO): Arton Capital, Latitude Group, Passport Legacy, AIM Global and Apex Capital Partners. According to Latitude and AIM Global, the consortium advises the government at no cost to the state. AIM Global also states that all final decisions rest with the Argentine authorities.

According to IMI, the criteria for certifying agents were expected roughly a month after the announcement. Consortium member Arton Capital expects the Treasury contribution to account for around 70 per cent of applications and forecasts total inflows that could exceed US$2 billion.

How Did the Programme Develop Before Its Launch? 

The announcement in Paris follows a series of legal and administrative steps taken since May 2025. Each one shaped the programme investors will see when applications open.

May 2025: An Emergency Decree Opens the Investment Route

In late May 2025, local media reported that the government was preparing a citizenship route for foreign investors, and a minimum of US$500,000 was widely cited at the time. The government ultimately announced a lower starting contribution of US$350,000 in October 2026.

On 28 May 2025, the president issued an emergency decree that amended Argentina’s citizenship law. The amendment allowed foreign nationals to naturalise by proving a relevant investment in the country, regardless of how long they had lived there. 

It created APCI as a decentralised body within the Ministry of Economy and gave the ministry the power to decide which investments count as relevant. The same decree also moved the power to grant naturalisation from the federal courts to the National Directorate of Migration.

July 2025: The Application Procedure Is Defined

An implementing decree published in the Official Gazette on 31 July 2025 set out how applications would be handled:

• Applications are filed with APCI, which assesses whether the investment qualifies as relevant under the criteria set by the Ministry of Economy
• APCI then requests reports from the Ministry of National Security, the Financial Information Unit, the National Recidivism Registry, the National Registry of Persons (RENAPER), the State Intelligence Secretariat, and any other body it considers necessary, on whether granting citizenship could pose a risk to national security or national interests
• APCI sends a detailed report recommending approval or rejection to the National Directorate of Migration, which must issue a reasoned decision within 30 business days

The decree also instructed the federal revenue and customs agency, ARCA, to adapt its systems so that new citizens could obtain a tax identification number, and authorised APCI to issue further rules on the procedure.

December 2025: A Tender for Programme Design

In December 2025, the Ministry of Economy published a public tender for a consultancy contract of four years to design, implement and promote the programme. 

The tender closed on 20 January 2026 and covered a maximum of 5,000 reports recommending the approval of citizenship applications over the contract period. The Ministry of Economy cancelled the tender on 14 April 2026 through Resolution 522/2026.

March 2026: Tax Residency for Investor Citizens

Before this change, there was a concern that naturalisation alone could make investor citizens Argentine tax residents, exposing them to tax on their worldwide income.

Law 27.802, a broad labour reform approved by Congress on 27 February 2026 and published in the Official Gazette on 6 March 2026, addressed the issue. Under the law, foreign nationals who obtain Argentine citizenship through a relevant investment are not considered tax residents solely because of that naturalisation. Anyone who already held permanent residence in Argentina when obtaining citizenship by investment remains a tax resident.

April and May 2026: Agency Leadership and Advisers

APCI received a director in April 2026, the same month the tender was annulled. On 15 May 2026, the AMIGO consortium signed a technical collaboration agreement with the agency covering programme design, operations, due diligence, compliance, international marketing and government advisory work.

June 2026: Court Rulings on the Decree

On 18 June 2026, a federal appeals chamber ruled that the citizenship reforms introduced by the May 2025 emergency decree were unconstitutional as applied to the applicant who brought the case, and returned her naturalisation application to the federal courts. The case concerned ordinary naturalisation, not the investment route. However, Decree 366/2025 also contains Article 37, which introduced the investment route, and Article 40, which established APCI.

A second court went further. On 30 June 2026, the National Electoral Chamber declared the May 2025 emergency decree null, reasoning that citizenship carries political rights, so the rules for granting it are electoral matters reserved for Congress and cannot be changed by emergency decree. On 24 September 2026, the National Electoral Chamber granted an extraordinary appeal filed by the Ministry of National Security and the National Directorate of Migration. According to Infobae, the case had reached Argentina’s Supreme Court by 7 October 2026.

Opposition Bills to Ban Citizenship by Investment

As the government prepares to open applications, opposition legislators have filed bills in both chambers of Congress to abolish citizenship by investment altogether. The bills differ on one point that matters to investors: what happens to citizenships already granted.

The Senate Bill

On 24 August 2026, Senator Jorge Capitanich filed a bill to protect Argentine citizenship and prohibit granting it through investment. The bill was referred on 4 September 2026 to three Senate committees: Constitutional Affairs, General Legislation, and National Economy and Investment. It would:

• Remove the investment route from the citizenship law and repeal the July 2025 implementing decree
• Dissolve APCI and transfer its assets and staff
• Move pending investment applications to the ordinary route based on residence
• Preserve citizenships already granted by a final decision
• Allow residence by investment programmes that do not lead automatically to citizenship

The Chamber of Deputies Bill

On 2 October 2026, the same day as the Paris announcement, Deputies Agustín Rossi and Kelly Olmos of the Unión por la Patria bloc filed a stricter bill. It has been referred to the Constitutional Affairs and the Population and Human Development committees, and it would:

• Remove the investment route from the citizenship law and repeal the related provisions of the May 2025 emergency decree
• Dissolve APCI
• Treat any investment application still awaiting a final decision as withdrawn
• Declare citizenships already granted through investment invalid and cancel the related documents
• Require the executive to report to Congress on applications received, funds collected and consultancy contracts

The authors argue that Argentine citizenship is not for sale and that a contribution which cannot be refunded does not qualify as an investment under the citizenship law. Neither bill provides for refunds of Treasury contributions or bond subscriptions.

On 5 October 2026, Deputies Florencia Carignano and Paula Penacca introduced a third bill seeking to repeal the decrees underpinning Argentina’s citizenship by investment programme. The bill was registered in the Chamber of Deputies as File No. 5263-D-2026.

How Likely Are the Bills to Pass?

The Senate bill and the Rossi and Olmos bill both remain in committee, and the third bill was filed only days ago. Any bill approved by both chambers would proceed to the president, who could veto it. Overriding a presidential veto requires a two-thirds majority in each chamber.

According to IMI, Argentine immigration attorney Javier Segura said a law cancelling citizenships already granted would almost certainly face constitutional challenges based on acquired rights and legal certainty. He also noted that the political picture could change after the 2027 presidential election.

What Is Still to Be Confirmed

Several practical details remain open ahead of the first applications:

• The detailed application rules and forms to be issued by APCI
• The criteria for certifying authorised agents
• The final terms of the government bond
• How and when a child’s age is assessed for the 18 to 25 category
• The outcome of the government’s extraordinary appeal before the Supreme Court
• Whether any of the opposition bills advances beyond committee

Conclusion

Argentina’s programme arrives with a defined price, a contribution structure for families and a vetting process that involves the country’s intelligence, financial and security bodies. It also arrives after a legal path that included an emergency decree, an implementing procedure, a tax amendment passed by Congress and court rulings that remain under discussion. The announced figures are the starting point; the rules APCI publishes in the coming weeks will determine how the process works in practice.

Karibi advises investors to approach Argentina with patience rather than haste. The programme offers access to a G20 country, but its legal foundation is still being tested in court, and opposition bills in Congress propose ending it. Interested investors should wait for APCI to publish its full application rules and its list of certified agents, and should follow the Supreme Court appeal before committing funds.

Investors considering Argentina alongside established programmes should look at the investment route, family eligibility, tax position and timing together before committing funds. Karibi Consultants follows these developments closely and can help you compare Argentina’s terms with other citizenship options. Book a free consultation with our team to discuss which route fits your plans.