South America · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Argentina Launches $350,000 Citizenship-By-Investment Scheme Under Luis Caputo And Javier Milei
Citizenship by investment offered for a $350,000 contribution or $800,000 bond. Applications open in Q4 2026; first such scheme in South America.
21 outlets told this the same way.
10 of 11 outlets skipped it: an advising consortium (AMIGO) will support implementation.
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Milei’s Golden Passport
Argentina announced a citizenship-by-investment program that would let foreigners obtain Argentine citizenship with a $350,000 contribution to the national Treasury or an $800,000 bond purchase, with the offer set to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. The program would extend to spouses and children through additional payments, with a spouse requiring an additional $100,000 payment and each child under 18 another $25,000, bringing the cost for a family of four to $500,000 under the direct contribution route. Economy Minister Luis Caputo said, “This will be one more channel through which we can sell Argentina to the world,” as the government framed the scheme as part of President Javier Milei’s strategy to attract foreign capital.
“Argentina has announced a citizenship-by-investment program, allowing foreigners to gain citizenship with a $350,000 contribution or an $800,000 bond purchase.”
Argentina’s government said the initiative is intended to strengthen its fiscal and financial position, and it set the screening process to verify the origin and movement of funds, prevent money laundering, and address national security concerns. The government said it expects the citizenship scheme could raise up to $2.5 billion, positioning the program as another source of dollar inflows alongside Milei’s broader investment and economic reform agenda.
Paris Pitch and Criticism
Argentina’s government presented the program during a trip to Paris for “Argentina Week,” and it described the citizenship offer as “two simple and transparent mechanisms” for obtaining an Argentine passport. The Argentine government said investors could either make a “direct, non-refundable contribution of $350,000 to the state treasury” or “purchase a state security expressly created for this purpose worth 800,000 dollars,” with additional $100,000 and $25,000 contributions for spouses and minors. Pablo Tigani warned that the program could attract “drug traffickers and people of dubious origin” who are unwelcome in other countries, while economist Marcelo Elizondo told AFP that investors remain cautious given Argentina’s volatile economy.
The government said it would incorporate recommendations from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to ensure adoption of international best practices and “comply with applicable standards regarding the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing, and financial transparency.” The scheme also arrived days after Argentina’s Supreme Court upheld a 2023 decree repealing a 15 per cent cap on foreign ownership of rural land, a change that veterans of Argentina’s 1982 war with Britain over the Falkland Islands opposed.
Debt Pressure and Next Steps
Argentina’s push for the program is tied to debt pressure, with the government expecting to raise up to $2.5 billion and with Milei seeking new sources of dollars for the debt-burdened nation. Fortune reported that Argentina’s Treasury faces nearly $25 billion in foreign-currency debt payments coming due in 2027, and it said the paid-citizenship program could raise up to $2.5 billion if it receives the expected number of applicants. The program’s timing also intersects with politics, as it was set to start accepting applications during the fourth quarter of 2026 and as it comes about a year before Argentina’s presidential elections.
“Argentina’s Treasury faces nearly $25 billion in foreign-currency debt payments coming due in 2027.”
The government said the initiative would be subject to a “rigorous evaluation process (...) guaranteeing the traceability of funds, the prevention of money laundering, and national security,” and it said the assessment would be led by the Agency for Citizenship by Investment Programs with involvement from bodies including the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE) and the Financial Information Unit (UIF). Opposition lawmakers planned to seek to block the related rural land change in Parliament, and a demonstration was scheduled for next week to protest the land ownership change that the Supreme Court upheld.