Argentina Citizenship by Investment

The Ministry of Economy's release of 2 October 2026 announced two investment routes for the main applicant, in US dollars:

Two points deserve a close reading.

First, the law states no figure. Decree 366/2025, amending Citizenship Law No. 346, says only that a foreign national who proves a relevant investment may be naturalised, and leaves it to the Ministry of Economy to determine which investments count as relevant. As at 5 October 2026, the list of instruments amending or supplementing Decree 366/2025 in the government's legal database contains no Ministry of Economy instrument doing so; the two amounts so far appear only in the release.

Second, the release gives no interest rate, term or repayment terms for the USD 800,000 bond. All funds must pass through the formal financial system and meet anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing and financial transparency standards.

The outcome is Argentine citizenship by naturalisation, granted without any residence period. Citizenship Law No. 346, as amended by Decree 366/2025, has two naturalisation routes: a person aged 18 or over who has resided in Argentina continuously and lawfully for the two years before applying, where continuous residence means not leaving the country even once in those two years; and a foreign national who proves to the National Directorate of Migration that they have made a relevant investment, regardless of the time of residence.

A naturalised person receives a naturalisation certificate (carta de naturalización) issued by the National Directorate of Migration, which coordinates with the RENAPER civil registry so that the registry issues the National Identity Document (DNI). Decree 524/2025 also instructs the tax authority ARCA to adjust its systems so that a person granted citizenship under this route can obtain a CUIT tax number.

Three points are worth knowing before considering this route.

First, Decree 366/2025 is a decree of necessity and urgency (DNU), not a law passed by Congress. On 30 June 2026 the National Electoral Chamber (Cámara Nacional Electoral), in the case "Y, L" concerning a residence-based naturalisation application, declared Decree 366/2025 null under paragraph 3 of Article 99 of the Constitution. The text of the ruling states no effect beyond that case, the sources read do not show whether it was appealed, and the list of instruments amending or supplementing the decree in the government's legal database records none repealing it.

Second, bill S-1441/2026 by Senator Jorge Capitanich, received by the Senate on 24 August 2026, proposes protecting Argentine citizenship and prohibiting its grant for investment. On 4 September 2026 the bill was referred to three committees, Constitutional Affairs, General Legislation, and National Economy and Investment; no committee opinion has been recorded.

Third, the decision to grant or refuse rests with the National Directorate of Migration, after a recommendation from the Agency for Citizenship by Investment Programmes (APCI) and opinions from the security, intelligence and financial authorities. The investment does not confer citizenship automatically.

The programme is not yet accepting applications. The Ministry of Economy's release of 2 October 2026 says it will be operational to receive applications during the fourth quarter of 2026, without giving a date.

Decree 524/2025 sets a deadline only for the final step: the National Directorate of Migration has 30 working days from receiving the assessing agency's report to issue a reasoned act granting citizenship or refusing the application.

Decree 524/2025 and the release set no deadline for the step in which the Agency for Citizenship by Investment Programmes (APCI) assesses the investment and seeks opinions from the Ministry of National Security, the Financial Information Unit (UIF), the National Recidivism Registry, RENAPER, the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE) and other bodies, so the total processing time cannot yet be estimated.

This route requires no residence before citizenship is granted: the law states that a person who proves a relevant investment may be naturalised regardless of the time of residence. This sets it apart from ordinary naturalisation, where the applicant must have resided continuously and lawfully for two years without leaving the country even once in those two years.

Decree 366/2025, Decree 524/2025 and the release of 2 October 2026 set no residence obligation after citizenship is granted, and mention no minimum stay or in-person interview.

Where the person lives still has tax consequences, because the income tax law treats naturalised Argentine citizens as tax residents; see the Tax cell.

The main applicant's spouse and children may apply alongside, provided they prove the relationship and make the contribution set for each category, in US dollars:

According to the release, a family of the main applicant, a spouse and two children under 18 pays USD 500,000 in total. That sum assumes the 350,000 contribution route; the release does not say how the dependants' amounts change when the main applicant chooses the 800,000 bond.

The release describes each accompanying person applying for citizenship through their own contribution, and says nothing of citizenship granted through the main applicant.

A person granted citizenship under this programme receives the Argentina passport, so the figure in this cell is the figure for that passport itself.

According to the Passport Index of Prosperous Intelligence, on data dated 30 September 2026, the Argentina passport reaches 178 destinations without applying for a consular visa in advance. The figure combines three forms of entry and does not count an e-Visa that must be obtained beforehand:

It is therefore a measure of how easily the holder travels, not a count of visa-free countries in the narrow sense.

For comparison, on the same source and the same method of counting, the Vietnamese passport reaches 44 destinations. The two lists of destinations do not nest inside one another, so the difference is an indication rather than a list of places newly opened.

Prosperous Intelligence dates its data and advises checking with the destination’s official authorities before travelling.

The programme has no tax regime of its own, but Argentine income tax law ties tax residence to nationality, and that is the point a naturalised citizen needs to know in advance.

Article 116 of the Income Tax Law (2019 consolidated text) treats as residents persons of Argentine nationality, native or naturalised, except those who have lost resident status under Article 117. Article 1 provides that residents are taxed on all income earned in the country or abroad, with a credit for similar taxes paid abroad up to the increase in liability caused by that income; non-residents are taxed only on Argentine-source income.

Article 117 provides that a resident loses that status on acquiring permanent residence in another country under that country's migration rules, or after staying outside Argentina continuously for 12 months. Article 119 adds that if status is lost before leaving Argentina, the person must prove to the tax authority the acquisition of residence abroad and settle tax for the part of the year elapsed; if it is lost after leaving, the proof is made at the Argentine consulate.

The law has no specific provision for a person naturalised through investment who continues to live in another country.

Beyond the investment, the release of 2 October 2026 and Decrees 366/2025 and 524/2025 publish no application fee, due diligence fee or fee for granting citizenship.

The release sets conditions only on how the money moves: all funds must pass through the formal financial system and meet anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing and financial transparency standards. The assessment covers identity verification, traceability and lawfulness of the source of funds, asset and financial analysis, jurisdictional risk assessment, review of criminal and reputational background, and immigration history.

The release also says the government is advised by a group of international firms specialising in investment migration, without naming them.