Argentina is opening a route to citizenship for foreign nationals with no prior residence in the country: the basis for naturalisation is a significant investment. The government has announced two ways to take part: a non-refundable contribution of USD 350,000 to the National Treasury, or the purchase of a government bond of USD 800,000 issued specifically for the programme. Applications are expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2026. This page explains the programme’s requirements, the cost for a family, the steps, the documents and how to prepare in advance.
What is the Argentina citizenship by investment programme?
The Citizenship by Investment Programme (Programa de Ciudadanía por Inversión) is a separate ground for naturalising foreign nationals in Argentina. Unlike the ordinary procedure, it does not require years of residence in the country: the decisive condition is an investment that the state recognises as significant. The launch of the programme was officially announced on 2 October 2026 by Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Chief of Cabinet Diego Santilli during Argentina Week in Paris.
For an investor, this means the opportunity to obtain full citizenship of a Latin American country and Argentine identity documents without moving to Buenos Aires. At the same time, the programme is built around transparency of capital: the funds must pass through the formal financial system, and the applicant and their family members undergo a multi-layered review involving several government bodies.
Legal basis of the programme
The mechanism was introduced by Decree DNU 366/2025, signed on 28 May 2025. It amended Citizenship Law No. 346: in the current consolidated text of the law, Article 2 allows the naturalisation of a foreign national who has proven a significant investment in the country “regardless of the length of their residence”. Article 2 bis instructs the Ministry of Economy to define which investments are considered significant and, where appropriate, to set specific investment projects.
The procedure for reviewing applications is set out in Decree 524/2025 of 30 July 2025. The same decree instructs the programme agency to issue supplementary rules on the procedure and the assessment of investments — these will determine the final list of documents, the forms and the payment arrangements.
Who reviews applications
Applications are submitted to the Agency for Citizenship by Investment Programmes (Agencia de Programas de Ciudadanía por Inversión), a decentralised body within the Ministry of Economy. The agency assesses whether the investment meets the criteria of a significant investment and requests reports from the Ministry of National Security, the Financial Information Unit (UIF), the National Criminal Records Registry, RENAPER and the Secretariat of State Intelligence (SIDE). The agency then issues a reasoned report recommending approval or refusal of the application.
The final decision rests with the National Directorate of Migration (Dirección Nacional de Migraciones). Under Decree 524/2025, it has 30 working days from receipt of the agency’s report to decide. Following a positive decision, a certificate of naturalisation is issued, and RENAPER issues the national identity document (DNI).
This is why any discussion of the programme is best started not with the size of the contribution, but with who will be included in the application and how well the history of each participant’s capital is documented.
Who can apply for the programme?
The main difference of the investment route is the absence of a residence requirement. For comparison, ordinary naturalisation under Article 2 of Law No. 346 requires a foreign national to have lived in Argentina continuously and lawfully for two years before applying, and residence counts as continuous only if the person has not left the country at all. The investment route removes these conditions but introduces others.
To qualify for citizenship by investment, the main applicant needs to meet several conditions:
- make an investment in one of the formats approved by the Ministry of Economy: a non-refundable contribution to the Treasury or the purchase of the programme’s government bond;
- transfer the funds through the formal financial system in compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements;
- prove the lawful origin and traceability of the funds;
- pass checks on identity, financial standing, jurisdictional risk, criminal and reputational background, and migration history;
- have no circumstances that could lead the authorities to regard granting citizenship as a risk to Argentina’s security or national interests.
The main applicant’s spouse and children can take part in the programme alongside them. Adult children can be included if they are aged 18 to 25, unmarried and without children of their own. Each category has its own contribution, and the family relationship must be proven with documents.
The programme is aimed primarily at entrepreneurs and investors who need a second passport as part of a long-term plan: to diversify risk, gain freedom of movement, access the Latin American market or secure a fallback option for the family. For clients already living in the UK or Europe, the programme is attractive because it does not require changing their usual place of residence.
The key features of the programme can be summarised in a short list — it makes it easy to compare Argentina with other second citizenship options.
Key features of Argentina’s citizenship by investment programme
- No requirement for prior residence in Argentina
- Two routes to participation: non-refundable contribution or government bond
- Inclusion of a spouse and children in a single family application
- Applicant checks aligned with FATF and OECD recommendations
- Migration authority decision within 30 working days of the agency’s report
- Issue of the national identity document (DNI) through RENAPER
- No automatic tax residence as a result of naturalisation
Each of these features has a practical cost — both literally and in terms of preparation. Let us start with the direct costs.
Cost of Argentine citizenship for the applicant and family
The minimum cost of participation for the main applicant is USD 350,000 as a non-refundable contribution to the National Treasury (Tesoro Nacional). The alternative is the purchase of a USD 800,000 government bond issued specifically for the programme. The bond’s term, yield and redemption terms have not yet been disclosed in the official announcement, so the two routes can only be compared on total cost of ownership once its terms are published.
The government has set separate Treasury contributions for family members:
| Participant | Amount | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Main applicant, option 1 | USD 350,000 | Non-refundable Treasury contribution |
| Main applicant, option 2 | USD 800,000 | Purchase of the programme’s government bond |
| Spouse | USD 100,000 | Treasury contribution |
| Child aged 18–25, unmarried and without children | USD 100,000 | Treasury contribution |
| Child under 18 | USD 25,000 | Treasury contribution |
The government gives its own example: a family consisting of the main applicant, a spouse and two minor children will contribute USD 500,000 in total. This is a sensible benchmark if the family chooses the Treasury contribution route.
Costs on top of the investment
In addition to the investment itself, it is worth budgeting for related costs: certified translations into Spanish, apostilles or consular legalisation of documents, bank charges for international transfers and legal support. The amount of government fees and due diligence charges had not been published at the time of writing — the agency is due to set them in its supplementary rules. The final budget is therefore best recalculated as soon as these documents are released.
The scope of work in preparing for the programme depends on the family and the structure of its assets, but in most cases it comes down to four areas.
Imperial & Legal support
What support for the Argentina programme includes
Preliminary assessment
Review of family, assets and risks before applying to the agency
Source of funds
Dossier on the lawful origin of capital and the payment route
Agency application
Preparing the application, translations and legalisation
Post-approval planning
Tax, inheritance and assets in light of a second citizenship
Even when the scope of services is clear, the order of actions depends on the details: who is included in the application, which countries the assets are held in and when the agency opens for applications. The client journey itself follows five consecutive stages.
How to obtain Argentine citizenship by investment: 5 steps
Below is the client journey from the first meeting to long-term planning after the passport is issued. The timing of the first, second and fifth stages depends on how complex the family and assets are; the agency’s review times will become clear once its rules are published, while the migration authority’s decision period is fixed by decree.
Consultation and preliminary family assessment
Preparing the source of funds dossier
Submitting the application to the programme agency
Migration authority decision and issue of documents
Tax, estate and family planning after approval
The longest and most demanding stage is usually the second: this is where the dossier is built that the authorities will use to judge the transparency of capital. That is why it can be started now, without waiting for applications to open.
Which documents will be required?
The agency has not yet published the official list of documents: Decree 524/2025 instructs it to issue supplementary rules on the procedure and assessment. However, the scope of the checks is already known from the official announcement — identity, traceability of funds, financial standing, jurisdictional risk, criminal and reputational background, and migration history. On that basis, the core pack for each adult participant is likely to include:
- valid passports and citizenship documents for everyone in the application;
- marriage and birth certificates proving family relationships;
- criminal record certificates from the country of citizenship and countries of residence;
- proof of address and residence history for recent years;
- bank statements and documents on income, assets and their origin;
- business documents: company constitutional documents, accounts and dividends;
- proof of payment through the formal financial system.
Foreign documents for Argentine authorities usually need a translation into Spanish and legalisation — an apostille for countries party to the Hague Convention, or consular legalisation for others. Obtaining apostilles in several countries takes time, so this step is best planned in advance.
Proving the source of funds
The authorities will assess not only the amount of the investment but also how the capital was earned and how it reached the account from which the payment is made. A well-prepared dossier shows the full chain: from the source — the sale of a company, dividends, salary, inheritance or the sale of property — to the specific transfer. Gaps in that chain, undocumented cash transactions or transfers through third parties are typical reasons for additional requests, so they are worth identifying and closing before submission.
Preparing this dossier is the part of the work where an adviser’s experience has the greatest effect on the outcome. This is what professional support offers along the way.
Benefits of working with Imperial & Legal on the Argentina programme
- Analysis of the family and choice of investment route for the client’s goals
- Preparation of a dossier on the lawful origin of funds and the payment route
- Handling of correspondence with the programme agency
- Coordination of translations and legalisation of documents from several countries
- Assessment of the tax consequences of a second citizenship for UK residents
- Estate planning that takes several jurisdictions into account
- Comparison of the Argentina programme with Caribbean and European options
To see how the programme’s conditions apply in real situations, it helps to work through a few typical scenarios.
Practical cost examples
The examples below are illustrative and based on the official amounts. They show how the budget changes depending on the family and the chosen route, but they do not replace an individual calculation.
Example 1. A family with two minor children
An entrepreneur, his wife and two children aged 9 and 14 choose the Treasury contribution. Calculation: USD 350,000 for the main applicant, USD 100,000 for the spouse and USD 25,000 for each child — USD 500,000 in total. This matches the example given by the government. The main workload in such an application lies in the main applicant’s dossier and proof of family relationships.
Example 2. A family with an adult daughter at university
An investor living in London applies together with his wife and their 22-year-old daughter, who is at university, unmarried and has no children. Calculation: USD 350,000 + USD 100,000 + USD 100,000 = USD 550,000. If the daughter were 26 or married, she would no longer fall within the children category, and her participation would have to be considered separately.
Example 3. A single applicant considering the bond
An investor without a family is considering the USD 800,000 bond instead of the non-refundable contribution. The sensible approach here is to wait for the bond’s terms to be published: its term, yield, redemption arrangements and whether it can be sold. Only then can the real cost of the two routes be compared, taking into account the alternative return on capital.
Clients of Imperial & Legal have already dealt with similar matters — second citizenship, transferring capital and tax planning for investors — in other jurisdictions. Here are a few of their stories.
Imperial & Legal client stories
St Kitts & Nevis Citizenship: Tax Optimisation with a Caribbean Passport
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Opening Account in British and European Banks for UK Investor Visa Holder
Don Sergio is a respectable elderly entrepreneur. His family has a business that they have been running for several generations. Having inherited it,...
Tax planning in England for a client with an investor visa
Andy is a long-standing client of Imperial & Legal. We helped him to obtain a UK investor visa and settle in London. He is originally from South Africa, but he changes locations quite often to...
Innovator founder visa case: successful relocation of a tech entrepreneur from Argentina to the UK
Imperial & Legal guided a high-tech entrepreneur from Argentina through every stage of relocation to...
One client who obtained a second citizenship through an investment programme explained why he decided not to delay this step.
UK taxes are relatively high – I am telling you that as a businessman who knows the value of the money. When Carol, our youngest daughter, was born, we began thinking about relocation. Seven years later we made up our minds. The main reason why I wanted to move is to optimise taxes and save money; we needed it to secure our children’s future. To realise our dreams, I got in touch with professional immigration advisers.
The decision on a second citizenship is almost always a comparison: families look at several programmes and choose the one that best fits their goals.
How Argentina compares with other second citizenship and residence programmes
Argentina is a newcomer to the investment migration market, and its programme is worth comparing with options that are already operating. The main differences lie in the type of status, residence requirements and how established the procedure is.
| Criterion | Argentina | Caribbean citizenship programmes | European residence by investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the investor obtains | Citizenship by naturalisation | Citizenship | Residence permit with a path to permanent residence and citizenship |
| Residence before obtaining status | Not required | Usually not required | Depends on the country |
| Minimum investment | USD 350,000 (contribution) or USD 800,000 (bond) | Depends on the country and route | Depends on the country and route |
| Maturity of the procedure | New programme, detailed rules awaited | Programmes have operated for many years | Programmes have operated for many years; terms change regularly |
If the priority is a second passport through a well-established procedure, it is worth looking at Caribbean citizenship by investment programmes, such as St Kitts & Nevis citizenship. If status in the European Union matters, Argentina is worth comparing with the Malta programme or with European residence, such as the Portugal Golden Visa. Argentina, for its part, appeals to those who want citizenship of a major Latin American country without having to relocate.
Tax residence and dual citizenship
One of the most common questions from investors is whether the new citizenship will make them Argentine tax residents, obliged to declare their worldwide income. The legislator has answered this directly: Labour Modernisation Law No. 27,802 of March 2026 added a provision to Article 116 of the Income Tax Law stating that foreign nationals naturalised on the basis of a significant investment are not considered Argentine tax residents solely by virtue of the naturalisation itself. Tax residence may still arise on other grounds, for example through long periods of actual residence in the country.
For clients living in the UK, a second citizenship does not by itself change UK tax status: that is still determined by residence and the facts of each case. A passport can, however, affect long-term plans — relocation, asset structure and inheritance. These questions are worth addressing as part of international tax and estate planning before the application is submitted.
As for dual citizenship, neither Decree DNU 366/2025 nor Decree 524/2025, which govern the programme, requires applicants to renounce their existing citizenship. However, the rules on the other side are set by the country of your current passport: some states allow dual citizenship without restriction, while others require notification or restrict it. This needs to be checked for every participant in the application.
Common mistakes when preparing for the programme
New citizenship by investment programmes almost always come with the same applicant mistakes. Most of them relate not to the amount but to preparation:
- Waiting for applications to open without preparing. A source of funds dossier takes weeks to assemble, and apostilles from several countries take even longer.
- Paying outside the formal financial system. A transfer through third parties or from an account without a clear history raises questions with the UIF.
- Misjudging the family composition. A child over 25 or a married child no longer falls within the programme’s children category.
- Using unofficial intermediaries. The government engages advisers to build the programme, but applications are reviewed only by the state agency; nobody can guarantee a positive decision.
- Ignoring the tax consequences. A second passport does not change tax status automatically, but it does affect asset and estate planning.
- Choosing the bond before its terms are published. Without data on its term and yield, it cannot be compared with the non-refundable contribution.
Almost all of these mistakes can be avoided at the preliminary assessment stage — before the money is sent and the application is submitted.
Even if a decision to take part has not yet been made, some steps are worth taking now — they will be useful for any second citizenship programme.
How to prepare for the programme launch now
Argentina’s citizenship by investment programme offers a rare combination: full citizenship with no residence requirement, clear amounts for the family and checks aligned with international standards. Its defining feature is a focus on transparency of capital, which means those who approach the application with a ready dossier will be at an advantage. While the agency prepares its supplementary rules, families have time to decide who will be included, gather documents and assess the tax consequences.
Key takeaways
- Legal basis: Article 2 of Citizenship Law No. 346 as amended by Decree DNU 366/2025; procedure: Decree 524/2025.
- Two routes for the main applicant: a USD 350,000 contribution or a USD 800,000 bond.
- Family contributions: USD 100,000 for a spouse and children aged 18–25, USD 25,000 for children under 18.
- The National Directorate of Migration decides on the agency’s recommendation.
- Naturalisation alone does not make the investor an Argentine tax resident.
- Applications are expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2026.
This page is for information only, reflects official data as of October 2026 and does not constitute individual legal or tax advice. The programme’s terms may be clarified as supplementary rules are published, so decisions are best made after reviewing your specific circumstances with a specialist.
