Argentina is selling its passport. It sounds like clickbait, but it is meant seriously: on 2 October 2026, Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Cabinet Chief Diego Santilli announced the Programa de Ciudadanía por Inversión at Argentina Week in Paris, a programme granting citizenship in return for an investment. The price: USD 350,000, non-refundable. Harley Bieder worked through what the Argentine passport really costs, what it gives you and where the catch lies in his video of 4 November 2026 (in German). Here are the facts from the official announcement, as of 6 November 2026, and the comparison with the route that has always been open in Argentina: actually living there for two years.
What the government announced
According to the Ministry of Economy, there are two mechanisms:
Your family can join if the relationship is proven and each person's own contribution is paid:
The government's own example: a family of a main applicant, a spouse and two minor children pays USD 500,000 in total. On top come the fees of lawyers and firms specialising in investment migration, because hardly anyone gets through a procedure like this alone. Budget honestly for more than the contribution itself.
Who vets, and how strictly
The announcement promises strict vetting. The lead lies with the Agencia de Programas de Ciudadanía por Inversión, joined by the intelligence service SIDE, the financial intelligence unit UIF and the ministries of security and the interior. They check your identity, the origin and lawfulness of your funds, your assets and finances, the risk of your home jurisdiction, criminal and reputational records and your migration history. The agency then sends its recommendation to the migration authority, the DNM, which approves or rejects the application. All money has to flow through the formal financial system and meet the rules against money laundering and terrorist financing.
The programme is announced, not open
Now the most important point: the programme is not yet taking applications. The government gives the fourth quarter of 2026 as the start, which is the weeks we are in now. If someone tells you they can already file your application if you wire money today, first check whether the agency has officially opened the procedure. A transfer made on a promise is not an application.
There is also a legal uncertainty few people talk about. The naturalisation rules the government changed by emergency decree in 2025 have ended up in court: the Cámara Nacional Electoral declared emergency decree 366/2025 void on 30 June 2026, and the case is now before the Supreme Court. Whether that ultimately touches the investment route is open. Harley already put the rulings against the emergency decree in context in his video of 3 October 2026 (in German). Our view is clear: if you send USD 350,000 to a state without any refund, you want a legal basis that is not being challenged in court. Until Congress secures the programme by law or the courts have ruled, waiting is the better strategy.
What the Argentine passport gives you
The Argentine passport is among the strongest in Latin America, with visa-free entry to the Schengen area and many other countries. If you already hold a strong passport, travel freedom is not the argument. What it gives you is something else: a second passport from outside your own bloc, a second footing if politics at home take a turn. That is what a Plan B is about.
Before you sign anything, check whether your own country lets you keep your citizenship when you take on another one. The rules differ widely, and some countries still withdraw citizenship automatically.
The route that has always been open: two years
Now the real insider tip. Argentina is one of the few countries in the world where you can be naturalised after two years of legal residence. The route: first obtain a temporary residency, for example as a pensioner, as a rentista with passive income, or through an investment that can be far smaller than the sums above. After two years you apply for naturalisation.
Watch your time in the country. The emergency decree required you not to leave Argentina during those two years, and since the electoral chamber's ruling the legal position is in flux. So plan realistically to actually live in Argentina for the two years. That is not buying a passport, it is genuine emigration. How the route works step by step and what the courts decided in 2026 is in our article [Argentina: the fastest second passport](/en/insights/argentina-fastest-second-passport).
Passport and taxes are two different things
One point many people confuse: the passport does not make you tax resident in Argentina automatically, and it does not free you from your tax obligations at home. What counts is where you actually live. Anyone who lives in Argentina for two years to be naturalised is, as a rule, tax resident there too, and Argentina taxes its residents on their worldwide income. Work it through before you go.
Which route suits whom
Whether capital or time is the right route for you, which residency category to choose for the two years and how it fits with your departure from home is something we work through with you. Our [services page for Argentina](/en/services/argentina) shows every residency route with its price.