Argentina’s Economy Minister Luis Caputo unveiled a new citizenship-by-investment program at an investor event in Paris, offering wealthy foreigners a path to an Argentine passport in exchange for a cash contribution or a bond investment. Applicants can choose between a non-refundable $350,000 contribution to the Argentine Treasury or an $800,000 investment in a new government bond that must be held for seven years. Pricing rises with family size — a spouse adds roughly $100,000 and each child under 18 adds about $25,000, putting the total for a family of four at around $500,000. Applications are expected to open before the end of the year, though the process has not yet been detailed.
The program is aimed squarely at wealthy individuals and families outside Argentina weighing a second residence or passport, as well as the advisory firms — such as Henley & Partners — that build careers matching that demand to the right country. Caputo framed the stakes for Argentina’s own citizens too, saying the goal is to protect “the international standing of Argentine citizenship,” which currently grants visa-free access to more than 140 countries.
The move comes as Argentina’s Treasury faces nearly $25 billion in foreign-currency debt payments due in 2027, and the government has held off on returning to international bond markets to raise the money conventionally. A consortium of investment firms advising the government estimates the scheme could raise up to $2.5 billion if it attracts the expected number of applicants. It would make Argentina the first South American country with an active citizenship-for-investment program; roughly 60 countries already run golden-visa-style residency schemes, though only about a dozen offer citizenship outright. Officials point to Peter Thiel’s temporary move to Buenos Aires in April — and a Thiel-linked company’s $13.5 million mansion purchase there — as an early sign of appetite among wealthy foreigners.
Industry voices are already framing where the program fits in the broader market. Christian Nesheim, editor of Investment Migration Insider, called the region “the ultimate Plan B destination,” while Kristin Surak, a London School of Economics professor and author of “The Golden Passport,” said the appeal for buyers goes beyond rights inside Argentina itself, extending to global mobility and business access. Henley & Partners’ Philippe Amarante described the Thiel case as “a bit of a proof of concept” for the kind of applicant the program is designed to attract. Caputo said intelligence and financial oversight agencies will vet applicants’ identities, criminal records and source of funds — a response to the Financial Action Task Force’s standing warning that citizenship and residency programs can be exploited for money laundering, and to the precedent of the EU’s top court ruling Malta’s golden-passport scheme unlawful in April 2025.
References
Associated Press – Debt-Saddled Argentina Pitches ‘Golden Passport’ Scheme to Woo Wealthy Foreigners
