Similar to the Trump Administration's "Trump Gold Card" program in the US, foreigners will be able to apply for Argentine citizenship with a US$350,000 non-refundable payment to the Treasury, or a US$800,000 government bond, Economy Minister Luis Caputo and Cabinet Chief Diego Santilli announced Friday in Paris.
Applications are due to open in the fourth quarter of 2026. A spouse or an unmarried child aged 18 to 25 adds US$100,000 each, and a child under 18 adds US$25,000, so a family of four with two minors would pay US$500,000 on the Treasury route, according to Infobae and the Buenos Aires Herald.
The scheme skips the usual two-year residency requirement for naturalization, according to Cadena 3. That rests on a 2025 change to the 1869 citizenship law, made by emergency decree 366/2025 and regulated by Decree 524/2025, which left it to the Economy Ministry to define what counts as a "relevant investment". Those decrees set no amount; Friday's announcement did.
A new Citizenship by Investment Programs Agency, under the Economy Ministry, will vet applicants with the State Intelligence Secretariat, the Financial Information Unit (the anti-money-laundering authority) and the Security and Interior ministries. They will check identity, the origin of funds, criminal record and migration history. The National Directorate of Migration makes the final decision.
Caputo said the program follows due diligence and risk standards aligned with the OECD and the Financial Action Task Force, the global anti-money-laundering body. According to the Associated Press, a consortium of investment firms advising the government estimates it could raise up to US$2.5 billion if enough people apply, and Argentina would be the first South American country to offer such a program. Only about a dozen countries do, mostly small Caribbean states.
Associated Press framed the program as part of the government's search for new sources of dollars: Argentina faces nearly US$25 billion in foreign-currency debt payments in 2027, and country risk has climbed above 600. Caputo said the resources would help strengthen the country's fiscal and financial position.
What to watch: the Economy Ministry's rules and the agency's start in the fourth quarter, including how it defines a qualifying investment and how many applicants it draws.