Argentina will charge wealthy foreigners a nonrefundable $350,000 for citizenship under a new "golden passport" scheme that Economy Minister Luis Caputo unveiled in Paris on Friday. Officials expect applications to open before the end of 2026.

What does the programme offer?

The scheme grants full Argentine citizenship, including the right to live, work and vote in the country. Holders also receive a passport Caputo called "highly valued," with visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to more than 140 countries "from China and Russia to Europe's Schengen area and most of Latin America."

How much do applicants pay?

Two investment routes are open:

• A nonrefundable $350,000 contribution to the Argentine Treasury
• An $800,000 purchase of a new government bond, held for seven years

Officials said contributions scale with family size. A family of four will pay $500,000.

Why is Argentina selling citizenship?

President Javier Milei's government faces nearly $25 billion in foreign-currency debt payments coming due in 2027. Officials have held off returning to international bond markets, narrowing financing options. A consortium of investment firms advising the government estimates the programme could raise up to $2.5 billion at full take-up.

The pitch fits Milei's wider effort to court foreign wealth through spending cuts, deregulation and the sale of state assets. Caputo said the idea for the citizenship scheme emerged during the president's July 2024 visit to Sun Valley, Idaho, where tech executives expressed interest in obtaining Argentine citizenship.

Milei, a self-described "anarcho-capitalist," has cultivated ties with libertarian tech figures such as Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Thiel, who secured New Zealand citizenship through a special exemption in 2011, temporarily moved his family to Buenos Aires in April. Corporate records show a company linked to his Thiel Capital owns a $13.5 million mansion in the city's upscale Barrio Parque.

Who will apply?

Roughly 60 countries offer residency-for-investment "golden visas." Only about a dozen run full citizenship-for-investment programmes, most of them small Caribbean island states. Argentina, a G-20 nation of 46 million people, would become the first South American country on that list.

The clientele has shifted since the COVID-19 pandemic. Industry observers say Americans and Europeans now make up a growing share of applicants, seeking a Plan B amid geopolitical uncertainty.

"The Southern Cone of South America is the ultimate Plan B destination," said Christian Nesheim, editor of Investment Migration Insider. "It's not on the way to anywhere strategically important. It's a region that's always staying out of global armed conflict."

For applicants from countries with tighter visa rules, Argentine citizenship unlocks broader travel and business access. "It's not only the benefits that you get within Argentina," said Kristin Surak, a professor at the London School of Economics. "You also get benefits globally in terms of where you can go."

What vetting will apply?

Caputo said Argentine intelligence and financial-crime agencies will screen applicants for criminal records, identity risks and source-of-funds concerns. The aim, he said, is to protect "the international standing of Argentine citizenship."

What are the risks?

Citizenship-for-sale schemes have drawn repeated warnings from the Financial Action Task Force, the global money-laundering watchdog. Criminals exploit them to conceal identity, launder illicit wealth and evade justice, the body says.

In April 2025, the European Union's top court ruled Malta's golden passport programme unlawful, declaring EU citizenship could not be sold. Other countries have scrapped similar programmes over dirty-money and housing-affordability concerns.