Argentina will launch its citizenship by investment (CBI) program in the fourth quarter of 2026, Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced today at Argentina Week in Paris.
Videos of Caputo’s speech, viewed by IMI, show him setting out two investment routes:
- Treasury contribution: A non-refundable contribution to the National Treasury, starting at US$350,000
- Government bond: The purchase of a US$800,000 government security created for the program
Caputo presented both routes as simple and transparent. That entry point sits below the US$500,000 that has circulated since the government first floated the program. IMI understands the plan is for a seven-year bond that pays no interest.
Dependents
Spouses and children can join an application by proving the family relationship and making an additional contribution to the National Treasury:
- Spouses: US$100,000
- Children aged 18 to 25 who are unmarried and have no children: US$100,000
- Children under 18: US$25,000
IMI understands that those older children must never have married, and do not need to prove financial dependency. The bond covers only the principal applicant, IMI also understands, so dependents make the same Treasury contributions on either route.
For a typical family of four, meaning a principal applicant, a spouse, and two minor children, the totals are:
- Treasury route: US$500,000 in contributions, the example Caputo gave
- Bond route: US$950,000 in all, made up of:
- The US$800,000 bond
- US$150,000 in Treasury contributions
Vetting
“Applications will be subject to a rigorous assessment process designed to protect national security, the integrity of the financial system, and the international standing of Argentine citizenship,” Caputo said. The Agency for Citizenship by Investment Programs (APCI), which he called “the agency we have created specifically for this purpose,” will lead each assessment, working with:
- The State Intelligence Secretariat
- The Financial Information Unit
- The Ministry of Security
- The Ministry of the Interior
Checks cover, among other things, identity, the traceability and lawful origin of funds, assets and finances, jurisdictional risk, criminal and reputational records, and immigration history. APCI then sends its recommendation to the National Directorate of Migration, which approves or rejects each application.
Due diligence, financial transparency, and risk management will follow recommendations from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), according to Caputo.
He added: “The government is advised by a group of leading international firms specializing in investment migration to ensure the adoption of international best practices.” IMI understands that the government will reveal its criteria for certifying agents in about a month.
Every payment must move through the formal financial system and meet anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing, and financial transparency standards. Proceeds will go toward strengthening Argentina’s fiscal and financial position.
Caputo framed the program as part of Argentina’s international opening and its reforms to attract capital. “Argentina today is a beacon of freedom and investment in the world,” he said, adding that the government wants to promote the value of Argentine citizenship abroad and consolidate the country as “an open and trustworthy nation.”
Two conditions make this the moment, in his telling: “Argentina’s geopolitical situation and the ideas of freedom that our president promotes so strongly.” Programs of this kind, he noted, have “already been tried in many other countries.”
Citizenship brings the Argentine passport, which Caputo said is “accepted in more than 140 countries” because the world sees Argentina as an independent nation without conflicts. “I think this will probably be the most successful citizenship program, or one of the most successful of all those introduced before it,” he said.
The firms advising the government “have very high expectations,” he told the audience. He closed by thanking the advisers present in the room.
The advisers
Argentina Mobility for Investment and Global Opportunity Limited (AMIGO), the company formed by the consortium of Arton Capital, Latitude Group, Passport Legacy, AIM Global, and Apex Capital Partners, has been advising the government on the program’s design and implementation.
AIM Global and Latitude said in separate statements that the consortium advises the government at no cost to the Argentine state. Latitude dates the arrangement to May 15, when AMIGO signed a non-onerous technical collaboration agreement with APCI.
Under that agreement, Latitude says, the firms contribute expertise in program design, operations, due diligence, compliance, international marketing, and government advisory. Its senior executives were in Paris alongside Caputo and other consortium members, the firm said.
“International due diligence experts will also be involved in the process, in accordance with industry best practices,” Latitude’s statement adds. Final authority stays with the state. “All decisions rest with the Argentine authorities,” in AIM Global’s words.
Nuri Katz, President of Apex Capital Partners, said he is “proud of what AMIGO has accomplished,” calling the path from “just an idea” to a real program “a long and arduous road.”
He thanked President Javier Milei and “the entire government of Argentina” for their “foresight and conviction.” A “robust, transparent, and well-managed citizenship by investment program,” Katz said, “is an innovative way to raise significant non-tax revenue and encourage real-life investments in a country, something that any country needs.”
The pitch
“Argentina has the potential to become one of the most significant new entrants to the global investment migration market in many years,” said Eric Major, Chairman and CEO of Latitude Group. “It is a G20 economy with extraordinary natural resources, a highly educated population, a globally recognized culture, and an internationally respected passport.”
“In my view,” Major told IMI, “Argentina’s citizenship by investment program represents the most significant development in the investment migration industry since Malta launched its Individual Investor Program in 2013-14.”
The country, he said, “brings together virtually all the attributes that internationally mobile high-net-worth families look for in a second citizenship: Global mobility, security and optionality, an exceptional lifestyle, strong international connectivity, and convenient time zones for both the Americas and Europe.”
“Add to that the stature of a G20 nation, a globally recognized passport, and one of the world’s great countries in which to live, invest, and spend time, and you have an extraordinarily compelling proposition,” Major added. “Quite simply, Argentina has all the ingredients to become a landmark offering for our industry.”
Latitude’s statement points to the preferential residence rights Argentine citizens hold across much of South America through regional arrangements including Mercosur. Those rights, the firm says, create “opportunities to live, work, study, and establish businesses across much of the continent.”
“For families, the value of a second citizenship is in the choices it creates over time,” said Christopher Willis, Managing Partner of Latitude. Willis argued that the country “combines access to a G20 economy with opportunities to live, work, and build a business across much of South America.”
AIM Global calls Argentine citizenship “the strongest passport available through investment, reaching 169 destinations without a prior visa, with no obligation to live in the country.” Caputo’s own figure in Paris was more than 140 countries.
“Argentina was built by people who chose it as their home,” said Matías Apparcel, Founder and CEO of AIM Global. “This program opens that door to families around the world, through a rigorous process designed to protect the value of Argentine citizenship.” Apparcel told IMI the program “will be unprecedented,” bringing “significant investment to a region, South America, that is once again capturing the world’s attention.”
Forecasts
Armand Arton, President and CEO of Arton Capital, expects Argentina to “broaden the investment migration market by attracting applicants whose priorities extend well beyond passport mobility.” He anticipates “particularly strong demand from Americans and Europeans seeking an alternative base for their families and access to new economic opportunities.”
By Arton’s forecast, the US$350,000 contribution route will “account for around 70% of applications.” Uptake of the bond “will depend on its final terms,” he said, adding that Argentina’s long-term opportunity lies in turning “that initial demand into lasting investment and business relationships.”
According to Latitude, the contribution route is meant to bring in foreign currency immediately, while the bond supports the government’s longer-term financing needs. Future phases of the program may add “additional qualifying investment categories designed to channel international capital toward broader economic and development objectives,” the firm said.
Willis cautioned against comparing the two routes on price alone. “A higher investment amount does not automatically make one route less attractive, just as a lower entry price does not make it the right choice,” he said. Any comparison, in his view, “needs to account for liquidity, opportunity cost, and the final terms and risks of the investment.”
Arton forecasts that the program’s inflows “could exceed US$2 billion.” To show the scale, he set that figure against the export earnings of wine, one of Argentina’s signature industries.
Argentina’s wine exports “totaled approximately US$661 million” in 2025, making the potential inflows “roughly three to four times” that sum, according to Arton. That comparison, he said, “illustrates the scale of funding the program could bring into the country.”
Major sees more than money in it. “The opportunity goes well beyond attracting capital,” he said. “Done properly, citizenship by investment can connect Argentina with a new community of internationally mobile entrepreneurs, investors, and families while generating meaningful economic benefits for the country.”
Building the rules
In its own statement, Passport Legacy said its work with the government covered practical elements including age requirements, dependent provisions, and the structure of the application process. That work, the firm said, forms part of the wider contribution made by all five consortium members.
For Jeffrey Henseler, the firm’s Chairman, Argentina has “an opportunity to build a program of real international significance.” The government’s vision is ambitious, he said, and “the work now is to give that vision clear rules, rigorous processes, and a sound operational foundation.”
Passport Legacy previously helped develop São Tomé and Príncipe’s CBI program, which Henseler said gave the firm “valuable experience in building and operating a program from the ground up.” Argentina, in his view, “has the opportunity to establish a new benchmark for the industry.”
Latitude says its advice to the agency extended to the program’s investment thresholds. Kenneth Ing, Chief Legal Counsel of Latitude’s Government Advisory practice, said the firm set out “to bring lessons learned from established residence and citizenship programs around the world to Argentina.”
Its focus, he said, fell “particularly in the areas of program architecture, governance, operational design, due diligence, compliance, and international market positioning.”
AIM Global, the consortium’s Latin American member, says it contributed legal, tax, and regulatory expertise. Per the firm’s release, the goal is a program “attractive to investors and legally resilient across multiple jurisdictions.”
“For a family with a child approaching the upper age limit, one of the most important questions will be when that child’s age is assessed for eligibility,” Willis said. The application rules, he added, “will need to explain how it works in practice.” Those are “the details that turn a headline announcement into something a family can actually plan around.”
