Argentina to Sell Citizenship for $350,000 or $800,000 in Bonds

Argentina will grant citizenship to foreigners who make a nonrefundable $350,000 contribution to its Treasury — or invest $800,000 in a new government bond held for seven years. Economy Minister Luis Caputo unveiled the so-called "golden passport" scheme at an investor event in Paris on Friday, saying applications are expected to open before the end of the year.

The price scales with family size: a family of four would pay $500,000, officials said. The program gives applicants two routes — the outright Treasury contribution or the seven-year bond lockup.

The cash matters. Argentina's Treasury faces nearly $25 billion in foreign-currency debt payments coming due in 2027, and libertarian President Javier Milei is preparing to seek reelection next year. Having held off on a return to international bond markets, the government has narrowed its financing options and is searching for alternative revenue. A consortium of investment firms advising the government estimated the paid-citizenship program could raise up to $2.5 billion if it receives the expected number of applicants.

Citizenship with global reach

So-called "golden visa" programs have become common among cash-strapped countries courting deep-pocketed foreigners; about 60 nations offer residency in exchange for one-off investments. U.S. President Donald Trump launched his own "gold card" program for the U.S. last year.

Citizenship-for-investment programs go further, granting a passport with real rights. Only about a dozen countries run active programs, most of them small Caribbean island states. Argentina — a G-20 nation of 46 million people — is set to become the first South American country to join their ranks.

"The Argentine passport is highly valued, accepted in more than 140 countries," Caputo said, referring to destinations Argentines can visit without a visa in advance — from China and Russia to Europe's Schengen area and most of Latin America.

For wealthy individuals from countries facing visa restrictions, whether in Southeast Asia or the Arab world, Argentine citizenship could ease travel and international business, said Kristin Surak, a professor at the London School of Economics and author of "The Golden Passport: Global Mobility for Millionaires."

"It's not only the benefits that you get within Argentina," she said. "You also get benefits globally in terms of where you can go."

A second passport as a Plan B

The clientele has shifted since the COVID-19 pandemic, industry experts say. More Americans and Europeans — whose passports already offer extensive visa-free travel — are seeking a foothold abroad as an escape hatch amid mounting geopolitical uncertainty.

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

Argentina — a country with a history of military coups, debt defaults and runaway inflation that long sent its own business elite abroad — might seem an unlikely refuge for investors chasing stability. But Milei is trying to recast the country as a destination for foreign wealth, slashing public spending, dismantling regulations and courting investment in Argentina's vast oil and mineral resources.

Caputo said the idea for the program emerged during Milei's July 2024 visit to Sun Valley, Idaho, when tech executives expressed interest in obtaining Argentine citizenship. A self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist," Milei has cultivated close ties with libertarian-minded tech billionaires such as Elon Musk, who last year brandished a chainsaw gifted by the Argentine leader as a symbol of his own campaign to slash U.S. government spending.

Another ideological ally is Peter Thiel, the Palantir co-founder who temporarily moved his family to Buenos Aires in April. Corporate records obtained by The Associated Press show a company linked to his investment firm, Thiel Capital, owns a $13.5 million mansion in the city's upscale Barrio Parque neighborhood. Thiel also secured New Zealand citizenship in 2011, with a special exemption from usual residency requirements.

"I think that this 'Peter Thiel in Argentina' story is maybe a bit of a proof of concept (for the citizenship program)," said Philippe Amarante, managing partner and head of government advisory at Henley & Partners, a consultancy that helps clients obtain passports globally.

"He stands for this idea that independent, wealthy, successful people do have choices around the world. And if you provide the right environments and right habitats, the right ecosystem, they might choose you."

The risks of selling citizenship

Golden passport programs have long drawn criticism for their vulnerability to corruption. The Financial Action Task Force, the global money-laundering watchdog, has warned that criminals exploit citizenship and residency programs to conceal identities, launder illicit wealth and evade justice.

In April 2025, the European Union's top court ruled Malta's golden passport program unlawful, declaring that EU citizenship could not be sold — a blow to the investment migration industry. Other countries have scrapped cash-for-residency programs, citing concerns from dirty money to housing affordability.

Caputo vowed to prevent such pitfalls, with intelligence and financial oversight agencies helping vet applicants' identities, criminal records and sources of funds. The aim, he said, is to protect "the international standing of Argentine citizenship."

Whether vetting can satisfy that standard — and whether applicants materialize at the scale needed to dent a $25 billion 2027 wall of debt — will determine if citizenship becomes a durable financing line for Buenos Aires or a one-off headline.