Argentina’s passport-for-cash plan shows how far fiscal desperation can travel

Argentina has decided that a passport may be one of the few assets still left with a price tag. President Javier Milei’s government has announced a citizenship-by-investment programme aimed at wealthy foreigners, in a bid to bring in dollars for a country still wrestling with debt and narrow financing options.

Economy Minister Luis Caputo presented the scheme at an investor event in Paris and said applications are expected to open before the end of the year. The terms are plain enough. Applicants can either make a non-refundable contribution of €311,000 to the Argentine Treasury or buy €711,000 in a new government bond that must be held for seven years. For a family of four, officials said, the contribution would rise to €444,000.

The fiscal backdrop explains the urgency. Argentina faces nearly €22 billion in foreign-currency debt payments due in 2027, while its government has held back from a return to international bond markets. That leaves Milei, who is preparing to seek re-election next year, looking for other ways to raise money. A consortium of investment firms advising the government estimated that the programme could raise as much as €2.2 billion if the expected number of applicants shows up.

The idea is not entirely new, only more brazen in its final form. Around 60 countries now offer some version of residency in exchange for investment, but only about a dozen still run full citizenship-for-investment schemes. Those are more valuable, because they do not merely grant residence; they deliver a passport. Caputo said the Argentine passport is accepted in more than 140 countries, including destinations in Europe’s Schengen area, China, Russia and much of Latin America.

That is the real lure for the wealthy: not just access to Argentina, but access through Argentina. Kristin Surak of the London School of Economics said the benefit is global as well as local, since citizenship can widen where its holder may travel and do business. Industry figures also say the clientele has changed since the pandemic, with more Americans and Europeans seeking a second foothold abroad as geopolitical uncertainty grows. Christian Nesheim, editor of Investment Migration Insider, described the Southern Cone as a Plan B destination, far from strategic conflict and self-sufficient in food and energy.

Argentina is an awkward place to sell stability, given its history of military coups, debt defaults and runaway inflation. Yet Milei is trying to recast the country as a magnet for foreign capital, slashing public spending, dismantling regulations and courting investment in oil and mineral resources. Caputo said the citizenship idea emerged during Milei’s July 2024 visit to Sun Valley, Idaho, where tech executives expressed interest in Argentine citizenship.

The government has also found ideological company among libertarian-leaning billionaires. Milei has cultivated close ties with figures such as Elon Musk, and another name attached to the story is Peter Thiel, who temporarily moved his family to Buenos Aires in April. Corporate records obtained by The Associated Press show that a company linked to his investment firm owns a €12 million mansion in the city’s Barrio Parque neighbourhood. Thiel also obtained New Zealand citizenship in 2011 under a special exemption from standard residency rules.

That kind of private mobility is exactly what the programme is selling, which is why it attracts suspicion as quickly as it attracts money. The Financial Action Task Force has warned that criminals can exploit citizenship and residency schemes to hide identities, launder illicit wealth and evade justice. In April 2025, the European Union’s top court ruled Malta’s golden passport programme unlawful, saying EU citizenship could not be sold. Other countries have already scrapped similar schemes over concerns ranging from dirty money to housing affordability.

Caputo said intelligence and financial oversight agencies would vet applicants’ identities, criminal records and sources of funds. The stated aim is to protect the international standing of Argentine citizenship. That is a sensible goal, though one might ask why a country with debt problems and a rich passport needs to test whether selling entry to the club is really the best way to finance the bill.

Written by Thomas Nussbaumer thomas.nussbaumer@alpineweekly.com