Legal framework of Argentine citizenship by investment

Three provisions of the National Constitution frame the debate:

• Article 20 recognises the civil rights of foreigners, states that they are not obliged to accept citizenship and provides that they may obtain naturalisation by residing two continuous years in the Nation, a period the authority may shorten in favour of those who prove services to the Republic.
• Article 75, paragraph 12 attributes to Congress the power to enact general laws on naturalisation and nationality.
• Article 99, paragraph 3 prohibits the Executive from issuing legislative provisions, except decrees of necessity and urgency (DNU) when exceptional circumstances make the ordinary legislative procedure impossible — and never on criminal, tax or electoral matters or the regime of political parties.

A DNU remains in force unless both chambers of Congress reject it, under Law 26.122; it is also subject to judicial review.

Law 346 (1869) is the citizenship law. In its original wording it provided two paths to naturalisation before the federal judges: ordinary naturalisation, for foreigners over 18 with two continuous years of residence, and exceptional naturalisation, regardless of residence time, for those who proved certain services — among them, having “established a new industry or introduced a useful invention” in the country. Argentine law therefore already linked certain economic contributions to naturalisation, although always under judicial control.

Naturalisation gives Argentine citizenship but not nationality “by origin”. Naturalised citizens enjoy political rights, with constitutional limits: for example, the President must be a native-born citizen (art. 89), and a deputy or senator must have held citizenship for four and six years respectively (arts. 48 and 55).

Agency authorities. Decree 285/2026 (Boletín Oficial, 28 April 2026) appointed the Agency’s Executive Director.

Amounts. The amounts (USD 350,000, USD 800,000 and family amounts) come from the official announcement of 2 October 2026. An announcement is not a regulation: under art. 2 bis of Law 346, the qualifying investments must be defined by the Ministry of Economy. At the date of our last review (12 October 2026) we had not found that resolution in the Boletín Oficial.

Still pending: the resolution on qualifying investments; the bond’s issue terms; fees; the document list and forms; the filing channel; rules on payment timing and refunds; and the Agency’s procedural rules (Decree 524/2025, art. 6).

The procedure distributes functions between two bodies. The Agencia de Programas de Ciudadanía por Inversión, under the Ministry of Economy, receives the application, evaluates the investment, gathers the reports and issues a reasoned recommendation. The Dirección Nacional de Migraciones takes the final decision. Before the 2025 reform, all naturalisations were decided by federal judges; that transfer of competence is precisely what the courts have questioned.

The application is an administrative procedure governed by Law 19.549 (amended by Law 27.742 in 2024) and its regulations. The applicant has, among others, the right to be heard, to access the file, to offer evidence and to obtain a reasoned decision.

• Observations: requests for information or clarifications must be answered within the deadlines set; this is where a well-prepared file makes a difference.
• Delay: if the decision is not issued within the applicable deadlines, a request to expedite can be filed and, eventually, an amparo por mora (art. 28 of Law 19.549).
• Refusal: it can be challenged through the administrative appeals provided in the regulations (reconsideration and hierarchical appeal), whose deadlines are short and peremptory.
• Judicial review: once the administrative route is exhausted, the act can be challenged before the federal administrative courts within the period of art. 25 of Law 19.549.

Considering the case law described below, a refused applicant could also raise constitutional arguments about the competence of the bodies that intervened. The appropriate strategy depends on each case.

“Volosh, Yana s/ solicitud de carta de ciudadanía” — National Court of Appeals in Civil and Commercial Federal Matters, Chamber III, 18 June 2026. The applicant sought ordinary naturalisation (not by investment). The first-instance judge rejected her challenge and referred her to Migraciones. The Chamber revoked that decision: it held that the Executive had not proved the exceptional circumstances required for a DNU (Congress was functioning normally), declared articles 37 to 43 of DNU 366/2025 invalid in the case and ordered the federal court to resume competence. According to public reports, the State appealed and the issue reached the Supreme Court.

“Yang, Liping s/ nacionalidad y ciudadanía – solicitud de carta de ciudadanía” (file CNE 8843/2023/CA1) — National Electoral Chamber, 30 June 2026, votes of judges Alberto R. Dalla Via and Daniel Bejas. It declared the absolute nullity of DNU 366/2025 regarding citizenship, holding that citizenship is intrinsically linked to political rights and suffrage — an electoral matter that article 99(3) of the Constitution excludes from DNUs — and ordered the grant of citizenship to the applicant, who met the residence requirement. The Government announced an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Scope. In Argentina, constitutional review is exercised in concrete cases and, as a rule, its effects are limited to the parties. Neither ruling repealed the DNU or prevents the Government from implementing the programme. However, both affect Title III of the DNU — the same title that creates the investment route and the Agency. A Supreme Court decision confirming those criteria would create a serious risk for the investment route. At the date of our review (12 October 2026), we had not found a decision by the Supreme Court on these cases.

Congress. Bills have been filed in the Chamber of Deputies to repeal the investment route or to prohibit naturalisation in exchange for payments. None had been passed at the date of our review.

Three different legal statuses are often confused:

• Migration residence (temporary or permanent), governed by the Migration Law 25.871: it authorises staying in the country, but does not grant citizenship.
• Nationality / citizenship, governed by Law 346: it gives an Argentine passport and political rights. The investment route does not require prior residence.
• Tax residence, governed by the Income Tax Law: it determines whether a person is taxed on worldwide income in Argentina.

Obtaining citizenship does not oblige you to live in Argentina, and residing in Argentina does not by itself make you a citizen.

Law 27.802 (Labour Modernisation Law, Boletín Oficial 6 March 2026) added paragraphs to article 116 of the Income Tax Law: foreigners naturalised through a relevant investment are not considered tax residents in Argentina by the mere fact of their naturalisation. Tax residence is determined by the general criteria (permanent residence, actual stays, etc.). Those who were already permanent residents when they obtained citizenship remain tax residents. If there is no tax residence, only Argentine-source income is taxed in Argentina.

Other points to analyse: wealth tax (Bienes Personales) on assets located in Argentina; the treatment of the bond; the tax rules of your country of residence; and the automatic exchange of financial information (CRS). The OECD has warned that citizenship-by-investment schemes can be misused to hide tax residence, so financial institutions may request additional evidence of where you are actually tax resident.

• Naturalisation certificate issued by Migraciones and DNI issued by RENAPER.
• Argentine passport, requested once the DNI has been issued.
• CUIT (tax ID) enabled by ARCA (Decree 524/2025, art. 5).
• Electoral obligations: under the National Electoral Code, naturalised Argentines are voters from the age of 18 and voting is compulsory, with specific rules for those residing abroad.
• Military service: Argentina has no compulsory military service in peacetime.
• Dual nationality: Argentina does not require renunciation of the previous nationality; check the rules of your other country.

Many commercial websites publish details about this programme (processing times, number of visa-free destinations, bond interest rates, “guaranteed” approval). We do not reproduce those statements as legal requirements unless they appear in an official source. When we mention press reports, we say so expressly.