Argentina Citizenship: How to Get an Argentine Passport in 2026

Argentina citizenship can be obtained through several routes, including naturalization, marriage and citizenship by descent. In this guide, we explain how each route works, how long the process can take, and what you need to qualify.

We also cover the proposed Argentina Citizenship by Investment program, which has attracted significant interest but is not yet live.

Here’s a quick summary up of what will be covered:

• Argentina citizenship by naturalization
• Citizenship by marriage
• Citizenship by descent
• Argentina passport benefits
• The proposed Argentina Citizenship by Investment program
• The requirements, timelines and application process for each route

Argentina is now at the center of one of the most closely watched developments in the investment migration industry: a proposed Citizenship by Investment program that could create a direct route to an Argentine passport for qualifying investors.

The program is not operational yet, and the government in Buenos Aires is still working through the legal and administrative framework. But interest is already significant, largely because Argentina would be entering a market traditionally dominated by much smaller jurisdictions.

Although the government is still finalizing the structure of the program, you can register your interest now, and once the program goes live, our team can contact you about the next steps.

Argentina Citizenship: Overview

Argentina has always been an interesting country from a citizenship perspective. Unlike most countries, where naturalization can take five, seven or even ten years, Argentina has historically offered a much shorter route for foreigners who establish themselves in the country. More recently, however, it has attracted attention for a completely different reason: the possibility of getting Argentine citizenship through investment.

Since 2025, headlines around a potential Argentine Citizenship by Investment program have spread quickly.

The idea is easy to understand: if launched, Argentina would become one of the only major economies in the world to offer a direct route to citizenship in exchange for a qualifying investment. For investors used to seeing citizenship programs concentrated in smaller Caribbean or Pacific states, that would be a significant change.

But there is an important distinction between what Argentina has proposed and what is actually available.

As of 2026, there is no operational Argentine Citizenship by Investment program accepting applications. No final investment minimum has been officially established, there is no active application portal, and the legal framework behind the proposal is still being contested.

That does not mean Argentine citizenship is unavailable. It means that anyone considering an Argentine second passport needs to separate the proposed investment route from the citizenship options that already exist today.

Can You Get Argentine Citizenship?

Yes. Foreign nationals can obtain Argentine citizenship, and there are several possible routes depending on their circumstances.

For most foreigners without an Argentine family connection, the traditional route is naturalization after establishing legal residence in the country. Argentina is notable because its citizenship law has historically allowed applicants to seek naturalization after a relatively short period of residence compared with many other jurisdictions.

There are also routes connected to Argentine parents, spouses and children, depending on the applicant's individual circumstances.

Citizenship by investment would create another category entirely. Instead of first living in Argentina and building eligibility over time, qualifying investors could potentially obtain citizenship based on a sufficiently important economic contribution to the country.

That is the route generating most of the attention today. It is also the route that requires the most caution.

Does Argentina Have Citizenship by Investment?

Not in an operational sense.

Argentina has taken concrete legal and administrative steps toward creating a Citizenship by Investment framework, so the proposal is more than a rumor or an industry prediction. However, those steps have not yet resulted in a functioning program.

The distinction matters because some of the coverage surrounding Argentina has made the program sound much further advanced than it really is.

In May 2025, the Argentine government issued Decree 366, introducing the concept that a foreign national who makes a "relevant investment" in Argentina could potentially qualify for citizenship without completing the normal residence requirement.

This was a major development. Rather than creating another residency-by-investment visa, the government was considering a direct relationship between investment and citizenship itself.

Two months later, in July 2025, the government created the Agency for Citizenship by Investment Programs, known as APCI, under the Ministry of Economy. The agency was intended to oversee the investment side of the process and coordinate the background and security checks required before an applicant could be recommended for citizenship.

At that stage, the direction of travel looked relatively clear. Argentina had created the legal concept, established a dedicated government body and begun building the administrative infrastructure around it.

What it had not done was establish a program that investors could actually use.

No final investment thresholds were published. No official list of qualifying investments was released. No applications opened.

And from there, the process became considerably more complicated.

Why Has Argentina's CBI Program Not Launched?

The main difficulty is that creating a citizenship program is very different from announcing one.

Argentina initially attempted to build the operational infrastructure required to administer the program, launching an international public tender for consulting and technical assistance to support APCI in late 2025.

The result was that the framework existed on paper, but the machinery required to process investors did not.

More importantly, the citizenship reforms themselves came under judicial scrutiny.

Argentina's citizenship rules deal with far more than immigration status. Citizenship comes with fundamental constitutional and political rights, including the right to vote. That raised a much larger legal question: can the executive branch significantly change the conditions for acquiring Argentine citizenship through an emergency decree, or does a reform of that scale need to go through Congress?

Federal appellate courts have already ruled against the government on this. In June 2026, two federal appeals courts found DNU 366/2025 (the decree underlying the investment route) unconstitutional, and the government has appealed to Argentina's Supreme Court, where the case is now pending.

This is why the situation in Argentina needs to be treated differently from a conventional Citizenship by Investment launch.

The problem is not simply that the government has not yet published a price list. The underlying legal framework itself needs to be strong enough to survive constitutional scrutiny.

For an investor committing hundreds of thousands of dollars to obtain a new nationality, that distinction is critical.

A citizenship program needs to provide certainty that the passport granted at the end of the process rests on a durable legal foundation. If the rules can later be challenged or reversed because the legislation was introduced incorrectly, the problem becomes much larger than processing delays.

Argentina therefore has two separate jobs to complete before an investment citizenship route can be treated as a genuine option: it needs an operational system capable of accepting and processing applications, and it needs a legal framework that is sufficiently robust to withstand political and judicial challenge.

Until then, there is nothing to apply for.

Can You Apply for Argentina Citizenship by Investment in 2026?

No.

Despite the amount of discussion around the program, Argentina is not currently accepting Citizenship by Investment applications.

There is no official application portal, no final set of eligibility criteria, and no confirmed investment amount that guarantees access to citizenship.

This is important because there is already a considerable amount of speculative information circulating online.

Still, none of the figures and program structures discussed within the industry should be confused with formally enacted program terms.

Currently, the most accurate way to describe Argentina CBI is as a proposed citizenship route under development rather than an available immigration product.

That may change, but investors should be cautious about anyone presenting Argentine citizenship as something that can already be purchased or applied for today.

However, if you are specifically interested in Argentina Citizenship by Investment, you can still register your interest. We are tracking the program closely and will contact registered applicants once the legal framework, eligibility criteria and application process are formally confirmed.

How Much Could Argentina Citizenship by Investment Cost?

There is currently no official price.

Early discussions around the proposed program have centered on two possible investment structures.

One is a non-refundable contribution to the Argentine government, with figures of approximately US$500,000 discussed.

The second is a substantially larger investment into Argentine sovereign bonds, with figures around US$1 million reported.

These numbers are useful because they give some indication of the type of investor Argentina may be targeting, but they are not official program pricing.

The Argentine government has not yet published final regulations confirming what will qualify as a "relevant investment", whether several investment categories will be available, what holding periods may apply, or whether the reported thresholds will remain the same when and if the program launches.

This distinction becomes particularly important with Argentina because the phrase "citizenship by investment" can make the proposition sound more defined than it actually is.

At this stage, the government has established the idea that a sufficiently important investment could justify an exemption from the normal residence requirement. The details that would turn that principle into an investable program are still missing.

So, anyone asking how much Argentine citizenship costs through investment is currently asking a question without a final answer.

What we can answer more clearly is why so many investors are interested in the possibility in the first place.

How to Get Argentina Citizenship: Step by Step

If Citizenship by Investment is not currently available, how can you actually become an Argentine citizen?

For most foreigners, the answer is through naturalization after living legally in Argentina. The headline requirement is relatively straightforward: Argentina’s citizenship law provides a route to naturalization after two years of continuous legal residence.

The process can be broken down into six main steps.

Step 1: Check Which Argentina Citizenship Route Applies to You

Before applying for residence, it is worth establishing whether you actually need the standard naturalization route.

There are several ways someone may qualify for Argentina citizenship.

If you have an Argentine parent, you may be able to claim nationality by option without completing the two-year residence period.

If you have an Argentine spouse or Argentine-born child, different naturalization provisions may apply depending on your circumstances.

If neither applies, the standard route is to establish legal residence in Argentina and build eligibility for citizenship through naturalization.

This distinction matters because there is little reason to spend two years pursuing residence-based citizenship if you already qualify through a more direct family route.

For most foreign investors and internationally mobile professionals without Argentine ancestry, however, residence is where the process begins.

Step 2: Obtain Legal Residence in Argentina

The two-year citizenship period does not mean you can simply arrive as a tourist, remain in Argentina for two years and automatically receive a passport.

You first need a lawful basis for residing in the country.

Argentina offers different residence categories depending on the applicant’s nationality and circumstances. These can include routes connected to employment, independent income, family relationships, investment, and Mercosur nationality.

The appropriate option will therefore depend on your own situation.

This is one reason it makes sense to think about residency and citizenship as one strategy rather than two separate applications. If your ultimate objective is Argentina citizenship, the residence route you choose needs to put you in a position to meet the naturalization requirements later.

Once legal residence is established, the citizenship clock becomes the next consideration.

Step 3: Complete the Required Residence Period

Argentina is unusual because its ordinary naturalization period is significantly shorter than those of many other countries.

Under the current wording ofCitizenship Law No. 346, an adult foreign national may qualify for naturalization after completing two years of continuous legal residence in Argentina.

The word continuous is important.

Reforms introduced in 2025 tightened the wording of the law and defined continuous residence as remaining in Argentina throughout the two-year period without leaving the country.

That interpretation has subsequently become part of the wider legal dispute surrounding the government’s citizenship reforms, so applicants should not build a two-year citizenship plan around older assumptions about how much time they can spend outside Argentina.

The safest approach is to treat physical presence as a central part of the strategy and verify the rules that apply when your residence period begins and again before filing the citizenship application.

This is particularly important for internationally mobile applicants. A two-year route may look extremely attractive compared with a five or ten-year naturalization process elsewhere, but it is only useful if you can realistically satisfy the physical-presence requirements attached to it.

Step 4: Prepare Your Argentina Citizenship Documents

Once the required residence period has been completed, the next stage is proving that you meet the conditions for naturalization.

The exact requirements can vary with the applicant and the procedural rules in force at the time, but the process generally requires evidence of your identity, nationality and legal residence in Argentina.

Documents can include:

• passport and identity documents
• birth certificate
• Argentine residence documentation
• proof of the required period of residence
• criminal-record information
• documents relating to your personal or family circumstances where relevant

Foreign-issued documents may also need to be legalized or apostilled and translated into Spanish.

Argentine authorities can additionally carry out checks through immigration, civil-registration, criminal-record and other government databases.

For this part of the process, it’s worth preparing everything in advance. A large part of any citizenship application is not simply qualifying under the law, but being able to document that qualification properly.

Step 5: Submit Your Argentina Citizenship Application

After meeting the residence requirements and preparing the necessary documents, you can move to the formal naturalization application.

This is one area where older Argentina citizenship guides need to be treated carefully.

Historically, Argentine naturalization was closely associated with applications through the federal courts. The citizenship reforms introduced from 2025 attempted to change elements of that process and give the National Directorate of Migration a greater role.

Those reforms have since faced constitutional challenges.

As a result, if you’re preparing your application in 2026, you should confirm the competent authority and procedure in force at the actual time of filing rather than relying on a checklist written several years earlier.

What does not change is the basic purpose of this stage: you need to demonstrate that you satisfy the legal conditions for naturalization and formally request Argentine citizenship.

Step 6: Complete Citizenship Registration and Apply for Your Argentine Passport

Approval of citizenship is not quite the final administrative step.

Once Argentine nationality has been formally recognized, the new citizen needs to ensure their status is correctly registered and obtain Argentine identity documentation.

From there, they can apply for an Argentine passport.

This is the point at which Argentine citizenship becomes a practical second nationality rather than simply an approved legal status.

The passport gives the holder Argentina’s international travel privileges, while citizenship itself provides the much broader set of rights attached to being an Argentine national.

For someone searching specifically for a second passport, however, residency is not the only route worth checking.

Argentina Citizenship by Descent

If you have an Argentine parent, start here before considering residence.

People born outside Argentina to an Argentine parent may be able to obtain Argentine nationality by option rather than going through the standard naturalization process.

Argentina’s government provides a specific procedure for people born abroad who are children of Argentine citizens by birth or by option.

You’d generally need to establish the parent-child relationship and prove your parent’s Argentine nationality. How to do it? Generally, this could be done by showing your foreign birth certificate or the Argentine parents’ identity or citizenship records.

Foreign documents may need to be apostilled or otherwise legalized and translated into Spanish where required.

For someone who qualifies, this is fundamentally different from Argentina citizenship by residency. You are relying on an existing family connection to Argentine nationality rather than becoming eligible through time spent living in the country.

That is why ancestry should always be checked first.

Can You Get Argentina Citizenship Through Marriage?

Marriage to an Argentine citizen does not automatically give you an Argentine passport.

That distinction is important because “Argentina citizenship by marriage” can sound as though citizenship is granted as a direct consequence of getting married.

In reality, marriage can affect your eligibility for naturalization.

Argentina’s nationality framework has historically recognized having an Argentine-born spouse among the circumstances that can remove or modify the ordinary residence requirement.

A similar consideration can apply to someone who has an Argentine-born child.

It is still an application for citizenship, rather than citizenship being created automatically by the marriage itself.

Does Argentina Allow Dual Citizenship?

Yes. Argentina allows dual citizenship, so becoming an Argentine citizen does not automatically require you to give up another nationality.

However, dual citizenship always needs to be considered from both sides. Argentina may allow you to hold more than one citizenship, but your existing country may have different rules.

Some countries permit multiple citizenships freely. Others restrict the voluntary acquisition of another nationality, require prior authorization, or may treat it as grounds for losing the original citizenship.

For anyone considering Argentinian citizenship as a second passport, it is therefore important to check both Argentine law and the nationality rules of your current country before applying.

How Long Does It Take to Get Argentina Citizenship?

The number most people focus on is two years.

That is the statutory residence period associated with Argentina’s ordinary naturalization route, and it is one of the reasons the country attracts so much interest from people comparing second-citizenship options.

But two years should not be confused with a guaranteed passport timeline.

You first need to establish legal residence. You then need to satisfy the required residence period, submit the citizenship application, and complete the administrative or legal process required for approval.

Processing time after the application is filed can therefore extend the overall timeline beyond the initial two years.

A more accurate way of thinking about the process is: two years is the qualifying residence period, not necessarily the total time from arrival in Argentina to having a passport in your hand.

That difference is small in wording, but significant when comparing Argentina with other citizenship strategies.

What Are the Benefits of Argentina Citizenship?

The value of Argentina citizenship goes beyond having another travel document.

An Argentine passport provides broad international mobility, but for many applicants the more important benefit is the wider set of rights that comes with citizenship itself.

Argentina is a major South American economy with a large domestic market, strong regional connections and access to the Mercosur framework. For someone looking at citizenship as part of a broader international strategy, that can make the passport more useful than a nationality chosen purely for visa-free travel.

There are three benefits in particular worth understanding.

International Travel

The Argentine passport provides visa-free or simplified access to many destinations, including much of Europe and Latin America.

The exact number changes as entry rules are updated, so passport rankings should always be checked at the time of travel.

For second-passport planning, the more useful question is whether Argentine citizenship gives you access that your existing nationality does not.

Mercosur Mobility

Argentine citizenship can also make it easier to move around South America.

Under Mercosur residence agreements , eligible nationals of participating countries can usually access simpler pathways to live and work elsewhere in the region.

For naturalized Argentine citizens, though, there can be an extra condition: some Mercosur rules require you to have held your acquired nationality for a certain period before those benefits apply.

So, if you’ve only recently become an Argentine citizen, you shouldn’t assume every Mercosur residence right is available straight away.

Access to the US E-2 Investor Visa

Argentina is also an E-2 treaty country with the United States.

That means an Argentine citizen who makes a qualifying investment into a US business may be eligible to apply for an E-2 Treaty Investor Visa.

The Argentine passport itself does not provide the right to live or work in the United States, and the E-2 has its own investment and business requirements.

Its value is that citizenship can give an applicant access to a visa category that may not be available through their original nationality.

This is one reason second citizenship should be assessed based on the opportunities attached to the nationality, rather than simply the number of countries the passport can enter without a visa.

Does Argentina Citizenship Make You a Tax Resident?

Citizenship and tax residence are two different things.

Holding an Argentine passport does not, by itself, mean that you are automatically treated as an Argentine tax resident forever.

Tax residency is generally determined by a separate set of rules that relate to where a person lives, their immigration status, and their circumstances.

This distinction becomes particularly important for anyone using residence as the route to citizenship.

If you plan to spend the time required in Argentina to qualify for naturalization, you should consider the tax consequences of that residence before moving rather than waiting until you are already partway through the citizenship process.

The immigration strategy and tax strategy therefore need to be considered together.

If you are unsure, you can always Book a Consultation Call with one of our experts.

Should You Wait for Argentina Citizenship by Investment?

That depends on why you want Argentina citizenship in the first place.

If your only objective is to obtain an Argentine passport without relocating, the proposed Citizenship by Investment route is the development to watch. But there is currently no application you can submit, no confirmed investment amount, and no guaranteed launch date.

If Argentina itself makes sense as somewhere you are prepared to establish residence, the situation is different.

The existing naturalization route already provides a pathway to citizenship, and for some applicants it may make more sense to begin with a residence strategy rather than wait for a program whose final structure is still uncertain.

The choice ultimately comes down to what you are willing to exchange.

Citizenship through residence generally requires more time and genuine physical presence.

A future investment route, if it launches as proposed, would likely require significantly more capital but could remove much of that residence requirement.

Neither is automatically better.

The right route depends on whether your priority is speed, capital preservation, relocation, tax planning, family mobility or long-term access to Argentina and the wider region.

Argentina Citizenship: The Bottom Line

Argentina has become one of the most closely watched citizenship markets because it sits at the intersection of two very different opportunities.

The first is already available: a comparatively short route to naturalization for foreigners who genuinely establish themselves in the country.

The second is still developing: a proposed Citizenship by Investment program that could create a direct path for qualifying investors without the normal residence period.

For now, those two routes should not be confused, as there is no operational Argentina Citizenship by Investment program today. Until the legal questions are resolved and formal regulations are published, any investment route remains a proposal rather than something an applicant can rely on.

For someone who genuinely wants Argentina citizenship today, the existing residence and family-based routes remain the ones that matter.

FAQ

How can I get Argentina citizenship?

For most foreign nationals, the standard route is through naturalisation after establishing legal residence in Argentina and completing the required residence period. Other routes may be available through Argentine parents, a spouse, or certain family connections.

Argentina is also developing a Citizenship by Investment route, although the program is not live yet. If you are specifically interested in the investment route, you can register your interest in advance and we will contact you once applications open.

Does Argentina have citizenship by investment?

Argentina is developing a Citizenship by Investment program, but it is not operational yet. There is currently no active application process, confirmed investment threshold, or final launch date.

You can, however, register your interest now. Once the program goes live, we can contact you with the confirmed requirements and help you assess whether the route is suitable for you.

How do you get Argentina citizenship?

For most people, the usual route is to become a legal resident of Argentina, live there for the required period, and then apply for naturalization.

How long does it take to get Argentina citizenship?

The residence requirement is generally two years, but the full process usually takes longer once the citizenship application itself is included.

Does Argentina have citizenship by investment?

Not yet. Argentina has discussed a framework for citizenship through investment, but there is currently no active program accepting applications.

Can I buy Argentina citizenship?

No. There is no official route today where you can simply make an investment and receive Argentine citizenship, for now the proposed CBI route is still theoretical.

How much does Argentina citizenship by investment cost?

There is no confirmed price because the program has not launched. Figures of around US$500,000 for a contribution route and about US$1 million for a sovereign bond route have been discussed, but neither has been finalized.

Can I get Argentina citizenship by buying property?

Buying property does not automatically qualify you for citizenship, but it can be part of a broader investment or residence plan.

Can I get Argentina citizenship after two years?

Possibly. The standard naturalization route generally allows you to apply after two years of continuous legal residence.

That does not mean you will automatically receive citizenship exactly two years after arriving, since the application itself still has to be processed and approved.

Can I get Argentina citizenship through marriage?

Marriage alone does not automatically make you an Argentine citizen.

Having an Argentine spouse can, however, make the process easier in some cases depending on your circumstances.

Can I get Argentina citizenship by descent?

If you were born abroad to an Argentine parent, you may be able to claim Argentine nationality through a much simpler route than ordinary naturalization.

Does Argentina allow dual citizenship?

Yes, Argentina can recognize people who hold another nationality as well.

The main thing to check is whether your home country allows dual citizenship, since the rules there may be different.

Is the Argentine passport strong?

Yes. An Argentine passport offers broad travel access across Europe, Latin America and other regions.

It can also be valuable for people who want easier mobility within South America.

Can Argentine citizens apply for a US E-2 visa?

Yes. Argentina is an E-2 treaty country, so Argentine citizens can apply for the US E-2 Treaty Investor Visa if they meet the program’s separate business and investment requirements.

Should I wait for Argentina Citizenship by Investment?

That depends on what you want.

If you only want citizenship through investment and do not plan to live in Argentina, you will need to wait and see whether the proposed program actually launches.

If you are open to relocating, the existing residence-based naturalization route is already available.