Already Living in Argentina? Citizenship by Investment vs Naturalising After Two Years (2026)

Argentina announced its Citizenship by Investment Program on 2 October 2026: a direct, non-refundable US$350,000 contribution to the National Treasury, or a US$800,000 subscription to a public bond created for the program, with applications due to open in the fourth quarter of 2026. For a Brit who already lives here, the question is less whether the program exists than whether paying beats the older route, naturalisation after two years of continuous legal residence, which asks for no investment at all.

Start with your legal residence and travel record, then consider who in your household would apply. Neither meeting the residence test nor making an investment guarantees citizenship. The legal uncertainty around both routes deserves its own section. The amounts below are announced figures, and the rules that fix them have not yet appeared in the Boletín Oficial.

The two routes side by side

What the no-trips rule means for a British life

DNU 366/2025 took effect on 29 May 2025 and rewrote article 2 of Citizenship Law 346. The ordinary route requires living in Argentina "en forma continua y legal" for the two years before applying, and the decree then defines continuous: the person must have stayed in the territory for the whole period "sin haber realizado ninguna salida al exterior", without making any exit abroad.

Think about what that rules out in an ordinary expat year: a fortnight in the UK at Christmas, a wedding back home, a funeral, a summer with the grandparents. On its face the wording also covers a same-day return to Colonia, so the ferry hop in our Colonia day trip guide is not harmless once you are counting. The wording contains no short-trip exception. The decree is under court challenge, so ask a lawyer which rule and filing procedure apply to your case.

Returning to Ezeiza after a UK visit is not enough to establish a filing date. On the decree's wording, you would need two continuous years of legal residence without exits before applying. Have a lawyer check your residence status, dates and travel record, including any application already under way.

Which situation are you in?

If you may qualify through residence, compare that route before considering a large contribution. The investment route removes the decree's residence-time requirement, not the need for approval. It does not yet offer a published total processing time or settled travel obligations, so you cannot assume that paying will be quicker or allow unrestricted trips.

What the money buys, and for how many people

For the main applicant there are two announced options. One is a direct, non-refundable contribution of US$350,000 to the Tesoro Nacional. The other is a US$800,000 subscription to a public bond created for the program. Luis Caputo called it a zero-rate bond, and Bloomberg Línea reports a seven-year term. Because it is a subscription, the capital should in principle come back at maturity, but the maturity, whether the bond can be sold and what happens if citizenship is refused have not been published.

The family amounts are contributions to the Treasury on top of either main-applicant option. The bond's exact terms remain unpublished. Here is the arithmetic on the contribution option:

Ordinary naturalisation has no investment amount. Do not assume one person's residence record qualifies the whole household: ask your lawyer about each family member, including any minor children.

How the investment route would run

The Ministry says every application goes through the Agencia de Programas de Ciudadanía por Inversión, together with the SIDE (the state intelligence secretariat), the UIF (the financial intelligence unit) and the Ministries of Security and of the Interior. Reported checks cover identity, origin and traceability of funds, assets, jurisdictional risk, criminal and reputational background, and migration history. All money must go through the formal financial system under anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing rules. Paying does not guarantee citizenship.

The legal procedure comes from Decreto 524/2025, published on 31 July 2025:

1. You file the application with the Agency.
2. The Agency checks whether the investment counts as "relevante" under Ministry of Economy criteria and requests security and background reports.
3. It sends a reasoned report to the DNM recommending approval or rejection.
4. The DNM decides by a reasoned act within 30 business days of receiving the Agency's final report.
5. ARCA enables a CUIT for the new citizen.

On residence, DNU 366/2025 says the investment route applies "cualquiera sea el tiempo de residencia", whatever the time of residence. No minimum stay before or after approval has been published, so any presence or post-approval obligations depend on rules still to be issued.

You may have read that Decreto 524/2025 demands US$500,000 in agribusiness, energy, technology or tourism. It does not. The decrees set no minimum amount and no list of eligible sectors, and property purchases are not among the announced options.

What has not been published yet

• The Ministry of Economy resolution or Agency rules that set the amounts in the Boletín Oficial
• The application form or portal, and the document list
• Government fees, due diligence fees and professional fees
• How long the Agency stage takes
• Whether biometrics or an oath in person are required
• Bond terms: maturity, transferability and refund rules if citizenship is refused
• Any presence or post-approval obligations

The Ministry says the program "will be operational to receive applications during the fourth quarter of 2026". Treat anyone quoting fixed fees, timelines or guaranteed outcomes before those rules exist with caution.

The court question, and why it touches both routes

DNU 366/2025 created the investment route, moved the granting of naturalisation from federal judges to Migraciones and wrote the no-exit definition of continuous residence. Courts have questioned it. On 30 June 2026 the Cámara Nacional Electoral declared the decree null in "Yang, Liping s/ nacionalidad y ciudadanía". It held that citizenship is tied to political rights, a field article 99, clause 3 of the Constitution bars the President from regulating by decree, and it notified every federal electoral judge. Lower courts have gone the same way on parts of the decree: the Juzgado Federal 1 de Paraná in August 2025, the Cámara Civil y Comercial Federal Sala III on 18 June 2026 and the Juzgado Federal de Esquel in August 2026.

The government says the ruling is not final and that it will go to the Supreme Court. The Court has not ruled on DNU 366/2025. Its ruling of 29 September 2026 concerned the rural land decree, not citizenship. Lawyers disagree on scope. Some say Migraciones can no longer grant naturalisation since 30 June. Others, such as the Comercio y Justicia analysis of 17 September 2026, say the nullity binds only that case and the decree stays in force for everyone else.

None of the rulings reported so far deals with the investment route specifically. It rests on the same decree, though, and its last step is a Migraciones decision. The program therefore depends on a decree whose validity courts have questioned and the Supreme Court has yet to settle. Ordinary naturalisation is also affected by the challenge to the decree's changes. Do not assume that either procedure is legally settled, or that the ruling's effect is limited to the original applicant.

A Supreme Court ruling or a law passed by Congress would settle it. Get legal advice before committing funds, and ask which procedure applies to a new two-year application today.

How this differs from residence by investment and RIGI

Several labels get mixed up. Citizenship by Investment is naturalisation and ends in nationality. The investment residence category under Migration Law 25.871 is a residence permit, not citizenship. RIGI is the large-investment incentive regime for companies, not a route to a passport. For the residence categories Britons use, see our guide to Argentine bureaucracy.

What each route gives you

Either route ends in the same status: an Argentine citizen, with an Argentine passport and DNI and, as an Argentine, MERCOSUR residence rights. Caputo said the Argentine passport "cotiza muy bien" and mentioned about 140 countries; that is his figure, so check the trips you actually take.

Citizenship also brings electoral responsibilities. Under the Código Electoral Nacional, naturalised Argentines are electors from the age of 18 unless a listed disqualification applies (article 1). Electors must vote in national elections, with listed exemptions (article 12).

You keep your British citizenship. Argentina allows dual nationality in practice, and GOV.UK says dual citizenship is allowed in the UK: you can apply for foreign citizenship and keep British citizenship. For the tax side, our HMRC residency guide covers the UK rules and an Argentine accountant should cover the rest.

Steps to prepare now

1. List every entry and exit since you arrived, with passport stamps, tickets and boarding passes. You need it whether you are counting two years or answering questions on migration history.
2. Write down your residence category, its dates and any renewals, and confirm with a lawyer which time counts as legal residence.
3. If you are weighing the investment route, start a source-of-funds file: bank statements, sale contracts, accounts or payslips, tax returns and the paper trail for any inheritance or property sale. Traceability of funds is one of the reported checks.
4. Ask your lawyer which civil and police certificates to obtain and when. The program's official document list has not been published. GOV.UK explains how UK documents can be legalised with an apostille; confirm whether apostilles and sworn Spanish translations will be required before ordering them. Our apostille guide gives background.
5. Do not transfer program funds before obtaining legal advice on the rules and court risk. No application portal has been published. Funds must move through the formal financial system, and a private firm's claim to official status needs verification. No one can guarantee citizenship.
6. Speak to an Argentine lawyer about your own travel record and household before choosing a route.

Choosing a lawyer when you already live here

For a Brit already living in Argentina, we recommend Lucero Legal, a Buenos Aires immigration and citizenship law firm. Start with its guide to citizenship by investment and ask for advice on whether ordinary naturalisation could fit your circumstances instead.

Your travel record and existing residence matter as much as the announced contribution. Ask the firm to review those dates, who would apply in your family and the evidence behind your funds before you commit money. Its citizenship by investment service page is the place to enquire about preparing an application. Ask what can be prepared now and what must wait for the implementing rules. Neither a lawyer nor a payment can guarantee approval.

Questions about your own case? Talk to Lucero Legal.