Argentina moves towards a citizenship by investment programme, proposes selecting a consortium of four companies

At the end of 2025, the Argentine Ministry of Economy issued an international tender to select a consultancy firm responsible for designing, implementing, and operating the country’s first citizenship by investment programme. The contract is expected to last 4 years and includes tasks ranging from programme architecture to global promotion and operational management.

The project is overseen by the Citizenship by Investment Programme Agency (APCI), established under Decree 366/2025 and regulated by Decree 524/2025. This agency will oversee programme design, coordinate government oversight, and ultimately provide recommendations on applications.

Government forecasts indicate the programme could process up to 5,000 approved applications within the initial contract term, although investment thresholds and eligible sectors remain undefined.

Six bidders participate

The tender process has attracted interest from many global residency and citizenship by investment firms. According to published tender information, six companies submitted formal bids after an initial 11 entities participated in the procurement process.

Among the bidders are several prominent names in the residency and citizenship by investment industry, including Henley & Partners, Latitude Consultancy Malta, Salzburg International For Law (Reach Immigration), Hong Kong Qian Cheng Business Co., Ancova Associates, and a four-company consortium comprising Apex Capital Partners, AIM Global, Passport Legacy, and Arton Capital.

The participation of well-known industry operators underscores the strategic importance of Argentina’s potential move into the global citizenship by investment market.

The consortium’s striking pricing strategy

One of the most notable aspects of the tender process is the pricing structure proposed by the four-company consortium.

The group offered to receive a total of only US$50,000 from the government for the first 5,000 approved applications, equivalent to approximately US$10 per application.

In comparison with other entities, Henley & Partners, for instance, submitted a proposal where government payments range from US$2,000 per approved application in the early stages to US$8,000 per application in later stages, with a total potential value of approximately US$25 million if 5,000 applications are approved.

At first glance, the consortium’s extremely low price may seem economically unviable. However, Argentina’s tender structure helps explain this strategy. The government allows the lead operator to charge applicants directly for processing, due diligence, and administrative services, meaning the government payment is only one part of the potential revenue model.

In practice, this shows that the consortium’s approach focuses less on government payments and more on managing the flow of investors and the associated service fees of the programme.

How the payment model operates

Argentina structured the tender into five tranches, each of 1,000 approved applications, with a fixed government payment to the contractor for each approved file.

However, a key clause aims to prevent market monopoly: the contractor only receives government payments for applications submitted through independent licensed agents, which does not apply to cases sourced directly by the lead operator itself.

This model forces the operator to build a global network of licensed intermediaries while ensuring broader market participation.

This also creates a dual revenue framework: government payments for applications submitted via licensed agents, and fees from investors for processing, due diligence, and administrative services. Such structures are not uncommon in the residency and citizenship by investment industry but are rarely presented as clearly in public tender documents.

Programme design remains largely unknown

Although the selection process for the lead operator is underway, the Argentina citizenship by investment programme itself remains largely undefined.

The winning consultancy firm will be responsible for designing many core elements of the programme, including minimum investment thresholds, eligible investment types, application procedures, and due diligence frameworks, as well as global marketing and distribution strategies.

Government documents have not confirmed any minimum investment levels, although some media speculation mentions a potential threshold of approximately US$500,000. There is currently no official figure in the legal framework.

Strategic implications for the industry

Argentina’s move into the residency and citizenship by investment sector could reshape the regional landscape.

Most Latin American countries do not have an official citizenship by investment programme, making Argentina’s initiative potentially the first large-scale programme of its kind in South America. If successfully implemented, the programme could attract significant foreign capital while providing investors with access to a passport with strong global mobility and Mercosur regional rights.

At the same time, the programme will likely face scrutiny from international regulators and visa-free partners, especially given the increasing global attention on due diligence and governance standards in citizenship by investment programmes.