President Javier Milei of Argentina has been touring the world, trying to attract international investment to his country. On Friday he unveiled his latest move to lure foreign dollars as he announced a so-called golden passport program.
Under the program, people who donate or lend the Argentine government hundreds of thousands of dollars can obtain an Argentine citizenship — and with it, visa free access to more than 140 countries around the world.
“This will be one more channel through which we can sell Argentina to the world,” Luis Caputo, Argentina’s economy minister, said on Friday during a summit in Paris where the program was unveiled.
The announcement comes after the European Union and the United States have pressured other countries to tighten or shut down similar programs, which were seen as vulnerable to exploitation by tax evaders or people accused of crimes seeking to avoid prosecution.
The high-priced passports have also drawn a public backlash for offering rights and privileges to the wealthy at a time when borders are increasingly being closed to poorer migrants.
Still, the Argentine government’s announcement shows Mr. Milei’s commitment to prioritizing the inflow of foreign wealth to replenish the cash strapped country’s coffers, even through programs that have been embraced by few large economies.
Under the program, applicants must donate $350,000 to the Argentine treasury or buy an $800,000 government bond. Eric Major, the chief executive of a company based in Malta advising the Argentine government on the program, predicted that the vast majority of applicants would choose to make donations over buying a bond, given Argentina’s long track record of debt defaults.
Still, he sees significant potential for the Argentine program.
While many countries, including the United States, offer residency by investment programs, only about a dozen nations have active golden passport programs, said Kristin Surak, a sociology professor at the London School of Economics who wrote a book on golden passports. And none offer visa free access to as many countries as Argentina.
Argentine passport holders can enter not only European Union nations without a visa, but also Russia and China, and they have the right to live and work anywhere in South America because of regional agreements.
Experts say golden passport programs have generated significant income for smaller countries, such as the Caribbean island nations of St. Kitts and Dominica.
While second passports have traditionally appealed to citizens of countries facing severe visa restrictions — such as Russia, China, and several Middle Eastern and African nations — an increasing number of Americans are also now applying for these programs.
“Americans want a plan B,” Mr. Major said. “It’s really about a hedge, but also a worst-case scenario.”
Argentina, which has a cumbersome tax system but sits far from major global capitals, functions less as a tax haven and more as an escape hatch, experts say. The tech billionaire Peter Thiel recently established a foothold in the country, while other millionaires view Argentina as a potential refuge from global conflicts and nuclear war.
Still, golden passport programs have also set off scandals after money launderers or other criminals and fugitives acquired passports to evade law enforcement.
“They inevitably attract some dodgy people,” said Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, a journalist who wrote a book on the sale of citizenships.
The Argentine government said in a statement that applications would be subject to a rigorous evaluation process, including checking the origins of funds from applicants, and criminal and reputational background checks.
Similar programs have also been seen as devaluing the diplomatic standing of a country’s passport. That has prompted other nations to revoke visa-free travel access for all passport holders of a country offering golden visas.
The European Union’s Court of Justice explicitly ruled against Malta’s golden passport programs, saying that citizenship — which entails a meaningful connection to a country — cannot be turned into a cash transaction. The Argentine program would not require applicants to spend any time in the country.
Such a program is rare for a nation that belongs to the Group of 20, a forum of major developed and emerging economies — Turkey is the only other G20 country that has one. But experts were not surprised by its implementation under Mr. Milei, a libertarian committed to free-market policies.
“If you believe in free markets then you may probably believe that anything can be bought and sold,” Ms. Abrahamian said, “including your citizenship.”
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