The Legal Basis of Argentina's Citizenship by Investment and the Court Challenge

I read the decree texts myself, because with a new programme the legal basis matters more than any brochure. Below is what the documents on Argentina.gob.ar say, and where the risk is.

Citizenship Law No. 346 after 2025

Decree 366/2025 of 28 May 2025, published in the Official Gazette the next day, replaced Article 2 of the law. Two groups are now citizens by naturalisation:

1. Foreigners over 18 who have lived in Argentina continuously and legally for the two years before the application, with no trips abroad in that period, and who apply to the National Directorate of Migration.
2. Foreigners who prove to the Directorate that they have made a relevant investment in the country, whatever the length of their residence.

A new Article 2 bis says the Ministry of Economy decides which investments are relevant. Article 6 bis creates the Citizenship by Investment Programmes Agency, a decentralised body of that ministry, headed by an Executive Director with the rank of undersecretary. Among its duties is to publish every year the investments received through the programmes.

Decree 524/2025: the procedure

Decree 524/2025, published on 31 July 2025, describes the path: the application goes to the Agency, the Agency checks whether the investment is relevant, asks security and financial bodies for reports, and sends a recommendation to the Directorate of Migration, which decides within 30 business days. It also tells the tax agency ARCA to make it possible to issue a CUIT tax number to new citizens, and lets the Agency issue its own complementary rules.

Announced, not yet regulated

The announcement of 2 October 2026 gives the amounts. I did not find a Ministry of Economy resolution fixing them or the Agency’s rules in the official sources by 30 October 2026. BRIDGES reports that Decree 285/2026 of 22 April 2026 appointed the Agency’s Executive Director; I could not open that decree myself.

The Electoral Chamber ruling

Before 2025, naturalisation was decided by federal judges. Decree 366/2025 moved it to the Directorate of Migration. According to the summary published by the Public Defender’s Office, dated 30 June 2026, the National Electoral Chamber declared the decree of necessity and urgency 366/2025 null in the case of an applicant for naturalisation. The judges found no exceptional urgency that made the normal law-making process impossible. Court records show that the government filed an extraordinary federal appeal. BRIDGES writes that on 24 September 2026 the Chamber admitted the appeal and the case went to the Supreme Court.

What it means

The programme rests on the article this decree added to the citizenship law. A ruling in one case does not repeal a decree for everyone, but a Supreme Court decision would weigh heavily. As of 30 October 2026 the government still promises applications in the fourth quarter. I tell families honestly: this is a real legal risk, and it is not yet resolved.

Bills in Congress

BRIDGES reports two bills to ban citizenship by investment: 5254-D-2026, filed in the Chamber of Deputies on 2 October 2026, and S-1441/26 in the Senate, under review since August. Both were in committee. I could not check their status in the Congress databases myself.