Argentina is putting the finishing touches on a major push to entice HNWs to the country.
In October, economy minister Luis Caputo announced plans to offer citizenship in exchange for either a $350,000 non-refundable Treasury payment, or a $800,000 zero-interest government bond.
Under the proposals, wealthy individuals can also bring their spouse (a $100,000 Treasury payment), adult children aged between 18 and 25 ($100,000 each) or children under 18 ($25,000 each).
[See also: Best global mobility, residence & citizenship by investment advisers]
Related
According to The New York Times, Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel temporarily relocated his family to Argentina earlier this year, buying a mansion in Buenos Aires (which attracted protestors in August).
Forbes Argentina wrote that Thiel’s $12 million home is located in the city’s well-heeled Palermo Chico neighbourhood, known for its early 20th century mansions and embassy buildings.
The Times also reported that Thiel has purchased a Uruguayan property near Punta del Este, a tourist destination near the ocean referred to as the ‘Hamptons of South America’.
[See also: Interest in ‘golden visas’ up sevenfold in a decade: where are UHNWs moving next?]
Content from our partners
Paul Williams, CEO of citizenship-by-investment (CBI) advisory firm La Vida, told Spear’s that the plans have already ‘generated some strong early interest’.
‘It combines a competitive entry point with a passport which opens access to Europe, the UK, and several of the world’s top economies. That is exactly what our clients would be looking for in a Latin American option,’ he said.
Eric Major is the CEO of Latitude Group, which is one of five investment migration firms advising Argentina’s government on the design and implementation of the scheme. Arton Capital, Passport Legacy, AIM Global and Apex Capital Partners are also involved.
[See also: Should you move to Greece, like Chris Rokos?]
Major told Spear’s that work is underway on the ‘final trimmings of the programme’, and that President Javier Milei’s government is keen to get the scheme up and running before the end of the year, but legal challenges may thwart that timeline. As the programme was created by presidential decree, it is now before the country’s Supreme Court.
Despite the question marks around the scheme, Major said early interest is high – particularly from wealthy individuals in Asia and the US.
‘It’s very exciting to see people in the industry talking about it, and hungry for information. There is a process of pre-registration that all these firms have started, and demand has been quite strong,’ Major said.
[See also: Permira chair moves to Switzerland as wealthy executives rethink residency strategies]
Isobel Neilson, a director in the law firm Fragomen’s private client team, said that global mobility advisers have been ‘waiting for this with bated breath for a while’, but that HNWs should ask some questions of the scheme before going all in.
‘How long is it going to last? Are the Argentinians going to shut it down next time there’s an election because they don’t like the way it looks to the rest of the world?’
But while Argentina is gearing up to launch its CBI programme, the model falls out of favour across large parts of the world, Neilson said.
The European Union is currently putting pressure on Caribbean countries to stop offering passports for foreign investors, which give buyers EU access.
[See also: Who’s on the move? David Reuben joins UK billionaire exodus list]
Last month, the Dominican government said the EU had ‘indicated’ to Caribbean nations with CBI programmes (including Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Lucia) that they ‘must transition away from them by June 2028 to retain visa-free access to the Schengen Area’.
‘If you look at it broadly, citizenship by investment – particularly in Europe – is a thing of the past,’ she told Spear’s.
‘The pivot that’s happened over the past few years is that things have become much more complicated. What we’re seeing our clients look at a lot more are these discretionary routes for citizenship, which are merit-based and based on exceptional contribution, and that’s a really different ball game.’
[See also: Inside Milan’s rise as a haven for the world’s wealthiest]
In contrast to transaction-based CBI schemes, Neilson said she’s noticed more interest and movement in this ‘discretionary space’ – which she said is characterised by ‘that little piece of legislation that each country will have which will enable them to grant citizenship at a ministerial level for those who make an exceptional contribution’.
Croatia, Slovenia, and Poland are three of the most active countries for this currently, Neilson said, adding that France would have been in this bracket a few years ago but no longer: ‘It’s not really something that they’re looking to entertain at the moment.’
One country which encapsulates this ‘pivot’ is Malta, which closed its CBI scheme after a European Court of Justice ruling declaring it unlawful in April last year. Since then, Malta has removed the offending legislation, and instead strengthened existing laws on ‘merit-based citizenship’.
