Second-Passport Market Update, October 2026: Argentina's Golden Passport, Three Closures and What Else Changed

The headline: Argentina announces a golden passport (not open yet)

On 2 October 2026 Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced Argentina's citizenship-by-investment programme. The government's own press release sets out two routes for the main applicant:

• a US$350,000 non-refundable contribution to the National Treasury, or
• subscription of a US$800,000 government bond created for the programme (press reports say it must be held for seven years; the official text does not yet say so).

A spouse and minor children can be added; a family of four totals about US$500,000. Vetting runs through a dedicated Agency for Citizenship-by-Investment Programmes, with the intelligence service, the financial intelligence unit and the Security and Interior ministries.

Two cautions. First, applications are not open — the government says they will be accepted during the fourth quarter of 2026, and the implementing rules, fees and opening date are unpublished. Second, the legal footing is contested. The scheme rests on a 2025 emergency decree, which several federal courts have ruled unconstitutional in individual cases, and opposition bills filed in both chambers would ban citizenship by investment or void grants — with no refund of non-refundable contributions.

We have added it as Argentina Citizenship by Investment, marked as not yet open. It is separate from Argentina's existing two-year naturalisation route.

Closed: three routes you can no longer apply for

• Canada – Hong Kong PR Pathway. Stopped accepting new applications on 31 August 2026. Files received by then are still processed, and an open work permit for pending applicants remains available to May 2029.
• Canada Start-Up Visa. No new commitment certificates after 31 December 2025, and the last filing window closed on 30 June 2026. Canada says a new “High Impact Start-up Pilot” will replace it, but no criteria, investment level or launch date have been published.
• Malta citizenship for exceptional services. The investment route was repealed in July 2025 after the EU Court of Justice ruling. Malta's replacement “citizenship by merit” has no investment threshold and is not an investment programme.

North Macedonia's CBI is not formally closed, but treat it as effectively closed: an authorised agent reports no new applications, the EU has asked the country to abolish the scheme, and draft amendments would remove the investment thresholds.

Costs and routes that changed

• Malta Permanent Residence Programme. The government contribution is now a flat €37,000 whether you buy or rent, plus a €60,000 administration fee and a €2,000 donation. On the rental route the first-year outlay is about €113,000; we now list the minimum at US$130,000.
• Latvia Residence by Investment. Since 15 September 2026 the real-estate and bank-deposit routes are closed to new applicants. The company route (€50,000 share capital plus a €10,000 state fee) remains; a new €150,000 state-fund route exists in law but cannot be used yet.
• Panama Qualified Investor Visa. Under Executive Decree 17 of 8 September 2026: from $300,000 for a first-sale new-build bought from the developer, $500,000 for resale property, and a new $500,000 fixed-deposit option.
• Greece Golden Visa. The €250,000 tier applies nationwide, but only for completed commercial-to-residential conversions or restored heritage buildings — the change of use must be finished before you apply. The mainstream thresholds remain €400,000 and €800,000.

Rule and timing changes

• São Tomé and Príncipe CBI. The programme's first-year report shows about two months to approval and four or more months to a passport, slower than the one to two and a half months previously quoted.
• Italy citizenship by descent. The Court of Cassation resolved the “minor issue”: a parent's naturalisation while the child was a minor no longer breaks the line for a child who was a dual citizen from birth, and earlier refusals can be re-examined. The two-generation limit introduced in 2025 still applies while the Constitutional Court's referral to the EU Court of Justice is pending.
• Slovakia citizenship by ancestry. Since 15 July 2026, descendants no longer need a Slovak residence permit first; you apply directly with documentary proof of your ancestor's Czechoslovak citizenship.
• Portugal Golden Visa. The nationality law in force since 19 May 2026 sets 10 years of residence before naturalisation (7 for EU and Portuguese-speaking-country nationals).
• US EB-5. The minimums are $800,000 (targeted employment area) and $1.05 million. Both will be inflation-adjusted for petitions filed from 1 January 2027; the new figures have not been published yet.

Claims we checked and did not adopt

Not every reported change survived a check against official sources:

• EB-5's reduced minimum is $800,000, not the $787,500 sometimes quoted.
• Panama did not simply raise its threshold to $500,000 — the $300,000 new-build route remains.
• Mauritius still requires $375,000 in qualifying property for a residence permit; the cheaper Investor Occupation Permit ($100,000 plus turnover tests) is an active-business work permit, not a passive investment.
• Malaysia MM2H's $32,000 tier exists only in the Johor special economic zone, requires buying from a Forest City developer and 90 days a year in Malaysia, so the nationwide entry point stays at $150,000.
• Reports of 14–18 month processing for new Portugal Golden Visa filings come from practitioners, not the immigration agency, so we have not changed that figure.

What this means for your shortlist

If a closed route was on your list, look at the alternatives on each programme page. For Argentina, the sensible step is to wait: the price is attractive, but you would be paying into a scheme that is not yet open and whose legal basis is under challenge. As always, confirm current terms with the official source linked on each programme page before committing funds.