Official · 02.10.2026Argentina announces South America's first Citizenship by Investment Programme→
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What Malta's court defeat teaches Argentina's buyers

In April 2025 Europe's highest court ended Malta's passport programme. Argentina is not bound by that court, but it faces its own legal test. Durability, not price, is now the first question to ask of any programme.

Updated 8 min readSourced from official announcements

Key facts

  • 29 April 2025: the EU Court of Justice ruled that Malta's investor citizenship breached EU law (C-181/23).
  • 24 July 2025: Malta replaced the programme with a discretionary merit route.
  • 30 December 2025: Regulation (EU) 2025/2441 made investor citizenship a ground to suspend visa-free travel to Schengen.
  • June 2026: two Argentine appeal courts ruled against DNU 366/2025. The Supreme Court has not yet decided (legal status).

For about a decade, Malta sold one of the strongest passports available for money. Then a court in Luxembourg closed it. The case changed how serious investors, and their advisers, judge every programme. The first question is no longer “how much?” but “will this still stand in ten years?” That question now applies to Argentina citizenship by investment, which faces a court test of its own.

What the Court decided

The European Commission took Malta to the Court of Justice in 2023. In October 2024, Advocate General Collins advised the Court to dismiss the case. He argued that EU law contains no “genuine link” test and that nationality is a matter for each member state. The Court disagreed.

On 29 April 2025 it held that Malta had breached Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU and the duty of sincere cooperation in Article 4(3) of the Treaty on European Union. Member states decide who their citizens are, but they must do so consistently with EU law. A procedure that grants nationality essentially in exchange for set payments or investments is, in the Court’s view, transactional. It undermines the relationship of solidarity and good faith between a state and its nationals, and the mutual trust between member states that EU citizenship relies on.

What happened next

Malta moved quickly. Parliament passed amendments on 24 July 2025 that ended the investor route and replaced it with a discretionary route for exceptional services or contribution, based on a genuine link. Adviser sources say existing citizens were not stripped of nationality by the judgment itself.

The EU then turned to countries outside the Union. Regulation (EU) 2025/2441 entered into force on 30 December 2025. It lets the EU suspend visa-free travel to the Schengen Area for countries that grant citizenship for payment without a genuine link. Vanuatu had already lost visa-free Schengen access over its programme, permanently from February 2025. IMI Daily reports, citing Antigua’s government, that the Commission has asked the five Caribbean programmes to end citizenship by investment by June 2028.

Two programmes, side by side

Malta (since July 2025) Argentina CBI
Cost No published price; investor route closed US$350,000 contribution (not refundable) or US$800,000 bond
Route type Discretionary naturalisation for exceptional merit Naturalisation for a “relevant investment” (DNU 366/2025)
Processing time Not fixed Not yet published; Migraciones has 30 business days after the Agency’s report
Family Not set out for investors Spouse US$100,000; children 18–25 US$100,000 each; under 18 US$25,000 each
Passport reach 185 destinations (5th, Henley July 2026) plus EU rights About 170 destinations
Physical presence Genuine link required Not yet published
Key risks Not available to investors Supreme Court appeal; possible EU visa-waiver scrutiny

Argentina’s challenge is different in kind

Malta’s programme was a statute that fell foul of a higher legal order: EU law. Argentina’s programme faces a domestic constitutional question about how it was created.

DNU 366/2025 is a decree of necessity and urgency, published on 29 May 2025. It amended the 1869 citizenship law, Ley 346, to allow naturalisation for a relevant investment regardless of residence. Congress has not passed a law creating the programme.

Two appeal courts have ruled against the decree. On 18 June 2026, Chamber III of the federal civil and commercial appeals court, in the Volosh case, declared unconstitutional the parts that gave citizenship decisions to Migraciones. On 30 June 2026 the Cámara Nacional Electoral reached a broader conclusion in the Liping Yang case. It reasoned that citizenship is linked to political rights, and that Article 99(3) of the Constitution bars emergency decrees on electoral matters. It sent citizenship cases back to federal electoral judges under Ley 346. The government has appealed to the Supreme Court and says the decree remains in force until the ruling is final.

So the Argentine question is about form and procedure: who may grant citizenship, and through what kind of legal instrument. Malta’s question was about substance: whether a member state may sell EU citizenship at all.

Five lessons for durability

  1. The legal instrument matters. A programme created by statute is harder to undo than one created by decree. Argentina’s position would be stronger if Congress passed a law; as of 2 October 2026 it had not, and a deputy has proposed a bill to ban the programme.
  2. External rules can override national ones. Malta’s own law was valid in Malta and still fell. Argentina is outside the EU, but its visa-free Schengen access could in principle be examined under Regulation 2025/2441. We have seen no public EU statement about Argentina’s programme as of 2 October 2026.
  3. Genuine links are the new test. Malta’s replacement route, the EU’s letter to the Caribbean and the US restrictions on Antigua and Dominica all point the same way: citizenship without residence draws scrutiny. Argentina has not yet said whether it will impose any residence or presence condition.
  4. Past grants are usually, but not always, safe. Malta did not revoke past grants as a result of the judgment, according to advisers. Cyprus has revoked some. If Argentina’s Supreme Court rules against the decree, the position of citizenship already granted under it is uncertain.
  5. Due diligence is your best protection. Programmes that lose legitimacy tend to revisit their weakest files first. A clean, well-documented source of funds is the strongest safeguard an applicant controls.
Note. This analysis is general information, not legal advice. Before you pay, ask a qualified Argentine lawyer how a Supreme Court ruling could affect your application or grant. Read our legal status briefing.

Who should weigh this most

Applicants who need certainty for a long horizon, such as succession planning or a child’s future, should give legal durability the most weight. Those who need a passport mainly for near-term travel may accept more risk. Either way, compare the risk profile, not just the price; see the cheapest programmes of 2026 and the best programmes by use case.

The honest verdict

Malta showed that a programme can be popular, legally enacted and well administered, and still end. Argentina’s programme faces a narrower and more domestic risk: a Supreme Court decision on how citizenship may be granted. That risk may be resolved in the government’s favour, or by legislation. It may not. Buyers should price it in, ask for clear refund terms before paying, and follow our news page for the ruling. Compare the Caribbean position in Argentina vs St Kitts and Nevis.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

What did the EU Court of Justice decide in case C-181/23?

On 29 April 2025 it held that Malta breached EU law by granting citizenship in exchange for predetermined payments or investments. It said such a transactional procedure is incompatible with the relationship of solidarity and good faith between a state and its nationals that underlies EU citizenship.

Does the Malta ruling apply to Argentina?

Not directly. Argentina is not an EU member state, so the Court's ruling on EU citizenship does not bind it. But the EU can now suspend visa-free travel for third countries that run investor citizenship schemes, under Regulation (EU) 2025/2441.

What is the legal challenge to Argentina's programme?

Two appeal courts ruled against DNU 366/2025 in June 2026: the federal civil and commercial appeals court in the Volosh case on 18 June, and the Cámara Nacional Electoral on 30 June. The government has appealed to the Supreme Court.

Did Malta revoke the citizenship of past investors?

Adviser sources report that the judgment does not require Malta to revoke citizenship already granted, and we have found no official revocation programme. Cyprus, which closed its own scheme, has revoked some investor passports.

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