Three programs, side by side.

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Direct citizenship

Argentina Citizenship

Direct citizenship

Costa Rica Residency

Temporary residency · Path to permanent residency · Path to citizenship

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

From $230,000 · 5 routes

Argentina Citizenship

From $350,000 · 2 routes

Costa Rica Residency

No capital investment

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

• Government contribution
• Real estate
• Business investment

Argentina Citizenship

• Government contribution
• Bonds

Costa Rica Residency

• Business investment
• Real estate
• Income requirement

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

• Qualifying investment
• Government fees

Argentina Citizenship

• Qualifying investment
• Government fees

Costa Rica Residency

• Qualifying investment
• Government fees
• Other costs

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Variable

Argentina Citizenship

Variable

Costa Rica Residency

7 to 12 months

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Minimal

Argentina Citizenship

None

Costa Rica Residency

Minimal

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Currently at least 5 days in Antigua and Barbuda during the first five calendar years after citizenship, according to the CIU. The Government has cited the strengthening of the residency requirement by legislation, and a Citizenship by Investment (Amendment) Bill 2026 was listed for first reading in the House of Representatives on 16 June 2026; its passage has not been confirmed in an official source. The ECCIRA Agreement Act 2025 sets 30 days in aggregate for applications made once the regional agreement applies. Confirm the rule for your application date with the licensed agent before filing.

Argentina Citizenship

None stated

Costa Rica Residency

There is no minimum number of days. Temporary residency is cancelled after more than two consecutive years outside Costa Rica, and permanent residency after more than four, unless the absence is justified. An absence of more than one year means a written explanation and a police certificate from the country where you stayed at renewal, so in practice most holders visit at least once a year.

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Passport valid for 5 years.

Argentina Citizenship

Not applicable — citizenship is permanent

Costa Rica Residency

Temporary residency covers years 0 to 3, after about 7 to 12 months of processing (Wealthy Expat's estimate). Permanent residency follows from year 3.

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Passport renewal is considered only if the holder has spent a total of 5 days in Antigua and Barbuda in the 5-year period. Renewal application fee: US$1,000 per person aged 18 and over, US$500 for 17 and under.

Argentina Citizenship

Not applicable — citizenship is permanent

Costa Rica Residency

Temporary residency is renewed every two years, with the dependents, and a card not renewed within three months of expiry can be cancelled. At each renewal DGME checks uninterrupted national health insurance (CCSS), your entries and exits, and for Rentista income from abroad that it was transferred to a Costa Rican bank each month.

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Spouse, minor children, adult dependent children, parents, grandparents, other dependents

Argentina Citizenship

Spouse, minor children, adult dependent children

Costa Rica Residency

Spouse, minor children, adult dependent children

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

• Spouse: A future spouse can be added after citizenship for a US$50,000 fee, payable on application (cip.gov.ag, Dependants).
• Adult dependent children: Children aged 30 or younger who are financially dependent on the main applicant; children of any age who are physically or mentally incapacitated and fully supported by the main applicant.
• Parents: Parents of the main applicant or spouse aged 55 or over and fully supported by the main applicant; parents of any age who are physically or mentally incapacitated and fully supported.
• Grandparents: Grandparents of the main applicant or spouse aged 55 or over and fully supported by the main applicant; grandparents of any age who are physically or mentally incapacitated and fully supported.
• Other dependents: Unmarried brothers and sisters of the main applicant or spouse. A sibling under 18 needs the consent of a parent or guardian.

Argentina Citizenship

• Spouse: Joins by proving the family relationship and making an additional US$100,000 Treasury contribution.
• Minor children: Each child under 18 joins with an additional US$25,000 Treasury contribution.
• Adult dependent children: Unmarried and without children of their own. Each joins with an additional US$100,000 Treasury contribution. How and when the age limit is assessed has not been published.

Costa Rica Residency

Adult dependent children: Rentista and Pensionado: children under 25 and adult children with a disability. Inversionista: adult children with a disability, and single children under 25 who are studying and economically dependent. Dependents renew with the main applicant every two years.

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Not specified

Argentina Citizenship

Not specified

Costa Rica Residency

• Path to permanent residency
• Path to citizenship

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

• The main applicant must be 18 or over and make one of the four qualifying investments.
• Apply through a licensed agent in Antigua and Barbuda; the CIU may request more information or an interview.
• Applicants are refused for false information, or where a medical practitioner reports that a family member has a contagious disease or serious health problems.
• Successful applicants may not change their name for the issue of the Antigua and Barbuda passport.

Argentina Citizenship

Not specified

Costa Rica Residency

• Register with your own embassy in Costa Rica.
• Civil and police documents issued abroad must carry an apostille or be authenticated by the Costa Rican consulate in the issuing country, and every document in a foreign language must be translated into Spanish.

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Nationals of Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan may apply only if they migrated before the age of majority and/or held permanent residence in a non-restricted country for at least 10 years, with no economic ties to a restricted country.

Argentina Citizenship

Not specified

Costa Rica Residency

Not specified

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

• Applicants are refused if, without a free pardon, they were convicted of an offence carrying a maximum penalty of more than six months' imprisonment, are under criminal investigation, are a potential security risk, or are involved in activity likely to bring Antigua and Barbuda into disrepute.
• Applicants are refused if a country with which Antigua and Barbuda has visa-free travel denied them a visa and has not since issued one.

Argentina Citizenship

Pass the Agency's vetting of identity, the traceability and lawful origin of funds, assets and finances, jurisdictional risk, criminal and reputational records, and immigration history.

Costa Rica Residency

A national, fingerprint-based police record. Local or state reports are not accepted.

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

Not specified

Argentina Citizenship

• Make the non-refundable Treasury contribution of US$350,000, or buy the US$800,000 government bond, and prove the family relationship for each dependant you add.
• Move every payment through the formal financial system, meeting anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing and financial-transparency standards.

Costa Rica Residency

• Inversionista: invest from USD 150,000 in shares of an active Costa Rican company or in real estate registered in your personal name.
• Rentista: proof of at least USD 2,500 a month of permanent, stable income for at least two years.
• Pensionado: a lifetime pension of at least USD 1,000 a month, evidenced by a document from the competent authority.

Antigua & Barbuda Citizenship

• Since 1 January 2026, US Presidential Proclamation 10998 (signed 16 December 2025) has suspended entry of Antigua and Barbuda nationals as immigrants and as nonimmigrants on B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2, F, M and J visas, and directs shorter validity for other nonimmigrant visas. It cites citizenship by investment without residency. Antigua and Barbuda is also included in the US Visa Bond Program, which the United States made permanent in August 2026; in January 2026 the Government said the bond applied only to a narrow category of new visitor visa applicants who qualify under limited exceptions.
• Under the current rule, citizenship may be withdrawn if the citizen does not spend at least 5 days in Antigua and Barbuda during the first five calendar years, with no repayment of the investment.
• The presence rule may change. The Government has cited the strengthening of the residency requirement by legislation (2 August 2026), and a Citizenship by Investment (Amendment) Bill 2026 was listed for first reading in the House of Representatives on 16 June 2026 (Cabinet notes of 10 June 2026); its passage has not been confirmed in an official source. For applications made once the regional agreement applies, the ECCIRA Agreement Act 2025 (No. 18 of 2025) requires at least 30 days of presence in the first five calendar years, which the family can count together, and at least 5 days for each person in the first 12 months; adds an integration programme that may include an interview; and issues passports for 5 years, renewable for 10 only once the CIU certifies that the presence and integration requirements have been met. The Act takes effect on a date set by Ministerial Order.
• In a letter dated 25 June 2026, the European Commission formally asked Antigua and Barbuda to phase out its citizenship-by-investment programme by 1 June 2028, under the EU's revised visa suspension mechanism. Schengen visa-free access is not suspended, and the government has said the programme will continue.
• Real estate bought under the programme cannot be resold within five years of purchase, except into another approved property.
• Requirements, fees and processing estimates can change.

Argentina Citizenship

• Decreto (DNU) 366/2025, which created the investment route and the Agency, has been challenged in court. On 18 June 2026 a federal appeals court (Sala III, Cámara Nacional de Apelaciones en lo Civil y Comercial Federal) held it unconstitutional, as regards moving naturalisation from the courts, in one applicant's case and returned her request to a federal judge. On 30 June 2026 the Cámara Nacional Electoral declared the decree null in another applicant's case and told the Ministry of Security to instruct the National Directorate of Migration accordingly. Neither ruling examined the investment route itself, although the decree the Cámara Nacional Electoral declared null is the one that created it. The second case is reported to be before the Supreme Court.
• The government bond ties up US$800,000; its terms have not been published, and press reports say it must be held for seven years and pays no interest. Advisers note that a lower entry price does not make a route the right one without comparing liquidity and opportunity cost.
• Requirements, fees and processing estimates can change.

Costa Rica Residency

• The Inversionista amount needs written confirmation. Law 9996 set USD 150,000 for the law's own term, and its five-year window for incentives closed on 14 July 2026; the regulation in force (Executive Decree 43926 of 2023) still states USD 150,000 and repealed the old USD 200,000 rule.
• Temporary residency under these three routes does not include permission to work in Costa Rica.
• Citizenship cannot be held from abroad. Naturalization needs seven years of genuinely living in Costa Rica (five for Central American, Spanish and Ibero-American nationals by birth), your entry and exit record is checked, and extended absences count against you.
• Older descriptions of the Rentista route mention a USD 60,000 bank deposit and a four-month annual stay. The regulation in force sets neither, and since 2023 a deposit paid back in monthly instalments does not count as income.
• Marriage certificates and police records are valid for six months from issue, so timing matters.
• Requirements, fees and processing estimates can change. Timelines are Wealthy Expat's estimates, not guaranteed decision dates.