Residence in Andorra
Andorra: Residence (permanent residence) Category A (“passive” residence without work permit)
Immigration to Andorra—the requirements
— Financial stability
— The absence of any criminal ties, police clearance certificate
— Medical insurance, issued by Andorran company. The average cost of a year-round insurance, depending on the age, will vary from 800 to 1200 per person
— Real estate in Andorra (including the rented one)
— 50000 euro of deposit for the applicant and 10000 euro per each dependent. The whole sum is submitted at Andorran Institute of Finances (INAF) for the period of residence validity. At that, the sum is paid back to the applicant in case the residence is not prolonged.
— The investments into the assets on the territory of Andorra in the amount of 400000 euro that presuppose acquiring real estate in the country, assets of Andorran companies, state bonds, bills, interest –free INAF deposit. The deposited sum of 50000 euro (+ corresponding sums for the dependents) is deducted from the invested funds. The time limit for presenting the documents on acquiring real estate (compromise de compra-vende), shares or other assets makes up 7 months from the moment of submitting the whole set of documents to the Immigration department.
— The confirmation of financial capacities for living on the territory of Andorra for a year in the amount of 300% of the minimum annual wages in Andorra and 100% for each dependent. The total sum will make up 34634 euro for the applicant and 11544 for each dependent. The sum is deposited to the account, launched in a bank of Andorra. The set of documents includes a bank certificate, that confirms the existence of the account with the needed sum. Further on this money can be used as 50000 euro deposit to INAF (available only for a some Andorran banks).
— Staying in the country no less than 90 days annually
New applicants or “passive” residents of A,B,C categories may obtain labor permit or “active” residence type in case of launching business in Andorra (see the article “The registration of companies in Andorra”)
The list of documents, needed for the candidates from the countries of Eastern Europe and Russia can be found in the article “List of documents”)
Possible domains of perspective investments for the applicants
Real estate in Andorra: The demands of Immigration department allow taking mortgage loans for acquiring real estate in Andorra. Nevertheless, the sum of preliminary invested funds should make no less than 350 000 euro (400000 euro minus 50000 euro of deposit to Andorran Institute of Finances). Though, in the recent two years the banks of Andorra have decreased the total amount of mortgage loans for non-residents as well as for those who seek residence.
In case of acquiring a land parcel, the applicant is obliged to finish the construction works (on the turnkey basis) here as well as register it in the corresponding authorities within 12 months period. Architectural bureaus and construction companies estimated this type of work to take from 8 to 12 months depending on the level of complexity. But the primary set of documents for Andorran Department of Immigration (in case the applicant intends to acquire a land parcel ) should obligatory contain the confirmation of housing rent for the period of construction.
Shares and funds of Andorran banks. The demands of Andorran Immigration Department allow a mere depositing of the required sum to the account at Andorran bank for the period of residence validity, at that the income will not be taxed. Currently the banks of Andorra offer a variety of programs for the residence applicants within the bounds of existing demands of Andorran Immigration Department. A number of programs offer 200 000 euro as minimum sum of investments, at that the sum can be divided by 2 equal parts for the fixed deposit and for the investment fund. The profitability of fixed deposit funds can make up to 3%, the rest of 100000 euro can be settled by the bank to different investment funds (with the guaranteed annual rate from 2% to 14% into the developing markets). At that some of Andorran banks do not presuppose any penalties for untimely termination of these programs. That can be interesting in case an applicant, that has invested his funds into the banking programs, will get interested in acquiring real estate on the territory of the country. Read the article “Andorran Banks”.
The shares of Andorran companies (limited liability company, joint stock company). In practice such investments will face a number of impediments related to the structure of Andorran companies and the necessity to sign special share transfer agreement due to the absence of share market in Andorra.
State bonds and bills of Andorran companies. In practice, such investments are hardly viably for the timely submit of the total set of residence documents due to the determined dates of bonds and bills emissions. Currently the annual profitability of state bonds makes 2.92%.
Look here for the list of licensed companies for this service in Yellow pages.
See here CONS & PROS for living in Andorra