Options for Living in Belize

By Lan Sluder

Excerpted from Easy Belize: How to Live, Retire, Work or Invest in the Little Frost-Free, English-Speaking Paradise on the Caribbean Coast, an eBook available for US$20 from http://www.escapeartist.com/e_Books/Belize2/Live_In_Belize.html

There are three options for those wishing to retire in Belize or to spend extended
periods of time in the country. Each has advantages and disadvantages.

1. TOURIST CARD. This is the easiest, cheapest way to live in the country for a
while, and it requires no long-term commitment.

The procedure is simple: You get a 30-day entry card free when you arrive in the
country by air, land or sea. After 30 days, you can go to an immigration office (or
police station in remote areas) and renew the tourist card monthly for US$25 a month
for up to six months, and then US$50 a month after that.

Citizens of the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Norway, Venezuela,
Hong Kong and CARICOM member states get a tourist card without having to apply in
advance for a tourist visa. Other nationals must apply in advance for a tourist visa, and
in some cases there is a fee. See the Belize Tourism Board web site,
www.travelbelize.org for details.

As a tourist card holder, you can enjoy Belize without a long-term commitment. You
can buy or rent property, but you cannot work for pay. In theory, when you renew your
tourist card, you are supposed to be able to prove that you have sufficient resources,
set at US$60 a day, to stay in Belize, but this requirement is not usually enforced. Of
course, there is no guarantee that you will be able to renew your card indefinitely, as
rules and conditions can change, as you have no official residency status.

If you fail to renew your permit in a timely way, or if you overstay your allotted time,
technically you are in violation of Belize law and can be deported. As a practical
matter, if you can offer a good reason why you failed to follow the law, and are very
friendly to Immigration officers, you’ll probably be let off with a short lecture from the
official, and perhaps a fine.

2. QUALIFIED RETIRED PERSON STATUS. The Qualified Retired Persons
Incentive Act passed by the Belize legislature in 1999 is being implemented by the
Belize Tourism Board. The program is designed to attract more retirees to Belize. In the
first year of operation, the program attracted considerable interest and a number of
applications. But the Belize Tourism Board now declines to disclose publicly how many
applications it has received and how many have been approved. However, we
understand that there are at most a few hundred participants in the program.

Interest in the program appears to be fairly high, but because of the income
requirement, inability to work for pay in Belize and other factors, the actual number of
retirees under the program in Belize is as yet relatively small and far fewer than are in
programs in Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico and elsewhere.

For those who can show the required monthly income from investments or pensions,
this program offers benefits of official residency and tax-free entry of the retiree’s
household goods and a car, boat and even an airplane. This program also eliminates
some of the bureaucratic delays built into other programs. The BTB guarantees action
on an application in no more than three months, but we have heard of qualified retirees
getting approval for this program in only a few weeks.

Who qualifies? Anyone at least 45 years old from anywhere in the
world can qualify for the program. A person who qualifies can also include his or her
dependents in the program. Dependents include spouses and children under the age of
18. However, it can include children under the age of 23 if enrolled in a university.

Benefits: Besides prompt approval of residency for qualifying applicants, import
duties and fees for household goods and a vehicle, airplane and boat are waived.

Duty-free import of personal household effects: Qualified Retired Persons under
the program can qualify for duty and tax exemptions on new and used personal and
household effects admitted as such by the Belize Tourism Board. A list of all items with
corresponding values that will be imported must be submitted with the application. A
one-year period is granted for the importation of personal and household effects.

Duty-free import of a vehicle, aircraft and boat:

a. Motor Vehicle: Applicants are encouraged to import new motor vehicles under the
program, but the vehicle must be no more than three years old. A Qualified Retired
Person may also buy a vehicle duty-free in country.

b. Light Aircraft: A Qualified Retired Person is entitled to import a light aircraft less than
17,000 kg. A Qualified Retired Person is required to have a valid Private Pilot license to
fly in Belize. This license can be obtained by passing the requirements set by the Civil
Aviation. However, if the participant has a valid pilot’s license, that license only has to
be validated by Civil Aviation Department in Belize.

c. Boat: Any vessel that is used for personal purposes and for pleasure will be
accepted under this program.

If for whatever reason a Qualified Retired Person decides to sell, give away, lease, or
otherwise dispose of the approved means of transportation or personal effects to any
person or entity within Belize, all duties and taxes must be paid to the proper
authorities.

The Belize Tourism Board states: “Qualified Retired Persons must note that only after
three years and upon proof that the transportation that was previously imported to
Belize was adequately disposed off, will another concession be granted to import
another mode of transportation.”

Income requirement: To be designated a Qualified Retired Person under the program,
the applicant must have a monthly income of at least US$2,000. A couple does not
need to show US$4,000 a month – just US$2,000, as the applicant is normally an
individual and the applicant’s spouse is a dependent under the program.

The income rules for Qualified Retired Persons are, like many things in Belize, a little
confusing. On first reading, it looks like the income must derive from a pension or
annuity that has been generated outside of Belize. The rules do not specifically say so,
but according to Belize Tourism Board officials U.S. Social Security income can be
included as part of this pension requirement. This pension and annuity information
then has to be substantiated by a Certified Public Accountant, along with two bank
references from the company providing the pension or annuity. These substantiations
may not be required if your pension and/or annuity is from a Fortune 500 company.
That indeed is one way to show that you have the necessary income. However, there
is another way. You can demonstrate that you have the necessary income by providing
documentation that you have deposited the money in a Belize bank. Several retirees
have told me that they were able to include other forms of income, including investment
income, in the US$2,000 figure. In this latter case, the US$2,000 a month income
(US$24,000 a year) can be substantiated by showing records from a bank or other
financial institution in Belize that the retiree has deposited the necessary money. As a
practical matter, some retirees say that they have not been asked to provide
documentation, at least not yet.

Background check: All applications are subject to a background check by the
Ministry of National Security.

Application: Applications for the program must be made to the Belize Tourism Board
in Belize City and include the following:

Birth certificate: A certified copy of a certificate for the applicant and each dependant.
Marriage certificate if applicant is married and spouse is a dependant.

Authentic police record: A police record from the applicant’s last place of residency
issued within one month prior to the application

Passport: Color copies of complete passport (including all blank pages) of applicant
and all dependents that have been certified by a Notary Public. The copies must have
the passport number, name of principal, number of pages and the seal or stamp of the
Notary Public.

Proof of income: An official statement from a bank or financial institution certifying that
the applicant is the recipient of a pension or annuity of a minimum of US$ 2,000 per
month.

Medical examination: Applicants should undergo a complete medical examination
including an AIDS test. A copy of the medical certificate must be attached to the
application.

Photos: Four front and four-side passport size photographs that have been taken
recently of applicant and dependents.

The application form for the Qualified Retired Persons Program is available for
download on the Belize Tourism Board Website at www.belizeretirement.org.

Application fees and costs for the QRP program have increased and now total US$1,350 for an individual or $2,100 for a couple.

For information on the program, contact:

Belize Tourism Board
P.O. Box 325
Belize City, Belize, Central America
Tel: 501-223-1913 or 1-800-624-0686
Fax: 501-223-1943


3. OFFICIAL PERMANENT RESIDENT: Requirements and benefits are similar
to those of the Retired Persons Incentive Act. The application process and supporting
documents needed are virtually the same as for retired residency. Here are the main
differences:

As a regular permanent resident, you do not have to deposit any particular sum
in a bank in Belize. However, you do have to show financial resources sufficient to
obtain residency status.

You can work for pay in Belize.

At times recently, Belize officials have been telling permanent residency applicants that
after three months they would need to apply for a work permit, even though if they did
not intend to work. This significantly increases the cost of permanent residency, as
protessional workers pay US$1,500 a year and technical workers and self-employed
pay US$1,000 for a work permit.

Also, work permits are now being issued by the Immigration department, instead of the
Labor department.

Also, beginning in 2004, many applications were delayed or not approved. Some
applicants for permanent residency waited long periods without hearing anything. After
application fees and related costs were increased in early 2005 (see below) applications for permanent residency seem to move more quickly (surprise!), but still
there are delays, and some individuals report they have been turned down for what
officials claimed were infractions -- such as crossing the border into Mexico several
times, even though they stayed only a few hours.

You must live in Belize for one full year before you can apply for regular
permanent residency. During this period, you cannot leave the country for more than
14 consecutive days, although this rule is inconsistently enforced.

After approval, you have up to one year to bring in household effects duty-free, on a one-time basis.  However, the duty-free exemption does not apply to a vehicle, boat and airplane, as it does for the Qualified Retired Persons program.

It is somewhat expensive to apply for regular permanent residency. Application
fees for Permanent Residency vary by nationality, ranging from US$250 to $5,000. For
Americans, the fee is US$1,000 per person. There is also, upon approval, a fee of US$150. In addition, if you use an “expediter” in Belize to help you with the paperwork, you'll likely pay a fee of around US$1,500, plus several hundred dollars in travel and photocopying fees and taxes.

Note that these fees are per-person, not per-application, as is the case for the Qualified
Retired Persons program. For example, an American married couple applying for
permanent residency would pay US$2,000 with the application and US$300 for
residency cards after approval.  Some applicants also have been required to post a bond, supposedly to guarantee the cost of repatriation to their home country, should that ever be required.  The bond amount varies, ranging from several hundred dollars to as much as US$2,000.  Other applicants say they have not been required to post the bond.

Residency cards are no longer provided -- instead, your passport is stamped.

You apply to the Belize Immigration and Nationality Department rather than
through the Belize Tourism Board. For information and application form, contact:

Immigration and Nationality Department
Ministry of National Security and Immigration
Belmopan City, Belize, Central America
Tel.: 501-222-4620
Fax: 501-222-4056

The controversial Economic Citizenship program, under which foreigners were able
to buy a Belize passport and residency rights for a fee of US$25,000 to $50,000, was
discontinued in 2002.

In addition to these programs, regular citizenship in Belize is a possibility for those
living in Belize over a long period. To acquire citizenship, applicants must have been a
resident or have permanent residency status for a minimum of five years. Applicants
for citizenship need to provide essentially the same supporting documentation as those
applying for permanent residency.  Applicants also must demonstrate a knowledge of Belizean history.

Each option has pluses and minuses. The main advantages and disadvantages are:

Tourist Card
Pros: No commitment, no financial requirement, flexibility, little red tape.
Cons: No tax advantages, no official status, inconvenience of having to renew
periodically, possibility rules may change, can’t work for pay in Belize. Costs also
increased in 2005.

Qualified Retired Persons Incentive Program
Pros: Quick approval, application through Belize Tourism Board rather than Immigration Department, some residency rights (except voting), tax-free entry of household effects, car, boat and airplane, only have to live in country for one month a year.
Cons: Must deposit US$24,000 a year in a Belize bank, somewhat costly application process, can’t work for pay in Belize, must be 45 or over, still have to pay tourist exit taxes when leaving the country.

Official Permanent Residency
Pros: Full residency rights (except voting in national elections -- you can vote in local elections), can work, open to anyone regardless of age, tax-free entry of household effects.
Cons: Year-long residency before applying, more red tape, costly application process,
and some people are turned down for minor details.

Caution:  Rules and regulations and the interpretation of them change frequently in Belize.  Do NOT assume that this information is the last word on any matter pertaining to entering or staying in Belize.