Retirement Abroad and Immigration Glossary
Glossary
The vocabulary of immigration and expatriate tax, in plain language. Filter as you type.
- Apostille
- A certificate attached to a public document that proves its origin so a foreign government can accept it. Valid only between countries that are party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention.
- Legalisation
- The longer authentication route used when the destination country is not a party to the Apostille Convention. The document is authenticated domestically and then stamped by that country embassy or consulate.
- Non-lucrative
- A visa category that permits residence but forbids working in the local labour market. Spain, Italy and France all use versions of this for retirees.
- Passive income
- Income you receive without working for it: pensions, Social Security, annuities, dividends, interest, rents and royalties. Most retirement visas require it and expressly exclude salary.
- Pensionado
- The Latin American family of retirement residence programs keyed to a guaranteed lifetime pension, often with legislated discounts on services.
- Rentista
- A residence category for people living on investment or rental income rather than a pension. Usually a higher threshold than the pensionado equivalent because the income is not guaranteed for life.
- Temporary residence
- A renewable residence status, usually one to three years, that is the normal first step. Most countries require several consecutive renewals before permanent residence.
- Permanent residence
- Indefinite right to live in the country, generally without renewal but often with a minimum physical-presence requirement to keep it.
- Physical presence requirement
- The minimum number of days per year you must actually be in the country to keep your status. It ranges from a few days to more than half the year, and it is the requirement most often overlooked at planning time.
- Tax residence
- Where a country considers you taxable. Usually triggered at 183 days in a year, but centre-of-vital-interests tests can make you tax resident with fewer days.
- Totalization agreement
- A bilateral treaty that stops the same earnings being taxed for social security in two countries and lets you combine contribution credits.
- FEIE
- Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. Excludes a capped amount of foreign earned income from U.S. tax. It does not apply to pensions, Social Security or investment income, so it rarely helps a retiree.
- Foreign Tax Credit
- A dollar-for-dollar U.S. tax credit for income tax paid to another country. This, not the FEIE, is the mechanism most retirees abroad rely on.
- FBAR
- FinCEN Form 114. Required when your foreign financial accounts together exceeded 10,000 dollars at any point in the calendar year.
- Consular jurisdiction
- Which consulate is allowed to accept your application, determined by your U.S. state of residence. Applying at the wrong one is an automatic rejection.
- Schengen Area
- The group of European countries with no internal border checks. A national long-stay visa is issued by one country but generally allows travel within the area.
- EES
- The Schengen Entry/Exit System, a biometric record of entries and exits that replaced passport stamps. Fully operational at all external Schengen borders since 10 April 2026.
- ETIAS
- A planned travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors to Europe. Not yet in operation as of September 2026.
- Golden visa
- Residence granted in exchange for a qualifying investment. Several of the best-known European programs have been narrowed or closed since 2023, so verify current status before planning around one.
- NIF / NIE / RFC / CURP
- National tax or identity numbers, in Portugal, Spain, Mexico and Mexico respectively. You usually need one before you can rent, open a bank account or register for healthcare.
- Empadronamiento
- Registration on the local municipal roll in Spain. It is the gateway to healthcare, a driving licence exchange and much of local administration.
- Certified translation
- A translation accompanied by a statement of accuracy from the translator. Some countries only accept translators sworn in their own courts; others accept a U.S. certified translation.
Common questions
Which term causes the most expensive mistakes?
The difference between an apostille and legalisation, closely followed by validity versus duration of stay. Both are simple once stated and both routinely cost people weeks.
Authoritative sources
Where anything here disagrees with one of these, the official source is right. Tell us and we will correct it.
- SSA: Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States
- SSA: Payments Abroad Screening Tool
- SSA: Totalization agreements
- Medicare: coverage outside the United States
- IRS: U.S. citizens and resident aliens abroad
- IRS: Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
- IRS: Foreign Tax Credit
- FinCEN: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
- IRS: United States income tax treaties A to Z
- Federal Voting Assistance Program
- Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)
- U.S. embassies and consulates directory
- European Commission: Entry/Exit System
- European Commission: ETIAS official site
- HCCH: Apostille Convention status table Which countries accept an apostille, and from what date.
- U.S. Department of State: Records and Authentications Federal document authentication, including the Office of Authentications.
- U.S. Department of State: country information Entry, exit, safety and local law, country by country.
Verified Sep 7, 2026 Primary sources: travel.state.gov, www.hcch.net
Authoritative sources
Where anything here disagrees with one of these, the official source is right. Tell us and we will correct it.
- SSA: Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States
- SSA: Payments Abroad Screening Tool
- SSA: Totalization agreements
- Medicare: coverage outside the United States
- IRS: U.S. citizens and resident aliens abroad
- IRS: Foreign Earned Income Exclusion
- IRS: Foreign Tax Credit
- FinCEN: Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts
- IRS: United States income tax treaties A to Z
- Federal Voting Assistance Program
- Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)
- U.S. embassies and consulates directory
- European Commission: Entry/Exit System
- European Commission: ETIAS official site
- HCCH: Apostille Convention status table Which countries accept an apostille, and from what date.
- U.S. Department of State: Records and Authentications Federal document authentication, including the Office of Authentications.
- U.S. Department of State: country information Entry, exit, safety and local law, country by country.
Verified Sep 7, 2026 Primary sources: travel.state.gov, www.hcch.net
This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal, tax, immigration or financial advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Immigration rules, income thresholds, fees and processing times change frequently and often without notice, and consulates apply them differently. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific consulate that has jurisdiction over your U.S. state of residence before you act. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.
