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Retirement and Passive Income Visa: Requirements and How to Apply

Retirement and Passive Income Visa: Requirements and How to Apply

Retirement and Passive Income Visa

Also called: Pensionado, rentista, non-lucrative visa, elective residence, financially independent person, passive income visa

A residence category for people who can support themselves without working locally. The test is almost always a minimum monthly income from a source outside the country: a pension, Social Security, an annuity, rents or dividends. The thresholds vary by a factor of ten, from 600 dollars a month in Nicaragua and 920 euros in Portugal to 3,500 euros in Greece and roughly 4,400 dollars in Mexico. The single most consequential detail, and the one most often missed, is whether the visa permits work: Spain, Italy and France all prohibit it outright, including remote work for a U.S. employer.

Who needs this

  • Retirees living on a pension, Social Security or investment income who want to reside abroad.
  • People with substantial passive income who are not of retirement age; most of these categories have no minimum age at all.
  • Anyone whose income is passive rather than earned, which is what these routes are designed around.

When this is the wrong category

You will still be earning. Several of these categories prohibit all work, and the digital nomad category exists precisely for people in that position.

What every application in this category needs

A minimum monthly income from outside the country
Documented over three to twelve months. Some countries additionally require the payment to be guaranteed for life, which excludes a 401(k) drawdown but includes Social Security, a defined-benefit pension and an annuitised product.
A police certificate
The FBI Identity History Summary, authenticated federally. Near-universal in this category.
Health insurance
Valid in the destination for the permit period. Some countries specify a domestic insurer, a minimum coverage, or zero co-payment.
Proof of accommodation
Italy, Greece and Portugal in particular want a registered lease or a deed before they will grant the visa, which reverses the order most Americans expect to move in.
Civil records
Birth certificate, and a marriage certificate where a spouse is included, apostilled.
The process, in sequence Roughly 6 months end to end if nothing stalls
  1. 1 Verify the current income threshold Most are pegged to a local benchmark such as a minimum wage or a tax unit and reset every January. A figure from last year is stale, and consulates apply the current one. Your action · about 2 days
  2. 2 Document the income properly An SSA benefit verification letter, pension administrator letters, and bank statements showing the deposits actually arriving. Where a lifetime guarantee is required, the letter must say so explicitly. Your action · about 14 days
  3. 3 Authenticate and translate FBI check federally, vital records by issuing state, then translation into the destination language by a translator that country accepts. Documents and authentication · about 35 days
  4. 4 Secure accommodation and insurance Where a lease is required before filing, this usually means a scouting trip or signing remotely. Your action · about 40 days
  5. 5 File at the correct consulate, or in-country Latin American programmes are commonly filed inside the country by a local attorney; European ones are consular. Government processing · about 45 days
  6. 6 Convert to a residence permit after arrival Almost universal, and often on a short deadline: eight working days in Italy, thirty days in Spain, fifteen days in Colombia. Your action · about 45 days

Your action Documents and authentication Government processing

Timing, cost and what the status gives you

How far ahead to start
Two to fourteen months. Colombia decides online in weeks; Costa Rica and Uruguay routinely take over a year.
What it costs
Government fees from about 100 to 1,000 dollars, plus attorney fees where local representation is required by law, which is the case in Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil and elsewhere.
Validity and duration of stay
From one to three years initially, renewed, and typically converting to permanent residence after two to five years. A few countries grant permanent residence immediately, notably Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Work rights
This is the field to read most carefully. Spain, Italy and France prohibit all work including remote work for a foreign employer. Portugal permits work on the D7. Most Latin American pensionado categories prohibit local employment but allow you to own a business and receive dividends.
Family members
A spouse and dependent children are normally included with an income uplift, commonly 30 to 50 percent for a spouse. Costa Rica and Panama are unusually generous, covering a whole family on a single qualifying pension.

Where applications go wrong

  • Assuming a 401(k) or IRA drawdown counts as a pension. Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia want a payment guaranteed for life.
  • Planning to keep working remotely on a category that forbids it.
  • Using a threshold figure from an out-of-date source when the benchmark resets annually.
  • Missing the post-arrival residence permit deadline.
  • Overlooking physical presence requirements, which range from one month a year in Belize to more than 183 days in Spain.

Common refusal grounds

  • Income below the current threshold, or not evidenced over the required period.
  • Income that is not genuinely passive, or not guaranteed for life where that is required.
  • Insurance that does not meet the specification.
  • No registered lease or deed where one is required.
  • Documents outside their validity window.

Documents and authentication for this category

A standard retirement file needs the FBI Identity History Summary authenticated federally, the birth certificate and any marriage certificate apostilled by the issuing states, and very often a notarised income letter, which becomes a public document only once the notary has acknowledged it. Several Latin American programmes additionally require an apostilled power of attorney for the local lawyer who files on your behalf, and the wording must come from that lawyer before you sign.

The document chain, in the only order that works
  1. 1 Obtain a certified original From the issuing authority. Photocopies, scans and souvenir certificates cannot be authenticated.
  2. 2 Notarise, if it is a private document Letters, affidavits, powers of attorney and diploma copies need a notary acknowledgement first. Government-issued vital records do not.
  3. 3 County clerk, in some states A handful of states require the county clerk to certify the notary commission before the Secretary of State will act.
  4. 4 Authenticate at the right level State-issued documents go to the Secretary of State of the ISSUING state. Federal documents, including the FBI Identity History Summary, go to the U.S. Department of State Office of Authentications.
  5. 5 Apostille or embassy legalisation Hague Convention destination: the apostille ends the chain. Non-member destination: the document then goes to that country embassy or consulate.
  6. 6 Certified translation Translate the document together with its apostille or legalisation certificate. Doing this first means paying twice.
  7. 7 File with the right consulate Jurisdiction is by your U.S. state of residence. Bring originals plus a full copy set.

The two expensive mistakes. Sending a federal document such as an FBI Identity History Summary to a Secretary of State, which cannot authenticate it. And translating before authentication, so the apostille certificate is not inside the translation and the whole set has to be paid for twice.

How it differs by country

Portugal
The D7 asks only for the national minimum wage, 920 euros a month in 2026, and permits work.
Spain
The non-lucrative visa requires 400 percent of IPREM, 2,400 euros a month in 2026, and prohibits all work including remote work.
Panama and the Dominican Republic
Both grant permanent residence quickly on a modest pension, and both attach statutory benefits: Panama Law 6 discounts and the Dominican Law 171-07 import exemptions.
Greece and Italy
Both offer a flat tax on foreign pension income, 7 percent in both cases, though Italy restricts it to small towns in eight southern regions.
Thailand and the Philippines
Both use a deposit or income model with a minimum age. Neither leads to permanent residence in any practical sense.

This category, country by country

Questions

What counts as passive income?

Pensions, Social Security, annuities, dividends, interest, rents and royalties. Salary and self-employment income do not, and including them can actively harm an application by suggesting you intend to work.

Is there a minimum age?

Usually not, which surprises people. Costa Rica, Panama, Portugal, Spain, Colombia and Ecuador all have no minimum age on their passive-income routes. Thailand requires 50 and the Philippines 40.

Will I be taxed there?

It depends entirely on the country and it is the biggest variable in the decision. Panama, Costa Rica, Belize, Malaysia and Georgia do not tax foreign income at all. France effectively exempts U.S. pensions under its tax treaty. Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus offer favourable flat regimes. Portugal, Spain, Colombia and Brazil tax worldwide income at ordinary rates.

Authoritative sources

Where this tool disagrees with one of these, the official source is right. Tell us and we will correct it.

Verified Sep 7, 2026 Primary sources: travel.state.gov, www.hcch.net

Verified Sep 7, 2026

This resource is provided free by Federal Apostille as an educational tool. It is not legal or immigration advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by using it. Visa rules, fees, processing times and entry requirements change frequently and often without notice, and individual circumstances change the answer. Always confirm current requirements with the official government source and the specific embassy or consulate that has jurisdiction over your place of residence before you book travel or file an application. Every figure on this site carries the date we last verified it and a link to the primary source.

Planning to stay, not just visit

If this is a long stay rather than a trip, the retirement atlas covers what the visa paperwork does not: what living there costs, how far a US income goes, healthcare, and where American expats actually settle.

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