Passive residency in Andorra: conditions and cost in 2026

Passive residency: who is it for?

Passive residency, called “residence without gainful activity” under Andorran law (residència sense activitat lucrativa; in Spanish, it is commonly called residencia pasiva), is for people who want to live in Andorra without carrying on any professional activity there: investors, people living on private income, retirees. It rests on a substantial investment in the country and on sufficient resources of your own.

It is not a status for working. If you plan to set up a company, be an employee or invoice clients from Andorra, other authorisations exist: self-employed residency, employee work permit or professional with international reach.

Passive residency conditions since 13 February 2026

Llei 2/2026, known as “Omnibus Law 2”, published in the BOPA on 12 February 2026, has substantially tightened the status. Here are all the requirements.

The €1,000,000 investment

The sum must be invested in Andorra, on a permanent and effective basis, within 6 months, which can be extended by 6 months in the event of force majeure. The law accepts several types of assets:

• real estate, provided that each property exceeds €800,000;
• shares in Andorran companies;
• debt securities or financial instruments of Andorran issuers, and units in collective investment undertakings governed by Andorran law, for 36 months at most before mandatory reallocation;
• Andorran public debt;
• life insurance taken out with an Andorran insurer;
• non-interest-bearing deposits with the AFA.

The investment can be reduced to €400,000 if it is made, directly or indirectly, in the Fons d’Habitatge, the public fund set up to develop housing.

If you buy a home, two rules of the law on foreign investment also apply: a prior authorisation is required, and a foreign national may acquire only one house, or two flats, over ten years. As a new resident, you also pay the foreign property investment tax (6% for one home) on top of property transfer tax: see our news item on the 6% tax on property purchases by foreigners. Everything is detailed in our guide Buying property in Andorra.

The €50,000 AFA deposit, now non-refundable

The Andorran Financial Authority (AFA, formerly INAF) receives a payment of €50,000 for the holder and of €12,000 per dependant. This is the most costly change in the reform: this sum is no longer a security deposit returned when you leave, but a final payment, transferred to the State. It is returned only if the initial authorisation is refused.

Single person

€50,000

Couple

€62,000

Couple and two children

€86,000

The breakdown of the amounts, status by status, is in our guide Costs and AFA deposit.

Resources, insurance and housing

Resources above three times the minimum wage

The holder must have annual resources of more than 300% of the Andorran annual minimum wage, plus 100% per dependant. With the minimum wage in force since 1 July 2026 (€1,568.67 a month), this gives approximately:

Indicative calculation: monthly minimum wage × 12 × 3 for the holder, plus one year’s minimum wage per dependant. The minimum wage is revised every year.

Private health insurance covering 100%

A passive resident has no cover through work. They must show proof of health insurance covering 100% of medical costs in Andorra, as well as incapacity and old age; for minors and people over 60, sickness cover is enough.

A home in Andorra

You must own or rent a home there, or have a purchase in progress to be completed within the year: see Finding a home in Andorra.

90 days a year: a passive resident, but a tax resident?

A passive resident must stay in Andorra for at least 90 days per calendar year and make it their main residence. These 90 days are enough to keep the authorisation. They are not enough, however, to change your tax residency.

These 90 days also matter in the long term: Andorran nationality after 20 years of residence requires “main and permanent” residence (qualified law on nationality, art. 11.1), and the law does not specify how years spent under a status that requires only 90 days of presence a year are counted. Have this point checked if your plans include nationality.

What passive residency prohibits

The status rules out any professional activity in Andorra. There are only two exceptions: managing your own assets, and an unpaid directorship in companies of which you hold at least 50%.

Remote work for foreign clients is not allowed either. If that is your plan, look at the international professional status (at least 85% of services used outside Andorra, a refundable deposit of €47,500), the digital nomad status, or active self-employed residency.

How much does passive residency really cost?

The investment remains an asset: it belongs to you, with its market risks. Other sums, on the other hand, are spent for good: about €147,000 even before you move in, excluding insurance and fees, for a couple who invest by buying a home for €850,000 and place the balance in Andorran financial assets:

Indicative calculation. Property transfer tax (ITP) combines 1% for the State and a comú share of 0.5 to 3%; practitioners use about 4%. A new home sold by a developer is subject to IGI at 4.5% rather than ITP.

The taxes due on purchase are detailed in our guide to buying a flat in Andorra.

The procedure, step by step

1. 1

   Check the quota and put your application together

   Criminal record certificate, medical certificate, proof of resources, insurance contract, proof of housing. The annual quota is limited: file early in the year.

2. 2

   File the application with the Immigration Service

   The application is examined by the Govern’s Immigration Service, within the limit of the authorisations available. Documents and timescales: see Procedures, application and timescales.

3. 3

   Make the payment and the investment

   Payment to the AFA, then investment of €1,000,000 (or €400,000 in the Fons d’Habitatge) within 6 months.

4. 4

   Move in and meet the minimum presence

   At least 90 days a year in Andorra, with no professional activity.

5. 5

   Renew the authorisation

   Initial authorisation of 2 years, then 2 years, then 3 years at each renewal, and 10 years after 7 years. For French, Spanish and Portuguese nationals: 2 years, then 3 years, then 10 years after 5 years. See Renewal and permanent residency.

Your days in Andorra

Count your days in Andorra over the year, against the 90-day and 183-day thresholds.

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Taxation of the passive resident

Everything depends on your tax residency. If you become an Andorran tax resident (more than 183 days there, or the centre of your economic interests in Andorra), you are taxed under IRPF on your worldwide income:

• savings income (interest, foreign dividends, capital gains): 10% above an allowance of €3,000 a year;
• dividends from Andorran companies: exempt;
• retirement pensions: taxed like earned income, with the €24,000 tax-free allowance;
• no wealth tax, nor any tax on inheritances and gifts.

If you remain a tax resident of another country, that country taxes you, under its own rules and the applicable tax treaties. If you are French, read our guide to the France⁠–⁠Andorra treaty.

€400,000, €600,000, €1,000,000: what has changed since 2012

Many websites still show old amounts. Here is how the rules have changed:

The details of the reform are set out in our news item Llei 2/2026: passive residency rises to €1,000,000.