Guatemala retirement visa: rentista and pensionado

Article 31 of the residence regulation offers permanent residence to foreigners who will live in Guatemala without any paid activity and have a permanent, lawful, provable individual income generated abroad. Pensioners receive periodic payments for retirement, widowhood, orphanhood, disability or social security from governments, international organisations or private foreign companies.

Rentistas live on stable income generated abroad from deposits or investments in foreign banks, investments in foreign companies, remittances from real estate or religious or academic support, or securities issued by authorised Guatemalan institutions or the State that were bought with foreign currency exchanged in Guatemala.

The general requirements for permanent residence are the application form, the original valid passport and a complete legalised copy with the last entry stamp, a birth certificate if your country has no diplomatic mission in Guatemala, an original certificate of no criminal or police record from your country or where you lived in the two previous years, a certificate of migration movements and the payment receipt, plus the income certificate. Foreign documents are apostilled or legalised, no older than six months and translated into Spanish.

The IGM tariff lists USD 25 to file a residence application and USD 400 for permanent residence as a rentista or pensioner, compared with USD 700 for other permanent residences.

Article 33 sets the same minimum for both groups: an individual monthly income of USD 1,250, plus USD 300 for each dependant. If the income is paid in a currency other than the US dollar, attach a document showing the conversion. The spouse, single children under 18 and dependants declared legally incapable can be included; adult children who will study at university apply for student residence instead.

Permanent residents pay annual foreigners' dues of USD 40 and update their data every year. Every five years, rentistas and pensioners must prove that the income continues, using statements from a Guatemalan bank account where the income is deposited, a certified social security or bank statement from the home country, or the same statement certified by their embassy in Guatemala with a sworn declaration.

If the pension or income stops, or the main holder dies, family members must ask for ratification of their status; dependants do not lose their residence on the holder's death if they complete that procedure.