Does Belize have any special retirement program or retirement benefits?
Kate Corrigan - Caye International Bank
Belize has the QRP program, which stands for Qualified Retired Persons. It takes about 30 days to get it and you have to spend 30 days a year here in Belize to have it. You have to show US $2,000 a month coming into Belize or $24,000 a year and you have to renew it each year for a renewal fee. I am not entirely sure of the cost. As a QRP, you can still hold an international account with us, because we don’t work with regular residents, but we can...
Belize has the QRP program, which stands for Qualified Retired Persons. It takes about 30 days to get it and you have to spend 30 days a year here in Belize to have it. You have to show US $2,000 a month coming into Belize or $24,000 a year and you have to renew it each year for a renewal fee. I am not entirely sure of the cost. As a QRP, you can still hold an international account with us, because we don’t work with regular residents, but we can work with QRP residents. In order to get the QRP you only have to be 45. One of the major benefits of being a QRP is that you can bring a whole container load of household goods, a light aircraft, a jet ski, a golf cart (which is what we use to drive around here in the island), a vehicle, a boat and all of your household goods into the country duty free. This would provide you with a massive saving if you are looking to expatriate here.
Under the QRP you can own property and a business but you cannot work if you are a retired person. You can invest money and profit from your business but you cannot work in any place other than in your own business. You can, however, own the business.
Posted December 1, 2014
Christian Burn
The retirement program offered by Belize is called Qualified Retired Persons program. The details are available through the Belize Bulletin board and Georgetown Trust. Georgetown Trust can help you with the entire process.
In order to qualify for the Belize Qualified Retired Persons Program visa, I believe you just need to be 45 years old, and you need to be able to prove that you draw US $24,000 a year or have access to it through your social security or other means.
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In order to qualify for the Belize Qualified Retired Persons Program visa, I believe you just need to be 45 years old, and you need to be able to prove that you draw US $24,000 a year or have access to it through your social security or other means.
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The retirement program offered by Belize is called Qualified Retired Persons program. The details are available through the Belize Bulletin board and Georgetown Trust. Georgetown Trust can help you with the entire process.
In order to qualify for the Belize Qualified Retired Persons Program visa, I believe you just need to be 45 years old, and you need to be able to prove that you draw US $24,000 a year or have access to it through your social security or other means.
Having a Qualified Retired Persons visa entitles you to be able to import personal items for the first year without any duty. That is a massive advantage for people who live here who want to bring in fridges, golf carts, sail boats, sofas, or king sized beds from the US. They can put it on a container and get them down here duty free for the first year.
I am not aware of any discount entitlements for retirees.
In order to qualify for the Belize Qualified Retired Persons Program visa, I believe you just need to be 45 years old, and you need to be able to prove that you draw US $24,000 a year or have access to it through your social security or other means.
Having a Qualified Retired Persons visa entitles you to be able to import personal items for the first year without any duty. That is a massive advantage for people who live here who want to bring in fridges, golf carts, sail boats, sofas, or king sized beds from the US. They can put it on a container and get them down here duty free for the first year.
I am not aware of any discount entitlements for retirees.
Posted December 2, 2014
Frik De Meyere
In order to qualify for the QRP (Qualified Retired Person’s Program) and thus permanent residency in Belize, you have to be at least 45 years old and demonstrate US $2,000 / month in passive income. In order to qualify for the QRP (Qualified Retired Person’s Program) and thus permanent residency in Belize, you have to be at least 45 years old and demonstrate US $2,000 / month in passive income. Posted December 9, 2014
Saira Mahabir - Century 21 Belize
The retirement program in Belize is one of the best. It is called the Qualified Retirement Person Incentive. There reason why it has the term “qualified” is because you have to be qualified to be able to get into the retirement program. You must have at least US $1,000 a month income coming in from your retirement. That is one of the first things for you to do. You have to get a bank recommendation letter. You have to be 45 years...
The retirement program in Belize is one of the best. It is called the Qualified Retirement Person Incentive. There reason why it has the term “qualified” is because you have to be qualified to be able to get into the retirement program. You must have at least US $1,000 a month income coming in from your retirement. That is one of the first things for you to do. You have to get a bank recommendation letter. You have to be 45 years old or over. You have to be retired, so you cannot work while under the program.
Under the Qualified Retirement Person program, you can have your family come to Belize as well. There is a fee that you have to pay but I am not sure how much it is right now.
Once you are approved for as a Qualified Retirement Person, you could get import your car with no duties for the first year. You have to give the government a list of all your household equipment that are bringing to Belize. You can bring in one car, one boat, or one plane if you have one and they are import tax-free when you bring them in.
(Caribbean town of Corozal Belize, pictured.)
Posted September 4, 2015
Ryan Wrobel - Wrobel & Co., Attorneys-at-Law
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Belize has a special retirement program, which is called the Qualified Retirement Program (QRP). The QRP affords great benefits for those persons who would like to retire to Belize and import household goods, motor vehicles, planes, and boats. The best benefit of the program is being able to bring in your household goods—and when I say household goods what I mean is the contents of your house. Belize is trying to attract persons to retire here,...
Belize has a special retirement program, which is called the Qualified Retirement Program (QRP). The QRP affords great benefits for those persons who would like to retire to Belize and import household goods, motor vehicles, planes, and boats. The best benefit of the program is being able to bring in your household goods—and when I say household goods what I mean is the contents of your house. Belize is trying to attract persons to retire here, so they would expect you to bring the contents of you household—furniture, appliances, television, clothes, your personal assets—tax-free. Not only can you bring in these items import duty-free, but also free of all of the additional sales taxes and environmental taxes would be applied to these standard goods. This can be an enormous financial benefit in addition to the household good exemption from taxes
If you didn’t have the Qualified Retirement Program, some of the import duties of motor vehicles are quite high-- from 50% to 100% of the value of the vehicle.
My office has helped out quite a few retirees under the QRP. I haven’t heard any complaints. It’s a great program. There are some requirements and some prerequisites under the program. The applicant would need to 45 years older, a citizen of Canada, US, or UK, and you must be able to show proof of a pension or some type of income stream of US $2,000 per month. So that’s US $24,000 per year. These funds need to flow into a Belizean bank account. Beyond that it’s relatively straightforward to comply with those prerequisites. There are some medical checkups that need to be done. You have to get a doctor to submit a medical report. You also have to submit some police reports in your own jurisdiction.
The QRP is not a visa. If you come into the country under the QRP program, you’re effectively treated as a permanent tourist. You just show the QRP card at immigration when you enter the country. They don’t grant you a tourist visa. The QRP is kind of a different immigration track than what would be the standard immigration track, which is entering with a tourist visa, after one year if you still desire applying for permanent residency, and then if you still desire after 5 years of being a permanent resident, applying for nationality. Under the QRP immigration track, you’re treated as a permanent tourist. You need not update or apply to renew your tourist visa. Once a year you renew your QRP status and you get a fresh QRP card. Under the QRP program you cannot work so you’re supposed to be retired. You can be an employer but you cannot be an employee, and you’re prohibited from working.
A qualified retired person under the QRP would not be taxed here in Belize on any revenue, any earnings that may be derived from other jurisdictions. So, if you’re earning interest on a bank account, or there’s an appreciation with perhaps some of your investment holdings, stocks, and bonds, or you sold a property outside of Belize and saw some appreciation in income, all this would not be taxed in Belize. However, in contrast, if you’re living here in Belize and working here in Belize, your income is subject to taxation here in Belize.
(Retiree warning sign, pictured.)
Posted December 14, 2015