Become a resident

The official letters

Jane Whittaker map said once: her A is official D.1 without work; her B is D.1.2; her C is D.1.3; her D is official J.1. Those private letters are a map, said once. They are not the law. This site uses official codes. Her guide is livinginandorra.com.

Residence and work

A.1 usually needs a job contract with a real Andorran company, and a place in this year's quota. J.1 is a separate first authorisation if you will work on your own account. Both have document lists on the official immigration pages. More on J.1.

The first A.1 or J.1 card is typically issued for one year. Later renewals run longer. Nationals of states with a convention may see a different cycle.

Govern.ad still publishes the J.1 page and a J reservation step. A Govern news note describes Decret 75/2026 setting a general self-employed quota of 200 authorisations: 150 for foreign-investment cases, 50 for liberal professions. That is the official quota text. Whether a place is being issued is a separate question.

Residence without work

D.1 covers people who will live in Andorra without taking local employment. The Government’s page currently names D.1.2, D.1.3 and D.1.4. Digital-nomad (D.3) and entrepreneur-programme (D.4) authorisations sit on the same official residence index. Longer notes: D.1, D.3, D.4.

Several of those pages still say principal and effective residence for at least 90 days per calendar year. Tax residence under article 8 of Law 5/2014 is a different test: more than 183 days, or the centre of economic interests. That is on tax residence. The official texts state the conditions. They do not describe how days are checked.

What Law 2/2026 says for non-lucrative residence

Law 2/2026 of 22 January was published in the BOPA on 12 February 2026 and entered into force on 13 February 2026. Article 96, as printed there, requires the principal holder of a residence without lucrative activity to invest, permanently and effectively, at least 1,000,000 euros in named Andorran assets: property; equity in resident companies; certain debt or collective-investment instruments of resident issuers, for a maximum of 36 months before the sum must move to another permitted class; public-administration debt; life-insurance products with resident insurers; or unremunerated AFA deposits.

If that investment is made wholly or partly in property, the same article requires more than 800,000 euros on each immovable unit. The million-euro total still applies. A purchase above 800,000 euros but below 1,000,000 euros leaves a balance that must sit in other permitted assets.

The same article reduces the investment to 400,000 euros where it is made, directly or indirectly, permanently and effectively, in the Housing Fund (Fons d’Habitatge), “in accordance with the applicable regulations”. Think of that last figure as a legal possibility, not a counter you can walk up to.

Article 96 also requires an income to the Andorran Financial Authority of 50,000 euros for the principal and 12,000 euros for each dependant who takes the same status. The BOPA text says those sums are definitive and not refundable, unless the initial immigration authorisation is refused. Read the article that matches your subtype with counsel.

Card-issue tariffs on Govern.ad

The Government’s immigration tariffs page currently lists 3,000 euros for delivery of a residence-without-work authorisation, 1,000 euros for a dependant resident, and 500 euros for renewal of residence without work. Other permit types on the same table carry different amounts. Confirm the line that matches your file.

Family, study and other statuses

Family reunification (B.1), study and research (F), temporary seasonal authorisations (G.1) and frontier work (C.1) are published on the same Government section. B.1 is family reunification.

A house is a separate tax

A house is not a permit. Non-resident purchases need foreign-investment authorisation. A Government news note of 26 February 2026, giving effect to Law 2/2026, states that the foreign-investment property tax moves from 3% to 6% on a first property, and from 5% to 10% on a second home. Residents who cannot show three or more years of effective and permanent residence in the ten years before the application stay in that tax net (Decret 58/2026). Detail: buying as a non-resident.

What the file usually contains

Applications go to the Servei d’Immigració. Official pages describe identity documents, legalised or apostilled criminal-record certificates, proof of accommodation, civil-status documents, and for workers a contract. A medical review is part of the published file. After a grant, you register with the Comú of the parish of residence. The current A.1 page gives three months for that.

Official sources

Who can help

Most files are prepared with a local gestoria or law firm, a bank, and often an AGIA-registered estate agent for the housing certificate. We list only organisations with an official website.

Start with the directory: residency and tax counsel, the three Andorran banking groups, clinics, and licensed agents. For a company file, see company formation in Andorra. For housing, see buying as a non-resident, properties and the seven parishes. Country notes: UK, Spain, France.

If you would like an introduction rather than a cold email, use the form. We are not a law firm and we do not file applications.