Passive residency in 2026
You may live here without working. You may not treat this as a cheap golden visa. The 2026 law raised both the capital and the character of the state payment.
As of 29 August 2026
Not legal, tax or immigration advice. Confirm every figure on Govern.ad and the BOPA before you transfer money or file.
Companion to the live D.1 page, Residence without work — D.1. Official codes and the BOPA win if the two pages differ.
As of 29 August 2026, a new authorisation of residence without lucrative activity generally requires a permanent, effective investment of €1,000,000 in qualifying Andorran assets, an AFA contribution of €50,000 for the main applicant and €12,000 per dependent, private health and pension cover, a place to live, a clean record, and 90 days in Andorra each calendar year. You cannot take Andorran employment. Quota can close.
Legal baseline: Llei 2/2026, of 22 January, in force 13 February 2026, amending the immigration and investment rules built in Llei 5/2025. Always re-read the current text on BOPA — Llei 2/2026 and the Immigration pages on Govern.ad before you transfer money.
Who it is for
People who can live on assets or foreign income, will not work in Andorra, can actually spend 90 days here, and can show the million and the AFA payment without inventing a story about where the money came from.
Who should not use it
- Anyone who will work here. That is the active route. See Company and active residency.
- Anyone who cannot do 90 days in the calendar year.
- Anyone still quoting 2019–2024 thresholds as if they were the current law.
The numbers
| Item | Working figure |
|---|---|
| Investment | €1,000,000 in qualifying Andorran assets, permanent and effective. |
| If using property | €800,000 minimum per dwelling or unit. The million is the investment total; the unit floor is separate. |
| Housing Fund route | Often cited at €400,000 if placed permanently in the Fons d’Habitatge. Confirm the fund exists and is open before you plan around it. Think of that figure as a legal possibility, not a counter you can walk up to. |
| AFA contribution | €50,000 main applicant + €12,000 per dependent. |
| Refund? | €50,000 + €12,000, definitive and not refundable unless the initial authorisation is refused (BOPA). Some secondary pages describe a 30k/20k split. Treat that as a conflict. Confirm with AFA and your gestoria before you pay. |
| Days | 90 per calendar year, not necessarily consecutive. |
| Work in Andorra | No. |
| Cover | Private health, and the pension / incapacity cover Immigration asks for at the time. |
| Quota | Authorisations without work can be capped. Ask whether the current year still has slots before you start the file. |
| Timeline | Often quoted at two to four months for a complete file. Incomplete files take longer. Nobody can honestly promise a date. |
| Professional fees | Budget €3,000–€8,000 for a straightforward file, more if the source-of-wealth story is complicated. |
| Card tariffs | Govern.ad currently lists €3,000 for delivery of a residence-without-work authorisation, €1,000 for a dependant, and €500 for renewal. Confirm the tariffs page. |
What the million can sit in
Article 96 of Llei 2/2026 names 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 the investment is made wholly or partly in property, the same article requires more than €800,000 on each immovable unit. The million-euro total still applies.
The file in order
Passport, apostilled police certificates, proof of a place to live, evidence of means and of the investment, private health and pension cover, the medical exam Immigration names, civil-status papers if anyone is joining you, and the AFA payment. The bank will want the source-of-wealth story before the AFA money moves. Build that pack as one file. See The file and the bank.
What usually breaks it
- Source of wealth that does not survive a bank or AFA question.
- Police certificates without the apostille, or from the wrong years.
- Treating a Barcelona commute as 90 days in Andorra. The days have to be here.
- Paying the AFA sum as if it were still a refundable bond. For new files under Llei 2/2026 it is generally a payment.
- A unit under €800,000 offered as the whole property leg of the investment.
- Starting a file after the quota for the year has closed.
- Planning around a Housing Fund blog post without checking that the Fons d’Habitatge is open and will take the money.
Related: Three things people confuse, Buying property, The file and the bank.