Is this doable? Get tourist visa's for a year then get permanent

Yes if you renew your tourist visa every 30 days for a year, you can apply for residency.

Please note you cannot leave Belize for more than 14 days during that year.

After 5 years you can apply for Citizenship.

I have no idea about the other documentation they require or the fees.

Please note residency is not required to live in Belize. I know tons of people who have been there several years on the tourist visa.

Please visit before you make a major derision and ship all your things there.

Belize is a small,poor, undeveloped, third world country. It is not for everyone.

Depending on your lifestyle you might find that Belize is more expensive than you have been led to believe.

Yes, Rich, that\'s how the process works. After a year in Belize on a tourist visa, with no more than a 14 day absence from the country, you can apply and (hopefully) get approved for permanent residency.

For the tourist visa, you must go to immigration monthly and pay $50 bze per person for the first six months, and then $100 bze per person for the last six months.

So, if I understand correctly, a person interested in becoming a resident has to stay in Belize the first year, continuing to renew your tourist visa (6mos = $50bze the last 6mos = $100bze), and you cannot leave for more than 14 consecutive days?  Is that correct?  Or, Can you leave 12 days during the first year and then leave again that first year for another 10 days, or is it a total of no more than a one time 14 day leave?  Thank you for clarifying the 14 day rule.

One last thing, if you are interested in earning a Belizean Visa isn't there some additional rule where after the first year not leaving Belize for longer than 14 days, you have to live one month per year, for the next 4 years, in Belize, and after an overall total of 5 years, then you can apply for your Belizean Visa (Passport), is that correct?

Thank you - Thank you - Thank you, ~LAN

All I know is god help you if you leave Belize for 15 days the first year, you have to start all over.

After the year you have to file paperwork and wait for it to clear. I understand it is about 6 weeks.

Other than that I am not going to say anything because I am not sure.

Everything changes in Belize. I shall leave it to the experts that know all and deal with that type of thing.

I can tell you almost anything about living and dealing in Belize.

Immigration I am clueless about. (even though I get my passport in less than 2 years)

I am imagining once you get your residency, you can come and go as you please.(I have not checked the law)I do, but I live in Belize most of the year,

However if you are going to go for the passport it would be good to show you live in Belize most of the year,

I am sure I will be promptly corrected if I left out one detail.

Thanks Eric! Lucky you, only two more years.  Have you read the book that explains all the benefits of possessing two Passports?  I bought it about 3 months ago,, but did not start it yet. I did skim a little and it appears to be most interesting. It puts the person with 2 passports in a great position when it comes to makings choices as to where else you may want to settle, at some point in your life.

Have a good one ~LAN

Belize will be my third passport. After that I start working on my fourth.

I am not sure what book you are talking about. There are many books on setting up multiple flags.

Perhaps you are talking about PT—The Perpetual Traveler, by Bill Hill. That is one of many.

The goal is living in Bora Bora,Tahiti. But I need a few more passports.

Lan, if you are working towards Permanent Residency, the rule is you cannot leave more than 14 days total - so you could leave 12 days here and 2 another. But Eric\'s right, if you go over 14, you\'ll start over.

Amazingly, the GOB still allows officially published materials to advertise "14 consecutive days" instead of the 14 aggregate days, and that\'s where the confusion comes in. Even worse, the enforcement of this rule can be up to the "interpretation" of the immigration official you are speaking with as well. They consistently read the rules the way they want to irregardless of what the law states. So what do you do? If it were me, I would follow the consecutive rule just to be safe.

In regards to after you get your Permanent Residency, you can come and go as you please. I think you are confusing the QRP rules with PM rules. In the QRP, you must live in Belize for at least one month a year to remain in the program. And we don\'t really refer to it as a "Belizean Visa Passport." We simply call it Belizean citizenship, which you can apply for after living in Belize for five years as a Permanent Resident.

Hope that helps. Sharon

HI
I saw from the internet

http://www.ipcbelize.com

this website saying even they will arrange within 6 months

is it believable??

Yes, absolutely you can do this.  A couple of thing to keep in mind:  during the year that you are here on tourist visa, you may not leave the country for more than 14 days.  Some say that is consecutive days, some say that is total days, depending on who you ask.  It would be far safer to assume the more restrictive policy (14 days total) because they can definitely get you on a technicality, and then you'd have to start all over again with your year.

The second thing is that it can take from 3-9 months to obtain permanent residency after applying, so you'll need to budget in for additional tourist visa payments of $100 BZ/per person for that time.  Seems the time to approval varies quite a bit from reading various blogs from people who have been through the process.

Hope this helps!

HI
But they told me no need to go and stay they will arrange everything...
They told me they will arrange with job offer to get residency and within 6 months they will arrange passport and citizenship

Also they will arrange citizenship and passport within 6 months..
Is it true??
Can I talk to you privately

***************



also can I trust    this website  ipcbelize.com

I know this post is older but I was wondering the name of that book someone mentioned discussing the benefits having 2 passports.  I'm newer to this site so if you need you can email the info at millerrd.93@gmail.com.

I saw this article

http://amandala.com.bz/news/belize-pass … line-scam/

Hello ODAN,

Thank you for your participation on this topic. Please note that this thread has been inactive since 2012.

I would suggest that you start a new thread on the Belize forum should you want to share your experience or have your queries answered.

Regards,
Gavind

I  just read  the  other  day, Int`l Living,  that Nicaragua has  the  same  program,  Apply for  12  consecutive  30 day tourist visas, at month 13 you can apply for  residency visa,  jokingly  called   a " well, you`re already here visa."

As this thread has been resurrected I will add my two peneth. After fulfilling the 12 months requirement you may put in you application for permanent residency, over the next few months you will be contacted for interviews with other departments including FBI background checks, then it is a case of waiting for more info as to acceptance or not. You will have to continue your monthly immigration stamp at $100 per person. At the moment people are reporting from 6 momths to 2 years plus in wait time for the decision. Unfortunately the older applicants (typically 55 plus) that could apply for the QRP program seem to be waiting the longest and the rumor mill seems to say it is to encourage entry to the QRP as that is more beneficial to Belize, having a secure foreign investment each year.

GlennCoUSA,
The previous comment by "Terrific" is essentially correct, the only point I would clarify is that the cost of renewing your visitor visa is BZ$ 100.00 (US$ 50.00)  per person after 6 renewals. In the first 6 months they are BZ$ 50.00 (US$ 25.00). You will be issued a 30 day visa when you land and it is at the discretion of the immigration officer whether that first one is counted or if the rate increases after 6 actual renewals. If you leave for 72 hrs. at the end of that six month period ( maybe a couple of days in Chetumal, Mexico) then your rate will remain at US$ 25.00/Mo. for another 6 months, one would have to weigh the expense of the trip vs. the cost increase, but it is an opportunity to purchase products of better quality at a cheaper price or are not available here,  keeping in mind that you may not leave for more than 14 days cumulative in that year if you wish to apply for Permanent Residency. Hope this helps.

Since there is an active topic about visas and such, I have a question that I haven't seem to have found an answer for.
I am currently in process of working on getting a house built and would like to move to Belize on the QRP program. If I decide that Belize is what I hope it to be I would love to even try open a business. I know that I can't own a business on the QRP program, but is it possible to go from the QRP to permanent residence after a year or so?
Thanks

bwd61,
My advice would be to visit for extended periods of time, decide what you ultimately want to do and then do it. My understanding (others will correct me if I am wrong or things have changed) is that what you propose is certainly possible however I would caution you that any benefits that you receive from participating in the QRP program would be taken away, so for example if you bring your stuff (which will be well documented) and receive breaks on import charges they would be charged back later. I personally would not have begun a construction project without knowing that Belize was definitely for me, but maybe that is just me. Also if already in the QRP program you may find that residency will be delayed as long as possible to facilitate the continued investment of the required $2000.00 per month that is a requirement to be in the QRP program.

I would again recommend that you take your time with all procedures, do your research, and make the decision that is right for you when the time comes. Hope this helps.

Thanks Bill for your input. We have been coming to Belize twice a year for the past 5 years for extended stays and last year bought property in the Cayo. I was hoping to bring all my tools and a few kitchen items along with basic cloths and such on the QRP program.  Not knowing if during the first year my wife and I would be able to stay in Belize for almost a year straight is why we were thinking about the QRP. We currently are expats living in Mexico and run an online business which we have had for 30 years. We are just looking for a change and would like to have the option of opening a business in Belize. I guess as long as there is a possibility of switching from the QRP to permanent resident, I'm ok with that.
Thanks again.

Essentially you will have to pay all duties that you received allowance for and then start from scratch, as if you had just arrived, on the permanent residency.

OK, Thanks for the info.