Thinking of retirement in Belize

18POSTS

7 years ago

My name is Sarah,
I am considering retirement in Belize or Panama. My first choice is Belize. However one of my setback I was told in order to live in Belize as an expat it is mandatory that I deposit $24,000 in the Belizean bank every year. Can someone verify if this is so and explain. Thank you.

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garyclarke1962 Active member

49POSTS

7 years ago

Doesn’t sound right to me

1 member reacted to this post

beveraly000 Member

18POSTS

7 years ago

Thank you.

terrific Serial expat

582POSTS

7 years ago

the $24000 requiremwnt is only if you are utilizing the QRP entry. The cash you have to deposit is still" your own money" to use as you wish in Belize. There are some perks to using this basis of living in Belize in that you can bring in your own goods from your home land and also you can import an auto duty free once accepted on the scheme.
Alternately you can live in Belize as an expat without strict monetary rules if you simply continue each month extending your tourist 30 day visa at Immigration.
There is a fee each moth to do so, for the first 6 months this fee is $50 Bze after that it becomes $100Bze. If you remain in Belize without leaving for more than a total 14 days in the first 12 months you can apply for legal residency. This confers added benefits within Belize. At the moment it is taking up to 2 or 3 years for the Residency to be confirmed. While your application is being processed after your application you must still extend the visa every month but the restrictions about leaving Belize are somewhat relaxed. Once you receive either QRP status or Legal residency you no longer need to make the 30 day extentions. Hope that helps.

2 members reacted to this post

elgordo42 Active member

35POSTS

7 years ago

Good answer, Terrific.
I will make a couple of points:
1. It took 18 months for my Permanent Residence process, from first visit to approval. They have improved their service model a lot in the past 3 years. And the 30-day stamp is now even given for 60 or 90 days, for the additional payment. And you can actually get an appointment in the Belmopan Immigration office, which really speeds up the process and saves a lot of your time that day.

2. Re: The $24000 requirement for QRP. I have a friend who was recently denied QRP status, because the income was not from a pension plan, from either a company or government body. They told her that her investment and rental income could not be the basis for approval of QRP. Note, of course, "different day, different officer on duty, different answer" is typical with the bureaucracy here. Your results may vary.

2 members reacted to this post

Will The Old Serial expat

418POSTS

7 years ago

elgordo42 wrote:
And the 30-day stamp is now even given for 60 or 90 days, for the additional payment. And you can actually get an appointment in the Belmopan Immigration office, which really speeds up the process and saves a lot of your time that day.

Thanks for the update. Early this year there were rumors the 60 90 day options were going to be available in some offices. Do you know if this is now offered at other places than Belmopan?
I have a house in Placencia, so the Big Creek Port/Independence office is where we usually go.

Last year that office moved their service counter from full view of the office staff so that it no longer overlooked the desks/office area. The processing time then went from about 10 minutes to an hour or longer, resulting in long lines. Even the taxi drivers that carry folks from the Hokey Pokey ferry docks back and forth to the immigration office were complaining.

terrific Serial expat

582POSTS

7 years ago

Erdogan42

Wow so you are saying the time from your application being submitted ( after the 12 month statutory residency) only took 6 months.?
I know of people who are still returning at this time who have applications in for 2 years already. How did your application pass through the system so speedily. I am sure many people would appreciate information that could speed up the process.
My sons application went in September 2015 and the residency came through March 2018, that was at the Belmopan Office. Never any problems or questions raised that could cause delays and when talking with other applicants it seemed an average time lapse, a couple of months faster than some, and a couple of months slower than two he knew of, It seems when the office change over occurred there was a 2 month window when fewer than normal new residencies were issued.
The multi month advance stamp has always been available "If requested and at the immigration officers discretion" an elderly friend who has been a snow bird 6 months each year for about 20 years living in Soccutz has been getting 60 day stamps for the last few years.
Since the new office was opened in Belmopan at the start of this year they have been offering timed appointments which works well and has improved things enormously, Also more people now know to ask for, and get, the 60 or 90 day visa. Mostly if they have more onerous journeys into Belmopan, Or, like our friend, have some mobility issues.

It can always be different decisions on different days for government offices. The big difference is the residency visa'a are issued by the Immigration department and the QRP is the tourist board, They really should talk to each other more. I know a person on QRP who deposited a huge amount into an insurance annuity in the US which the QRP accepted as the payments then came into her Belize account.

exscape 2018 Active member

26POSTS

7 years ago

Hello ...i been here 27 years ,retired here in 1990 under a program called investment Belize , now debunked, if you invest more than$25 k usd you instantly qualify for resident status, it was a big scam and lies, i got my residence after 2 years because i had connections to a government minister, after investing $70 k into a restaurant which was very successful , i sold out in 1996,...you can retire here in the program but really is bogus , my mom was here and considered it but after studying it , was really another scam loaded in their favor, as you have said about the $24 k, $2 grand a month,you can just move here pay your $100 a month after 3 months, and live but ....here we go the Chinese control all food out lets they set the prices , which has tripled in the last 6 months , what is $3.25 in Canada is $9.00 ,usd or $18.00 bz , i dont live extravagant just eat healthy at 67 , ..myself i am trying to sell my house basically give it a away , buy a sail boat and go to the other side of the world, i have friends all over the world who live on their boats, from here and they are never coming back to north america, some are in panama , they say it is so cheap they cant believe it, met people from there who live in the mountains , paradise they say ...well i live in Hopkins , but have to get out of Belize , it has changed beyond repair , the country is broke and any thing to do with tourists or north Americans, they are being targeted because we have the money , they want it , ..lets go check out panama , you can drive there from here in 4 days or longer taking your time , again it depends on your monthly in come do you want to give it all away.

1 member reacted to this post

garyclarke1962 Active member

49POSTS

7 years ago

What do you have for sale? How much and where?

1 member reacted to this post

Will The Old Serial expat

418POSTS

7 years ago

#10

garyclarke1962 wrote:
What do you have for sale? How much and where?

I think his add is in the Housing section of this forum. look for "house buyer wanted".

beveraly000 Member

18POSTS

7 years ago

#11

Hello after reading the comments, I am more favoring Panama. lol Thank you.

elgordo42 Active member

35POSTS

7 years ago

#12

Terrific,
I guess I should have written that first sentence a bit more carefully! The 18 months was from my visit to Immigration to turn in the completed application and supporting documents. Not my first visit to BZ or even to Immigration! I had been living in Belize for 16 months and making the monthly (read: every 4 weeks) trips for the visa renewals.

I turned in my application in February 2017 and was finally approved and got "the red seal" in my US passport in August 2018.

Old Will,
I have only dealt with the Immigration offices in Belmopan and Belize City. I cannot answer any questions about how things are at other offices. I have heard that some people are getting 60 days at the Benque Western Border office.

2 members reacted to this post

Jcronin1964 Active member

53POSTS

7 years ago

#13

We are moving to placencia next month. I thought you could renew your passport stamp every 30 days in independence. Do you know if this is still the case or it has changed?

Zeus.wmo Serial expat

289POSTS

7 years ago

#14

Why do these Central American countries make it so difficult for US and Canadian retirees with sufficient means to retire there? I am currently in Bangkok and will extend/renew my (retirement) visa this week for another year for only $58 USD. It takes an hour or so at immigration waiting in line and 10 minutes once waited on. Why does it take 2 to 3 years to process a residency permit in the CA countries? It seems like you have to apply for a residency permit to stay there permanently or keep getting visas every 30, 60 or 90 days. They should just have a yearly retirement visa for retirees. I wish they would make it easier, but I guess they just don't care. Hoping to make it there one day...

1 member reacted to this post

beveraly000 Member

18POSTS

7 years ago

#15

Zeus, I am so much in agreement with you. After reading all the comments for Belize I am now considering Panama which was 1st on my list. I just want to go and retired peacefully and live off my small social security but it seems as if it will cost more to live in these CA countries than living in the US.

1 member reacted to this post

Will The Old Serial expat

418POSTS

7 years ago

#16

Zeus.wmo:

Almost every time when standing around waiting in the first line, or waiting outside for the passports with the renewal visa to be handed back to us, someone will express the same thoughts.... until then we just put up with it....several times i have heard someone say, this is their last time as they are fed up with it.

Will The Old Serial expat

418POSTS

7 years ago

#17

Jcronin1964 wrote:
We are moving to placencia next month. I thought you could renew your passport stamp every 30 days in independence. Do you know if this is still the case or it has changed?

Yes, 30 days is the standard for this office, it is just recently that i became aware there are some folks, and some offices that allow 60 or 90 days between renewals.

Jcronin1964 Active member

53POSTS

7 years ago

#18

Do you know if when you renew for 60 or 90 day do you just pay the $50 or $100 for that many months ahead? So for 90 days it would be $75/$150 or just a fee for one month? Also do you know which offices somewhat near placencia are doing the 60/90 days?

terrific Serial expat

582POSTS

7 years ago

#19

Yes it is just the multiple of the 30 day fee you are paying. Don"t know if the other offices are doing it but it doesn't hurt to ask next time there.

Jcronin1964 Active member

53POSTS

7 years ago

#20

Thanks for the info.

KeriMeHome314 Contributor

116POSTS

7 years ago

#21

Will The Old wrote:
elgordo42 wrote:
And the 30-day stamp is now even given for 60 or 90 days, for the additional payment. And you can actually get an appointment in the Belmopan Immigration office, which really speeds up the process and saves a lot of your time that day.

Thanks for the update. Early this year there were rumors the 60 90 day options were going to be available in some offices. Do you know if this is now offered at other places than Belmopan?
I have a house in Placencia, so the Big Creek Port/Independence office is where we usually go.

Last year that office moved their service counter from full view of the office staff so that it no longer overlooked the desks/office area. The processing time then went from about 10 minutes to an hour or longer, resulting in long lines. Even the taxi drivers that carry folks from the Hokey Pokey ferry docks back and forth to the immigration office were complaining.

Hi Will, I’ve been getting the 60 day visa in Corozal. Wasn’t aware of a 90 day option so that’s good to know.

Karen Demmitt Member

1POSTS

7 years ago

#22

We just moved to San Pedro Belize. We moved here the end of June. We have never been required to deposit money, in fact we were going to open an account but there were a lot of hoops to jump thru, so we just use our debit. Every month we have to have our passport stamped and the last time they did request we bring in proof of income and money we have accessible. I love it here, the people are amazing and the country is beautiful. Karen

GuestPoster254 Guest

0POSTS

7 years ago

#23

Hi ,

Do you guys rent or have your own house there? What kind of proof of income you have to give them? Do you know how long you have to live there to get your residence legally? I mean without applying for QRP?
Thanks,

Daniel

terrific Serial expat

582POSTS

7 years ago

#24

You have to reside in Belize for 12 months with no more than a total of 14 days out of the country then you can apply for residency. from there the process can be quite long My son was 2 and a half years after the application went in before he was accepted and got he red seal in his passport. After the first 12 months they are a little more lenient on the time out of Belize, but it can cause delays if you are not keeping up the monthly Immigration stamps, my son whenever he left the country always returned for his immigration stamps on his regular dates even if he had only just returned and had 20 plus days left on the stamp from the Airport. You also have to keep paying the $100 every month for the stamp. If you are old enough to Qualify for QRP, the immigration staff may encourage you to take that route.

Rene2624 Member

1POSTS

7 years ago

#25

Exscape,thanks for your message.It was very informative.I will be retiring in a few years but just interested in visiting a few places to see where I would like to retire or build.Living in the mountains sounds like the life.But I worry about safety.Also seeking some place with decent medical care.I am healthy but just like to have good med care if ever needed