The National Assembly of Nicaragua has approved the new General Tourism Law (LEY Nº. 1210 – LEY GENERAL DE TURISMO) which is essentially an amalgamation of various other tourism related laws that are now repealed.
One of those laws was introduced in 2009 as Law 694, the law that offered legal residency and incentives to retirees from foreign countries through an initial application at the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (INTUR). The aim was to attract this financially secure demographic to Nicaragua by offering a residency program as well as granting incentives and tax benefits to those that qualified for this category.
Initial Application at INTUR Eliminated
Nicaraguan Lawyer, Paul Tiffer from Tiffer and Associates has advised that “With the repeal (of law 694), Law 761 Immigration Law now encompasses these categories. This change means that applicants for the pensioner and rentista/rentier status will now go directly to Migracion not INTUR”.
The process for the initial application for a retiree (pensionado – those on a fixed pension) or a rentier (rentista – private investment income) was to apply to the Nicaraguan Institute of Tourism (INTUR) for initial approval and then take that approval to Migracion.
New Residency Process
Now, after obtaining the “formulario” (application form) at Migracion they can have a consultation with a Migracion officer at a window and receive a check list of documents they will need in order to process their application in the same way as applicants from other categories.
Monthly Income
Since February 28th 2019, all new applications fall under the new monthly amounts. The minimum income requirement for a pensioner (pensionado) is US $1,000 per month and for a rentista (someone living on a permanent, stable and provable income generated abroad) is US $1,250 per month.
Note: The repeal of Law 694 can be found in the new Law Nº. 1210 – General Tourism Law under Article 38 “This Law repeals the following provisions” – number 4) Ley Nº. 694, Ley de Promoción de Ingreso de Residentes Pensionados y Residentes Rentistas, published 21 de agosto de 2020.
Published in La Gaceta No. 141 dated Friday 2nd Agosto 2024.
