Investor Residency Nicaragua by Opening a Business

In our post entitled “Business in Nicaragua – Seven “Must Know” Organizations” (under Ministerio de Fomento, Industria y Comercio – MIFIC); we touched upon the process for obtaining legal residency in Nicaragua under the Investor Residency, Nicaragua (with a minimum of US $30,000). In this post we will go into that category in a little more detail.

Introduction

The overriding principal of Law 344, the “Law for the Promotion of Foreign Investments” is that foreign investors benefit from the same rights as those enjoyed by national investors. There are no limits on the purchase and sale of foreign currency, no fees for converting currency and also no restrictions regarding the conversion or transfer of funds related to investments.

Having established that you can bring money (transfer) into Nicaragua, Law 344 also supports the Constitution of Nicaragua in relation to foreign property ownership (see our article entitled Investing in Nicaragua – Buying a Business Property in this same category.

In simple terms, that outlines the law giving a foreign investor the right to bring money into Nicaragua and purchase a business (with or without property).

Obtaining the Business Investor Residency Card

In order to use your business investment to obtain a Cedula de Residencia (Residency Card), you will need to obtain a Certificate of Investment from the Ministerio de Fomento, Industria y Comercio (Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Development). As with some of the other categories (e.g. pensioner category which starts at the Tourist Institute, INTUR), you need to go somewhere else first to obtain the initial approval from that organization before making your residency application at Migración.

This certificate is the document you need to take to Migración y Extranjería in Managua in order to start the actual residency card process with them. The Certificate of Investment is proof that you have made the required investment and you have satisfied the MIFIC process.

The Registration Form walks you through all the information you need to provide and it’s available in English and Spanish. Expect to provide all of the usual personal, business and registration details that are legally required (local authority business license, national tax number any special licenses required such as from the tourist institute or transportation).

There is section on employees including a breakdown of salaries and qualifications and the total “Number of jobs generated by the investment”.

The remainder of the form lists documents you need to provide with your Letter of Solicitation, including; business registration documents, RUC ID (Unique Taxpayer Registry), municipal business license and proof of minimum investment amount of US $30,000.00. If its more than US $60,000, it needs to be proven by a Public Accountant (CPA). Also, rental agreement, last payroll and the verification visit made to the business or company by MIFIC representative.

Once you have obtained your Investment Registration Certificate you will take that along with your company registration documents from the Commercial Registry as well as a copy of local business license and tax number to Migración y Extranjería to start your residency application.

The Investor Residency Nicaragua sounds rather daunting but it really isn’t.

If you need lawyer to help you, I can recommend Paul Tiffer, a bi-lingual lawyer in Managua with more than 20 years of experience with Nicaraguan residency applications and renewals.

Because I receive very often emails requesting information regarding Residency as Foreign Investors, I would like to clarify how the process works.

Some people believe that buying a property with a value of $30,000.00 is sufficient enough to be able to apply for the residency as Foreign Investors.

To be able to apply for this kind of residency, it is mandatory to obtain the endorsement from MIFIC (Ministerio de Industria, Fomento y Comercio).

Please be aware that MIFIC had started applying new regulations regarding the issuance of the certification for those Nicaraguan companies created to hold an asset (property) in order to obtain a residency as investor in Nicaragua (5 years residency).

In order to proceed with the residency application as investor, a company has to be created to hold the asset (investment) and the MIFIC issues a certification whereby the investment made is approved. This document is a main requirement to get this type of residency.

According to the new regulations, the company needs to have operations and workers and submit a copy of the payroll, not only to be used as a simple asset holder.

Leave a comment below at Nica-Biz if you have any questions.