ProGestió
Andorra
Application file, AFA deposit, medical review, timelines and renewal: how an Andorran residence application actually unfolds, step by step.
Content reviewed by the legal and tax team of ProGestió Andorra — Last updated:
Choosing between active residence and residence without gainful activity is a substantive decision. Filing it is an administrative exercise, with its documents, its timelines and its grounds for refusal. This article deals with the second: what the Immigration Service actually expects from a file, in what order the stages follow one another, and what makes an application succeed or come back. The choice of status itself is covered elsewhere, and the links at the end point there.
A word on method before we begin. The Andorran framework was overhauled in 2025, and the amounts required — deposit and investment — changed in that process. Below we describe the mechanisms as they appear in the legal texts and on the Govern’s official information sheets, without putting forward any figure we could not confirm against an up-to-date primary source. The thresholds in force must be checked on the date of filing.
These rules rest on Decret 407/2025 of 12 November 2025, the consolidated text of the qualified immigration law, and Decret 74/2026 of 11 March 2026, set out in the sections below. Figures verified as of September 2026.
The phrase “passive residence”, still widely used, no longer matches the official vocabulary. The Govern d’Andorra now classifies these authorisations as residence without work (residència sense treball), with its own administrative sheet for the initial authorisation and another for renewal.
This family covers several distinct situations: residence without gainful activity in the strict sense, residence for professionals with international projection, residence on grounds of scientific, cultural or sporting interest, and residence linked to admission to a private geriatric or care centre. The common core of the process is the same; the additional documents differ.
The current regulatory framework rests on the regulation on immigration authorisations for residence without work approved by Decret 407/2025 of 12 November 2025, on the consolidated text of the qualified immigration law published by legislative decree of 6 February 2019, and on the quota regulation adopted by Decret 74/2026 of 11 March 2026.
One confusion appears in almost every file: believing that the immigration authorisation determines tax residency. These are two distinct legal orders.
The residence-without-work authorisation imposes a commitment to reside effectively in Andorra for at least 90 days per calendar year. That threshold is administrative: it conditions the retention of the permit, nothing more.
Tax residency is determined on other criteria, including a stay of more than 183 days and the centre of economic interests. A person can therefore meet the 90-day commitment perfectly and not be recognised as an Andorran tax resident — or have it contested by another State. This is worth understanding before filing, not afterwards.
The Govern’s official sheet lists the general documentation “for indicative and non-limiting purposes”: the Immigration Service may ask for more. The core comprises:
For dependent children, a birth certificate is added and, for those under sixteen, the vaccination record and a medical certificate.
This is one of the most underestimated points. The file requires a criminal record certificate from the country of origin, the country of nationality and the countries of residence. A person born in one country, a national of a second and formerly resident in a third must therefore produce three certificates, not one.
To this is added a sworn declaration concerning criminal records, separate from the certificates themselves.
The time it takes to obtain these documents in the country of origin is the leading cause of delay. It should be started before anything else.
All official documents issued by foreign authorities must be presented either bearing the Hague Convention apostille or duly legalised.
This requirement applies to civil status certificates, criminal record extracts and birth certificates. It lengthens the timetable appreciably when one of the countries involved is not a party to the Convention, since the consular route must then be used.
The applicant must demonstrate by documents that they own or rent a dwelling meeting the minimum habitability conditions required.
An alternative exists for those who have not yet purchased: it is possible to show that acquisition procedures have been started, provided they conclude within one year from the filing of the residence application. This is therefore not an open-ended postponement but a firm deadline recorded in the file.
A housing commitment and a certificate of address are among the expected documents.
The main holder must demonstrate annual income exceeding 300% of the current annual minimum wage, increased by 100% of that same indicator for each dependent.
The official sheet gives the calculation formula: base salary × 12 months × 3 for the main holder. The absolute amount therefore depends on the Andorran minimum wage applicable in the year of application, which is why no fixed figure can be quoted durably.
Proof is provided, among other means, by a retirement or disability pension certificate, the previous year’s tax return in the last country of residence, and the corresponding bank certifications.
Two distinct financial items appear in the file, and they are often confused.
The first is the documentation for settling the deposit with the AFA, the Andorran Financial Authority. This is a non-remunerated deposit, evidenced by a document issued by a banking institution of the Principality. This deposit is not an expense: it is deducted from the amount to be invested and returned if the authorisation ends — cancellation, annulment or non-renewal — less only the fees applied by the AFA and any withholdings for failure to meet obligations entered into in Andorra.
The second is the commitment to invest in Andorran assets. The November 2025 regulation lists the eligible asset categories: real property, company shares, debt instruments, public administration debt securities, life insurance products, and non-remunerated deposits with the AFA. The regulation does not itself set the amount: it refers back to the immigration law.
The two obligations are cumulative, and maintenance of the investment is re-checked at renewal.
The file includes a section on information about the medical review and consent to medical tests. The medical examination is therefore an integral part of the process, not an optional later formality.
For dependent children under sixteen, the vaccination record and a medical certificate are required at the time of filing.
Obtaining the authorisation does not close the process. The holder must register with the Comú of the parish where they reside within a maximum of one month from the date the immigration authorisation is granted, and evidence that registration within the same period.
A certificate from the Comú must also be produced within three months of obtaining the authorisation. Both deadlines run after the favourable decision and are frequently forgotten.
The Immigration Service publishes no overall timeframe, and it would be misleading to advance one. The real calendar breaks down rather like this:
| Stage | What governs it |
|---|---|
| Gathering foreign documents | Issuing times for criminal records and civil status certificates, then apostille or legalisation |
| Assembling Andorran documents | Housing, insurance cover, bank account opening for the deposit |
| Filing and examination | Completeness of the file; any missing document suspends the review |
| Medical review | Summons by the competent service |
| Grant and Comú registration | 1 month to register, 3 months for the certificate |
| Housing acquisition, where applicable | 1 year from the filing of the application |
The dominant variable is almost never Andorran: it is the time the country of origin takes to issue and legalise its documents.
The renewal application must be filed during the six months preceding expiry, and imperatively before the expiry date of the authorisation to be renewed.
The applicant must establish that they have fixed their principal and effective residence in the Principality from the start date for an initial authorisation, or from the last renewal in other cases. The renewal file adds the Comú residence certificate, recent proof of address — latest receipt, electricity, telephone or water bills —, evidence that the insurance cover remains in force, renewed demonstration of the income threshold, and the commitment to be present for at least 90 days a year.
For residence without gainful activity specifically, a document confirming that the investment in Andorran assets is being maintained is required.
A fee applies, published in the Govern’s list of tariffs.
The most frequent grounds for refusal or blockage are almost never substantive:
None of these points turns on discretionary assessment. They are completeness checks, and they can be prepared for.
Does residence without work allow me to work in Andorra? No. That is precisely what distinguishes it from residence and work. A project involving paid activity in Andorra, or the operational management of an Andorran company, falls under a different status.
Are 90 days enough to become an Andorran tax resident? No. The 90 days are an administrative commitment attached to the residence permit. Tax residency is determined on other criteria, including a stay of more than 183 days and the centre of economic interests.
Must I already own a home when filing? Not necessarily. It is possible to show that acquisition procedures have been started, provided they conclude within the year following filing. A rental meeting the habitability conditions is also acceptable.
Is the AFA deposit refunded? Yes. It is returned if the authorisation is cancelled, annulled or not renewed, less the fees applied by the AFA and any withholdings for failure to meet obligations entered into in Andorra. It is also deducted from the amount to be invested, not added to it.
How long should I allow in total? There is no published official timeframe, and the decisive factor lies outside Andorra: obtaining and then legalising documents in the countries of origin, nationality and residence. That is where to start.
What happens if the renewal application is filed late? It must be filed before the expiry date. An expired authorisation requires a regularisation request, which calls for a reasoned letter concerning the lapse.
Further reading: All residency types in Andorra, Residency in Andorra in 2026: statuses and conditions, Active or passive residency: how to choose, Living in Andorra as a tax resident, Taxation in Andorra.
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