The Qualified Retired Persons program is designed to attract more retirees to Belize by promoting retiring in Belize. In 1999, legislation was passed (Qualified Retired Persons Incentive Act) to make this process as painless as possible for the retirees, and the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) is responsible for running this program.
It is relatively easy to comply with the rules for the Belize’s Qualified Retired Persons Program (QRP). And other than the name suggests, you do not have to be retired at all, but there are some limits to employment.
The main criteria for the QRP program are:
- You, or your partner, must be at least 45 years of age.
- You and your partner must have a (combined) monthly income from outside of Belize of at least BZ$ 4.000 (US$ 2.000). This could be from your pension, but it could also be from a non-Belize business that you operate.
- You must stay in Belize for a minimum of four weeks per year.
- You may not seek employment within Belize.
The Belize Tourist Board (BTB) is responsible for this Qualified Retired Persons program. While it does not disclose how many people have moved to Belize through this initiative, it is rumored that there are a maximum of several hundred applicants taking part in this program and it is unknown how many of these applicants will result in people actually moving. Other sources claim that Belize has over 20.000 new residents that can be directly attributed to the QRP program.
When submitting your QRP application, make sure to include:
- Your birth certificate
- If applicable, your marriage certificate
- A copy of your entire passport, including all the blank pages. This copy must be authenticated.
- A statement from a police department in your place of residence stating that you do not have a criminal record.
- Proof of income, stating that you earn at least BZ$ 4.000 per month.
- Medical statement to prove you are not HIV positive.
- Four recent color passport photographs of each applicant.
- The required funds to process your application.