El Salvador
3 Easy Paths to Obtain Residency in El Salvador
El Salvador recently changed its residency and citizenship laws.
Together with my lawyer Rodrigo, we were discussing how to obtain residency in El Salvador. If you’re in the market for an expert residency lawyer in El Salvador to assist with your application process, look no further than Rodrigo! His extensive experience and deep knowledge of Salvadoran residency laws and regulations make him a valuable legal partner.
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Watch Video: How to get Residency in El Salvador
- Rentista visa residency or private income residency in El Salvador
- How to get the pensionado retiree visa residency in El Salvador
- Create a company in El Salvador to get residency
- Minimum physical presence requirements to maintain residency
- How to get permanent residency in El Salvador
- How to obtain citizenship in El Salvador
- What documents are needed to start each process
EL SALVADOR
El Salvador Residency:
PLAN “B”
After recent changes, the current residency programs available in El Salvador don’t require significant physical presence anymore. El Salvador became a great choice not only for those looking to move to and live there.
Why get residency in El Salvador?
Explore the benefits of Salvadoran residency, offering breathtaking scenery, low cost of living, and favorable tax conditions, making it an ideal destination for investors, expats and remote workers alike.
- An absolutely gorgeous country with mountains, beaches, and colonial towns.
- A low cost of living; El Salvador is competitively ranked in the Numbeo Cost of Living Index.
- Geographic location – same timezone as North America. It’s fantastic for remote workers.
- No taxes on worldwide income. Residents get taxed on Salvadoran-sourced income only.
- No property tax.
- Bitcoin is legal tender.
- Affordable healthcare.
What are the Residency options in El Salvador?
El Salvador offers three main visa options for investors and expats: the rentista visa, the pensionado / pensioner visa, and residency through company formation
- El Salvador Rentista Visa
- El Salvador Pensionado or Pensioner Visa
- El Salvador residency through company formation
How to get the Rentista visa in El Salvador
El Salvador is very easy to move to if you can demonstrate at least $1,500 of monthly passive income. If you can show that you earn at least this amount on a monthly basis from dividends, distributions from a trust, rental income, royalties, life insurance payments, etc, then you can qualify for the rentista visa in El Salvador.
The El Salvador rentista visa is valid for one year, renewable.
The applicant can bring his spouse, children, and parents as well.
Required Documentation for the Rentista visa in El Salvador
You’ll need the following documentation to obtain your rentista visa in El Salvador :
- Proof of income, certified and apostilled
- Letter of application for registration
- Tax payer ID (NIT) (single copy)
- Criminal background check from back home (apostilled)
- Original passport and photographs
- Birth certificate (apostilled)
- Marriages certificate if applicable (apostilled)
- Affidavit confirming financial support for family members
Renewal Requirements Temporary Residence for Rentiers
Do note that you will need to stay in El Salvador for 3 months of the year. They don’t have to be consecutive.
Use a good attorney in El Salvador to prepare your residency application
My Salvadoran attorney Rodrigo is really great and can help you with the process. He speaks English fluently, is highly regarded, and has helped many foreigners in El Salvador.
How to get the Pensionado visa / Pensioner residency in El Salvador
This applies to anyone who can credibly claim they are retired and have guaranteed income from a public or private pension of at least $1,200 per month.
The El Salvador pensionado visa is valid for one year, renewable. The applicant can bring his spouse, children, and parents as well.
- Proof of pension income, certified and apostilled
- Letter of application for registration
- Tax payer ID (NIT) (single copy)
- Criminal background check from back home (apostilled)
- Original passport and photographs
- Birth certificate (apostilled)
- Marriages certificate if applicable (apostilled)
- Affidavit confirming financial support for family members
Renewal Requirements
Do note that you will need to stay in El Salvador for 3 months of the year. They don’t have to be consecutive.
Pensioner and Rentista Visa Legal Services
$1000
- Document preparation
- Application screening by immigration lawyer
- Support at the immigration department to navigate the process
- Help to get the actual residency card / cedula
- $250 for each additional dependent family member
How to get residency in El Salvador through company formation
Luckily, for people who don’t have such passive income, there is a residency option for entrepreneurs. It requires you to create a local El Salvador corporation and to then employ yourself. The corporation then applies for a work permit. You’ll have to pay yourself at least the minimum wage and pay some payroll and income tax.
Renewal Requirements
Do note that you will need to stay in El Salvador for 3 months of the year. They don’t have to be consecutive.
The corporation also needs to demonstrate some level of activity. It can’t be completely dead. Just bill for some consulting services and you should be fine.
How to obtain permanent residency in El Salvador
The requirements to obtain permanent residency in El Salvador became less strict. You must have lived in El Salvador for 2 years on a temporary residency (the three options we discussed).
This means meeting the physical presence requirements of at least 3 months per year – they don’t have to be consecutive.
Once you have permanent residency in El Salvador, maintaining it is easy and requires checking in to the country once every two years, like in Panama.
How to obtain citizenship in El Salvador
You will have had to live in El Salvador for 5 years before being able to apply. Also, you can’t just get permanent residency after year 2 and not be in El Salvador for two years before applying for citizenship. They want you to show presence and that you actually live in the country and have integrated. It’s helpful to have a domicile in El Salvador.
However once you have citizenship in El Salvador, you can lose it if you do not come back to the country once every two years.
Easy to get and easy to lose.
Do I need an attorney to get residency in El Salvador?
Don’t be fooled by dishonest attorneys!
Some people will try to convince you that you need a lawyer to apply for residency in El Salvador.
You don’t.
You can do it by yourself, and save a few hundred dollars in the process. The immigration department has all the information here https://www.migracion.gob.sv/
That said, the process typically takes a few months. If you make a single mistake, then you are back to zero and have to pay the government fees all over again. A good attorney will save you a lot of time, stress, and probably even money by helping you avoid making mistakes.
Get started with a consult on residency in El Salvador
My Attorney in El Salvador
Meet Rodrigo, his law firm has been in business for over 20 years, is reasonably priced and will ensure you do not get “played” because let’s face it – that’s always a risk as a foreigner in any transaction abroad.
FAQ
Can El Salvador residency be used as a passive "Plan B" paper residency?
Yes, recent law changes made that possible. To renew temporary residency, you must spend at now only 3 non-consecutive months per year in El Salvador. Once you achieve permanent residency after 2 years, the requirement relaxes to visiting at least once every 2 years.
Can I bring family, and does adding dependents increase the income requirement?
Yes, you can bring dependents without increasing the minimum income. The baseline income amounts ($1,500/month for Rentista, $1,200/month for Pensionado) remain the same when including a spouse, children, or parents. You only need to get apostilled relationship records and a notarized affidavit of financial support.
How long does it take to qualify for permanent residency and citizenship?
Permanent residency is available after 2 years of temporary residency so long as you meet the 3 month annual stay requirement.
Citizenship is possible after 5 years of living in the country. You must show continuous physical presence and integration over the full 5 year period.
- Services in El Salvador:
- How to get residency in El Salvador
- Real estate attorney in El Salvador
- Real estate agents in El Salvador
- El Salvador Citizenship by Investment
Article on El Salvador:
Transcript of “How to get Residency in El Salvador”
LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello. So today we’ll be discussing how to obtain residency in El Salvador together with my lawyer Rodrigo, because there are some very interesting reforms with regards to immigration law in El Salvador. It is now a lot easier to maintain residency and the path to citizenship is also easier.
How to obtain Residency in El Salvador – lawyer’s advice
So, Rodrigo, before we get to that, let’s first start with, what are the three main ways that you use to help your clients obtain residency in El Salvador?
RODRIGO: Well, it’s great to see you, Ladislas, it’s great to see you all behind that screen. The three main ways that we help people to get Salvadoran residency is incorporate a company, be a Rentista to have dividends paid or be a pension person. I mean, you have a pension in your country of origin and you want to come to live through Salvador, that’s totally possible.
Rentista Visa in El Salvador
LADISLAS MAURICE: So, Rentista, how much must I earn per month and what qualifies? What type of income qualifies exactly?
RODRIGO: The amount is $1,500.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay. And it’s what, dividends, royalties, or what else?
RODRIGO: Dividends, it’s the same. You need to be able to prove that you have a passive income like current and steady income outside of the country and you will be able to maintain yourself here in El Salvador.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Rental income qualifies as well?
RODRIGO: Yes, you need to prove that you have the rental or the lease and you will have that steady income.
Requirements for Retirement Visa in El Salvador
LADISLAS MAURICE: What about the retirement visa? How much per month must one demonstrate and must it be a government pension or can it be a private pension?
RODRIGO: It can be both of them, but you need to prove it. I mean, it’s a government, you need to bring up the forms and it’s a private, also you need to bring the documents to prove it. Obviously, if it’s in a different language from Spanish, it will help us a lot if you bring the translation and we do the notarization of documents or if it’s in English, we can help you do the translation.
LADISLAS MAURICE: And what’s the minimum amount per month?
RODRIGO: It’s $1,200.
Company Incorporation as a way to obtain Residency in El Salvador
LADISLAS MAURICE: And the third option, you create a company. I assume you hire yourself as the director of that company. Does it need to be an active company that actually does real business or can it be a bit, you know, not that active, just a bit of consulting and that’s it?
RODRIGO: It can be both because when you want to renew the residency, you need to prove that the company it’s working or it’s going to be operative company. You can file for a business person residency. That’s the one that when you incorporate a company here in El Salvador, that’s my advice, to file for a business person residency as a shareholder, as a legal representative, et cetera.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay. So you don’t necessarily need to be the director?
RODRIGO: You necessarily don’t need to be the director, but since we have a type of company that it’s sole shareholder companies here, it’s you as a shareholder and you as a director, it’s a lot easier. So my advice, for example, if you work in the US for an abroad company, not in the US, you can come to El Salvador, incorporate a company, make that that company that you work for, hire the company that you incorporate here in El Salvador and then you have temporary residency here in El Salvador.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Clear. So, three ways. Now, let’s say I come to you, Rodrigo, I choose one of the ways, I get residency.
Changes in minimum stay requirement to keep El Salvador Residency
How long must I remain in El Salvador to be able to renew the residency? Because I think this is important. Before it was eight months. This meant that to get residency and maintain residency in El Salvador, it had to be your plan A. As in, you were moving to El Salvador. Now it’s changed.
RODRIGO: This is a big game changer from my point of view because it has changed from eight, seven to eight months to only three, only 90 days here in El Salvador. Those 90 days needs to be like consecutive or not within a year. So it’s way, way better than seven to eight months.
LADISLAS MAURICE: That’s amazing. So essentially El Salvador changed from a Plan A plan essentially to a Plan B option where you have residency in El Salvador, you maintain your residency in El Salvador, it’s a super short flight from the US, from Canada, you come down for the winter, you surf, you hang out, you, you know, life is good for three months and you get to keep that residency.
Permanent Residency path in El Salvador
So, Rodrigo, how many years of temporary residency at three months per year must I do to be able to apply for permanent residency?
RODRIGO: Two years and then you can file for a permanent one.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Once I have permanent residency, how much time must I remain in El Salvador to keep the permanent residency?
RODRIGO: You can come in and out of the country as much as you want, but you cannot be out of the country in a period of time that acts two years. I mean, if you look at in the other one, you need to be in El Salvador for three years as a permanent resident.
How to obtain and keep Citizenship in El Salvador?
LADISLAS MAURICE: So three years of permanent residency and then I can apply for citizenship?
RODRIGO: That is correct. And then when you get the citizenship, the same, kind of the same rules applies. The intention was with this modification of law that people wanted to come here and stay in El Salvador. So when you have the citizenship, you can, as in the permanent one, you can come in and out as long as you want. You’re a citizen already, but you cannot be out of the country for a period of time of two years.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Or else they remove your citizenship?
RODRIGO: That is correct.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Look, this is really interesting. There is now a clear path to citizenship for El Salvador. Three months, three months, and then essentially two days over three years. Rodrigo, they won’t look and say, you haven’t spent enough time in El Salvador, they’ll be like, fine, but because we know that anyways, if you don’t come back enough, we’ll revoke it from you. Is that essentially the thinking? Make it easy for people to get citizenship, but also make it easy for people to lose citizenship if it turns out they weren’t serious?
RODRIGO: That is correct. I mean, citizenship for El Salvador, it’s a serious thing. So if you want to file for it or apply to it, you need to be serious about it. So in all the residencies temporary and permanent, the 90 days applies that you need to be here within a calendar year. And then when you have the citizenship, the idea for El Salvador to do this reform of laws is that you come and live here for at least three years.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Things like this, there’s always a little bit of ambiguity. You know, if you look at Panama, technically you can apply after five years and barely spending time on the ground, but you’re not going to get it. Though they now say that you will. So no one really knows. So it’s a bit uncertain, like Rodrigo and I here are saying, technically it’s possible. It seems to be the spirit that it is now easier to get citizenship in El Salvador. They want to make it easier for people to get citizenship, but then they also say, you’re not just going to come here, get citizenship and disappear. Once you’re a citizen, you better come back every two years and show that you have some level of commitment to the country. So, if that’s the thinking, I feel that it’s very innovative in the sense that, sure, we’ll give you citizenship easily, but you know, if you don’t come back and show commitment, we’ll also revoke it from you. So.
RODRIGO: Yeah, that’s totally the spirit of it.
Importance of having a domicile for Citizenship in El Salvador
And one more tip that going from the permanent resident to citizenship is to have a domicile here, like, buy some real estate, build your home, and when we go and file for the citizenship, you have something that grounds us or to very relate to El Salvador. So that’s really important to get the citizenship.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Fair enough. I mean, if you’re going to get citizenship somewhere, I mean, just buy condo, it’s fine, you know. All right, this is interesting. And what so let’s say, uh, Rodrigo, I come to you, I say, cool, I want to get started with this process.
What documents do you need to apply for Residency in El Salvador?
What documents should I bring with me?
RODRIGO: Your passport, your police or criminal records, either one that it’s easier to get. If you’re married, your marriage certificate, if you have kids, your kids’ birth certificate, and every document needs to be apostilled. If it’s in another language, we can help you translate them, but that’s the main ones.
Get in touch with Rodrigo for help with obtaining Residency in El Salvador
LADISLAS MAURICE: There is more information in the link below on how to obtain residency in El Salvador, more details, and that is also how you can get in touch with Rodrigo if you want to get started or if you want to book a consulting call with him to go through your specific case and discuss your option. And Rodrigo, thank you. You’ve helped dozens of my clients obtain residency in beautiful El Salvador.
RODRIGO: Thank you, Ladislas. And thank you for your time. It’s really a pleasure speaking to you and it’s a pleasure helping all of you guys getting your residency.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Make sure to download my free ebook, 12 Mistakes to Avoid When Investing in International Real Estate, which you can find on my website, link below. And feel free to follow me on Instagram @thewanderinginvestor. I look forward to hearing from you.