Country Article / Postcards

Belize QRP - Special Retiree Benefits

Date: 11/10/2009 Author: Ronan McMahon

Little Belize is my # 1 Caribbean buy because the best real estate values are here. This is a country rich in natural beauty—with tropical reefs and lush jungle. The quirky people are welcoming and warm. Visit and you run the risk of not wanting to return home. In fact, they even have a government program to incentivize you to spend more time here. They’ll welcome you as a permanent resident with a pathway to citizenship and a Belize passport. It's called the Qualified Retired Person (QRP) program.

Some of my developer contacts in Belize have started to use this program to help market their real estate. With good cause: This program is a major driver of demand for property. Here’s how it works.

To participate in this program you need to be 45 years or older with an income of $2,000 per month (and deposit $24,000 in a Belize bank). Fulfill these criteria and you could be a permanent resident of Belize before next March.

Belize’s warm welcome doesn’t stop there. As a QRP you will pay no tax on income earned outside Belize or on money brought into the country. You can import $15,000 worth of household goods tax-free. You can bring in a vehicle tax-free...not just once but every five years. With this program you have permanent residency…but you can still take advantage of all the offshore banking advantages of Belize while living there.

Little Belize is flexible. You can start the process long before spending a lot of time here. All you need to do is spend one month per year in Belize to maintain your status. That’s a requirement you will look forward to fulfilling. Contacts on the ground tell me that this minimum time requirement isn’t being enforced by the Belize Tourist Board (which administers the program). Rules or enforcement isn’t Belize’s thing. Want to bring the entire family? Belize has no problem with that.

The best part of the program is that you can use the $24,000 you lodge in a Belize bank to buy real estate. Once you lodge the cash, Belize doesn’t care where the money goes from there. That’s a big help when, for example, less than $100,000 buys you a condo three blocks from the beach on Ambergris. This condo comes with access to a beach club, and fitness and country club facilities. Finance is available. Last year Islands magazine selected Ambergris as one of the 10 best islands to live on, describing it as “an affordable paradise in the Caribbean.”

Throughout history kings and merchant princes always had an escape route. If things moved against them in their home country, off they went. Their plans were laid long in advance. Their research done and contacts made. The little guy who had no contacts and resources was left behind. Belize’s QRP program might just be the escape route us little guys have been dreaming of for centuries.

I strongly urge you to check out little Belize for yourself. See her natural treasures, real estate values. Get planning today. Belize’s people and natural beauty mean that retiring baby boomers will want to come. The QRP program means that they can come. I expect real estate prices will rise.

Remember, the QRP program even holds a pathway to citizenship and a Belize passport. You can do this by converting from QRP to regular permanent residency.

Editor's note: Our brand new report on this country (called Belize: Live the Caribbean Dream…For Less) tells you everything you need to know about the attractive QRP Program. If you're interested in a place in the Caribbean sun…but you don't want to pay typical Caribbean prices…you need to read this report.

To read more IL articles on Belize, see:

7 Reasons Why You Should Move to Belize