Pensionado Residence

1. Residence permit12 months
2. Renew12 months at a time

• Permanent residency
• Citizenship
• Dual citizenship not allowed
• Language required for citizenship

Country

Nicaragua

Program

Pensionado Residence

Local name

Residencia Temporal de Jubilado

Type

Retirement

Status

Active

Initial duration

12 months

Renewable

Yes (12 mo)

Temporary residence for a foreign pensioner. The stay is granted for three months to one year and can be renewed. The migration law no longer sets a pension amount, a minimum age, or the import exemptions of the repealed pensionado law.

Tax regime

Territorial

Foreign income taxed

No

Capital gains taxed

Yes

Method

in country, consulate

Apply from abroad

Yes

Ley 1210, article 38, repealed Ley 694 on 2 August 2024. That law was the special pensionado regime: immediate permanent residence, age 45 with a narrow exception, six months of presence a year, and one-time import relief for household goods, a vehicle and building materials. The 2009 text set the pension at US$600 a month plus US$150 per dependent. The tourism-digest consolidation published on 21 August 2020 printed US$1,000. Neither figure is in force. Ley 1228, in force on 29 November 2024, lists jubilados as temporary residents under article 25(11). The annual card is CA$100. The residence form is CA$3. A dependent in article 25(13) pays CA$100. A separate permit to do paid work costs CA$200. The dollar and Central American peso figures in the tariff are paid in córdobas at the Central Bank rate on the payment date, and the fees shown use those figures at par with the US dollar. A guarantee deposit equal to a return ticket is due unless article 128 exempts the applicant. Pensioners are not on that list. Absence of more than six months can cancel a temporary stay. The old rule that three years of temporary residence led to permanent residence was removed. Naturalization in article 53 is counted from a permanent-residence card. This category does not issue one. A foreigner who later naturalizes must renounce their original nationality. Central Americans of origin who live in Nicaragua are excepted. The 2012 regulation still requires a test of Spanish, geography, history and civics, with no published level, and it exempts people who studied in Nicaragua, older people, and people with a serious disability or illness. Income tax is the ordinary territorial tax on Nicaraguan-source income. A foreign pension is not that income. Nicaraguan-source capital gains are taxed. The 2012 regulation still asks for an INTUR ratification of pensionado status. Ley 1228 told the executive to adapt the regulation. No adapted text was found, and the law that gave INTUR that role was repealed.

1. Oct 10, 2026
   • Name Pensionado Visa Pensionado Residence
   • Official page not set http://legislacion.asamblea.gob.ni/normaweb.nsf/9e314815a08d4a6206257265005d21f9/ca59cddd3…
   • Monthly income (USD) 600 not set
   • Annual income (USD) 7200 not set
   • Application fee (USD) 200 100
   • Path to permanent residency Yes No

   3 more changes

   • Years to permanent residency 3 not set
   • Path to citizenship Yes No
   • Years to citizenship 5 not set

   consular filing allowed, parents allowed as dependents, and a separate paid-work permit noted. The minimum-stay day count was removed because the current rule is an absence cap of six months (legislacion.asamblea.gob.ni).