Andorra

It became substantially more expensive on 13 February 2026, when Law 2/2026 ('Llei Òmnibus 2') amended Article 96 of Law 9/2012. The qualifying investment rose from EUR 600,000 to EUR 1,000,000, and there is now a non-refundable payment to the State of EUR 50,000 for the main applicant plus EUR 12,000 per dependant, which does not count toward the EUR 1m. For a family of four that is EUR 1m invested plus EUR 86,000 permanently written off just to arrive, before legal and housing costs. The genuine story, widely missed, is the Housing Fund (Fons d'Habitatge) route, which cuts the investment threshold to EUR 400,000 — 60% cheaper and the reform's deliberate incentive.

No. Before February 2026 it was a returnable AFA deposit, refunded when you left. Under the amended Article 96(2) it is now paid on a definitive basis and transferred to the State once the immigration authorisation is granted. It is refundable only if the initial authorisation is refused. Any advisory material still describing it as a returnable deposit is describing the law as it stood before February 2026. The same non-refundable treatment applies to the EUR 12,000 payable for each dependant.

Passive residency requires just 90 days per calendar year, plus regular long-term accommodation in Andorra. That makes it one of the lightest genuine presence requirements in Europe. Active residency is a different matter. It requires 183 days per year and makes you unambiguously tax resident. That heavier commitment is the point. It makes Andorran tax residency defensible against a challenge from Spain or France. Keep in mind that the 90-day passive standard does not amount to the principal and permanent residence needed to ever qualify for citizenship.

Personal income tax is capped at 10%. The first EUR 24,000 is exempt, and a partial allowance extends to EUR 40,000, so the effective rate runs well below the headline figure. There is no wealth tax and no inheritance tax. Capital gains are taxed at 10%, but that tax does not apply when the holding is 25% or less of the entity, and it disappears entirely after ten years of holding, regardless of percentage. IGI, Andorra's version of VAT, sits at 4.5%, and corporate tax is 10%. For anyone who does not need an EU passport, this is still the best tax-to-lifestyle ratio in Western Europe.

Realistically, no. Naturalisation requires 20 years of principal and permanent residence. The 90-day passive standard does not count toward that clock. Andorra also mandates renunciation of all other nationalities, with no dual-citizenship workaround. And even if you cleared all that, Andorran nationality would not deliver EU free movement, since Andorra is not an EU member. In practice, this is a residency and tax jurisdiction, not a citizenship one. Any plan that treats an Andorran passport as the end goal is not really a plan.

No. Andorra is neither an EU member nor part of the Schengen Area. That means no free movement and no right of establishment in the EU. There is also no airport. Access is by road via Spain or France. Andorra does, however, have an EU monetary and tax-cooperation relationship, and it is a full CRS participant. So this is a low-tax jurisdiction, not an opaque one. Information still flows to your other jurisdictions of connection. Banking onboarding is also slow and genuinely selective, and source-of-funds diligence on large crypto positions is a common failure point.

Only for a limited time. Under Article 96(1)(c), financial instruments and Andorran collective investment funds count toward the threshold for a maximum of 36 months. After three years the capital must be redirected into other qualifying classes, Andorran real estate or company equity, or the investment stops counting and the residence authorisation can be annulled. This is a structural trap. The easy way to hold EUR 1m has a three-year fuse. If you go into real estate, more than EUR 800,000 must be allocated to each property unit, so a EUR 1m budget buys one qualifying unit, not two. Foreign buyers now also face a 6% real-estate investment tax, rising to 10% beyond single-dwelling limits.

Yes. The residence for professionals with international projection under Article 98 of Law 9/2012, commonly marketed as Category B, is the cheaper route. It historically required an AFA payment of EUR 47,500 for the main applicant plus EUR 9,500 per dependant, and it delivers the same 10% tax outcome, provided at least 85% of your services are rendered to non-Andorran clients from a real Andorran professional base. One caution: those figures pre-date Law 2/2026, and it is not yet confirmed whether the February 2026 reform converted them to non-refundable payments, as it did for passive residency. Confirm with Andorran counsel before wiring any funds. The route also requires genuine substance, an incorporated vehicle, not a mailbox.