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Residency In Belize.  Get It While You Can - Belize has rescinded its Investors Passsport Program, but there is still a way to get a Belizean Passport and one of the most important things you can do to protect your future and the future of your family is to get a second passport. The process of getting residency in Belize is straight forward and uncomplicated, especially when you have Bill & Claire Gray providing an easy to read explanation of how to go about getting Belizean residency for you and your family.    Bill & Claire Gray, authors, Belize Relocation Guides and long time residents of Belize supply the answers, the facts and the forms for residency in Belize through the Belize 'residency' program, plus they provide you with the pathway to a passport, a work permit and more. When will Belize rescind it's residency program just as they did their passport program?  You can wait and find out, or you can get this report for 20 bucks and insure your future. Retirement? This report also has all the forms and instructions to gain retirement status in Belize.

Even if you’re a world traveler with a bazillion frequent-flier miles, chances are that you’ll be fascinated by your first glimpses of Belize, the little English-speaking country on the Caribbean coast of Central America. Hundreds of travel-poster islands dot the turquoise sea along Belize’s 200-mile coast. Just offshore is the longest barrier reef in the Northern and Western hemispheres, with an undersea world of fantastic color and diversity. The diving and snorkeling are world-class, and the fishing is so good that it usually takes just a few minutes to catch a sea bass or spiny lobster for your lunch. Inland are lightly populated savannas, limestone hills and lush rainforests, home to more than 500 species of birds, 800 kinds of butterflies and 4,000 varieties of trees and shrubs. Bananas and mangos grow like weeds. Exotic animals like the jaguar and tapir still roam free in “backabush” Belize. Hidden under cohune palms are thousands of mysterious Maya ruins. The small villages and towns of Belize -- the only city has just 70,000 people -- are alive with a cultural gumbo of colors, races and backgrounds. But Belize also appeals to those who want to linger longer than a week or two of vacation in paradise. It is getting the attention of prospective retirees who want a laid-back lifestyle in a frost-free climate similar to South Florida, with a stable government and economy, and a familiar legal system based on English common law where all documents are written in English. Retirees are attracted by low real estate costs and an overall cost of living that stretches retirement pensions and Social Security checks further than they would go in the United States. But most of all they like friendly Belizean neighbors who have put out a subtropical welcome mat for Americans. As one American expatriate in Belize puts it, “This is the friendliest place I have ever been, and I have traveled a lot. Belizeans take people one at a time -- foreign or local is not the issue. How you behave and how you are in your heart is what makes the difference,” says Diane Campbell, a real estate developer on Ambergris Caye who moved to Belize from California. “If you are nice, kind and honest, you will be loved and respected here. When you get used to living here, you won’t be able to imagine living elsewhere.” Belize’s government recently has enacted a retiree incentive program that permits U.S., Canadian and United Kingdom citizens to establish official residency in Belize and to live there free of most Belize taxes. Under the new program retirees can’t work in Belize, but income from outside Belize isn’t taxed, and retirees can bring in household goods, a car, a boat and even an airplane without paying import duties. Bill Wildman, a long-time real estate agent, surveyor and developer based in Corozal in northern Belize, says he thinks the new program is a solid beginning. He says applications are being approved quickly, typically in less than three months. The Belize Tourist Board, rather than the immigration department, handles applications. Some retirees, however, question the amount of money that retirees are required to deposit in a Belize bank -- up to $2,000 a month -- and don’t like the paperwork and application fees of about $700 associated with the program. One is Doug Richardson, a retired lawyer and investor from Malibu, CA, who is building a large home on the Caribbean Sea in Placencia. “I feel the program is a failure as an inducement to encourage anyone to retire (in Belize). There are too many fees, hurdles and demands made by the government,” says Doug, who also believes the program doesn’t offer enough to wealthy retirees. For example, it permits retirees to bring only $15,000 worth of household goods and just one vehicle duty free. Yet for a retiree with limited resources, the monthly income requirement may be too high. For those who don’t qualify for the new retirement program, residency in Belize is available through regular channels, most of which require more red tape and a residency period before you can apply for residency status or a work permit. Citizenship also is available through a controversial “buy-a-passport” citizenship program that costs a minimum of $25,000. Many expatriates simply stay in Belize as perpetual tourists, renewing their 30-day entrance permits for $12.50 per month for up to six months, at which time they must physically leave the country for at least 48 hours. Whether they came to Belize under the new program or not, retirees say they like living in a country with many of the conveniences of modern life, such as Internet connections, air-conditioning and North American-style houses, but without franchised fast-food restaurants and chain stores that have come to dominate America’s frenetic consumer culture. Belize has no Wal-Marts or McDonald’s. John Lankford was a 37-year-old lawyer in New Orleans when he first visited Belize’s Ambergris Caye in 1982. Intrigued by what he saw, six weeks later he came back a second time. “I found five acres with a house I couldn’t afford and on return to New Orleans called the owner and agreed to buy it on the Gringolian plan: There, I’ve bought it. Now how the heck do I pay for it?” It took him about 11 years to pay for it, he says, with periodic commutes to resample life on the island. John finally moved to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye full time in 1993 and registered with the Bar Association in Louisiana as “retired.” The biggest mistake he made in moving to Belize was “not moving here sooner,” John says. Belize is not for everybody, however. “We’ve seen so many gringos give up and go home, and so many others still here who are burned out and bitter, that you sometimes feel there is really something insidious underlying the friendly surface appearances,” says Phyllis Dart, an ex-Coloradan who runs a jungle lodge, Ek ‘Tun, in western Belize.

Lan Sluder is the editor and publisher of Belize First Magazine (a Web edition is at http://www.belizefirst.com and the author of several books on Belize, including the Belize First Guide to Mainland Belize, Belize Book of Lists 2000 and the upcoming AdapterKit:  Belize, to be published in August 2001 by Avalon..  He revised, updated and co-authored the Belize sections of Fodor’s Belize & Guatemala Guide and UpClose Central America, both from Random House.  Sluder also is the author of Frommer’s guidebook.  He has contributed to many publications around the world including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, St. Petersburg Times, Caribbean Travel & Life,  Bangkok Post, The Tico Times and Canada’s Globe and Mail. Highlights of Belize’s Retired Persons Incentive Act For Printable Vesion Of This Docment Click Here The Qualified Retired Persons Incentive Act passed by the Belize legislature in 1999 is now in force and being implemented by the Belize Tourism Board.  The program, which resembles the formerly popular but now defunct pensionado program in Costa Rica, is designed to attract more retirees to Belize.  As of late 2000, according to Gina Escalante of the Belize Tourist Board, more than 200 people have applied for the program, and about 100  have been so far been approved.   Interest in the program is high, Escalante says, with thousands of people visiting the program’s Web site monthly and  hundreds of them calling or e-mailing for information.  For those who can show the required monthly income from investments or pensions, this program offers benefits of official residency and tax-free entry of the retiree's household goods and a car, boat and even an airplane.  This program eliminates some of the bureaucratic delays built into other programs.  The BTB guarantees action on an application in no more than three months, but we have heard of qualified retirees getting approval for this program in only two to three weeks.   Key features of the Act include: •  Open to anyone age 45 or older who is a citizen of the U.S., the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada or Belize; a person who qualifies can include his or her dependents in the program, including children under 18 (up to age 23 if enrolled in college). • Applications for the program must be made to the Belize Tourism Board and include the following: Copy of birth certificate for applicant and each dependent. Marriage certificate (if applicant is also applying for a spouse). Notarized copy of complete passport of applicant and all dependents. Copy of police record from last place of residence (completed within one month of   application).  You should request this from the police department where you last lived.    Sometimes there is a small processing charge of US$10 or so. Copy of medical exam including AIDS testing.  Inexpensive medical exams are available in  Chetumal, Mexico, and also in Belize, or you can have one done by your physician back   home. An official statement from a bank or financial institution certifying that the applicant is the recipient of a pension or annuity (including U.S. Social Security) of a minimum of US$1,000 per month or that the applicant's investments will generate a minimum of US$2,000 per month.  The two types of income can be combined -- for example US$500 from a pension and US$1000 from investments, but all income must be in the same applicant’s name.  A husband and wife each with a US$500 pension cannot combine that to qualify as having a US$1,000 monthly pension income.  Within a month of approval of residency status,  the first deposit of at least US$1,000, if qualifying on the basis of pension, or US$2,000, if qualifying on the basis of investments, must be made.  It can be deposited in any bank operating in Belize, either annually in a lump sum or monthly.  There is no restriction as to type of account, savings or checking, but it must be a Belize dollar, not U.S. dollar, account.  The funds are available for living expenses of the retiree. Four front and four side-view photos of applicant and each dependent. • Funds from pension or investments must be deposited monthly in a bank in Belize. • Persons applying for residency are subject to a background check by the Belize Ministry of National Security. • Persons residing in Belize under the program cannot work for pay in Belize. • Persons retiring in Belize under the program are exempt from the payment of all Belize taxes on all income or receipts from a source outside of Belize whether that income is generated from work performed or from an investment.  • Persons retiring in Belize under the program qualify for duty and tax exemptions not exceeding US $15,000 on new and used personal and household effects. A list of all items with corresponding values that will be imported must be submitted with the application.  In addition, a personal vehicle, which must not be more than three years old, a boat used for recreational purposes and a light aircraft -- any of these or all three -- can be imported duty free under the law or can be purchased in Belize.  Duty-free import of these items can be done in stages but must be completed within one year of moving to Belize. • Fees for the program total US$705 per application (individual, couple or family.)  These consist of a non-refundable application fee of US$100 payable to the Belize Tourism Board submitted with the application;  a program fee of US$500 payable to the Belize Tourism Board upon acceptance into the program;  on first entering the country after approval, a fee of US$100 must be paid to the Immigration Department;  a BZE $10 stamp (US$5) must be attached to each application that is submitted to the Belize Tourism Board for processing.  For information on the program, contact: Belize Tourist Board Central Bank Building, Level 2 Gabourel Lane P.O. Box 325 Belize City, Belize Tel: 501-2-31913 or 800-624-0686 Fax 501-2-31943 E-mail: gina@travelbelize.org -  The BTB has a Web site covering the program at www.belizeretirement.org.  An application form for this program is available on-line at www.belizeretirement.org/applicationform.htm -

Costs of Living

With a big SUV in the driveway and Belize gasoline at $3 a gallon, the Carrier turned to frigid and three fingers of French cabernet in the glass, living in Belize can cost more than back home. But if you live as a local -- eating the same foods Belizeans do, using public transport and living in a Belizean-style home with ceiling fans and cooling breezes -- you can get by on a few hundred dollars per month. In between, combining some elements of both lifestyles, you can live well for less than you would pay back home. Health care, the cost of renting or buying a home in most areas, personal and auto insurance, property taxes, household labor and most products produced in Belize are less expensive than what you’re used to paying. 

You can eat well for a modest cost in Belize. Even in resort areas, a fresh grilled-seafood dinner is $10-$12, and stewed chicken with rice and beans -- Belize’s national dish -- might be $5. In-season (mid-June to mid-February) lobster in nice restaurants costs $10-$20. Belize City has modern supermarkets, and district towns have smaller but still well-stocked shops. Many towns and villages have weekly markets (usually Saturday morning) where fresh fruit and vegetables are sold at low prices. In coastal areas and on the cayes, fresh seafood is sold cheaply off the dock or at local seafood cooperatives.

However, grocery items imported from the United States, Mexico or England are expensive. Examples: A 15-ounce box of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran is $5.13, a three-ounce box of Jello is 80 cents, a can of Campbell’s chicken soup costs $1.75, and a bottle of Gallo Turning Leaf cabernet is $12.50. But locally produced products are fairly inexpensive, including black beans at 75 cents a pound, red beans for 40 cents a pound and a dozen eggs for $1.25. A liter of premium One Barrel local rum is $7.30, corn is the equivalent of 10 cents an ear, mangos are 15 cents each, and pork chops are about $2 a pound.

For ex-New Orleanian John Lankford, living in Belize is cheaper than in the United States. “I need neither heating nor air-conditioning with their attendant bills, nor insulation in my house, nor much of a house, nor much in the way of shoes. One casual wardrobe serves all purposes except travel back to the USA,” he says.

If you know where to look, prices for seafront or rural real estate in Belize will remind you of costs in the United States in the 1960s or 1970s. In small towns in Belize, you can rent a pleasant seaside house for $250 a month. Land in larger tracts can sell for $200 an acre or less. Building lots on a remote caye might start at $4,000. Outside of high-cost tourist areas, you can build for $30-$50 per square foot or buy an attractive, modern home for $50,000-$100,000. Property taxes in Belize are low, rarely over $100-$200 annually even for a luxury home. 
Unlike Mexico, Belize generally has no restrictions on the ownership of land, even seafront land, by foreigners, as long as the parcel is of 10 acres or less outside a town limit, or one-half acre or less inside town limits. Purchases of larger tracts and, in a few instances, land on the cayes require government approval.
 

More Resources On Belize Embassies Of Belize - Click Here - Maps Of Belize - Click Here -  Moving to Belize - Click Here - Information on moving to Belize, including real estate, residency, contacts, articles and resources.  Articles About Belize - Click Here -  Everything from Homesteading to hydroponic farming -  If you want to move to Belize we've got a good deal of information to get you started plus links to websites and resources for anyone thinking of moving to Belize.  Videos on moving to Belize - Click Here - Learn to live in Belize on video - includes free book - Also books on island living, living in other nations and related subjects.  International Real Estate Marketplace - Belize Section - Click Here -  Books about Belize -  Click Here - Part of our Expatriates Bookstore  EscapeArtist Evaluation of Belize - Click Here - EscapeArtist evaluates Belize as an expatriate destination. Calling up facts, evaluating the existing problems and the vitures of the nation of Belize in order to assist potential expats to make intelligent decisions regarding Belize as a potential new home and investment location.  Media & News Resources for Belize  - Click Here - Newspapers, magazines, online resources and news channels with current Belize information.  Offshore Financial Services & Belize Real Estate Companies -  Click Here - Belize has excellent offshore services, reasonalbe real estate and an excellent residency program.

Belize banks offer mortgages and personal and commercial loans, but rates are higher than you’d pay in the United States, about 12-16 percent. Therefore, most expatriates try to get loans outside Belize or arrange owner financing. About the best owner-financing deals available for property in Belize require 10 percent down with payout over 10 years at 10 percent interest. The good old greenback is the national currency of Belize -- almost. Belize does have its own currency, the Belize dollar, but it is pegged at two Belize dollars to one U.S. dollar, and it has been that way for decades. Belize shops accept both currencies and often give change in a mix of the two currencies. As it’s not always easy to exchange Belize dollars back into U.S. dollars or other hard currencies, expatriates in Belize usually keep most of their funds in a bank in their home country, transferring what they need for living expenses, or what is required under the retirement program, as needed to their Belize bank account. The main tax affecting expatriate residents is a national 8 percent sales tax on nearly all goods and services, with exclusions for some food and medical items. (An unpopular 15 percent value-added tax was eliminated in 1999.) Import taxes are a primary source of government revenue. They vary but can range up to 80 percent of the value of imported goods. Official residents in Belize under the Retired Persons Incentive Act do not have to pay import duties on a car, boat, plane and up to $15,000 in household goods imported into the country. For those working for pay in Belize, the country has a progressive personal income tax with a top personal rate of 25 percent. Belize has no estate or capital gains tax. On real estate purchases, buyers who are not Belize citizens must pay a 10 percent transfer fee. The exact number of foreign expatriates from the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe in Belize is unknown. Estimates range from around 1,000 to several thousand. Most foreigners living in Belize are not in the country as official residents. Often they are snowbirds, in Belize for only part of the year. In any case, the number is as yet small, although interest in Belize as a second home and as a retirement or relocation destination has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. Go To Page Two Of Retiring In Belize By Lan Sluder - C L I C K  H E R E