Moving to Andorra: residence permit, quotas, citizenship

Andorra is a state of its own: not France, not Spain and not in the EU, so the French titre de séjour, ANEF and OFII play no part here. It has its own rules, and in 2026 they shifted noticeably: Llei 2/2026 raised the amounts for residence, and the government revised the quotas several times. We at Vibe South of France are not lawyers. Everything below comes from the BOPA official bulletin and the websites of the Andorran government (govern.ad), the CASS social security fund, the Hague Conference and the Council of the EU, and anything from the press is labelled as press; we read it all on 25 and 26 October 2026. You can talk through your own case in the “Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram - Andorra, Toulouse, Perpignan and the whole South of France, where we have 700+ members. The page answers the question without the chat too.

Who already lives in Andorra, how many Russian and Ukrainian citizens there are, what language people speak and what flats cost, we’ve gathered in our guide Russians in Andorra. This page sticks to the paperwork.

How to move to Andorra: the steps in brief

Do you need a visa for Andorra, and what about Schengen?

Andorra is not in Schengen and has no visa of its own: the government says “The Principality of Andorra does not require any type of visa” (govern.ad, Travel to Andorra). But the only way into the country is through France or Spain, so nationals of countries that need a Schengen visa need a double-entry or multiple-entry one: one entry on the way to Andorra, the second on the way back. From our part of France the nearest routes run through Toulouse and Perpignan.

Russia and Andorra have a visa waiver convention (BOPA No. 73 of 27 May 2020). Under it, Russian citizens can stay in Andorra without a visa for up to 90 days in any 365, and the period “es calcula segons les normes d’estada … en el territori de l’espai Schengen”, that is, it is counted under Schengen rules. That is not enough to move: anyone who wants to stay longer than 90 days or to work applies for a visa under the laws of the country they enter (Article 1.2). The convention leaves the parties’ other obligations alone, so Russians still need a Schengen visa to travel through France or Spain. How to get a Schengen visa through France we explain on our page France visa.

Third-country residents of Andorra face a trap in Schengen. Since 10 April 2026 the EES entry/exit system has been running at all of Schengen’s external borders. The European Commission says plainly that without a separate agreement the system will have third-country residents of Andorra “automatically registered as overstayers”, because their exit from Schengen is recorded nowhere. The EU-Andorra agreement fixes this: an Andorran residence permit will be valid across the whole of Schengen (90 days in any 180) and its holder will be exempt from EES registration. Negotiations closed on 26 January 2026, but as of 7 September 2026 the agreement was still only a proposal for signature. Until it is signed, count your Schengen days yourself and keep your Andorran permit on you.

How to get an Andorra residence permit: three kinds of permit

An Andorra residence permit is an autorització de residència, and it comes in three main kinds. The amounts below are from the text of Llei 2/2026: it was passed on 22 January 2026, published in the BOPA on 12 February and has been in force since 13 February. It was promulgated by the co-princes, the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell.

At the end of 2024 Andorra had 58,754 residence permits in force. The same statistics list 41,460 residence and work permits, 9,776 without work and 4,799 temporary ones. A third of all permits, 19,641 (33.4%), were held by citizens of “other” countries, which is where ours are counted (Andorra en xifres 2024).

Is there permanent residency in Andorra?

The official texts we opened have no separate “permanent residence” status: Andorra issues residence permits, and they get renewed. How many years each renewal is granted for, we didn’t find in the primary texts.

Andorra passive residence: €1,000,000 and a €50,000 contribution

The law says the applicant “ha d’invertir de forma permanent i efectiva una quantitat d’almenys un milió d’euros”, that is, must invest at least a million euros in Andorran assets, permanently and for real. There are two exceptions: €400,000 if the money goes into the Fons d’Habitatge housing fund, and a rule for property, more than €800,000 for each property bought. Money can be held in debt instruments of Andorran entities and in investment funds under Andorran law for no longer than 36 months, after which it has to move into other assets.

On top of that comes the contribution to the Autoritat Financera Andorrana: €50,000 for the main applicant and €12,000 for each dependant. It used to be a deposit; now the money is non-refundable and comes back only if the initial permit is refused. You have up to six months from the application to make the investment itself (six more if force majeure or a third party got in the way). If you don’t invest, the permit is cancelled.

A passive resident has to live in Andorra at least 90 days a year (the government’s Andorra en xifres 2024 handbook). The texts we opened have no separate permit for retirees, so people who retire to Andorra take this same route. A pension for past private-sector work in France is given to Andorra by the 2013 France-Andorra tax treaty if the pensioner is Andorra’s tax resident under the treaty (Article 17): under its protocol that means more than 183 days a year in Andorra or the centre of your economic interests there, and a residence permit alone is not enough. A pension for service to the French State, a local authority or a public body is taxed by France, unless the pensioner is an Andorran national (Article 18.2). The law names no income threshold: Idealista (13 October 2026) writes of income above 300% of the minimum wage plus 100% for each dependant, but that is a retelling, not the primary text. And keep in mind that a foreigner buying a home in Andorra also pays the tax on foreign investment, 6% on one home and 10% on any further ones, and even a resident pays it if they haven’t lived in the country for 3 of the last 10 years.

Commercial websites and older overviews still quote amounts that applied before the law. On 26 October 2026 the govern.ad page on residence without work showed no amounts for passive residence, and the amounts it gave for the other kinds we haven’t checked against the law. Go by the text of Llei 2/2026.

Your own business (compte propi)

A self-employment permit takes a foreign investment authorisation for a company in which your stake is more than 34%, a seat on its governing body with real management duties, and the same non-refundable €50,000 contribution to the AFA, paid when you apply. The law gives you six months for all of this, and three for regulated professions: for those you must also show your authorisation to practise and membership of the professional association. Three months after the application is registered, the company and its business must already be operating, and the income is checked at renewal.

Not every digital start-up is exempt from the contribution: the exemption covers projects selected by organisations the government recognises, or digital economy and innovation projects with high technological added value under the criteria in the regulations.

Applications for self-employment and for residence without work filed before the law was approved on 22 January 2026 follow the old rules. The law came into force on 13 February, and the text doesn’t say outright what happens to applications filed between those two dates. If that is your case, ask the Servei d’Immigració.

Employment and the seasonal permit

An employment permit is granted against a place in the general quota. For non-EU nationals, the government’s note on the winter season (PDF of 24 October 2025) also spells out the experience required: an ordinary residence and work permit needs higher education and/or six years of experience, and every season worked in Andorra brings that down. After one season five years are enough; after six, no experience is needed.

The seasonal permit is a separate procedure, G1. It takes a place in the quota, a fixed-term contract, housing, legal stay in Schengen, a criminal record certificate with an apostille, an undertaking to leave at the end of the term, and a CV showing relevant training or two years’ experience. You can’t bring your family on it: “L’autorització d’immigració temporal no permet reagrupar la família”. For summer 2026 the hospitality sector had 500 seasonal permits, 450 temporary and 50 cross-border (VilaWeb, 8 June 2026). Hiring straight from the country of origin now has a legal framework: on 22 July 2026 the government approved the regulation (Decret 283/2026) and a quota for the hospitality sector under this programme (Decret 284/2026). We haven’t read the decrees themselves, so we give no figures for places or conditions. The fee for such a permit is set by the law: €190.96.

What can get a permit cancelled

Llei 2/2026 added new grounds. A temporary permit is cancelled if the holder worked more than 52 hours a week, or more than 12 hours a week in a different occupation. Any permit can be cancelled for changing sector in the first year where the law forbids it, or for not living in Andorra permanently and for real. A marriage or relationship entered into for the right to live there is a very serious offence, with a fine of €3,000 to €6,000.

How many quota places are there for 2026?

The government sets the quotas in separate decrees, and in 2026 it changed them more than once. For anyone moving, these are the main ones in the register of acts on govern.ad:

We haven’t read the texts themselves: the BOPA serves them through a script. So every figure here comes with its date. As of 29 April 2026 the general quota was 800 permits, 624 for employees and 176 for cross-border workers, 11% fewer than the 900 places of 2025 (Envoy Global and Alto). On 22 June 2026 the government approved another 250 (225 for employees and 25 cross-border), counted against the year’s quota (Envoy Global, 1 July 2026). Which figure applies after Decret 388/2026 of 7 October, we don’t know, and we won’t pass off 800 as the current one.

For self-employment the quota, according to Radio Valira (12 March 2026), is 200 places: 150 for foreign investment, 30 for the liberal professions other than doctors and 20 for medicine. Another 200 places, according to the same source, are set aside for residence without work, and that is the whole category, not only passive residence.

All the 2026 quota figures we have, with sources and dates:

After Decret 388/2026 of 7 October 2026 we don’t know the general quota figure.

Which documents you need, and where to get an apostille

We haven’t seen a full official list of documents. According to Idealista’s summary (13 October 2026), you need a passport, a criminal record certificate with an apostille from your country of origin, citizenship or residence, a medical check at the immigration service, housing (rented or owned), registration with the CASS (Caixa Andorrana de Seguretat Social) or private insurance, and a photo. Check the list with the Servei d’Immigració before you apply.

The apostille on a criminal record certificate is added by the country that issued it, not by Andorra. Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan are all parties to the Hague Convention, and the details for each are on our page apostille and translation. How to get a Russian Interior Ministry (MVD) certificate with an apostille while living abroad, we haven’t checked against official sources.

If you need an apostille on an Andorran document (a certificate issued in Andorra itself, for example), it is added by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: C/ Prat de la Creu 62-64, AD500 Andorra la Vella, fee €8.58 (HCCH). The form is on tramits.ad under the word “postil”, in Catalan only.

Andorra criminal record certificate: La Batllia

The Andorran criminal record certificate is issued by La Batllia in the Seu de la Justícia building, Baixada del Molí 2-4, Andorra la Vella, email certificatspenals@justicia.ad. Anyone living outside Andorra can request it by email only. We know this from the page of Canada’s immigration service (27 March 2024), not from an Andorran website, so check before you send a request. That page gives no processing times and no fee.

Do you need to speak Catalan?

Andorra’s official language is Catalan, and for moving there it is no formality. The first renewal of a residence and work permit needs an official A1 diploma, the second A2. The transition period, when a 30-hour course without a diploma was enough, ended on 26 April 2026, and from 2029 the requirement will extend to other permits as well (VilaWeb, 2 September 2026).

You can learn for free on state courses open to everyone over 16. The catch: the in-person A1 and A2 places went on the very first day of enrolment, and classes started on 9 September 2026. The intensive course runs 4 hours a week from September to January, the regular one 3 hours a week until June; there is a waiting list, and anyone who misses the first 15 days loses their place. So sign up as soon as you arrive.

What health insurance do you need in Andorra: CASS or private?

An employee is registered with the CASS by the employer: within the 7 days before work starts, and on the first working day at the latest. Contributions are 6.5% from the employee and 15.5% from the employer. Voluntary cover under the CASS general branch is open only to people who have lived in Andorra for 10 years in a row and have already received their retirement capital from the CASS (“capital de jubilació”), or to adult family members of such a person who could be insured indirectly through them (cass.ad, “Règims especials”). So a passive resident, as we read it, needs private insurance - and not just for the first few years. That is our conclusion, not a rule from an official page: check with the Servei d’Immigració. The exception is a pensioner of the French social security scheme, of any nationality: under the 2000 France-Andorra agreement they join the CASS with form SE 130-09, and France deducts a health contribution from their pension, 3.2% from the basic pension and 4.2% from the supplementary one (CLEISS).

How to get Andorra citizenship: 20 years and giving up your previous citizenship

Andorra grants citizenship by naturalisation after 20 years of residence, and only if you give up your previous citizenship. In its reform bill (presentation of 27 May 2025) the government wrote outright that both conditions “do not change”. The General Council passed the reform on 7 May 2026: a proposal to cut the period to 10 years was rejected, and according to VilaWeb the 20 years no longer have to be consecutive. When the new rules come into force, we couldn’t find out.

The routes open today can be seen in the statistics office’s note of 27 July 2026:

Under Articles 10 and 11.1 you sit an exam, the prova d’integració, or show an Andorran diploma in the humanities and social sciences. Citizenship is granted in two steps: first a “provisional” one, then the final one once the loss of the previous citizenship is proven. In the second quarter of 2026, 67 residents obtained citizenship, 19.4% of them through marriage and nearly all the rest by length of residence. Another 123 people were waiting for their renunciation to be confirmed.

Can you get Andorra citizenship by investment?

There is no Andorran citizenship by investment. Neither the law nor the statistics know of such a route, although we found no direct official statement that “it doesn’t exist”. Passive residence for a million gets you a residence permit, and it does not shorten the 20 years.

Andorra for Ukrainians: what we know about the 2022 scheme

For Ukrainians Andorra set up a scheme of its own, Decret 110/2022 of 28 March 2022, but whether it still applies in 2026 we have not confirmed. The decree covered Ukrainian citizens and people who were legally and permanently resident in Ukraine before 24 February 2022. The quota was 250 people, the permit was granted for 2 years, holders could work without the quota condition and extend for 6 months at most, after which the general rules applied. The permit gave access to the CASS; before it, emergency care at the SAAS (Andorra’s health service) was free, and children could go to school. Contacts from the decree: consulars@govern.ad and ajuda.ucraina@govern.ad.

We found no newer official text, so write to these addresses before you travel. The extension of temporary protection in the EU until 4 March 2028 does not apply to Andorra, which is not in the EU. Which Ukrainian embassy covers Andorra, we couldn’t confirm from official pages. How temporary protection works in France is on our page Ukrainians in France.

Where to go: Andorra’s government offices

The addresses and fees come from official pages and the Hague Conference website, opened on 25 and 26 October 2026; check them again before you go.

• Servei d'Immigració (immigration service, Govern d'Andorra)

  Residence and work permits, issued within quotas. This page holds the register of the 2026 quota decrees (among them 74/2026, 75/2026, 159/2026 and 388/2026). The seasonal permit for non-EU nationals is procedure G1 on immigracio.ad. On 26 October 2026 some govern.ad pages showed amounts we have not checked against Llei 2/2026: go by the text of the law.

  Official site - Servei d'Immigració (immigration service, Govern d'Andorra) →

• La Batllia (criminal record certificate)Seu de la Justícia, Baixada del Molí 2-4, Andorra la Vella · certificatspenals@justicia.ad

  The Andorran criminal record certificate is issued by La Batllia. Anyone living outside Andorra requests it by email only (according to the page of Canada’s immigration service, 27 March 2024).

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Andorra (apostille)C/ Prat de la Creu 62-64, AD500 Andorra la Vella

  Apostilles on Andorran documents, fee €8.58 (Hague Conference, HCCH). The form is on tramits.ad under the search word “postil”, in Catalan only.

  Official site - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Andorra (apostille) →

Russia has no embassy in Andorra: the Russian Embassy in Spain is responsible for it, and Andorra itself has an honorary consulate (La Veu Lliure, 12 August 2026). We give no address or hours, because the Russian Foreign Ministry pages listing Andorra’s consular district wouldn’t open on 25 October 2026.

What we didn’t find

So you don’t come looking here for what isn’t here:

• processing times for applications and fees for permits, other than €190.96 for hiring in the country of origin;
• figures for the general quota after Decret 388/2026 of 7 October 2026;
• the primary text of the regulation on residence without work (the days and the income come from Andorra en xifres and Idealista);
• how many years the first permit and each renewal are issued for;
• rules for opening a bank account as a citizen of Russia or the CIS;
• the official text of Kazakhstan’s visa waiver agreement with Andorra;
• the date the 2026 reform of the citizenship law comes into force;
• whether the scheme for Ukrainians still applies in 2026.

Our chat and Andorra

Vibe South of France is a Russian-speaking community on Telegram with 700+ members: Andorra, Toulouse, Perpignan and the whole South of France. We have no data of our own on moving to Andorra, and we say so plainly. Our chat has never discussed Andorra, either as a place to visit or as a place to move to. The closest we have come to Andorra was the Slavic Weekend near Toulouse at the end of October 2026: three days of meetups, from a banya for 26 people to an Anti-Halloween party for 30+.

If you’ve already been through the Servei d’Immigració, sat the A1 or worked a season in Andorra, write in the chat: right now there is simply nobody to ask how long a permit really took or which insurance was accepted. Your answer will be the first data of our own on this page.

“Vibe South of France” community chat on Telegram - Andorra, Toulouse, Perpignan and the whole South of France

See also

• Russians in Andorra: language, Schengen, prices, life
• Work and taxes in Andorra 2026
• Andorra healthcare, schools and housing 2026
• Toulouse: a guide for our people
• Perpignan: a guide for our people
• Moving to Monaco: residence permit, visa D, citizenship
• Moving to the South of France: documents step by step
• France visa
• Apostille and document translation
• Ukrainians in France