Guatemala

Residencia Temporal – Nómada Digital. A new residency, launched in October 2025, for people who work remotely for a foreign employer and earn no income in Guatemala.

Free, with the law behind every answer

Residencia Temporal – Nómada Digital

One-year temporary residency, renewable.

Who qualifies

$2,000 a month in foreign income for the principal applicant, rising to $3,000 a month total once one dependant is included, shown by bank statements or an apostilled accountant’s certification.
Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración, Residencia Nómada Digital guidance
None of the applicant’s income may come from Guatemalan sources.
IGM, Residencia Nómada Digital guidance

Whether you keep your U.S. citizenship depends on the option you choose later.

Does it fit your family?

3 questions, from the program’s own rules.

Steady monthly income, from any source?

Not legal advice.

What it takes.

Income: Steady income each month, rising with each person who moves.
Just you$2,000
2 people$3,000
4 people$5,000
Time: 2–4 months processing.
Cost: About $225 total for a 1-year permit; $300 for 2 years, $500 for 3–5 years.
The hard part: Maintaining strictly 0% Guatemala-source income and continually proving the foreign income.

Dollar figures are converted from the local currency at the rate the program’s research used; the official figure is in the local currency.

Citizens by 2038.

If your first permit is issued in 2027 and you keep living there, this is the road.

2027
First residence permit
1 year, renewable for 1 year at a time.
2028
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 1 year.
2029
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 1 year.
2030
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 1 year.
2031
Renew the permit
Filed before the old one lapses; renews for 1 year.
2032
Permanent residence
Temporary residence is granted for one to five years and renewed. Anyone who wants to stay past five years must switch to permanent residence. Rentiers and pensioners get permanent residence at once.
2037
Apply for citizenship
With a language test and a civics test.
2038
Citizenship

Language: A practical Spanish exam.
Civics: An exam on the basics of Central American and Guatemalan geography and history.
Time away: Legal domicile and the five years right before applying. The 1966 text breaks the clock after an absence of more than six months in a row, or absences adding up to a year or more. A resident also needs migration permission to be away a year or more.
Two passports: It depends on the rules at the time and on your home country.

A one-year temporary permit renewed yearly. After five years the holder switches to permanent residence, and the five-year naturalisation clock then starts from permanent residence.
How long the decision takes isn’t published; we allow a year.
Whether you can keep your current citizenship depends on the rules at the time and your home country.

The law behind these dates

Living there.

Time you must spend there: No minimum days in Guatemala are published; the condition to police is 0% Guatemala-source income, not time in-country.
Tax: Territorial system; effectively 0% local tax since local income is prohibited on this visa.

We never file a tax return. We tell you what applies and brief the professional who does.

Start today.

Apply directly through the Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración for the Residencia Nómada Digital category.Open livinginguatemala.com ↗
Gather these documents.
- Proof of steady income: at least $2,000 a month
- Request your FBI Identity History Summary
- Health cover for the move

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