Retiring to Honduras on a Pension
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Mexico on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Mexico to Honduras · Residency as a retiree
The pensionado residence asks for USD 1,500 a month in permanent and stable pension income, a thousand less than the rentista route and the cheapest of the retirement categories in the isthmus. The pension must come from outside Honduras - the law says so in the article after the one that lets rentista income arise at home - and it must be paid in through a Honduran bank, which certifies at every renewal that it still is. The reward is substantial and old: no income tax on the pension, a household's effects and one car imported free of all import, customs and sales tax, and the right to invest without limit while never taking a salary.
At a glance
- Pension threshold
- USD 1,500 per month
- Where the pension must arise
- Abroad
- Residence fee
- USD 300
- Income tax on the pension
- Exempt
- Household goods
- Free of import duty, once
- Car
- One, free of import, customs and sales tax
- Car resale lock
- 5 years
Before the exoneration can pass to a buyer, and only on proof of having brought in at least the minimum income over those five years.
- Household goods clawback
- 3 years
- Discretionary half-threshold route
- USD 750 per monthCALC (calculated by us, not published)as of 2025-07-29
Our arithmetic: the 2025 ministerial instrument asks for at least 50% of the pensioner figure of USD 1,500. The instrument states the percentage, not the amount.
Figures marked CALC are our arithmetic, not a figure in any instrument. Where the law states a threshold as a multiple of something else, the amount shown is that multiple applied - and it moves when the underlying figure does.
Requirements
- Permanent and stable pensions generated or originating abroad of at least USD 1,500 a month, or the equivalent in lempiras
- A certificate from the institution paying the pension
- Evidence that the pension will be received in Honduras through an institution of the national financial system
- The thirteen general requirements every residence application carries
- No salaried work, on the same terms as the rentista
In detail
One article apart, and they disagree about where money may come from
Article 23 lets a rentista's income arise abroad or in Honduras. Article 24, immediately after it, requires a pensioner's pensions to be "generadas o provenientes del exterior". The two were enacted together in the same decree, so the difference is a choice rather than a slip, and it matters to anyone whose retirement income is a Honduran annuity or a Honduran employer's pension: that person is not a pensionado under this article, and would have to reach the higher rentista figure instead.
The car is the expensive part of the deal
A pensioner may bring in one vehicle free of import duty, customs duty and sales tax. The exoneration does not travel with the car: it can only be passed on to a buyer after five years from the car's entry, and only on producing a certificate that over those same five years the holder has paid into the Honduran banking system not less than the minimum income the law requires of them. Sell earlier and the exonerated taxes fall due. The household-goods franchise has a shorter leash - three years - and the same consequence. Article 28 adds the backstop: renounce the status, or have the residence cancelled, and everything exonerated is repayable.
Country-level policy
Every procedure in the Honduran migration law and its regulation is addressed to the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería, under the Secretaría de Gobernación y Justicia. Neither name is current: migration control is now exercised through the Instituto Nacional de Migración under the Secretaría de Gobernación, Justicia y Descentralización, as a 2025 ministerial instrument recites. That would be a cosmetic problem if the new institute published requirement sheets. It does not. Its site was relaunched on 30 September 2026 and its alien affairs page lists the kinds of procedure it handles without stating a single requirement for any of them. The 2003 law and its 2004 regulation are therefore the only public statement of what Honduras asks.
The currency of Honduras is the lempira, and almost nothing in its migration law is stated in lempiras. The income thresholds are in United States dollars, the investment threshold is in dollars, the guarantee deposit is in dollars, and the whole fee schedule of the regulation - residences, naturalisations, permits, passports, extensions, the land entry fee - is in dollars with a single lempira line at the end for certificates. The law allows payment in the equivalent in national currency, so the dollar is the unit of account rather than the means of payment. The practical effect is that these figures do not quietly erode with the exchange rate, which is why thresholds set in 2003 are still the thresholds today.
Whatever route you take, the same file is assembled. Thirteen general requirements apply to every residence application and eleven to every special permanence permit, and the heaviest of them are the criminal-record certificate from your country of origin and of last residence, a Honduran criminal investigation certificate, and a medical certificate no more than six months old. Everything from abroad must be legalised and anything in another language officially translated. After the decision you have thirty days to register in the National Registry of Foreigners, and the ministry will not release the certified decision until you have. The card runs for up to five years, nobody may hold two statuses at once, and the status dies after twelve consecutive months out of the country - six, if what you hold is a permit rather than a residence.
Article 21 of the migration law ends with a numeral that lets the ministry authorise residence in duly justified cases, without saying what a justification is. On 29 July 2025 the ministry published what it now asks for, and the reasoning it gives is candid: the open numeral had attracted an excessive pattern of distortion, and leaving it without requirements put the properly specified categories at a disadvantage. Four routes are now written down. Someone who falls short of the rentista, pensioner or investor figures may apply with at least half of them. Someone who has used up five years of permits, or broken their continuity, may apply. Someone who works in Honduras may apply after two years of continuous lawful residence with a work authorisation and the employer's labour-quota certificate. And anyone else may apply after a hundred and twenty days on humanitarian, public-interest or special family grounds, including being the child of Honduran parents born abroad. None of it is a right: the instrument says the ministry may accept, refuse or shelve the application without liability and without creating any acquired right.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Mexico
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Para obtener la residencia como pensionado, los interesados deberán comprobar que disfutan de pensiones permanentes y estables generadas o provenientes del exterior, no menores de MIL QUINIENTOS DÓLARES (USD $ 1,500.00) mensuales»Our translation - not official
To obtain residence as a pensioner the applicant must prove that they enjoy permanent and stable pensions generated or originating abroad, of not less than ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS (USD $ 1,500.00) a month
"disfutan" is the publisher's typo. Note "del exterior": unlike the rentista one article earlier, a pension arising in Honduras does not carry this route.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
An academic observatory at the national public university, which hosts facsimiles of La Gaceta and of regional migration instruments - including the CA-4 unified manual, which is held at no other address we have reached.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It hosts, it does not publish. What is held here are facsimiles of La Gaceta and of a regional instrument that carries Guatemalan migration-institute letterhead, so the documents are primary and the body offering them is not their publisher: it must never be cited as the publisher of what it holds, nor as evidence that any text is current, complete or still in force. It is typed government-primary because the taxonomy classifies the document rather than the host, and these documents are official text; the fact that a public university's observatory is the only address we reached for the CA-4 manual is a reason to look for a government one, not a reason to doubt the text.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«Pensionados: Constancia de la institución del sistema financiero nacional de que el extranjero continúa percibiendo la pensión y que ha ingresado al país las cantidades establecidas en la Ley;»Our translation - not official
Pensioners: A certificate from the institution of the national financial system that the foreigner continues to receive the pension and has brought into the country the amounts established in the Law;
Quoted from article 85 numeral 2, which sets the renewal test; article 26 sets the same requirement at application.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state audit body's reference shelf, which carries the Constitution, the migration regulation, the tax code and the traffic law as PDFs. It is where several Honduran instruments are reachable at all.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for currency. It is an audit body's shelf, not a gazette and not a consolidator: no document on it carries a consolidation date or an amendment history, so it cannot establish that a text is the text in force, and it is not the issuing authority for anything it holds. Its directory index returns 403, so what it holds cannot be enumerated.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«El residente rentista o pensionado estará exento del pago del impuesto sobre la renta, respecto de las rentas o pensiones que perciba en función de su permiso de residencia.»Our translation - not official
The rentista or pensioner resident shall be exempt from income tax in respect of the income or pensions they receive by virtue of their residence permit.
The exemption is confined to the income the permit rests on. The regulation says the same at article 29 and adds that renouncing the status means repaying what was exonerated.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
An academic observatory at the national public university, which hosts facsimiles of La Gaceta and of regional migration instruments - including the CA-4 unified manual, which is held at no other address we have reached.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It hosts, it does not publish. What is held here are facsimiles of La Gaceta and of a regional instrument that carries Guatemalan migration-institute letterhead, so the documents are primary and the body offering them is not their publisher: it must never be cited as the publisher of what it holds, nor as evidence that any text is current, complete or still in force. It is typed government-primary because the taxonomy classifies the document rather than the host, and these documents are official text; the fact that a public university's observatory is the only address we reached for the CA-4 manual is a reason to look for a government one, not a reason to doubt the text.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«Los residentes rentistas y pensionados gozarán de franquicias arancelarias y exoneración de todos los impuestos de importación por una sola vez para la introducción del menaje de casa»Our translation - not official
Rentista and pensioner residents shall enjoy customs franchises and exemption from all import taxes, once only, for the introduction of household goods
About this source
An academic observatory at the national public university, which hosts facsimiles of La Gaceta and of regional migration instruments - including the CA-4 unified manual, which is held at no other address we have reached.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It hosts, it does not publish. What is held here are facsimiles of La Gaceta and of a regional instrument that carries Guatemalan migration-institute letterhead, so the documents are primary and the body offering them is not their publisher: it must never be cited as the publisher of what it holds, nor as evidence that any text is current, complete or still in force. It is typed government-primary because the taxonomy classifies the document rather than the host, and these documents are official text; the fact that a public university's observatory is the only address we reached for the CA-4 manual is a reason to look for a government one, not a reason to doubt the text.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«Los residentes rentistas o pensionados podrán importar un vehículo automotor para su uso personal o familiar, libre de todos los impuestos de importación, arancelarios y de venta»Our translation - not official
Rentista or pensioner residents may import one motor vehicle for their personal or family use, free of all import, customs and sales taxes
The article goes on to lock the exoneration for five years and to condition any later transfer on proof of having paid into a Honduran bank, over those five years, no less than the minimum income the law sets.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
An academic observatory at the national public university, which hosts facsimiles of La Gaceta and of regional migration instruments - including the CA-4 unified manual, which is held at no other address we have reached.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It hosts, it does not publish. What is held here are facsimiles of La Gaceta and of a regional instrument that carries Guatemalan migration-institute letterhead, so the documents are primary and the body offering them is not their publisher: it must never be cited as the publisher of what it holds, nor as evidence that any text is current, complete or still in force. It is typed government-primary because the taxonomy classifies the document rather than the host, and these documents are official text; the fact that a public university's observatory is the only address we reached for the CA-4 manual is a reason to look for a government one, not a reason to doubt the text.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«Cuando la justificante sea no llegar a los montos requeridos para ser rentista, pensionado o inversor, deberán comprobar que cuentan con al menos el 50% de lo exigido a cada una de estas calidades migratorias»Our translation - not official
Where the justification is not reaching the amounts required to be a rentista, pensioner or investor, they must prove that they have at least 50% of what is required for each of these migration statuses
The instrument reproduces article 24 in its own footnote, so the USD 1,500 figure and the 50% appear in the same document.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
An academic observatory at the national public university, which hosts facsimiles of La Gaceta and of regional migration instruments - including the CA-4 unified manual, which is held at no other address we have reached.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It hosts, it does not publish. What is held here are facsimiles of La Gaceta and of a regional instrument that carries Guatemalan migration-institute letterhead, so the documents are primary and the body offering them is not their publisher: it must never be cited as the publisher of what it holds, nor as evidence that any text is current, complete or still in force. It is typed government-primary because the taxonomy classifies the document rather than the host, and these documents are official text; the fact that a public university's observatory is the only address we reached for the CA-4 manual is a reason to look for a government one, not a reason to doubt the text.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«1. Residencias para rentistas, pensionados e inversionistas $ 300.00»Our translation - not official
1. Residences for rentistas, pensioners and investors USD 300.00
About this source
The state audit body's reference shelf, which carries the Constitution, the migration regulation, the tax code and the traffic law as PDFs. It is where several Honduran instruments are reachable at all.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for currency. It is an audit body's shelf, not a gazette and not a consolidator: no document on it carries a consolidation date or an amendment history, so it cannot establish that a text is the text in force, and it is not the issuing authority for anything it holds. Its directory index returns 403, so what it holds cannot be enumerated.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«En el caso de traspaso de los bienes referidos en este Artículo, realizado dentro de los tres (3) años siguientes a su ingreso al territorio nacional, deberán cancelarse los impuestos que fueron exonerados.»Our translation - not official
In the case of a transfer of the goods referred to in this Article, made within the three (3) years following their entry into the national territory, the taxes that were exonerated must be paid.
The clawback on the household-goods franchise.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
An academic observatory at the national public university, which hosts facsimiles of La Gaceta and of regional migration instruments - including the CA-4 unified manual, which is held at no other address we have reached.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It hosts, it does not publish. What is held here are facsimiles of La Gaceta and of a regional instrument that carries Guatemalan migration-institute letterhead, so the documents are primary and the body offering them is not their publisher: it must never be cited as the publisher of what it holds, nor as evidence that any text is current, complete or still in force. It is typed government-primary because the taxonomy classifies the document rather than the host, and these documents are official text; the fact that a public university's observatory is the only address we reached for the CA-4 manual is a reason to look for a government one, not a reason to doubt the text.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
«después de transcurridos cinco (5) años desde la fecha de ingreso del vehículo al país»Our translation - not official
after five (5) years have elapsed from the date the vehicle entered the country
The vehicle lock, stated as the point from which the exoneration may pass to a buyer.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
An academic observatory at the national public university, which hosts facsimiles of La Gaceta and of regional migration instruments - including the CA-4 unified manual, which is held at no other address we have reached.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It hosts, it does not publish. What is held here are facsimiles of La Gaceta and of a regional instrument that carries Guatemalan migration-institute letterhead, so the documents are primary and the body offering them is not their publisher: it must never be cited as the publisher of what it holds, nor as evidence that any text is current, complete or still in force. It is typed government-primary because the taxonomy classifies the document rather than the host, and these documents are official text; the fact that a public university's observatory is the only address we reached for the CA-4 manual is a reason to look for a government one, not a reason to doubt the text.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The USD 750 figure is our arithmetic from the percentage the 2025 instrument states, and the residence it leads to is discretionary rather than a right.
We did not read the customs procedure for either franchise. The migration law and its regulation create the entitlement and set the ministry's dispensation fees - USD 200 for household goods, USD 300 for a vehicle - but the clearance itself is a customs matter we have not opened.
Nothing read sets a minimum age for the pensionado category. The test is the pension, not the applicant's age.
- reportsLey de Migración y Extranjería, Decreto No. 208-2003, La Gaceta
Observatorio de las Migraciones Internacionales en Honduras (OMIH), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras
About this source
An academic observatory at the national public university, which hosts facsimiles of La Gaceta and of regional migration instruments - including the CA-4 unified manual, which is held at no other address we have reached.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It hosts, it does not publish. What is held here are facsimiles of La Gaceta and of a regional instrument that carries Guatemalan migration-institute letterhead, so the documents are primary and the body offering them is not their publisher: it must never be cited as the publisher of what it holds, nor as evidence that any text is current, complete or still in force. It is typed government-primary because the taxonomy classifies the document rather than the host, and these documents are official text; the fact that a public university's observatory is the only address we reached for the CA-4 manual is a reason to look for a government one, not a reason to doubt the text.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source
- reportsReglamento de la Ley de Migración y Extranjería
Tribunal Superior de Cuentas de Honduras - biblioteca de leyes
About this source
The state audit body's reference shelf, which carries the Constitution, the migration regulation, the tax code and the traffic law as PDFs. It is where several Honduran instruments are reachable at all.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for currency. It is an audit body's shelf, not a gazette and not a consolidator: no document on it carries a consolidation date or an amendment history, so it cannot establish that a text is the text in force, and it is not the issuing authority for anything it holds. Its directory index returns 403, so what it holds cannot be enumerated.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
- reportsAcuerdo Ministerial No. 374-2025, La Gaceta No. 36,924 de 23 de agosto de 2025
Observatorio de las Migraciones Internacionales en Honduras (OMIH), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras
About this source
An academic observatory at the national public university, which hosts facsimiles of La Gaceta and of regional migration instruments - including the CA-4 unified manual, which is held at no other address we have reached.
Standing: Reports, establishes nothing
Cannot be cited for: It hosts, it does not publish. What is held here are facsimiles of La Gaceta and of a regional instrument that carries Guatemalan migration-institute letterhead, so the documents are primary and the body offering them is not their publisher: it must never be cited as the publisher of what it holds, nor as evidence that any text is current, complete or still in force. It is typed government-primary because the taxonomy classifies the document rather than the host, and these documents are official text; the fact that a public university's observatory is the only address we reached for the CA-4 manual is a reason to look for a government one, not a reason to doubt the text.
We re-read it every 180 days. More about this source