San Marino Retirement Visa 2026: Pensioner Residence

This is residence by financial means. Nothing is invested, donated or paid to the State: you show that you are a pensioner with enough income, and you keep EUR 300,000 of your own assets in San Marino banks while you hold the residence. Both stay yours.

What is San Marino's residenza atipica for pensioners?

The residenza atipica for pensioners (residenza atipica pensionati) is San Marino's retirement visa: registered residence under article 16-quater of Law 28 June 2010 n.118 on the entry and stay of foreigners. The article was inserted by Law 23 December 2020 n.223 and amended several times; article 2 of Law 28 April 2025 n.64 set today's thresholds and Delegated Decree 77/2025 the annual ceiling. We read the coordinated text of Law 118/2010 published by the Consiglio Grande e Generale, updated to 3 June 2025, and Law 64/2025, both on 11 October 2026.

The Foreign Affairs Department receives the application and the Foreign Affairs Commission decides each file; the department's vademecum for pensioners, dated 27 May 2025, and its residence permits page (both read 11 October 2026) set out the procedure.

It gives residence, not nationality and not a San Marino passport. For the difference, see residency versus citizenship.

Who qualifies, and how much income do you need?

San Marino applies two means tests together, not one or the other (article 16-quater as amended by Law 64/2025; bars in article 17).

• You must be a pensioner who has never been resident in San Marino. No minimum age appears in the article.
• Gross income of at least EUR 120,000 a year, shown by a tax return or documents proving the resources. The text does not say that the whole amount must be pension income.
• And movable assets of at least EUR 300,000, deposits or financial instruments of your own, held in the San Marino banking system for the whole duration of the residence. The earlier choice between EUR 50,000 of income or EUR 300,000 of assets was replaced in 2025.
• A home under a preliminary purchase or lease contract, a San Marino bank account and health insurance.
• A clean record: no pending non-negligent criminal proceedings and no conviction above one year.
• Nationality: the article is open to pensioners coming from European Union countries, Switzerland and countries named in a Congress of State (Congresso di Stato) regulation. We have not found that list, so other nationalities, including EEA states outside the EU, are not yet officially confirmed.
• Family: your spouse and other relatives can join as secondary applicants (article 16-quater(6), referring to article 16(3-bis)), with no extra income figure per dependant; you and your relatives need sufficient means.
• A ceiling of 249 new residences a year (Delegated Decree 77/2025).

It does not fit retirees below EUR 120,000 a year, anyone unwilling to keep EUR 300,000 in San Marino banks, or anyone who plans to live mostly elsewhere.

Is San Marino's retirement visa a golden retirement visa?

Not fully: it is rated Partial, 60.5 out of 100, with confidence grade B, in the Mirabello Golden Retirement Index, scored on 11 October 2026 under methodology 1.1. Partial means the route meets most of the standard, with one gap. The gap the Index records is that the income must be transferred to, or held in, the country; in San Marino it is the EUR 300,000 of assets that must stay in San Marino banks, and the standard caps at Partial any route that locks more than US$50,000. Its score also sits below the Golden line of 70. Its strongest pillar is durability, as the residence has no expiry date in the article; its weakest are the financial requirement and tax, because only pension income gets the flat rate. Its renewal category is "never: permanent from grant". The standard is Mirabello's own: Golden means at least 70 out of 100, grade A or B and no fail on tax of foreign income, physical presence or renewal, and every route is scored from official sources.

Do you have to live in San Marino?

Yes, in substance. No minimum number of days is fixed, but the residence needs habitual dwelling (dimora abituale): an effective and stable presence, attested by the Gendarmeria through inspections. The Civil Registrar revokes the residence when habitual dwelling has lapsed for more than six months (Law 118/2010, article 17(5)(a)); absences for health, work, study, holidays abroad and similar causes are disregarded within the definition in article 2(l).

Tax residence is a separate test: registered residence, dwelling or centre of vital interests in San Marino for most of the tax period (Law 166/2013, article 10(2)). Registration itself is one of the tests, so plan on being tax-resident in San Marino. For routes with lighter presence rules, see residency without relocating.

Does San Marino tax a foreign pension?

Yes, at a flat rate. A resident under this article can settle tax on pension income with a 6% flat substitute general income tax (IGR) for ten consecutive years, whether or not a double tax treaty exists with the country the pension comes from (Law 118/2010, article 16-quater(2) and (2-bis)). It is paid in one sum by the IGR balance date; missed or partial payment ends its effects, with 90 days to cure.

The overall treatment of foreign income is partial: residents are taxed on worldwide income (Law 166/2013, articles 1 and 10, coordinated text), and the 6% covers pension income only. Other foreign income follows the ordinary rules, with article 13 as replaced by Law 12 November 2025 n.141 (both read 11 October 2026).

The text calls the 6% renewable after ten years without stating a procedure, and the tax position afterwards is not stated for this case. Tax follows tax residence, not the permit: the treatment applies once you are tax-resident in San Marino, and the country that pays your pension may still tax it under the relevant double tax treaty. The Tax Office issues tax residence and double-taxation certificates (service charter, read 11 October 2026). This is general information, not tax advice. See also countries that don't tax foreign pensions.

How long does it take, what does it cost, and what documents do you need?

The Foreign Affairs Commission must decide within 120 days of a complete file (article 16-quater(4)), and its decision cannot be appealed. A provisional permit of up to 6 months is available while the file proceeds (article 16-quinquies). The full path is not timed, so we give you a current estimate.

• Before you file: a San Marino current account, a preliminary purchase or lease contract, health insurance and apostilled documents.
• The file: proof of pensioner status and of the income, criminal-record and pending-charges certificates, and a sworn declaration on your citizenships, past residences, convictions and tax compliance (article 16-quater(3)).
• After the grant: the final lease or deed, a residence declaration and the bank certificate of transfer of the EUR 300,000.

A non-refundable procedural fee of EUR 1,000 absorbs stamp duties and office fees (article 16-quater(3); vademecum). Other fees were not read, so we confirm them for your case.

Until consolidation, you bear the full cost of health care in the manner set by the Social Security Institute, may not work in the wider public sector and receive no public benefits tied to residence. Private-sector work is not addressed in article 16-quater.

Renewal, permanent residence and citizenship

The residence is registered residence (anagrafe) with no expiry date in article 16-quater, so there is no renewal cycle. It is kept while the conditions hold: the income, the EUR 300,000 in San Marino banks, payment of the 6% tax, valid health insurance (90 days to cure a lapse), habitual dwelling and the bars in article 17; a breach allows revocation with immediate effect. After ten years from registration the residence is consolidated and the article's duties and bars lapse. Whether the EUR 300,000 lock-up ends then, and whether any fixed term applies, are not yet officially confirmed; we check both with the Foreign Affairs Department.

The texts we read state no path to San Marino citizenship for this route, and the citizenship law was not part of our reading, so we make no claim about naturalisation. Plan it as long-term residence, not as a step to a passport.

What the market gets wrong

• Some guides say the 6% covers all foreign income. The statute applies it to pension income only; dividends, interest, gains and rents follow the ordinary rules.
• Some guides still quote EUR 50,000 of income or EUR 300,000 of assets. Since Law 64/2025, you need EUR 120,000 of gross income a year and EUR 300,000 held in San Marino banks, both together.
• Some guides suggest you can live elsewhere. The Gendarmeria checks habitual dwelling, and more than six months away leads to revocation.
• Some guides present the 6% as permanent. It runs for ten consecutive years, renewable without a stated procedure.

San Marino or another retirement route?

San Marino suits a pensioner with substantial income and liquid assets who will genuinely live there. Its trade-offs are the double means test, the banked EUR 300,000, the annual ceiling and a flat rate limited to pension income.

• Cyprus Category F is Golden in the Index and permanent from the grant, but open only to third-country nationals; EU, EEA and Swiss nationals use free movement instead.
• Monaco's residence card for persons of independent means is also Partial, mainly because the card is renewed every year at first and gives no permanent status.
• For nationals of countries outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland, the Greece Financially Independent Person permit is a renewable, means-based permit with no minimum stay.

For every route side by side, see the full Golden Retirement Index and our retirement and passive-income residency guide.

What is not yet officially confirmed

• Whether the EUR 120,000 must be pension income, and which pension types qualify for the 6%.
• The Congress of State list of countries beyond the EU and Switzerland.
• Whether the EUR 300,000 lock-up ends at consolidation, and whether any fixed term applies.
• The renewal procedure for the 6% and the tax position after ten years; IRAFE, inheritance and gift tax, and the computation of foreign rental income.
• The time for the full path, fees other than the procedural fee, private-sector work and any path to citizenship.
• The provisions on entry and stay of foreigners approved by the Council in September 2026, which we have not yet read.

Ask Mira, by Mirabello

For a first answer at any hour, ask Mira, by Mirabello, the AI advisor of Mirabello Immigration Intelligence. It reads the same verified programme data as this page and can compare the San Marino route with the other routes in the Mirabello Golden Retirement Index. A specialist then checks the details that decide your case.

How Mirabello Consultancy helps

From Zurich, Mirabello Consultancy checks whether your nationality and pension fit article 16-quater, sequences the bank account, preliminary contract and apostilled file, and plans the transfer of EUR 300,000 and the 6% payment. To find out whether you qualify, book a free, confidential consultation.

Information only, not legal or tax advice. Requirements were read from the official sources linked above on 11 October 2026 and can change; we confirm them for your case.