The Secretariat of Governance, Justice, and Decentralization of Honduras has officially enacted Ministerial Agreement No. 374-2025, a regulation that redefines the criteria for granting immigration residency in Honduras. This measure aims to address exceptional situations that do not fit within traditional categories such as rentier, retiree, investor, or formal worker.
The decree regulates the immigration status of residency in accordance with Article 21, paragraph 8 of the Immigration and Foreigners Law, and establishes the following guidelines:
Special immigration category
A new category is introduced for foreigners who do not qualify under conventional classifications. Applicants may be eligible if they demonstrate at least 50% of the income or amount required for rentier, retiree, or investor status.
Expired or interrupted permits
Individuals who have resided in the country for at least five years, whose permits have expired or who have left without authorization, may apply for residency if they have already exhausted available extensions.
Foreign workers
Applicants must comply with the following:
- Two years of continuous and legal residence.
- Valid work authorization.
- Employer certification demonstrating compliance with Article 11 of the Labor Code, which requires that at least 90% of employees be Honduran nationals.
Applications for humanitarian or family reasons
Residency may be granted to individuals with at least 120 days of legal stay who justify their application based on humanitarian grounds, public interest, or family ties such as economic dependency or kinship with Honduran citizens.
The granting of residency will not be automatic. Each application will be individually evaluated by the Secretariat, which reserves the right to approve, deny, or archive requests without creating acquired rights.
Additional considerations
- Applications submitted before July 30, 2025, will be governed by previous criteria, except for those related to employment relationships, which must comply with the new requirements.
- Companies hiring foreign personnel should review their labor and immigration compliance processes to avoid legal contingencies.
Institutional impact
This decree represents a significant step forward in Honduras’s immigration policy by offering:
- Legal certainty for applicants and employers.
- Regulatory flexibility for exceptional cases.
- Consistency in the criteria applied by the immigration authority.
