Andorra Residence Permits Drop 11% in Q2 2026 Amid Cross-Border Surge

New residence and work permits in Andorra fell 11.3% in the second quarter of 2026, reaching 1,016, as authorities ramped up approvals for cross-border and temporary authorisations.

The Statistics Department recorded 2,210 initial permits issued from April to June, marking a 1.1% drop from the same period in 2025. Residence-only permits stood at 393, down 5.5%. Extendable authorisations totalled 1,503, a decline of 8.6%.

Cross-border worker permits jumped 25.7% to 88. Temporary work permits increased 20.7% to 530, while those for employees of foreign companies rose 26.2% to 164. Temporary permits for research, studies, training or sports dropped 45% to 11, with two additional temporary cross-border worker permits approved.

By occupation under the National Classification of Occupations, machinery operators and assemblers saw approvals rise 61.9%, gaining 26 permits. Business and public administration managers increased 28.6%, adding 16. Restaurant, personal services, protection workers and shop sellers fell 4.9%, losing 27, while support technicians and professionals dropped 6.7%, with 19 fewer.

Over the 12 months through June 2026, initial residence and work permits came to 3,249, down 10%, though cross-border permits grew 26%. Overall new permits decreased 4.7%.

Active permits hit 56,847 by 30 June, up 2.1% year-over-year. This included 56,031 extendable permits, a 2% gain. Residence and work permits numbered 43,511, up 1.6%; residence-only reached 10,418, up 3.4%; cross-border stood at 2,009, up 5.2%; temporary work at 531, up 19.1%; and foreign company temporaries at 257, up 0.8%.

Spaniards accounted for 45.1% of active permits, followed by other nationalities at 30.5%, Portuguese at 16.1% and French at 8.4%. They held 89.7% of cross-border permits. New approvals went mostly to other nationalities (55%, or 1,215), topped by Argentinians (382), Colombians (261) and Peruvians (97).

Departures climbed to 292 in the quarter, a 37.7% increase, with nearly three-quarters among residence and work permit holders and 48.6% involving Spaniards.

For active permits by occupation, support technicians and professionals expanded 4.2% (230 more), and skilled manufacturing, construction and mining workers grew 3.8% (179 more). Agricultural and fishing skilled workers declined 5.5%, while administrative employees fell 0.5% (15 fewer).