Working in Honduras as a French Citizen: Residence, Salaries, Contributions and the Economy

The C4 agreement allows a continuous stay without a visa of 90 days at most in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador, with a passport valid for at least six months on the date of entry; this stay is for tourism and does not serve as a work permit (France Diplomatie). To take up salaried employment, the French citizen applies for a residence permit from the National Migration Institute, which publishes condition sheets by category, including that of foreigners employed under a contract. The exact conditions, the employer’s supporting documents and the fees could not be read on an official page, the institute’s website not being accessible when consulted: they are confirmed with the institute or the Honduran consulate before any step.

France Diplomatie indicates that the entry and stay sheet does not deal with residence permits and recommends, before departure, checking your insurance. On the French side, the French embassy in Tegucigalpa has limited means; consular procedures fall to the consular section of the French embassy in Guatemala. The guide for employees working abroad and the page on living in Honduras detail the formalities.

The Secretariat of Labour and Social Security publishes a table of the minimum wage and the education bonus, with the tripartite agreement in force, which enshrines an adjustment negotiated between the government, employers and workers. The amounts appear in PDF documents whose content could not be read: no figure is therefore given here, and the Dirección General de Salarios (Boulevard Juan Pablo II, Tegucigalpa, Monday to Friday from 8 am to 4 pm) is the contact for the values applicable to a given company.

Above the floor, pay is negotiated according to the post, the sector and the city. France Diplomatie reports a GDP per capita of around 3,600 dollars; an offer denominated in lempiras is also judged against the exchange rate, and the “Economic indicators” block of this page updates growth, inflation, unemployment and the exchange rate.

The Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS) runs the sickness-maternity insurance of formal-sector employees, funded by employee and employer contributions calculated on a capped salary. The rates and the contribution ceiling for the current year do not appear on an accessible official page: they are to be confirmed with the IHSS or the employer, who makes the deduction.

France Diplomatie reminds readers that French health insurance schemes are not recognised locally and that foreigners must pay their own healthcare costs: IHSS affiliation, where possible, is supplemented by insurance covering care, hospitalisation and repatriation. No social security agreement organises the totalisation of periods with France (CLEISS does not publish a sheet for Honduras). The page on the healthcare system in Honduras details the cover.

Honduras does not appear on the list of international tax treaties published by impots.gouv.fr (the French tax authority’s website). The domestic-law rules of each country therefore apply, with no treaty mechanism for eliminating double taxation. The Honduran tax administration publishes its scales for each tax year; its website was not accessible when this page was written, and no rate is therefore given here.

A French employee who keeps French-source income remains subject to the French rules applicable to non-residents: the minimum rate is 20% up to an income threshold revised every year and then 30%, with an option for the average rate (impots.gouv.fr). The situation is checked with the French tax authorities before departure.

In the absence of a social security agreement, an employee sent by a French company can be seconded outside an agreement: they remain affiliated to the French scheme for three years, renewable once, covered up to the benefits they would have received in France, on paid invoices using form S 3125c. Contributions are paid in France as if the activity were carried out there, without exempting them from any contributions due in Honduras (CLEISS). See seconded or expatriate.

An employee on a local contract, by contrast, leaves the French scheme and comes under the Honduran scheme; the CFE (Caisse des Français de l’étranger, the French expatriate health fund) is added to local affiliation without exempting them from it. A self-employed person can take out the CFE, which covers sickness-maternity for a self-employed person, or international insurance. For a remote worker, the open residence statuses are confirmed with the National Migration Institute; see the guide to digital nomad visas.

An assignment in Honduras is prepared with France Diplomatie’s classifications: the zones advised against except for compelling reasons notably cover the centre of Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba, while the Bay Islands, Valle and Copán are under heightened vigilance. The sheet recommends favouring a daytime arrival flight, avoiding travel on foot even by day in the three large cities, not driving at night and choosing taxis at hotel or shopping-centre ranks. The embassy has limited means in a crisis: companies check their employees’ insurance contracts and plan resources for hospitalisation and evacuation.

For a hospital stay, France Diplomatie specifies that public hospitals offer a mediocre level of care, that private clinics are of acceptable quality and that costs are high. An assistance contract covering care and repatriation is therefore a precondition for any assignment: see the page on expat health insurance.

According to France Diplomatie, GDP is around 40 billion dollars and public debt remains below half of GDP (IMF), with a clearly negative trade balance. Services account for more than 60% of GDP, industry about 26% and agriculture about 12% (World Bank). The main customers are the United States (36%), the European Union (16%), Guatemala (10%), El Salvador (8%) and Nicaragua (6%), and the main suppliers the United States (31%), China (16%), Guatemala (11%) and Mexico (7%).

Franco-Honduran trade stands at a few tens of millions of euros of French exports and more than 100 million euros of imports from Honduras (Treasury Directorate-General). The currency is the lempira, and remittances from the diaspora, mainly from the United States, are said to represent about 30% of GDP. The openings for a French manager or technician are mainly in services, industry and trade.

For the daily life of an expatriate employee, France Diplomatie specifies that the euro can be exchanged for local currency at most banks, that many Western Union branches allow emergency transfers and that it is preferable to withdraw money at a bank or shopping centre. The customs value declaration is filled in online, and companies that send employees check that insurance contracts cover medical evacuation from remote areas.