Rule changes
- Since 1 September 2026: Ecuador was added to the nationalities that can apply.
Panama, at your own pace.
Panama runs one of the widest menus of residency routes anywhere in the region, built around who an applicant is rather than one single test.
When rules change mid-way, the date your application is filed is what often decides which rules apply to you. Where are you right now?
Pick by how you live
19 routes, grouped by what Panama's system asks of you day to day — not by which visa is most talked about. Every figure below is what Immimaps has verified against Panama's official programme rules.
Your income comes from employers or clients outside the country. You don't want a local employer, and you don't need one.
A pension or other steady income from outside the country, and no plan to take a local job.
Routes where you prove money you hold or receive, rather than a job offer. The money is shown, not spent.
Most of these sums are shown, not spent.
On most remote-work and retirement routes, the figure is proof of means — it sits in your own account until it's checked, and nothing is transferred. Routes where money genuinely moves are marked below.
routes ask you to show a balance or income — once it's checked, it stays yours.
routes place capital that is exposed until the hold period or conditions are met.
What keeping the visa actually asks of you
Panama Student Visa (Temporal por Razones de Educación) is renewed rather than granted once. Expect each renewal to check the route's conditions again, so keep the same proof ready.
Counted from each route's own rules. Some routes lead to permanent residence or citizenship and some don't; the route cards below say which.
Pick a route, see the real commitment
Every official figure below is what Immimaps has verified for that route against Panama's official programme rules — not a marketing minimum. Service fees are what independent firms publish for the route, shown only once five or more are on file.
For people investing in or starting a qualifying business in Panama, rather than buying property or making a deposit.
$300,000 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
The deposit version of the friendly-nations route — the qualifying money sits in a Panamanian bank instead of going into property.
The most common route for citizens of the friendly-nations list — residency through buying property, rather than a job or a bank deposit.
The employment version of the friendly-nations route — for people taking a job with a Panamanian company, with no deposit or property purchase required.
A short-stay route for people who keep working for a foreign employer while living in Panama — it does not lead toward permanent residency.
$300,000 placed as capital, exposed until the residency conditions are met.
$1,000 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
For spouses of Panamanian citizens — a lighter version of the standard residency paperwork, with its own fee structure.
A retirement route for people living off a fixed-term deposit's interest rather than a pension.
For parents of a Panamanian-born child, regardless of the parent's own nationality or standing on the friendly-nations list.
For people enrolled at a recognised Panamanian institution — a temporary permit, not a path to permanent residency on its own.
A route specific to Italian citizens, under a long-standing bilateral treaty — lighter requirements than the general friendly-nations track.
Panama's long-running retiree route, built around a guaranteed pension rather than savings or an investment.
$500,000 – $750,000 placed and contractually returned after 5 years.
The Qualified Investor track, open to any nationality, not just the friendly-nations list — property investment leads to permanent residency directly, without the provisional stage most other routes require.
$500,000 placed as capital, exposed until the 5 years hold period ends.
$350,000 placed as capital, exposed until the 5 years hold period ends.
$100,000 placed as capital, exposed until the 5 years hold period ends.
What each route costs, stage by stage
Added up from the official figures on file for each route — split into money spent for good, money locked and returned later, and money shown but never transferred. Not a modelled estimate.
Business Investor Visa▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$160,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Economic Solvency Visa — Bank Deposit▾
At application
Decision — reported: 6 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$300,000 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
Friendly Nations Bank Deposit▾
At application
- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$200,000 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
Friendly Nations Real Estate▾
At application
Decision — reported: 2 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$200,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Friendly Nations Visa — Employment Pathway▾
At application
Decision — reported: 2 months.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $1,300 – $1,650, paid to the government for the initial application.
Panama Digital Nomad Visa (Visa de Corta Estancia como Trabajador Remoto)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $250 – $300, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$3,000 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
Panama Economic Solvency Visa — Real Estate▾
At application
Decision — reported: 6 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$300,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Panama Family Reunification — Dependent of Resident (Permiso de Dependientes de Residentes Permanentes)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$1,000 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
3 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: $1,000 (shown) / amount not on file / $5,000.
Panama Married to Panamanian Citizen Residency (Casado(a) con Panameño(a))▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $250 – $400, paid to the government for the initial application.
Panama Rentista Retirado (Retired Rentier) Visa▾
At application
Decision — reported: 2 months.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$850 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
- Shown, never leaves you$200,000 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
Panama Residency for Foreign Parents of Panamanian Children (Extranjeros con Hijos Panameños)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
Panama Student Visa (Temporal por Razones de Educación)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $300 – $500, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$1,000 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
At renewal
Renewal — reported: 1 year.- Shown, never leaves you$1,000 — the same proof is shown again.
Panama-Italy Treaty Residency (Convenio Panamá-Italia)▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $250, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$5,000 shown as proof of means — nothing is transferred.
- Shown, never leaves you$850 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
Pensionado (Retirement) Visa▾
At application
- Spent for goodEstimated government fees, shown not graded: $50 – $100, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$1,000 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
2 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: $1,000 (shown) / $750 + $100,000.
Qualified Investor — Bank Deposit▾
At application
Decision — reported: 2 months.- Spent for goodEstimated government fees, shown not graded: $10,000, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$500,000 placed as capital, returned after 5 years.
When the hold ends
Hold — reported: 5 years.- Locked$500,000 returned after 5 years.
2 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: $750,000 / $500,000 (shown).
Qualified Investor — Real Estate▾
At application
Decision — reported: 2 months.- Spent for goodEstimated government fees, shown not graded: $10,000, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$300,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
2 ways to qualify — shown: the cheapest. Alternatives: $300,000 (shown) / $500,000.
Qualified Investor — Securities▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodEstimated government fees, shown not graded: $10,000, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$500,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Reforestation Immediate▾
At application
Decision — reported: 2 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$350,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Reforestation Provisional▾
At application
Decision — reported: 1 month.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $1,050, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$100,000 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
The order Panama Rentista Retirado (Retired Rentier) Visa follows
No confirmed rule change has been flagged for Panama since it was last checked against the official migracion.gob.pa portal on 2026-08-29. Immimaps keeps watching official immigration sources and will list dated changes here as soon as one is confirmed.
Check the migracion.gob.pa portal directly →The cost calculator separates money spent for good from money that's only shown or locked up.
Open the cost calculatorUpload it and Immimaps checks it against what Panama's official programme actually requires, and reads the contract clause by clause. Free, no account.
Check my documentEvery official figure on this page is checked against Panama's official immigration sources. Service fees are what independent firms publish for a route — not an official figure, and never any one firm's price. Immimaps does not publish success rates, approval odds or any probability score — here or anywhere else.
Don’t take a life-changing move on someone else’s word.
Immimaps is not an agency and takes no placement fees. We show the real figures on every route, show the working, and tell you what it actually costs.
Get your country matches