Panama Friendly Nations Visa: Rules & Costs 2026

The Panama Friendly Nations Visa gives citizens of around 50 countries a route to permanent residency, and eventually citizenship, in a stable, dollarized economy with a territorial tax system. It remains open in 2026, though the rules are stricter than they once were.

To qualify, you need to be a citizen of one of the approved nations and show an economic or professional tie to Panama through one of three routes: a job with a Panamanian company, a property purchase, or a fixed bank deposit. The visa first grants two years of provisional residency, after which you can apply for permanent residency.

Below we cover who qualifies, the three ways to meet the requirements, what it costs, the documents you’ll need, and the application process. If the Friendly Nations Visa isn’t the right fit, we also cover the other Panama residency options.

How to qualify for the Friendly Nations Visa

Before 2021, you could qualify by forming a local corporation and showing a loose economic tie. That route is gone. The rules below are the current ones.

To qualify, you must be a citizen of one of the roughly 50 approved nations and show an economic or professional tie to Panama. Since the 2021 reform, there are three ways to do this, and you only need one.

Buy property worth at least $200,000. The property must be in your name, and you can finance it through a local bank. Expect to need a 20 to 30 percent deposit and proof of income to get a loan.

Place a fixed deposit of at least $200,000. The deposit goes into a fixed-term account at a Panamanian bank with a General License, for a minimum three-year term. The account must be in the primary applicant’s name. Your money stays yours and earns interest during the term, and the principal is returned when the term ends.

Get a job with a Panamanian company. You’ll need an employment contract and a letter from the company, which must be legally established and registered with social security. Most applicants on this route also need the employer to hold a work permit for them through the Ministry of Labor (MITRADEL), which is a separate process. If a job requires the visa first, an agreement conditional on the visa can work.

Owning a Panamanian corporation no longer qualifies you. That route was the old way in, and it was eliminated in 2021.

A note on the country list: it’s set by Panama’s immigration authority and updated by resolution, so it can change. Most current sources include the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, most of the EU, Japan, South Korea, and several Latin American nations. Confirm your own country’s current status with a licensed Panamanian attorney before you spend money on documents.

What you need at a glance

Beyond qualifying through one of the three routes above, a complete application comes down to a few things:

You’ll need to show financial solvency. In practice this usually means opening a personal account with a licensed Panamanian bank and depositing around $5,000 of your own money, evidenced by a bank reference letter. The money stays yours and you can withdraw it once the visa is approved. Requirements here can vary by case, so confirm what applies to you with your lawyer.

You’ll need to complete the application, provide all supporting documents, and pay the government fees, covered in the cost and documents sections below.

And by law, a licensed Panamanian attorney has to file the application for you. You cannot submit it yourself.

Countries that qualify

Around 50 countries are on the Friendly Nations list. The current list set by Panama’s immigration authority includes:

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay.

The list is set by resolution and can change, and a few countries’ status has been reported inconsistently over the years. Confirm your own country’s current eligibility with a licensed Panamanian attorney before spending money on documents.

Italy is handled separately. It isn’t on the Friendly Nations list because it has its own bilateral treaty of friendship with Panama, which gives Italian citizens a different and often more favorable route. See our guide to the Panama visa for Italians.

How much the Friendly Nations Visa costs

There are several costs to budget for, separate from the $200,000 investment if you take the property or deposit route.

Government fees come to around $1,050 per applicant aged over 12: roughly $250 to the National Treasury and $800 to the National Immigration Service. These are usually paid by two separate certified checks from a local bank. Children aged 12 and under pay less.

Budget around $5,000 for documents, translations, apostilles, and other administrative costs.

There’s also a fee for the multiple-entry visa that lets you exit and re-enter Panama during the process.

Then there are legal fees, which vary widely between firms. Across both the provisional and permanent residency stages, total process costs for a single applicant (excluding the $200,000 investment) typically run somewhere in the $4,500 to $8,000 range, legal fees included. Get a written quote before you commit, since this is the line item firms price most differently. We’ve partnered with a law firm that offers good service at fair pricing, and you can book a consultation with them to get an exact figure for your case.

The application process

The documentation is detailed, and missing or incorrectly formatted documents are a common reason applications get rejected. Your lawyer should check every document, translation, and authentication before submitting. If you’re including a spouse or dependent children, you’ll need additional documents for each of them.

Two visits to Panama. Once your documents are prepared, the process generally requires two visits, with around five to eight days in Panama City each time. A well-organized local lawyer can sometimes shorten this.

During one of these visits, if you’re taking a route that requires it, you’ll open a personal account with a local bank, which is also where the solvency deposit goes. Opening the account sometimes requires an in-person interview.

Timing. From submission to issue, the process generally takes two to six months. The immigration office can take up to six months to resolve the initial application. Once approved, you’ll sort out related documents, which may include a driver’s license, your residency card (e-cedula), and tax residency certificates.

Two residency cards. You’ll hold a temporary card while your application is processed, then a provisional residency card once it’s approved.

Applying for permanent residency

After two years of provisional residency, you can apply for permanent residency for yourself and your family. The application uses the same documents as your provisional application, brought up to date, plus your provisional residency card. The immigration office can take up to six months to decide. Once permanent residency is granted, you’re on the path to citizenship, which you can apply for after five years.

Documents you’ll need

You’ll need substantial supporting documentation. Anything not in Spanish needs an official translation, copies must be properly certified and, where required, apostilled, and some documents may need authentication by a Panamanian notary. Preparing this carefully is what keeps an application moving.

Primary applicant

• Completed application forms
• Passport of your qualifying nationality, which should be the one you entered Panama on, with an entry stamp
• A second ID document from your home country, or an apostilled birth certificate
• Eight passport photographs
• Evidence of your economic tie: property transfer documents, your employment contract, or your fixed-deposit certification
• Proof of address (often a notarized rental contract)
• If you have dependents, proof of financial solvency (a bank reference letter)
• A medical certificate of good health from an authorized Panamanian doctor
• Apostilled police and criminal background checks from any country you lived in during the two years before applying
• Two certified checks (see the cost section)

For your spouse

• Passport
• Eight passport photos
• Apostilled marriage certificate
• Apostilled police and criminal background checks

For your children

• Passport
• Eight passport photos
• Apostilled birth certificate
• A notarized statement that you’ll support them financially
• Apostilled police and criminal background checks (for those over 18)

Can you get a work permit?

Yes. When you submit your application, you can also apply for a work permit. The permit comes from the Ministry of Labor (MITRADEL), separately from the visa itself, which is issued by the immigration department.

MITRADEL can be slow, so if you need to start working soon, prioritize this application and have your documents ready in advance. The permit gives you full rights to work for a Panamanian company or as a self-employed person. An application fee applies. See our page on Panama work permits for the current fee and details.

Do you need a lawyer?

Yes, and not by choice. By law, a Panamanian-certified lawyer must submit your application. You can’t file it yourself.

A good one earns the fee. They know which parts of the process can be sped up and which can’t, they’ll catch document problems before submission, and they can advise on the best qualifying route for your situation, whether that’s a property purchase, a deposit, or a work permit. For non-Spanish speakers, having local representation makes the whole process far easier, and many firms have English-speaking lawyers. Getting it right the first time is the main thing, because a clean first submission avoids the delays that come with corrections.

Why people move to Panama

Panama ranks well in expat satisfaction surveys, and it draws a steady stream of remote workers, location-independent businesses, and retirees. Its position makes it a practical base for travel across Central America, the Caribbean, and both American continents. Cost of living, climate, and healthcare are the usual reasons people cite.

The tax system is a large part of the appeal. Panama taxes on a territorial basis, which means income earned outside the country is generally not taxed in Panama. For people earning from abroad, that can be a real benefit. How it applies to you depends on your own circumstances and your home country’s rules, so get advice specific to your situation before counting on it.

See our Living in Panama page for more on daily life there.

Is the Friendly Nations Visa still worth it?

For citizens of the qualifying countries who can meet one of the three routes, yes. It’s still one of the more accessible residency programs in the Americas, in a dollarized economy with territorial tax and no minimum-stay requirement.

The 2021 changes did raise the bar. The investment thresholds are higher and permanent residency now takes two years rather than coming immediately, so it’s a bigger commitment than it once was. If the requirements don’t fit, Panama has other routes worth looking at:

• The Pensionado (retiree) visa, if you have a qualifying pension
• The Qualified Investor visa
• Residency by other investment options