Panama Qualified Investor Visa
- Processing time
- 1–2 months
- Physical presence
- Applicants must enter Panama to file and collect the residence card. Afterwards there is no minimum annual stay, but permanent residence can lapse if you are absent from Panama for more than two consecutive years.
- Family
- Spouse, dependent children (typically to 18, or to 25 if studying and unmarried), and dependent parents, each adding government fees.
See the investment routes and what each one really costs →
Limits and drawbacks
- The 300,000 USD real-estate threshold is a closing window: under Decree 193-2024 it is scheduled to return to 500,000 USD around 15 October 2026 unless extended again. Do not assume the low figure will still apply when you file.
- This is residency, not citizenship. Naturalisation is only possible after five years, is discretionary and slow in practice, and Panama’s constitution calls for renouncing your prior nationality — so treat a Panama passport as a distant, uncertain prospect, not a feature of this visa.
- All routes require holding the investment for five years; selling early can cost you the residence.
- A lower-cost path exists for eligible nationals — the Friendly Nations Visa, from a 200,000 USD property purchase — but only for the roughly fifty listed countries, and with its own economic-ties requirements since the 2021 reform.
What it gets you
- Permanent residence granted directly and fast — often within about 30 days
- Territorial tax: foreign-source income is not taxed in Panama
- A refundable securities or deposit route for investors who prefer not to buy property
- A dollarised economy — Panama uses the US dollar