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Panama Residency Programs

¨Use your Real Estate, Business investment and Bank Account to obtain Resident Visa in Panama.¨

Pension Visa

Foreigners who can apply for this permit are receiving a retirement or pension from a foreign government, international organization or private company and enter the national territory to reside and have sufficient economic solvency to covers their own survival expenses and the expenses of their companions while in the country. The monthly retirement check cannot be less than one thousand United States Dollars (USD$1,000.00) and has to be granted for a lifetime. [back to top]

Retiree Visa

This visa is for foreigners who enter the national territory that have retired from an active life and that can prove a two thousand United States Dollar (USD$2,000.00) income generated by interest of a Certificate of Deposit Account with the National Bank of Panama or Caja de Ahorros (another local bank) for a minimum of 5 years and free of any fiscal obligations.  This has been established in law No. 9 of 1987 and its regulations. [back to top]

Small Investor Visa

This visa is for foreigners who want to reside in Panama as investors and due to the amount of the investment qualifies as small investor.

The investment has to be made directly into a Company with a minimum investment of USD/. 40,000.00 and up to a maximum of USD/. 150,000.00. The foreigner must be the share holder of the Corporation showing a minimum investment of USD/. 40,000.00, and being able to partner with other Panamanian owners for the rest of the capital up to a limit of USD/ 150,000.00. [back to top]

Big Investor Visa

This visa is for foreigners willing to invest a minimum of one hundred and sixty thousand United States Dollars (USD$160,000.00) per applicant being member of the board of directors and share holders of the same corporation.  The corporate deed and shares will confirm that the minimum investment of each one of the investors is one hundred and sixty thousand United States Dollars (USD$160,000.00). The corporation can only operate legal activities that are not reserved for Panamanians. If bringing companions the investment has to be increased to two thousand United States Dollars (USD$2.000.00) per companion.  This can be confirmed by a local bank’s letter of reference. Also, the corporation must employ five (5) Panamanians per applicant for full time and generating a salary that won’t be less than the minimum wage established by law and specifying the position and activity of each one of the employees.   The corporation must register its employees in the Panamanian Social Security and pay its obligations to this entity. [back to top]

Fast Track Passport Program

To obtain the passport you have to open a CD account with the National Bank of Panama or (Caja de Ahorros) which produces a monthly interest rate of USD$2,000.00.  According to today’s interest rate the deposit should be for USD$615,000.00 (Current interest 4%).  To prove this the Panamanian government needs to receive a letter from the National Bank of Panama specifying your account details and deposit amount. Please note that the amount of the deposit depends on the bank’s interest rate at the moment of opening account.

The deposit of US$615,000 covers the Principal applicant and dependants if any.

This passport also grants permanent residence. After 5 years of permanent residence, you can apply for citizenship. However, the passport cannot be renewed after 5 years.

The time deposit must be for 5 years to match the validity of the passport.

Requirements:

• Petition presented by our law firm.
• Copy of all pages of your passport duly certified by a Panamanian Notary Public or with a certificate from a diplomatic representative accredited to Panama from the place where passport was issued.
• Police Record.  If your jurisdiction doesn’t issue police records you must provide a certificate from a diplomatic representative of your country accredited to Panama stating that you have no criminal records.
• A physical exam done by a certified Panamanian physician stating that you have no contagious diseases and you are in good mental and physical health.
• Payment of $250.00 to the National Treasury for the rights to apply for this category and $800.00 to the Immigration Department as a repatriation deposit.
• Affidavit of personal history. 
• Two ID size pictures with your face exposed.
• Certificate from The National Bank of Panama or Caja de Ahorros with your CD accounts details (including amount, length and specifying that the certificate has no fiscal obligations).
• Copy of the bank’s certificate of deposit certified by the National Bank of Panama.

Documents Needed to open the Certificate of Deposit Account

1. A notarized copy of all pages in your passport.
2. Two Original Personal Reference Letters. These letters should be written by someone who knows you, or someone you have worked with in the past. The letter should be signed and have the contact information of the person signing the letter for verification purposes.
3. Two Financial letters from a financial institution (credit union, bank); the letter should be on the institution’s letterhead and be signed by a representative of the institution.  It must also include the representative’s job title, telephone and e-mail for verification purposes.
4. Two Original Commercial Reference letters. Again the letter should be on the company’s letterhead and be signed by a representative of the company. The contact information of the business is also required for verification purposes.[back to top]

Economic Solvency Retiree Visa

This visa is divided in three categories:

Forestry Visa

This visa will be granted to foreigners investing in reforestation activities approved by the National Environmental Authority.  They can invest in their own name or through a corporation.  The investment has to be of at least 20 hectares with a minimum price of eighty thousand United States Dollars (USD$80,000.00). If purchasing in the name of a Corporation, the visa can be requested for two foreign investors, for as long as each of the investors can prove they made a minimum investment of  eighty thousand United States Dollars (USD$80,000.00) each.  If is not proved the visa will be cancelled and the investor will be forced to leave the country. If the investor is bringing companions the investment goes up two thousand United States Dollars per companion.  This can be verified by a local banking reference. . [back to top]

Panama Film Industry Visa

The cost of living in Panama is lower in comparison to other countries.  We have laws that benefit foreign investors, tax exemption for interests generated by savings accounts and CD accounts.  Also, Panama has over 85 international banks, high technology, shopping centers like the ones in the United States (malls), modern hospitals, tax exemption of goods imported to develop an industry, mega ports on both the Pacific and Caribbean side.  Panama is a steady democracy where private property is respected and where private investors can find a shelter. In addition, our country offers a diversity of landscapes that go from the cosmopolitan city to mountains, beaches, rivers, lakes and islands that reflect a true paradise.

Recently through law 36 of 2007, permanent residency is granted to foreigners investing in the movie industry in Panama.  At this moment you can become one of the first pioneers in this industry to acquire a permanent residency through the movie industry in Panama (this is a brand new visa category).  With the idea of attracting investors in the field the law allows foreign investors to invest a minimum of USD$150,000.00 (one hundred thousand dollars) to obtain the Permanent Resident Visa.

This amount includes the expenses to constitute the corporation, staff contracts, equipment, domicile, electricity, telephone, advertising, legal fees, accountant, etc.

What you need to do

The first step is to contact us and explain the project that you want to develop and how many partners will be involved in it with the idea of constituting a Panama Corporation according to the requirements outlined by the immigration department. When creating the corporation it is important to be careful as per how much the capital to invest will be since this amount will be recorded in the Registry Public and the Ministry of Finance and this information is key to qualify for the visa.  You have to also have a physical address in Panama: office and foreign or local staff.

Now, it is important to appoint that the capital for the corporation must be superior to USD$150,000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand dollars) and if two investors are applying for the visa that amount has to be specified in both of the investor’s paperwork and of course the investment has to be proved.

In other words, if Pete invests USD$150,000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand dollars) in Corporation X, he can apply for the visa for as long as he can prove that he invested that amount through accounting books and if John wants to apply using the same corporation he’s got to invest another USD$150,000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand dollars)to prove that there are two investors in Corporation X.  For this reason the corporation has to specify in the deed that its social capital is superior to USD$300,000.00 (three hundred thousand dollars).

Now, if you are interested in a bigger project you can gather several investors with similar amounts and make clear that the investment for this type of visa has to be reflected individually. This means that every investor has to present documents proving that the investment was made. [back to top]

Permanent Contract Visa

This visa is for foreign employees that have been contracted permanently to work in any of the following projects:

• Panama Canal
• People contracted by a Panama-Pacific area developer, operator or agency with a 10% of regular employees. [back to top]

Investor in the Panama-Pacific Economic Area

This visa is for foreigners willing to invest over two hundred and fifty thousand United States Dollars (USD$250,000.00) in the Risk Capital of Panama-Pacific corporations, or in Developing/Operating companies of this area. [back to top]

Call Center for Export

Foreigners investing in a Call Center to promote export services. [back to top]

Real Estate Investor Visa

The Real Estate Investor Program allows you to obtain Panamanian Residency with a minimum Real Estate investment of $350,000.00.  You can also obtain the visa by investing $200,000.00 in Real Estate and depositing $150,000.00 in a CD account with The National Bank of Panama. [back to top]

Married to a Panamanian

For more information Contact Us!