Residency via Visa Programs
Panama is a highly sought after location for many foreign investors seeking residency. It is strategically geographically situated for international business relations particularly with America, and is considered a tax haven by foreign investors due to its bespoke tax regime. Panama boasts a strong and stable economy and solid political infrastructure based largely on the US legal and political infrastructure. It is a safe country, peaceful and welcoming to foreign residents. It offers good levels of health care and education and generally a high standard of living with reasonable living costs.
Panama does not offer an economic citizenship program (e.g. government investment programs in Dominica or St. Kitts and Nevis), therefore, investments in approved governmental projects for fast-track naturalization are not available. However, in order to promote foreign investment to the country Panama offers several permanent residency visa programs.
One of the most popular type of resident visa is the Self-Economic Solvency visa, which requires a minimum of US $300,000 investments in any one of the following ways:
Under the Self-Economic Solvency visa the applicant may apply for a work permit in order to be employed under a labor contract.
The Business Investor visa requires establishing and operating a business in Panama. The applicant must have the following:
In case of dependents the applicant will need an additional US $2,000 for each dependent.
The permanent resident visa can be obtained after 2 year of having a temporary resident visa. The Business Investor visa offers the option of applying for a citizenship and passport after 5 years of being a permanent resident. The applicant may apply for a work permit.
This is a unique program where the applicant invests US $60,000 in an approved Panama reforestation program. This is an extremely inexpensive way to obtain a permanent Panama residency and eventually a citizenship with Panama passport which is good for visa free travel in most of the western EU and throughout most of Latin and South America.
Investment in reforestation requirements are as follows:
This option will allow the investor to obtain a Visa for themselves and family members (spouse and dependent children). In case of dependents the applicant will need an additional US $2,000 for each dependent.
All visa applications must be made through a lawyer in Panama. All overseas documents to must be certified by a Notary and by the Panamanian consulate, or by a Notary and the Apostille. All documents must be issued within two months of visa application and passports must have at least one year to run.