Panama investor residency: the Qualified Investor program

What is Qualified Investor residency?

It is a subcategory of permanent residency for economic reasons, provided for in Decree-Law 3 of 2008, Panama's immigration law. It is designed for foreigners who keep an investment in the country made with their own funds brought from abroad. It is a form of residency by investment, also known as permanent residency in Panama by investment, the Panama investor visa or the Panama golden visa.

Two bodies are involved: the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) verifies the investment and issues an Investment Certification, and the National Immigration Service decides on the residency based on that certification.

Benefits of Panama investor residency

• Permanent residency from the start, without first holding temporary residency.
• The application can be filed before you enter Panama, through a special attorney-in-fact. You only need to come for biometric registration before receiving your ID card (Article 16).
• Maximum time limits set by the decree: MICI has 15 business days to issue the certification and Immigration 30 business days to decide, once the file is complete (Article 15).
• Service through a special processing window created to simplify the procedure (Article 13).
• Residency can include dependents. After approval, children born or adopted later and a new spouse can be added directly (Article 17).
• You can invest personally or through a company or a private interest foundation, Panamanian or foreign, of which you are the beneficial owner (Articles 2 and 5).
• An investment held jointly with your spouse or the dependents included in the same application can count as a single investment (Article 3).
• When buying property, the part of the price above the required minimum can be financed (Article 5).
• After five consecutive years of residency, the investor and dependents may apply for Panamanian citizenship by naturalization, under the Constitution (Article 14).

Ways to invest under the program

• First-sale property: a new property bought from the developer. It is the option with the lowest minimum amount in the program (Article 4).
• Secondary-market property: a property that was previously sold, occupied or rented. It requires a higher minimum than a first sale (Article 4).
• Off-plan property through a purchase promise agreement, either with an escrow trust at a licensed bank or trust company, or with full payment to the developer backed by a stand-by letter of credit, a bank guarantee or a performance bond (Article 7).
• Securities market, through a broker-dealer licensed by the Superintendency of the Securities Market: private equity funds, Panamanian government bonds and instruments, or registered corporate securities (Article 8).
• Five-year fixed-term deposit, free of liens. The minimum amount is lower if the deposit is opened at Banco Nacional de Panamá or Caja de Ahorros than at a private bank (Article 9).

Minimum investment amount

The decree sets a different minimum for each type of investment. Compliance is measured on net value: for property, the lower of the price paid and its market value, minus mortgages or other liens. Money received as a donation or gift does not count. Contact us and we will tell you the amount that applies to the option you are interested in.

Main requirements

• Invest your own funds from abroad, arriving in Panama by international transfer and fully traceable (Articles 2 and 3).
• Prove the origin of funds with a bank letter, a bank statement, or a notarized letter together with a bank certification. Documents issued abroad must be apostilled or legalized by a Panamanian consulate.
• Obtain the MICI Investment Certification, which is valid for three months and must be current when you file with Immigration (Article 3).
• Meet the general requirements of Article 28 of Decree-Law 3 of 2008, such as a valid passport and a criminal record certificate.
• If you invest through a company or foundation: documents proving its existence, beneficial owner and control, apostilled or legalized and translated into Spanish by an authorized public translator (Article 5).
• Pay the government filing fee to the National Treasury and the repatriation deposit to Immigration, for the applicant and for each dependent (Article 11).

Obligations to keep your residency

• Keep the investment for at least five years (Article 12).
• Prove to MICI every year, through an attorney-in-fact, that the investment is still in place, within the 30 days before the anniversary of the resolution.
• Notify MICI within 30 days if the investment is sold, replaced or ends. You then have up to 90 days to reinvest; otherwise the residency is cancelled.
• For a purchase promise, submit each year the trustee's certification or the current bank guarantee. Status based only on purchase promises cannot last more than three years in total.
• If the developer defaults, you have 180 business days to replace the investment with another permitted option.

Steps of the process

1. Choose the type of investment and whether to hold it personally or through a company or foundation.
2. Make the investment with funds from abroad and gather the bank evidence.
3. Prepare personal and family documents: apostilles, translations and certificates.
4. Apply for the Investment Certification on MICI's online platform.
5. File the residency application, through an attorney-in-fact, at the special window of the National Immigration Service.
6. Complete biometric registration and receive your permanent resident ID card.

If you already hold economic solvency residency

Holders of permanent residency for economic solvency, or applicants with a pending case in that category, may request a change to Qualified Investor within 12 months after the decree took effect, if they meet the requirements. Investments made before October 15, 2020 do not qualify. Applications filed before the new decree follow the rules in force when they were filed (Articles 18 and 19).

How Panainfo helps

We handle the corporate and document side the program requires: we form the Panama corporation or private interest foundation that will hold the investment, apostille and legalize documents, arrange official translations and obtain Public Registry and Civil Registry certificates for you and your dependents. We guide you through the other steps of the immigration process.

Legal basis

• Executive Decree 17 of September 8, 2026 (Official Gazette 30613 of September 16, 2026), which governs permanent residency as a Qualified Investor and replaces Executive Decree 722 of 2020 and its amendments (Executive Decrees 109 of 2022 and 193 of 2024).
• Decree-Law 3 of February 22, 2008, Panama's immigration law (Articles 15 and 28).
• Executive Decree 320 of August 8, 2008, regulations of the immigration law.
• Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama, on naturalization.
• Hague Apostille Convention, for documents issued abroad.