The cheapest property-based route to Panamanian residency is B/.200,000, not the B/.300,000 figure marketed as Panama's golden visa. They are two different programmes with two different thresholds, and a great deal of published advice treats them as one.
This guide sets out the three routes a foreign buyer or retiree actually uses, what each requires, and which one fits. Every figure comes from the Servicio Nacional de Migración requirement sheets or the decree behind them, with the date we checked it.
Key takeaways
- Friendly Nations sets its property threshold at B/.200,000, and the purchase can be bank-financed. Servicio Nacional de Migración, PPT-PE requirement sheet, checked August 2026.
- Qualified Investor sets its property threshold at B/.300,000, free of liens. Decreto Ejecutivo 193 of 15 October 2024, Article 3.1.
- Pensionado needs no property at all. A lifetime pension of B/.1,000 per month qualifies, plus B/.250 per dependent. Servicio Nacional de Migración, PRP-JP sheet, Article 200.
- Friendly Nations is provisional for two years first. It grants a two-year provisional permit, and permanence is a second application. Migración, PPT-PE / PPP-PE sheets.
- Balboas are pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, so every figure here is also the dollar figure.
The three routes, by minimum
- Pensionado$0
- Friendly Nations (property)$200k
- Friendly Nations (deposit)$200k
- Qualified Investor (property)$300k
- Qualified Investor (securities)$500k
- Qualified Investor (deposit)$750k
Servicio Nacional de Migración requirement sheets and Decreto Ejecutivo 193 de 2024 · checked August 2026
Pensionado sits at zero because it is not an investment programme. It asks for income, not capital.
Pensionado: the retiree route
Panama's Jubilado Pensionado permit, PRP-JP, is open to a foreign national receiving a pension from a foreign government, an international organisation, or a private company.
Article 200 sets the test plainly: the monthly pension cannot be less than B/.1,000 and must be granted for life. That second word does the work. A drawdown from a retirement account is not a pension for this purpose. Migración wants a lifetime entitlement, certified.
Add B/.250 per month for each dependent, which can be evidenced by additional pension income or a local bank reference.
What you file:
- Notarised power of attorney and application. The power must name the applicant's parents, which surprises people every time.
- Three photographs, a certified copy of the passport, a police record certificate, a health certificate, and the sworn declaration of personal background.
- Certification of retired or pensioned status showing the lifetime pension of at least B/.1,000 per month, or the equivalent in another currency.
- A Registro Público certificate for property, if applicable. Property is not required for this route.
If the pension comes from a private company rather than a government, you also need a letter from the pension administrator, trust, mutual fund, insurer or bank certifying that it administers the funds.
Who it suits. A retiree with a defined-benefit pension or social security, who does not want to move capital into Panama to qualify. It is the cheapest route by a wide margin, and for most retirees it is the right one.
Who it does not. Anyone whose retirement income is a portfolio drawdown rather than a lifetime pension. That is a growing share of retirees, and the requirement excludes them regardless of net worth.
Friendly Nations: the B/.200,000 route
Formally, permanent residence for nationals of specific countries maintaining friendly, professional, economic and investment relations with Panama. The sheet codes it PPT-PE while provisional and PPP-PE once permanent, under Decreto Ejecutivo 226 of 20 July 2021.
Two things about it are widely misreported.
It is provisional first. Article 3 grants a two-year provisional permit. Permanence is a separate application at the end, filed with the same documents minus the police record and the cheque. Anyone describing this as immediate permanent residency has skipped a step that takes two years.
It requires an economic tie, and there are three ways to have one:
| Route | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Employment | A notarised job letter on company letterhead stating post, salary and repatriation, the employer's Registro Público certificate, the employer's Aviso de Operación, and the MITRADEL work-permit filing |
| Property | A Registro Público certificate proving ownership of property worth at least B/.200,000, held personally, through a company where you are the final beneficiary, or through a private-interest foundation. The purchase may be financed through a local bank. |
| Fixed deposit | A general-licence bank certificate for a B/.200,000 fixed-term deposit, free of liens |
Two government cheques go with the application: B/.250 to the Tesoro Nacional and B/.800 to the Servicio Nacional de Migración.
The financing point is the one that matters. The Friendly Nations property route does not require the property to be unencumbered, and the requirement sheet says the acquisition may be financed through a local bank. The Qualified Investor route at B/.300,000 requires the property to be libre de gravámenes, free of liens. So the cheaper programme is also the more flexible one on financing. That is the opposite of what the marketing around the B/.300,000 programme implies.
Who it suits. Nationals of a qualifying country buying property in the B/.200,000 to B/.300,000 band, or anyone taking a job with a Panamanian employer.
Who it does not. Anyone whose nationality is not on the list, which is the first thing to check and the one thing no amount of money changes.
Qualified Investor: the B/.300,000 route
Covered in full in our buying guide, including the widely reported increase to B/.500,000 that does not actually appear in the decree. In short: B/.300,000 in property free of liens, B/.500,000 in securities held five years, or a B/.750,000 fixed deposit held five years. Decreto Ejecutivo 193 of 15 October 2024, Article 3.
The property route additionally requires a Registro Público title certification and an ANATI valuation, which is a useful filter whether or not you want the visa. A property that cannot produce both has a problem you want to know about.
When the honest answer is don't
Do not buy property to get residency if a deposit would do. Both Friendly Nations and Qualified Investor offer a fixed-deposit route at the same or a comparable figure. A deposit is liquid, has no maintenance costs, no HOA, no tenant, and no resale risk. Buying a building you did not want, in a market you do not know, to solve an immigration problem a bank certificate also solves, is an expensive habit that the people selling the buildings are happy to encourage.
Do not stretch to B/.300,000 for the Qualified Investor programme if B/.200,000 gets you there. Check your nationality against the Friendly Nations list first. If it qualifies, the cheaper route also allows bank financing.
Do not treat a two-year provisional permit as done. Friendly Nations is two applications, not one. Budget for the second.
Do not assume a drawdown is a pension. If your retirement income is withdrawals from an investment account rather than a lifetime entitlement, Pensionado will not accept it, and finding that out after paying legal fees is a bad way to learn it.
What we have not verified
The list of qualifying Friendly Nations countries changes by decree and we have not yet published our own copy traced to the Gaceta Oficial. Do not rely on a third-party list, including ours until it appears here with a source. Have your attorney confirm your nationality against the current decree before you spend anything.
Processing times are likewise absent from this page on purpose. The requirement sheets do not state them, every published figure we found traces back to a firm quoting its own experience, and we would rather leave a gap than repeat an estimate we cannot stand behind.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to get Panamanian residency through property?
Friendly Nations, at B/.200,000. The requirement sheet asks for a Registro Público certificate proving ownership of property worth at least that, held personally, through a company where you are the final beneficiary, or through a private-interest foundation, and it allows the purchase to be financed through a local bank. The Qualified Investor programme marketed as Panama's golden visa sets a higher bar at B/.300,000 and requires the property to be free of liens.
How much pension income does the Pensionado visa require?
B/.1,000 per month, and it must be granted for life. Article 200 of the requirement sheet is explicit that the pension must be vitalicia. Add B/.250 per month for each dependent, which can be evidenced with additional pension income or a local bank reference. Balboas are pegged 1:1 to the dollar.
Does a 401(k) or IRA drawdown qualify for the Pensionado visa?
Not on the face of the requirement. Migración asks for certification of a pension granted for life from a foreign government, an international organisation, or a private company. A drawdown from an investment account is not a lifetime entitlement, and net worth does not substitute for one. If your retirement income works this way, check with a Panamanian attorney before spending anything.
Is the Friendly Nations visa immediate permanent residency?
No. Article 3 grants a provisional permit for two years, coded PPT-PE. Permanent residence is a second application at the end of that period, coded PPP-PE, filed with the same documents minus the police record certificate and the cheque. Descriptions of it as immediate permanent residency skip a two-year step.
What government fees does the Friendly Nations application carry?
Two certified cheques accompany the application: B/.250 payable to the Tesoro Nacional and B/.800 payable to the Servicio Nacional de Migración. These are the government fees only and do not include legal costs.
Do I have to buy property to get residency in Panama?
No. Both Friendly Nations and Qualified Investor offer a fixed-term bank deposit route, at B/.200,000 and B/.750,000 respectively, and Pensionado requires no capital at all, only qualifying pension income. A deposit is liquid and carries no maintenance, HOA, tenant or resale risk, so buying property purely to solve an immigration problem is worth questioning.
Sources
- Servicio Nacional de Migración — Requisitos para Jubilado Pensionado (PRP-JP) — checked 2026-08-02
- Servicio Nacional de Migración — Países Específicos, relaciones amistosas (PPT-PE / PPP-PE) — checked 2026-08-02
- Servicio Nacional de Migración — Permisos Migratorios (category index) — checked 2026-08-02
- Decreto Ejecutivo No. 193 de 15 de octubre de 2024 (Inversionista Calificado), Gaceta Oficial 30140-B — checked 2026-08-02