Panama Friendly Nations Visa Without the US$200,000

Most articles about the Friendly Nations Visa get the structure wrong in the first paragraph. They present it as a visa for citizens of 51 countries, then list the countries, then stop.

That describes the first gate, and there are two.

Two Gates, Not One

Gate one is your passport. Executive Decree 226 of 20 July 2021, as amended by Executive Decree 16 of 31 August 2026, lists exactly 51 countries. If yours is not among them, this category is closed to you regardless of your money, and the other Panamanian routes carry no nationality test at all.

Gate two is economic capacity, and it is where most applications turn. An eligible passport gets you eligible to apply. It doesn't get you residency.

People miss this because the country list is easy to write about and the second gate isn't.

The Three Ways to Meet the Second Gate

Decree 226 gives three options, and the applicant satisfies one of them:

Real estate. Property in Panama worth at least US$200,000. Decreto 226 permits the qualifying property to be financed through a Panamanian bank. How the US$200,000 threshold is measured and documented on a financed purchase is confirmed with counsel before you commit. It may be held through a legal entity or a private interest foundation where the applicant is the final beneficiary.

A fixed-term deposit. At least US$200,000 in a general-license Panamanian bank, free of liens, for a minimum three-year term.

An employment relationship with a Panamanian company.

The first two ask for capital. The third asks for something else, and that is the whole reason it exists as an option and the whole reason it gets misdescribed.

How the Labor Reasons Route Works

Panama's Friendly Nations Labor Reasons route is a two-stage residency pathway based on genuine employment with a Panamanian company. Unlike the property or fixed-deposit alternatives, it does not require the applicant to establish the US$200,000 investment tie. Instead, the immigration application is supported by a genuine labor relationship and the required employer documentation.

The category contemplates that the applicant demonstrate an economic tie to Panama through an employment relationship with a Panamanian company. For that tie to be valid, it has to meet the requirements of the applicable immigration and labor legislation, and it has to be supported by the corresponding documentation before the immigration service at the time of application.

That isn't a formality. Each file is structured so that it complies with the legal requirements and can be substantiated before the competent authorities. It is legal work, done individually, not a product with a template.

Documents. The exact documents for this route are confirmed per file before filing.

One structural point that saves money. The economic tie is the principal applicant's requirement. A dependent spouse rides on it and does not need a second one. So a couple engages this once, not twice.

Who the Employer Can Be

Depending on the applicant's circumstances, the employer may be an existing Panamanian employer, an appropriate third-party company, or in some cases a Panamanian company connected with the applicant's own genuine business activity. The correct structure should be reviewed before the applicant commits to the route.

An appropriate third-party employment structure may be possible in some cases, but availability is assessed individually and is not automatically included or guaranteed.

Where another Panamanian employer is used, the applicant must be hired by it: a real position, a real salary paid through payroll, and the employment records that go with it. The same standard applies where the employer is the applicant's own business. The employment has to be real on both paths.

If You Own a Business

Entrepreneurs sometimes ask whether they can form a Panamanian company and use it for Friendly Nations residency. Company ownership alone does not qualify. Where an applicant's own Panamanian company forms part of a Labor Reasons structure, it should be a genuine operating business supporting a real employment relationship, with real activity: salaries, expenses and records. The corporate, employment and work-permit structure must therefore be considered together rather than treating incorporation as an immigration shortcut.

The Work Permit

Friendly Nations residency does not include the right to work. The MITRADEL work permit is a separate, coordinated process.

Residency and the right to work are two separate authorizations in Panama, granted by two different authorities. Residency comes from the immigration service, and a work permit from the labor ministry, on its own timeline and with its own renewal rules.

The Two-Year Provisional Period

The initial residence is provisional for two years. During that period, the employment basis should remain valid and properly documented. If the employment relationship changes, the new structure should be reviewed and documented promptly rather than waiting until the permanent-residence application.

At the end of the provisional period, permanent residence is a separate application. The qualifying basis must be demonstrated again, so Labor Reasons should not be treated as a temporary immigration filing that can be forgotten once the first card is issued.

Trips and Cards

The number of trips is not fixed. Plan for a filing trip, a trip at two years and a last trip for the permanent card and the cédula. A fourth, short trip is added if you choose to collect the cédula separately.

Trip 1, the filing. In person, about 4 to 5 business days.

The two-year card. It may be delivered by courier or through a third party, but only if Migración allows it at the time. It is never promised, so do not plan around it. The conversion at two years always needs you in person.

At two years. You travel to Panama in person to file the conversion to permanent residence and to get the processing card.

The last trip. It is for the permanent card and the cédula. The cédula takes about 10 more days, so either stay about 10 extra days on this trip, or make a later short trip for the cédula alone.

There is no cédula before permanent residence. It is issued to permanent residents, so on this route it comes at the end. You attend the Tribunal Electoral in person: the photograph and signature are taken there and nobody can stand in for you.

Who This Suits

It suits you if you hold one of the 51 passports, you have or can build a genuine employment relationship with a Panamanian company, and you want someone holding the file across the two years rather than filing and moving on.

It doesn't suit you if what you want is a card to hold from abroad with no Panamanian footprint. The basis has to be demonstrated again for permanent residence. If that is what you are after, the deposit route at US$200,000 asks less of you over time, and the categories with no nationality test may suit you better still.

And if your passport is not on the list, this whole conversation is moot and there are four other routes open to you regardless of nationality.

What Happens Next

Plan B Expat evaluates Labor Reasons as a provisional-to-permanent pathway rather than as a way to obtain a two-year residence card. Immigration and work-permit decisions remain with the Panamanian authorities, and requirements can change during the provisional period.

We don't quote this route from a page. What it involves depends on facts we don't have yet.

What we will do on a call is check gate one in a minute, walk you through what gate two would look like in your case, and tell you plainly if one of the other routes fits you better. Several of them are cheaper and several ask less of you afterwards.

Primary sources

Last updated: September 2026.

Plan B Expat provides consulting and coordination, not legal or tax advice. Always take counsel from the licensed attorneys, accountants and tax specialists in our vetted network.