Most published lists of Panama's Friendly Nations countries are wrong, and they're wrong in a predictable way. They were copied from a decree that has since been amended, and nobody went back to check.
Here is the current list, where the outdated versions came from, and the requirement that catches most people out even when their country is on it.
The 50 Countries
Set out in Article 2 of Executive Decree 416 of 13 June 2012, as amended by Executive Decree 226 of 20 July 2021.
| Europe | Americas | Asia Pacific and other |
|---|---|---|
| Andorra Austria Belgium Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal San Marino Serbia Slovakia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom | Argentina Brazil Canada Chile Costa Rica Mexico Paraguay Peru United States Uruguay | Australia Hong Kong Israel Japan New Zealand Singapore South Africa South Korea |
Dual nationals need only one qualifying passport.
Why Other Lists Disagree
Two names turn up constantly on lists that shouldn't have them, and one of those tells you how old the list is.
Taiwan. It was on the list under Decree 806 of October 2012. Panama switched diplomatic recognition to China in June 2017, and Taiwan doesn't appear in Decree 197 of May 2021 or Decree 226 of July 2021. If a list still shows Taiwan, it was written before 2021 and probably before 2017.
Italy. Italy has never been on the Friendly Nations list. Italian citizens are covered by a separate bilateral treaty with Panama, which is its own immigration category with its own requirements. A list that includes Italy has merged two different things.
The amendment chain explains the rest:
| Decree | Date | Countries |
|---|---|---|
| 343 | 16 May 2012 | 22, repealed and replaced by 416 |
| 416 | 13 June 2012 | Created the subcategory |
| 806 | 9 October 2012 | 47, Taiwan included |
| 197 | 7 May 2021 | 49, requirements overhauled, Taiwan dropped |
| 226 | 20 July 2021 | 50, Peru added. Current |
Nothing published in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 has amended the country list.
The Second Requirement
This is the part most guides skip, and it disqualifies more people than the country list does.
An eligible passport is necessary and not sufficient. You also have to demonstrate economic or professional grounds for residency, by one of three routes.
| Route | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Employment | A work letter from a Panamanian employer on letterhead stating your position and salary, the employer's Public Registry certificate, and its Aviso de Operación. You and the employer must also obtain a work permit through the Ministry of Labour. |
| Property | Panamanian real estate worth at least B/. 200,000, held personally, through a company where you are the final beneficiary of the shares, or through a private interest foundation. It can be financed through a local bank. |
| Fixed-term deposit | At least B/. 200,000 in a general-licence Panamanian bank, free of liens, with a minimum term of three years. Same ownership options as above. |
Decree 226 widened this from the 2021 original, which is worth knowing if you were told otherwise. The deposit route was added, and property may now be held through a company or foundation rather than only in your own name.
Most people who ask us about this route have the passport and not the $200,000. The employment route is the answer for them, which is why placement and company formation services exist at all.
How It Works
Since the 2021 changes, the Friendly Nations Visa grants provisional residency for two years. You then apply for permanent residency on the same grounds you originally used.
It isn't immediate permanent residency, whatever older guides say. Anything describing it that way is describing the pre-2021 programme.
After five years of permanent residency you can apply for naturalisation, which is a separate process with its own requirements including Spanish, and Panamanian history and geography.
If you have got this far and your country is on the list, the next question is whether the $200,000 makes sense for you, which is what the companion guide works through.
Documents and Costs
Both are covered properly in the companion guide rather than repeated here, but the short version is that government fees come to about $1,050, being a B/. 800 repatriation deposit and a B/. 250 application fee, and legal fees are separate on top of that.
The document that most often holds a file up is the criminal background check, which has to be national rather than local, so Americans need the FBI record rather than a state or county one. Start that before anything else.
If Your Country Isn't On the List
This is where most articles stop, which is unhelpful if you've just scanned 50 names and found nothing.
Several Panama routes carry no nationality restriction at all.
Forestry investment. From $80,000 for a temporary permit, or $100,000 for the route that leads to permanent residency. Open to everyone, and it's the closest thing to a Friendly Nations equivalent for people the list excludes. Full breakdown of the three tiers
Pensionado. Open to any nationality with a qualifying lifetime pension of at least $1,000 a month. Generous discounts on a long list of everyday costs once you hold it.
Qualified Investor. From $300,000 in real estate, with securities and deposit options at higher thresholds. Fast, and permanent from the outset.
Economic Solvency. From $300,000 in property, a deposit, or a combination.
Agricultural investment. From $60,000 for a working farm, though it renews in two-year blocks to a maximum of six years and doesn't become permanent residency.
And before any of that, you may be able to visit without a Panamanian visa at all. If you hold a valid US, UK, Schengen, Canadian, Australian, Japanese, Korean or Singaporean visa, Panama waives its own tourist visa requirement, and the conditions were relaxed considerably in October 2024. How that works
Paraguay is also worth comparing. No country list, no $200,000 threshold, and a considerably lower entry cost than any Panama route.
What To Ask Before You Commit
If someone tells you that you qualify, ask which decree that comes from. Not which law, which decree and which amendment.
Anyone doing this properly will have Decree 226 to hand. Anyone who doesn't will tell you the rules changed recently, or that it depends, or that their lawyer handles that side of things. The rules do change, which is exactly why the number is worth asking for.
Last updated: July 2026. Verified against Executive Decree 416 of 13 June 2012, Executive Decree 197 of 7 May 2021, and Executive Decree 226 of 20 July 2021, as published in the Gaceta Oficial Digital, with every subsequent decree year checked for amendments. Requirements change and immigration officials retain discretion.
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.
Michael L.
Canadian founder of Plan B Expat. Permanent resident of both Panama and Paraguay. MBA in International Business, trilingual (English, French, Spanish), and two decades of real estate brokerage experience in Quebec and Ontario. Writes from direct experience navigating the immigration, banking, and relocation systems of both countries.
