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Here is the current list, where the outdated versions came from, and the requirement that catches most people out even when their country is on it.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 51 Countries
Set out in Article 2 of Executive Decree 416 of 13 June 2012, as amended by Executive Decree 226 of 20 July 2021 and Executive Decree 16 of 31 August 2026.
| 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 Ecuador 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. A list showing Taiwan is not reading the Gaceta. Several lists published after the August 2026 amendment added Ecuador and put Taiwan back at the same time, dropping Peru to keep the total at 51, so a recent date is no longer any guarantee.
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| 343 | 16 May 2012 | 22, repealed and replaced by 416 |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 |
| 16 | 31 August 2026 | 51, Ecuador added. Current |
Executive Decree 16 of 31 August 2026, published in Gaceta Oficial 30601-B and in force from 1 September 2026, is the most recent amendment. It added Ecuador and changed nothing else. Any list dated before September 2026 is one country short.
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 |
|---|---|
| Panama Friendly Nations, Labor Reasons | A genuine employment relationship with a Panamanian company. The documents your file requires are confirmed before you file. |
| Property | Panamanian real estate worth at least B/. 200,000 (US$200,000), held personally, through a company where you are the final beneficiary of the shares, or through a private interest foundation. |
| Fixed-term deposit | At least B/. 200,000 (US$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 US$200,000. For them, Labor Reasons is the route to look at, and it depends on a genuine employment relationship with a Panamanian company. Company ownership by itself is not the qualifying basis. Under the Labor Reasons route, the qualifying basis is the genuine labor relationship and the documentation supporting it.
How It Works
Since the 2021 changes, the Friendly Nations Visa grants provisional residency for two years. After the two-year provisional period, an eligible applicant may apply for permanent residence and must again demonstrate the applicable qualifying basis.
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 US$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. Government and legal fees come on top of the investment. Get current prices for your situation.
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 51 names and found nothing.
Several Panama routes carry no nationality restriction at all.
Forestry investment. From US$80,000 for a temporary permit, or US$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 US$1,000 a month. The pensioner discounts come from Law 6 of 1987, not from this or any other visa. They are available to residents from 55 for a woman and 60 for a man, or to anyone drawing a pension at any age. Permanent residence is the cleaner position. Some provisional residencies attract questions, so on a two-year provisional route such as Friendly Nations do not count on the discounts while you are still in the provisional stage.
Qualified Investor. From US$300,000 for new property bought from the developer and US$500,000 for resale, with securities and fixed-deposit options at higher thresholds. Permanent residence from approval. Rules in force since September 2026.
Economic Solvency. From US$300,000 in property, a deposit, or a combination.
Agricultural investment. From US$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 US$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 16 of 2026 to hand, and Decree 226 behind it. 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, so the number is worth asking for.
Last updated: September 2026. Verified against Executive Decree 416 of 13 June 2012, Executive Decree 197 of 7 May 2021, Executive Decree 226 of 20 July 2021, and Executive Decree 16 of 31 August 2026 published in Gaceta Oficial 30601-B, 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 and a permanent resident of both Panama and Paraguay. Holds an MBA from SKEMA Business School, France, is trilingual (English, French, Spanish), and spent 21 years as a licensed real estate broker in Quebec and Ontario. Writes from direct experience with the immigration, banking, and relocation systems of both countries.
