Panama Qualified Investor Visa 2026: USD 300,000 Stays With No Deadline Under Decree 17

Did Panama keep the USD 300,000 Qualified Investor threshold?

Yes. Executive Decree 17 of 8 September 2026, published in the Gaceta Oficial No. 30613 of 16 September 2026, replaces Executive Decree 722 of 2020 and its amendments in full. It sets USD 300,000 for new, first-sale property as a standing minimum with no expiry date. The step-up to USD 500,000 on 15 October 2026, which the superseded Decree 193 of 2024 had scheduled, no longer exists.

The balboa (B/.) is at par with the US dollar, so B/. 300,000 and USD 300,000 are the same amount. The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) confirmed the new rules on 21 September 2026 and reported 268 investment certificates issued between July 2025 and June 2026, backed by B/. 113.6 million, up from 193 certificates in the previous twelve months.

If you were planning around an October deadline, you no longer need to rush a purchase. You do need to check which property you are buying, because Decree 17 draws a sharp line between new and resale property and tightens how the value of an investment is counted. Book a free consultation with Mirabello Consultancy to review your route before you sign.

How much does the Panama Qualified Investor visa cost under Decree 17?

The Qualified Investor visa grants permanent residency on first approval through one of four investment routes. Each investment must be kept for five years.

On top of the investment, the statutory payments are B/. 5,000 to the National Treasury and a B/. 5,000 repatriation deposit for the main applicant, plus B/. 1,000 and B/. 1,000 for each dependant (article 11). Professional and legal fees are not set by the decree; Mirabello provides a full fee schedule at consultation.

Property can be held personally or through a Panamanian company or private interest foundation of which you are the ultimate beneficial owner. Funds for the securities and deposit routes must arrive from abroad by international transfer.

What changed for property buyers?

Three rules in Decree 17 matter most to anyone buying real estate for residency.

• New versus resale. The USD 300,000 minimum applies only to the first sale of a new, unoccupied property transferred by the developer. A property that has already been sold, occupied, let or transferred to an unrelated third party needs USD 500,000. Segregation, contribution to a trust or a corporate reorganisation without a sale to a third party does not count as a previous sale.
• The value that counts. The amount credited towards the minimum is the lower of the price you actually paid and the verified commercial value of the property (article 6). MICI checks the value against the cadastral value certified by the land authority, ANATI, and may ask for an independent appraisal at your cost. A price inflated above market value will not reach the threshold.
• Pre-construction purchases. Buying off plan under a promise of sale still qualifies at USD 300,000, either through a trust deposit with a licensed Panamanian bank or trust company, or by paying the developer in full backed by an irrevocable bank guarantee or stand-by letter of credit (article 7). Your residence may rest on promise-of-sale contracts for at most three years in total; if the unit is not registered in your name by then, the permit is cancelled. If the developer defaults, you may replace the investment once, within 180 business days.

Can I still use the old rules?

In two situations, yes. Applications already filed before Decree 17 took effect are decided under the rules in force when they were filed (article 19). And investments or binding contracts perfected before Decree 17 took effect may still use the previous regime, provided the application is filed within six months. Decree 17 took effect on promulgation (article 21), published on 16 September 2026, so that window runs to 16 March 2027.

Holders or applicants of permanent residence for reasons of own economic solvency have twelve months from entry into force to switch to the Qualified Investor subcategory, if they meet its minimum amounts (article 18). Investments made before 15 October 2020 are not eligible under any route.

How long does the process take?

Decree 17 sets maximum service standards (article 15): up to 15 business days for MICI to issue the investment certification once your file is admitted, and up to 30 business days for the Servicio Nacional de Migración to decide once it holds the complete file. Advisers commonly report 30 to 90 days overall in practice. If MICI finds your file incomplete, you have 15 business days to correct it before the file is archived, so preparation matters more than speed.

Approval grants permanent residency directly. There is no temporary stage, and the Qualified Investor rules set no minimum annual stay. After approval you may add a child born or adopted later, or a spouse you marry later, for B/. 1,000 to the Treasury and B/. 1,000 to the immigration service per person (article 17).

Are there faster routes for some nationalities?

Yes, and they are worth checking before you commit USD 300,000.

Italian nationals have a treaty route of their own. Under the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between Panama and Italy, an Italian can obtain a permanent residence permit that is indefinite from the date of grant and needs no renewal. There is no minimum investment: the applicant shows an economic or professional purpose, such as fully paid-up shares in a company entered in Panama's Public Registry or an employment contract endorsed by the Ministry of Labour at a salary of at least B/. 850 a month, plus economic solvency. Italians are exempt from the repatriation deposit, and the application can be lodged at a Panamanian consulate before relocating.

Nationals of the countries on Panama's Friendly Nations list can use a separate route that starts with a two-year provisional permit and leads to permanent residency. It requires real estate of at least USD 200,000 (bank financing permitted), a USD 200,000 fixed-term deposit held for three years, or a qualifying job offer from a Panamanian company. It costs less than the Qualified Investor route but does not give permanent residency on day one.

For most other investors, the Qualified Investor route remains the fastest path to permanent status in Panama.

When can I apply for Panamanian citizenship?

Panama has no citizenship by investment. Article 14 of Decree 17 confirms that qualified investors and their dependants may apply for naturalisation once they have completed five consecutive years of residence, with a MICI certificate showing that the investment has been kept. The Constitution (article 10) sets the general rule at five consecutive years, with a declaration renouncing the nationality of origin and proof of Spanish and of basic knowledge of Panama's history, geography and political organisation. A foreigner with a Panamanian spouse, or with children born in Panama to a Panamanian parent, may apply after three years.

Nationals by birth of Spain and of Latin American states may naturalise on the same terms their country offers Panamanians. The Servicio Nacional de Migración publishes the resulting reciprocity periods, expressed as years of permanent residence:

The shortened periods require nationality by birth, not by naturalisation. The Italian treaty route speeds up residence, not citizenship: Italians naturalise on the ordinary five years. Italian law keeps Italian citizenship when another nationality is acquired, but how Panama's renunciation declaration applies in your case should be confirmed with counsel. A Panamanian passport comes only with citizenship; residency itself confers no visa-free travel.

What does permanent residency in Panama give you?

• Permanent status from the first approval on the Qualified Investor route, for you, your spouse and dependent children.
• Territorial taxation. Panama taxes only Panama-source income; foreign income, dividends and most foreign capital gains are not taxed locally. There is no inheritance tax and no wealth tax. Take advice on your home-country position before relying on this.
• A dollarised economy and a deep banking sector supervised by the Superintendencia de Bancos.
• Connectivity through Tocumen International Airport, one of the region's main hubs.

Taking up employment with a local employer falls under Panama's separate work-permit rules, so confirm your position with counsel before accepting a local job. Investors living on foreign income or running businesses abroad are typically unaffected.

Panama residency or a second passport?

The Qualified Investor visa gives residency, not a passport. If a second passport is the goal, Caribbean citizenship by investment is the direct route, for example St Kitts and Nevis from USD 250,000 or Vanuatu from USD 130,000. Many of our clients combine the two: a Caribbean passport for travel and Panama residency for a base in the Americas with territorial taxation.

To compare Panama with its closest alternatives, see Panama versus Costa Rica and Panama versus Portugal, or browse all residency by investment programmes. Full programme details are on our Panama Qualified Investor visa page.

How Mirabello Consultancy can help

Mirabello Consultancy is a Swiss investment migration advisory with offices in Zurich, Dubai and Hong Kong, an IMC Member and ACAMS certified, with a 99% approval rate across more than 250 citizenship cases and 350 golden visa cases. We check whether a property is first sale or resale before you commit, verify that its value will be credited in full, structure pre-construction purchases within the three-year limit, and tell you whether a treaty or Friendly Nations route suits you better. Book your free consultation.

Sources: Executive Decree 17 of 8 September 2026, Gaceta Oficial No. 30613 (articles 4 to 21); Ministry of Commerce and Industries, 21 September 2026; Servicio Nacional de Migración requirement sheets for the Italy treaty and Friendly Nations permits and the naturalisation reciprocity list; Constitution of Panama, article 10. Read 26 September 2026.