Over the past couple of weeks, I have posted a lot about immigration & relocation challenges when moving to Panama. Today I want to talk directly about the challenges at the immigration department, and how our law office can assist you in overcoming those challenges.
You will face a number of challenges when choosing which visa option best suits your needs. Some of these include:
- How much money should you tie up in your investment?
- How long do you really plan to live in Panama?
- Should you get a visa that gives you permanent residency and apply for citizenship?
- Do you need a work permit?
Many of these questions can be answered simply with an appointment (or perhaps even a phone call or a Skype) with our immigration lawyer – Joan Villanueva. Other questions might need more advice and assessment from Beth Gray. Unfortunately, neither of them possess a crystal ball and so will need you to answer a number of questions about your needs and desires.
There might be times when it feels our office asks a lot of questions – but we seek to provide you with the most complete answers and advice. For this, we need full disclosure from you in order to advise you better.
Immigration & relocation options:
As you will see from the immigration options pages, you have two principal options:
- Permanent residency
- Temporary visas
The visas for permanent residency can then be divided into two separate groups: those that require an investment in Panama and those that do not.
Investment options:
Starting from the smallest amount, we can summarise the investment options as follows:
- USD $5,000.00 – in a bank account. Application for the friendly nations visa. Only some nationalities qualify.
- USD $60,000.00 – farming investment. This provides you only with a temporary visa (5 years). It requires registration of the farming enterprise with the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture must certify your agricultural enterprise.
- USD $80,000.00 – reforestation investment. This can give you permanent residency and eventually lead to citizenship. However, you tie up the investment in reforestation for 10 years. Resale of these investments at the end of 10 years is slow and difficult.
- USD $160,000.00 – investor visa – in a business. This will get you permanent residency and can lead to citizenship. However, it requires you set up a company locally, with a minimum of 5 Panamanian employees. These should be full-time jobs for Panamanians, with a salary of at least the minimum wage established by law. These employees are entitled to all labour benefits. The visa has a validity of 2 years, after which permanent residency application can be made. But you have to show you still qualify — i.e. the company with 5 full-time Panamanian employees.
- USD $300,000.00 – Self-solvency visa. This money needs to either be invested in a property (house or apartment) or in a time deposit at a bank (or may be a mix of both – time deposit plus property). Once again, the funds are tied up for at least 3 years, as you first get a 2-year visa and then can apply for permanent residency.
These are the most common options.
Work Permit options:
There are a number of work permits that you could apply for. Most of these only give you temporary residency.
- Marrakesh treaty
- 10% workers (can apply for permanent residency eventually)
- 15% workers (may be apply to apply for permanent residency eventually)
- Film industry (typically a short-term visa while filming happens in Panama)
- Call Center (usually only for executives)
- Colon Free Zone executives
- Panama Pacifico special zone
- City of Knowledge special visas
In order to qualify for permanent residency and citizenship, Panama is typically looking for investment in the country, rather than workers and migrants.
We are happy to answer any questions you may have regarding immigration & relocation to Panama and look forward to having you contact our office.