Panama has rewritten its investor visa. Executive Decree No. 17 of 8 September 2026 (Decreto Ejecutivo 17) from the Ministry of Public Security completely replaces the previous rules for permanent residency as an Inversionista Calificado, a qualified investor. It was published in the Gaceta Oficial Digital No. 30613 of 16 September 2026, the Republic's official gazette.
The most important news for you if you are thinking about property in Panama: there are now two amounts. If you buy a new, never-occupied property directly from the developer, 300,000 balboas is enough. If you buy a resale apartment or house on the secondary market, you need 500,000 balboas. On top of that come a newly tiered fixed-term deposit, a broader range of securities, stricter source-of-funds rules and fixed processing deadlines. (The balboa is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, so read every balboa amount as the same figure in USD.)
What Decree 17 replaces
The subcategory Residente Permanente en calidad de Inversionista Calificado has existed since Decree 722 of 15 October 2020. It does not pass through a provisional residency but leads directly to permanent resident status in return for an investment. The decree was amended twice, by Decree 109 of 13 October 2022 and Decree 193 of 15 October 2024. Article 20 of the new decree supersedes all three texts en todas sus partes, that is, in full. Panama has not patched individual paragraphs; it has issued a new, self-contained set of rules.
For context on the old law: under Decree 722 the regular minimum property investment was 500,000 balboas. Decree 109 of 2022 allowed 300,000 balboas as a transitional measure, limited to the first 48 months after Decree 722 took effect, and it made no difference whether you bought new or resale. That time-based logic is now history. If you had been planning around a cut-off date on which the property amount would rise to 500,000 for everyone: the new decree no longer has any such date. It distinguishes not by date but by the type of property.
The reasoning is in the recitals. Construction is one of the most important drivers of employment, the decree says, and it makes sense to promote the purchase of first-sale stock, meaning new property, in a targeted way, to revive the building sector and reduce the existing inventory of new homes. Purchases on the secondary market create far fewer new jobs.
The basic rule: 300,000 balboas from abroad
Article 2 sets the framework. You must invest at least 300,000 balboas in Panama, and the money must come from a foreign source. You can invest personally or through a company if you are its beneficial owner. New, and now spelled out expressly:
What "from abroad" means is defined in Article 3, item 9: funds that entered the Panamanian financial system by international transfer, or funds that have been held at a Panamanian bank for some time, provided you can show they originally came from an international transfer. As evidence, the decree names bank confirmations, legalised account statements or a notarised declaration from the recipient together with a bank certificate.
If several people hold an investment jointly, each main applicant must reach the minimum individually. The exception: spouses and dependants on the same application may count a joint investment as one, provided its net value reaches the minimum (Article 3, item 6).
The routes at a glance
The decree now recognises four investment routes, some with sub-forms. The amounts are stated in balboas, as in the official gazette:
| Route | Minimum | Lock-in |
|---|---|---|
| New property, first sale (Art. 4 a) | 300,000 | 5 years (Art. 12) |
| Secondary-market property (Art. 4 b) | 500,000 | 5 years (Art. 12) |
| Purchase promise for a property under construction (Art. 7) | 300,000 | at most 3 years on a promise alone |
| Securities through a casa de valores (Art. 8) | 500,000 | 5 years |
| Fixed-term deposit at a private bank (Art. 9 a) | 750,000 | 5 calendar years |
| Fixed-term deposit at Banco Nacional or Caja de Ahorros (Art. 9 b) | 500,000 | 5 calendar years |
Property: first sale or secondary market
What counts as new
Under Article 4, an inmueble de primera venta is the first acquisition of a new, unoccupied property, transferred by the builder, developer or their legal successor. It does not lose its first-sale status through a subdivision of land, a declaration of improvements, contribution to a trust or a restructuring, as long as it is not marketed to an unrelated third party in the process. This is proven through the public registry and, depending on the case, through building or occupancy permits and tax records.
What counts as secondary market
An inmueble de mercado secundario is a property that has already been marketed, occupied, rented out or transferred to an unrelated third party. The higher amount of 500,000 balboas applies here. Inheritance, partition, contribution to a trust or a merger do not turn a property into a resale property. The authority may, however, disregard arrangements whose only purpose is to avoid the higher amount.
How the value is calculated
Here is a trap you need to know about before you buy. Article 5 counts the net value: the lower of the price actually paid and the proven market value, minus all encumbrances on the property. If the apartment costs more than the minimum, you may finance the excess, but no mortgage may push the net value below the threshold.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industries, MICI, checks the value against the cadastral data of the land authority ANATI (Article 6). Where there is doubt, for example if the cadastral value is out of date or price and market do not match, it can require an independent valuation. The valuation may be no older than six months, must come from a valuer recognised by Banco Nacional and Caja de Ahorros who is connected neither to you nor to the seller, developer, agent or bank, and you pay for it yourself. If false statements, sham transactions or deliberate overvaluation are suspected, the authority refers the matter on, up to and including criminal prosecution.
Buying off-plan: the purchase promise with a bank guarantee
If you buy an apartment that is still being built, you can apply on the basis of a purchase promise (promesa de compraventa) of at least 300,000 balboas. Article 7 allows two forms:
1. Payment into an escrow account at a bank or trust company licensed in Panama, which releases the money to the seller only for the obligations under the promise.
2. Payment of 100% to the developer, if the property has not yet been built or is not yet entered in the registry.
A new protective rule applies to the second form: the promise must be secured by an irrevocable bank instrument from a bank licensed in Panama in your favour, payable on first demand. A standby letter of credit, a bank guarantee or a performance bond all qualify. The guarantee covers at least the entire investment, runs until the apartment is built and registered in your name, and must be renewed every year and presented to MICI. You may draw on it if the developer misses the deadlines for construction and registration or materially breaches the contract.
If the project collapses through the developer's fault, you have 180 working days to replace your investment with another permitted route. You may use a new purchase promise for this only once. And your status may not rest on purchase promises alone for longer than three years, consecutively or in total. If the apartment is not registered in your name by then, the requirement counts as unmet and the permit is revoked.
Securities: broader than before
The securities route still costs 500,000 balboas, invested through a casa de valores licensed by the securities regulator SMV, either personally or through a company of which you are the sole beneficial owner. The capital stays locked in for at least five years. What is new is the range of eligible investments (Article 8):
Important in practice: market fluctuations alone will not cost you your status. If the value falls below 500,000 without you having sold, withdrawn or pledged anything, you have 90 calendar days after notification by MICI to top the amount back up.
Fixed-term deposits: the new discount at the state banks
The fixed-term deposit already existed, at 750,000 balboas with any bank holding a general licence. Nothing changes for private banks. What is new is Article 9 b: if you place the deposit directly and exclusively with Banco Nacional de Panamá or Caja de Ahorros, the minimum drops to 500,000 balboas. The recitals state the purpose openly: the two state banks are to gain liquidity for public financing and for agricultural and mortgage lending.
For both variants, the deposit must run for five calendar years without interruption, free of encumbrances, blocks for third-party loans and pledges. The money must demonstrably come from abroad, by SWIFT transfer from an account in your name or in the name of a company of which you are the beneficial owner. The bank certifies the balance, maturity, holder, foreign origin and freedom from encumbrances.
Application, fees and deadlines
What you pay
Under Article 11, the application includes, alongside the general documents required by Article 28 of the migration law (Decreto Ley 3 of 2008):
How long it takes
For the first time, Article 15 sets maximum deadlines:
The MICI investment certificate is valid for three months and must still be valid when the complete file is submitted to the migration authority (Article 3). If it expires afterwards through no fault of yours, you do not need to renew it. Under Article 16 you can apply before you even enter the country, through a lawyer holding your power of attorney. Before you receive an ID card, however, you must appear in person for biometric capture and entry in the foreigners' register.
Hold for five years and prove it every year
The investment must remain in place for at least five years (Article 12). If you sell, replace or lose it earlier, you notify MICI within 30 calendar days. You then have up to 90 calendar days for an equivalent new investment, and any revocation proceedings are suspended for that time. Without a replacement, permanent residency is revoked ex officio.
Also new is an annual proof requirement: through your lawyer, you show MICI every year until the end of the five years that the investment still exists, each time within the 30 calendar days before the anniversary of the migration decision. For purchase promises, the trustee's certificate on instalment payments or the renewed bank guarantee is added every year.
Dependants: adding children and spouses later
Article 17 closes a gap. If you have or adopt a child, or enter a civil marriage, after approval, you can add the new dependant directly to your status as long as your investment is valid. You need a current MICI certificate, apostilled civil status documents, a notarised declaration of financial support and, per person, a fee of 1,000 balboas plus a deposit of 1,000 balboas. If the relationship changes later, for example through divorce, a child coming of age or the death of the main investor, the migration authority decides individually and with reasons on the dependant's status. There is no automatic cancellation without a hearing.
The path to a passport
Article 14 confirms that holders of this residency and their dependants can apply for naturalisation after five consecutive years of residence in Panama, in line with the Constitution. The application runs through the counter of MICI's investment directorate, which certifies that the investment still exists. The migration authority must decide, and all constitutional and statutory requirements must be met. So the decree does not make naturalisation easier; it only regulates the procedure. What naturalisation otherwise requires is in our guide to Panamanian citizenship. The decree sets no specific minimum stay for keeping the residency itself.
Transition: who can still apply under the old rules
For anyone already in the middle of the process or who bought before 16 September, Article 19 is the most important provision:
Under Article 21, the decree took effect on promulgation, which happened with its publication in the official gazette on 16 September 2026. Count the six-month period from that day and have your lawyer in Panama confirm the exact end date. In practice this means: if you made a binding purchase of a resale property before the cut-off, do not wait; file within this window while the old regime is still within reach.
Article 18 also opens a switch: if you hold a residency or a pending application in the category Residencia Permanente por Razones de Solvencia Económica Propia, you can move into the investor category within twelve months if you meet the amounts and other requirements. Investments made before 15 October 2020 do not count.
How the investor visa compares
The investor visa is not the only route to Panama. Its hallmark remains that it leads directly to permanent resident status, based on capital rather than income or employment. If you draw a pension, compare it with the Pensionado visa. If you are a national of one of the so-called friendly nations, you will find a separate route in the Friendly Nations Visa guide. Within the investor programme, the new decree shifts the balance: new-build buyers pay less than buyers of resale property, and if you do not want property, a fixed-term deposit at one of the two state banks costs the same as the securities route, namely 500,000 balboas.
What the investment means for tax at home
A residency in Panama changes nothing about your tax liability at home as long as you still live there. How Panama itself taxes income, and what Ley 526 has changed, is covered in our article on Panama's territorial tax system. For your home country, what decides is where you are tax resident. Rent from an apartment in Panama or interest on a deposit there can remain taxable at home, and whether a tax treaty settles anything between your country and Panama depends on where you come from:
The checklist before you buy
Carpe Diem. Life is short and fleeting. One shot. Make it count.