Two layers: government and legal
Panama visa cost splits into two layers. The government layer is fixed by statute. The legal layer is set by whichever firm you hire. Keeping the two apart is what makes fee comparisons honest.
The statutory backbone is two payments under Article 28.4 of Decreto Ley 3 of 2008. B/.250 goes to the Tesoro Nacional for the application. B/.800 goes to the SNM, framed as a repatriation deposit.[18] Article 29 exempts four groups from the B/.800: religious workers, students, spouses of Panamanian citizens, and minors under 12.[18]
The operative sheets confirm the pattern. The married-to-a-Panamanian sheet lists only the B/.250 cheque, which is exactly the Article 29 exemption.[10] Every other sheet below carries both payments.
Government fees by category
| Category | Government fees | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Friendly Nations | B/.250 + B/.800, two certified cheques | SNM sheet[5] |
| Pensionado | B/.250 + B/.800 = US$1,050 | Statute + sheet + firm package[18][9][13] |
| Dependent of a permanent resident | B/.250 + B/.800 | SNM sheet[11] |
| Parent of Panamanian children | B/.250 + B/.800 | SNM sheet[12] |
| Married to a Panamanian | B/.250 only (Art. 29 exemption) | SNM sheet[10] |
| Digital nomad visa | B/.250 + B/.50 for the card = US$300 | Decree + sheet + firms[1][2][3][4] |
One history note on the last row. The digital-nomad figures come from the decree itself, not from firm estimates, so they are fixed unless the decree changes.[2]
Figures this page drops, and why
Two numbers still circulate from older guides: a “$100 carné” fee and a “$500 refundable repatriation deposit”. Neither survives a check against current sources. The SNM sheet lists exactly two cheques. Kraemer lists the same two.[5][6]
The B/.800 is called a deposit in the statute. Its refund conditions appear nowhere in the fetched legal text. The withdrawal section of the process page carries that open point.
Legal fees: firm quotes, not official ranges
No official legal-fee schedule exists. What exists are firm quotes, and they move by category.
| Category | Firm-quoted legal fee | Quoted by |
|---|---|---|
| Digital nomad | From US$1,500; package total about US$1,800 | NDM, 2026[4] |
| Friendly Nations, provisional | US$1,800 legal; package US$3,200 | Kraemer, 2026[6] |
| Pensionado | US$850 legal; package US$1,900 | Kraemer, 2026[13] |
Read those as examples, not a market range. One transparency note: Kraemer’s US$1,400 “Government” line exceeds the US$1,050 cheque sum, and the firm’s page does not explain the difference.[6] The cheques are the verified statutory figures. The package is the firm’s pricing.
Kraemer also prices households: a dependent under 12 at US$1,200, a dependent 12 or over at US$2,000, and the permanent-stage package at US$1,200 up front and US$2,300 total, paid in three installments.[6]
The pensionado row matters beyond its number. Older guides quoted legal fees of $1,500 to $5,000 and up. The verified 2026 pensionado package sits below that floor. A range with no named source behind it does not make this page.[13]
The big numbers are not fees
The largest amounts in a Panama application are not fees at all. They are the category’s solvency test.
| Category | Money the category requires | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Friendly Nations, property | B/.200,000 titled property | Your name, company, or foundation[7][5] |
| Friendly Nations, deposit | B/.200,000 fixed-term CD, 3 years, lien-free | Your own bank account[7][8] |
| Pensionado | Lifetime pension of B/.1,000 a month; B/.750 with B/.100,000 of property | Income, not a deposit[9][13] |
| Digital nomad | B/.36,000 a year in foreign income | Income, not a deposit[1][2] |
You do not pay these amounts to the government. The property stays yours. The CD stays in your own bank.[7] The requirements page covers what each test accepts as proof.
Smaller costs around the process
| Item | Cost | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Movement certificate (certificado de movimientos) | B/.5.00 in fiscal stamps | SNM service page[15][14] |
| Overstay processing, passport registration | B/.5.00, paid before departure | NDM, 2026[16] |
| Driver’s-license conversion | Under US$100 in official fees, all in | NDM, 2026[17] |
| Document translation | By quote; no public rate card exists | Translator practice[19] |
The status-certificate fee (certificado de residencia) has a source disagreement attached, so it is stated once, with both figures, on the residency-certificates page rather than here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the approximate cost of a Panama visa?
For a pensionado application, the verified 2026 example is US$1,050 in government fees (B/.250 plus B/.800) plus about US$850 in legal fees on a US$1,900 firm package. Friendly Nations provisional costs about US$1,050 in government fees plus US$1,800 in legal fees on the quoted package. The digital-nomad visa carries US$300 in government fees with legal fees quoted from US$1,500.
What was the total cost people report for residency?
Verified 2026 totals run about US$1,900 for a pensionado package and US$3,200 for a Friendly Nations provisional package, plus the category's solvency amount, which is your money held in a property, a deposit, or an income stream, not a fee. Community threads reporting lower totals usually omit legal fees or the solvency layer.
Are qualified-investor legal fees crazy?
Investment-route legal fees are not published on any official schedule, so quotes vary by firm. The verified pattern on the simpler categories: legal runs US$850 to US$1,800 on 2026 firm packages. Treat any quote far outside that shape as a question to press, and ask what the government-fee line contains. The [qualified-investor page](/residency/qualified-investor-visa/) carries that route's government-fee structure.
How much money do you need to immigrate to Panama?
Two layers. The process itself: roughly US$1,050 in government fees plus legal fees, which 2026 firm quotes put between US$850 and US$1,800. The category's solvency test on top: B/.200,000 for the Friendly Nations tie, a lifetime pension of B/.1,000 a month for pensionado, or B/.36,000 a year in income for the digital-nomad visa.
How much money do you need to get a Panama visa?
The cheapest verified routes are document-heavy rather than capital-heavy: a pensionado needs a lifetime pension of at least B/.1,000 a month plus about US$1,900 in process costs. Capital routes start at B/.200,000 for the Friendly Nations tie. The government's own fees are the small layer: B/.250 plus B/.800 on most categories.
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