What Decreto 343 actually is
The name refers to a real instrument. Decreto Ejecutivo 343 of May 16, 2012 created the residency subcategory for nationals of friendly states.[4] The migration service now lists that subcategory as PAÍSES ESPECÍFICOS, under permanent residency.[1] The marketing name, Friendly Nations Visa, appears on no instrument. The SNM’s operative sheet titles the permits PPT-PE and PPP-PE.[2]
The decree had a short life. Within a month of its date, the president signed its replacement. Decreto Ejecutivo 416 of June 13, 2012, published in Gaceta Oficial 27058-A on June 18, 2012, re-enacted the subcategory on its own text.[4]
So the honest sentence is narrow. Decreto 343 created the program. Decreto 416 is the program’s operative base. Both statements are true, and only the second one matters to an applicant today.
The repeal clause, quoted
Decreto 416 does not hide the repeal. Its Article 7 states it by number and date: “Este Decreto Ejecutivo deroga el Decreto Ejecutivo No.343 de 16 de mayo de 2012”.[4] In English, this decree repeals Executive Decree 343 of May 16, 2012.
That single line settles most 343 questions. A repealed decree cannot be the governing text. Whatever Decreto 343 said in May 2012, the June replacement superseded it, and every later amendment builds on Decreto 416.
The instrument chain, 2012 to 2026
The chain runs through six instruments that changed the roster or the rules.[5][6]
| Instrument | Date | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| DE 343 | 2012-05-16 | Created the subcategory. Repealed a month later. |
| DE 416 | 2012-06-13 | Repealed 343, re-enacted the subcategory, roster of 24. |
| DE 806, 548, 1174, 212 | 2012 to 2014 | Four middle amendments, recorded in DE 197’s recitals. |
| DE 197 | 2021-05-07 | Reset: 45-country roster, two-year provisional stage, labor and property ties. |
| DE 226 | 2021-07-20 | 50-country roster, company and foundation structures, deposit tie. |
| DE 16 | 2026-08-31 | Ecuador added, the 51st country. |
The 2021 pair arrived in one gaceta run. Decreto 197 was published in Gaceta 29290-A on May 20, 2021.[5] Decreto 226 followed in Gaceta 29335 on July 21, 2021, and it set the effective date for both reforms at August 7, 2021.[6]
Decreto 16 of 2026 closes the chain so far. Its own title says what it modifies: Decreto 416 “modificado por” Decreto 197 and Decreto 226, to include Ecuador on the list of friendly countries.[9] Gaceta 30601-B published it on August 31, 2026, and its Article 5 put it in force the next day.[9] Its Article 4 keeps every Decreto 226 provision in force.[9] El Universo reproduced the full 51-name roster when the decree landed, and Kraemer’s Spanish desk reported it the same week.[7][8]
The count trail tells the same story in numbers. The roster went 24, then 45, then 50, then 51.[4][5][6][7] A page that prints any other count, or credits one decree with the whole chain, has not read the gaceta.
What the 2021 reset changed
The chain matters because the 2021 decrees rewrote the applicant’s side of the program. Before 2021, the subcategory granted permanent residency directly. Decreto 197 ended that. It introduced a two-year provisional permit first, with permanence on a later filing.[5][6]
Decreto 197 offered two ties: a job, or property in the applicant’s own name. Decreto 226 widened the property route to company and foundation structures. It also created the bank-deposit tie, at B/.200,000 for three years.[5][6]
Ecuador’s addition changed none of that. Decreto 16 subjects Ecuadorians to the Decreto 226 terms in so many words, “sujetos estrictamente”, strictly subject.[9] Same ties. Same cheques. Same two-year stage.
The Friendly Nations Visa page walks each rule in applicant terms.
Taiwan and the roster folklore
Taiwan is absent from the 2021 and 2026 rosters. That much the instruments verify.[5][6][7] Whether Taiwan sat on the list before 2021 is another matter. Dentons wrote in June 2021 that the reform removed it. No pre-2021 roster text in this site’s register confirms that account. This page records the absence as fact and the earlier membership as uncorroborated.
Where the citation comes from
Kraemer & Kraemer’s English guide opens the program’s history with a credit to “Executive Decree 343 of May 16, 2012”.[3] The credit is accurate as far as it goes. It names the creator and skips the repeal. Readers who copy the citation half-read it, and the number spreads.
The number also survives because it is easy. “Decreto 343” is shorter than “Decreto 416 de 2012, modificado por los Decretos 197 y 226 de 2021”. The short name loses the chain, and the chain is the substance. The current roster, the provisional stage, the three ties, and the two cheques all postdate 2012 by nine years or more.
What to check before trusting any citation
- The gaceta PDF of Decreto 416, Article 7, for the repeal in its own words.
- The current roster on the countries list page, built from the Decreto 226 text plus Decreto 16.
- The Friendly Nations Visa page for the operative rules an applicant faces, tie by tie.
- Any guide that names a decree without a gaceta number and date. That omission is the tell.
This page states the instrument record as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. Verify every article your plan depends on against the gaceta, with a qualified Panamanian immigration attorney.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Decreto 343 the law behind the Friendly Nations Visa?
It started the program, but it is not the law behind it today. Decreto 343 of May 16, 2012 created the subcategory. Decreto 416 of June 13, 2012 repealed it one month later and re-enacted the subcategory on a new text. Every rule now in force, from the 51-country roster to the two-year provisional stage, comes from Decreto 416 as modified in 2021 and 2026. Citing 343 as the current basis is wrong. Citing it as the origin is right, with the one-month caveat.
What is the difference between Decreto 343 and Decreto 416?
Timing and survival. Decreto 343, signed May 16, 2012, created the subcategory first. Decreto 416, signed June 13, 2012 and published in Gaceta 27058-A on June 18, repealed 343 outright in its Article 7 and re-enacted the same subcategory with its own roster of 24 countries. Decreto 416 then became the base instrument that every later amendment modifies, which is why it, not 343, is the one the current program rests on.
Which decree governs the Friendly Nations Visa today?
Decreto Ejecutivo 416 of June 13, 2012, as replaced in its core articles. Decreto 197 of May 7, 2021 reset the roster at 45 countries and introduced the two-year provisional stage with labor and property ties. Decreto 226 of July 20, 2021 replaced the roster again at 50 countries and added the company and foundation property structures plus the bank-deposit tie. Decreto 16 of August 31, 2026 added Ecuador as the 51st country, effective September 1, 2026.
Did Decreto 343 list the same 51 countries as today?
No. The roster has grown in four steps. The 2012 instrument listed 24 countries. The May 2021 reform listed 45. The July 2021 reform listed 50. Decreto 16 of 2026 added Ecuador for 51. Four decrees in 2012 through 2014 adjusted the middle versions. Nothing in any roster version includes Venezuela, Russia, Colombia, or Taiwan.
Why do law firm websites still cite Decreto 343?
Because a leading firm does. Kraemer & Kraemer's English-language guide credits "Executive Decree 343 of May 16, 2012" with creating the program. That citation is accurate but incomplete: the decree lived one month before Decreto 416 repealed it. Guides that copy the citation without the repeal keep the number in circulation. The check that settles it is the gaceta itself: Article 7 of Decreto 416 repeals Decreto 343 by number and date.
Was Taiwan removed from the Friendly Nations list?
Taiwan is absent from every roster from 2021 onward, which the instrument texts verify directly. Whether it was ever on the list before 2021 is less certain. Dentons wrote in June 2021 that the reform removed it, but no pre-2021 roster text in this site's research register confirms that. Treat the pre-2021 history as uncorroborated, and the current absence as fact.
Last reviewed: