What the name promises and what the law asks
This is an investment category, not an income category. The migration service, SNM, grants a two-year provisional permit to a foreigner who invests B/.300,000 in Panama. After two years, that person may apply for permanent residency.[1][2][3] The legal base is old and stable. Decreto Ley 3 of 2008 and Decree 320 of 2008 set it, in articles 191 to 195. Decree 26 of 2009 modified it.[1] SNM publishes a requirement sheet for each route. The government services portal listed the category as live when checked in September 2026.[12]
The name misleads, and the honest correction comes first. Some readers arrive hoping economic solvency means proving income, running a business, or hiring staff. The official sheets offer none of that. They list exactly three routes, all investments, and nothing enters below B/.300,000.[1][2][3] A Spanish firm page describes the same three routes, with no labor alternative.[7] If your goal is Panama residency without investment, this category is not the answer. The cheaper routes in the system run on a pension or a job tie, not on a smaller deposit.
The amounts have not moved. No 2025 or 2026 instrument has changed the amounts, routes, or structure. A search of the record on 2026-09-08 found none.[11] Firm guides dated 2026 still publish USD 300,000. An aggregator guide updated May 7, 2026 lists the same figure as current.[9][10]
The three routes at B/.300,000
| Route | What qualifies | Core rules |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed-term deposit | B/.300,000 CD | Any general-license bank. Three-year minimum. Lien-free. Personal name. |
| Real estate | B/.300,000 property | Lien-free. Personal name or allowed structures. Paid-in equity counts. |
| Mixed | CD plus property totaling B/.300,000 | Both assets lien-free. The CD keeps its own terms. |
The deposit route. The certificate sits at any bank holding a general license in Panama. The official sheet’s words are “cualquier banco de licencia general en el territorio nacional”, any general-license bank in the country.[1] The term runs at least three years, and the deposit must stay free of liens.[1][11] It sits in the applicant’s personal name. ReloFirm states the negative rule plainly: not a corporation, not a foundation, not a trust.[5][6] One firm publishes a two-year minimum. Jurisconsultas is alone in that. Three official sheets, plus Kraemer and Paralelaw, state three years. The official text governs.[1][4][5][9][11]
The real estate route. The property must be worth at least B/.300,000, free of liens, and registered to the applicant.[2] The official sheet allows three structures. Personal name is the default. A Private Interest Foundation may hold the property when the founder and the beneficiaries are the applicant and the dependents.[2] A corporation may hold it when its registered, nominal shares sit in the applicant’s or a dependent’s name. Bearer shares do not qualify.[2] Only paid-in equity counts toward the floor. Kraemer’s wording is direct: “Mortgages do NOT count against this threshold.” A local bank may finance the remainder of a higher-valued property.[2][5]
The mixed route. Real estate plus a deposit qualifies when the two total at least B/.300,000, with both assets free of liens.[3] The official sheet closes in capitals: the total must reach B/.300,000.00, and both assets must be lien-free.[3] The deposit component keeps the three-year term and the general-license-bank rule.[3]
Funds from abroad. All three routes require money from outside Panama, shown by bank certification of the foreign transfer.[1][2][5] Jurisconsultas warns that funds-origin documentation is the most frequent cause of observations and rejections in this category.[9]
The two-year provisional stage
The first grant is a two-year provisional permit, not permanent residency.[1][2][3] After the two years, the applicant may apply for permanent residency. All three sheets say so in nearly the same words.[1] The permanent application repeats the document set with two drops and one addition. No police certificate. No fee cheques. A tax clearance instead: the paz y salvo de renta, under Article 195 of Decree 320 of 2008.[4] ReloFirm prices the permanent-stage government costs at US $500.[6]
A second, older official sheet carries the same amounts and fees for the deposit route. It is a second check inside the migration service itself.[4] That two-year stage is the structural difference from the Qualified Investor Visa. The investor route grants permanent residency directly, with no provisional period.[9] The Qualified Investor page covers that route in full. The permits carry their own codes, and the cards show them: PPT-SEP-DPF for a deposit-route provisional, with IBM and IM marking the property and mixed routes, and PRP for the permanent stage.[1][2][3]
Dependents and the bank letter
Each dependent adds B/.2,000 to the investment, and a reference letter from a local bank can justify the addition.[1][2][13] The letter comes from a Panamanian bank and supports the dependent addition.[13] Some pages circulate a USD 10,000 minimum balance for this letter. A search on 2026-09-08 found that figure in no official sheet and no firm page. This page drops it.[1][13]
The dependent list itself is short. A spouse and single children under 25 qualify. Children over 18 must be studying, with single-status and study certificates.[4] Jurisconsultas and Paralelaw add parents, with Paralelaw noting them case by case.[9][11]
Presence, filing, and timing
No annual minimum stay maintains this residency. Jurisconsultas states that absences do not end it unless abandonment is formally declared, and recommends about one visit a year.[9] ReloFirm adds a practical note. Plan about two weeks in Panama when approval nears. Immigration may hold the passport for one to two business days to issue the card.[6] A lawyer files through a legal proxy, as the government portal’s listing confirms. The applicant must be present to sign the investment.[6][9][12]
Timing has one published estimate. Jurisconsultas puts the provisional card at three to six months from filing. The same firm contrasts the Qualified Investor route at roughly 30 business days.[9] No official sheet states a processing time. Treat three to six months as one firm’s estimate, not a service standard.
What the filing costs
The state charges are modest and fixed. A certified cheque for B/.250.00 goes to the National Treasury, and B/.800.00 goes to the SNM, on all three official sheets.[1][2][3] ReloFirm labels the B/.800 a repatriation deposit, refundable once the permanent visa is approved.[6] An aggregator fee table matches the 250 and 800 pair. It adds a USD 50 processing card and a USD 50 to 100 identity card.[10]
Legal fees are separate, and the evidence here is thin by design. One law firm publishes figures for this category: ReloFirm. Its fees are US $2,000 for the two-year provisional stage, US $1,500 for the permanent stage, and US $350 in other fees.[6] No second law firm publishes solvency figures. The research trail closed on that point on 2026-09-08, after fetching every promising fee page. Two estimates sit beside the firm figure. The tolatem aggregator guide puts Panama residency legal work at USD 1,500 to 3,500 per applicant, plus USD 500 to 800 per dependent.[10] The MyLatinLife page publishes an attorney or facilitator range of USD 1,000 to 3,000 and up. It sits in a pensionado cost table, and MyLatinLife is an agency, not a law firm.[16] Every figure on this page is its publisher’s estimate. None is the market rate, because no verified market rate exists.
The category in numbers
The flow is small next to the investor route. SNM’s bulletins count 144 deposit-route approvals and 92 property-route approvals in 2025. Qualified Investor cases ran 341 that year.[14] From January to July 2026, the deposit route added 101 approvals, preliminary to July 31. The property route fell below the published table.[15] The retrievable public record holds no documented, named journey for this category. The firm marketing around it is aggregate and anonymous.[16] Expect little community material if you research this route, and weigh that silence when choosing who files it.
Work, citizenship, and what this visa is not
The permit is a residence status. It is not work authorization, and the sheets say nothing about employment. The work permits page covers that separate process.
Citizenship readings differ, and both belong here. ReloFirm reads the clock from permanent status, with at least six months per year in Panama to qualify for citizenship.[6] Jurisconsultas agrees in Spanish: five years of effective permanent residence.[9] Business Panama reads the same clock the other way, as five years total including the initial two temporary years.[8] The tolatem guide’s phrase, five continuous years of legal residence, does not settle the split.[10] Two interpretations, each published. This page records them and resolves neither. No retrieved instrument settles it.
What to verify with counsel
- The route fit against the official sheet for that route: deposit, property, or mix.
- The asset paperwork: the bank letter for the deposit, or the lien-free registry certification with any foundation or share designations.
- The funds-origin trail before transfer, since firms name it the top rejection cause.
- The full fee stack in writing: B/.250 and B/.800 government charges, card fees, legal fees, per-dependent increments.
- The permanent-stage filing window near the two-year mark, with the tax clearance ready.
This page states the rules as of September 2026. It is not legal advice and not an individual recommendation. Use a qualified Panamanian immigration attorney for an actual filing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money do you need for the Panama Self Economic Solvency Visa?
B/.300,000 is the floor on every route: a three-year fixed deposit at any general-license bank, lien-free real estate, or a mix of the two totaling B/.300,000. Each dependent adds B/.2,000. Government charges are B/.250 to the Treasury and B/.800 to the migration service. Legal fees are separate, and the one law firm publishing figures for this category quotes US $2,000 for the provisional stage, US $1,500 for the permanent stage, and US $350 in other fees. Other published ranges are estimates from their publishers, not market rates.
How do I qualify for the solvency visa?
Three elements. First, the investment: B/.300,000 in a three-year bank deposit, lien-free property, or a mix. Second, correct holding: the deposit lien-free in your personal name, or the property lien-free in your name or an allowed foundation or share structure. Third, proof the funds came from abroad, by bank certification of the transfer. A lawyer files the application by power of attorney, and you must be present to sign the investment.
What am I investing in, and when can I get my money out?
The deposit route locks a certificate at a Panamanian bank for at least three years, and that term is the main lock. The property route buys real estate you hold from day one; only paid-in, lien-free equity counts toward the B/.300,000, and the rest may be financed with a local mortgage. At the two-year mark you apply for permanent residency, which repeats the file with a tax clearance instead of the police certificate and the cheques. The investment rules do not change at that stage; your status does.
Are the lawyer fees quoted for this visa normal?
There is no normal to compare against, because only one law firm publishes figures for this category. ReloFirm quotes US $2,000 for the provisional stage, US $1,500 for the permanent stage, and US $350 in other fees. Beside that sit two labeled estimates: an aggregator guide puts Panama residency legal work at USD 1,500 to 3,500 per applicant plus USD 500 to 800 per dependent, and an agency page estimates USD 1,000 to 3,000 and up in a pensionado cost table. Treat a quote far outside those bands as a question to put to the firm, not as the market.
How easy is it to get residency in Panama?
For this pathway only: the rules are fixed and the paperwork is standard, but the entry price is B/.300,000 and the process runs in two stages. You invest, hold a two-year provisional permit, then file for permanent residency with a tax clearance. One firm estimates three to six months for the provisional card alone. The Qualified Investor route is easier in one specific sense, granting permanent residency directly with no provisional stage, at thresholds from USD 300,000 in real estate upward. Solvency trades that speed for a lower floor.
Can I bring my spouse and children?
Yes. You add B/.2,000 to the investment for each dependent and justify the addition with a reference letter from a local Panamanian bank. A spouse and single children under 25 qualify, with children over 18 studying and adding single-status and study certificates. One firm also includes parents. No official sheet or firm page sets any fixed balance amount for the letter.
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