Friendly Nations Program in a Nutshell
Conditions & Benefits
By Executive Decree 343 of 16th of May 2012, the Permanent Residency program for Friendly Nations was created for citizens of specific countries, with economic or professional ties with Panama, in order to promote the latter’s economic development by boosting the acquisition or creation of new local companies.
However, the said program has been modified by 2 consecutive decrees:
- Executive Decree no. 197 / 7th of May 2021
- Executive Decree no. 226 of 20th of July 2021
The concerned countries are:
United Kingdom, Germany, Argentina, Australia, Korea, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Spain, Finland, Netherlands, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Singapore, Uruguay, United States, Chile, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus, Malta, Serbia, Montenegro, Israel, Denmark, South Africa, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Mexico and Peru.
Nevertheless, Taiwan has been removed from the list of friendly countries, due to diplomatic issues between the two countries.
The recent changes involve a major modification of the nature itself of the residency, as the program first grants a provisional residency for two (2) years, followed by the possibility of applying for the permanent residency permit.
The Provisional Residency can be achieved by one of the following ways:
- By employment contract in Panama: a work agreement must be established between the main applicant and a Panamanian company. The latter must be duly registered in Panama and have a determined economic activity.
- By investment in Real Estate: the applicant must own a property on Panamanian soil, with a registered value of at least USD 200,000.-. The transaction has to be financed via the local banking institutions with funds coming from abroad.
- By Fixed Bank Deposit: a fixed deposit of at least USD 200,000.- placed in a national bank in Panama, free of encumbrances with a minimum validity of three (3) years.
The Permanent Residency can be obtained upon the completion of the two (2) years of provisional residency, by simply proving that the same conditions have been maintained in place.
The benefits of the program are well known worldwide, as being among the easiest and low cost permanent residences in Latin America, considering also a short processing time period of 4 to 6 months.
