Panama did not merely amend its best-known investor residence programme. On 16 September 2026, the Official Gazette published Executive Decree No. 17, repealing Decree 722/2020 and its amendments and replacing them with a single set of rules for the Qualified Investor category.
The central property change is a split threshold: $300,000 survives only for first-sale property, while secondary-market property now requires at least $500,000. The banking route was also redrawn, the securities route was retained, and the government added detail on ownership of funds, certification and the period for which assets must remain in Panama.
Six Routes, Not One Headline Number
Qualified Investor still leads directly to permanent residence, without a temporary-residence stage. The new framework distinguishes two completed-property subcategories, a separate route for property under construction, the securities market and two types of bank deposit:
- New first-sale property: $300,000. The property must be new and previously unoccupied, transferred by the promoter, developer or its successor.
- Secondary-market property: $500,000. The higher threshold applies where the property has previously been sold, occupied, leased or transferred to an unrelated third party.
- Property under construction under a promise to purchase: $300,000. This is a separate route: the funds must be protected by the trust or bank security required by the decree, and status may not remain supported only by such contracts for more than three years.
- Securities: $500,000. The investment must be made through Panama’s licensed market and held for at least five years.
- Private-bank time deposit: $750,000. The bank must hold a general licence and the deposit must remain in place for at least five years.
- State-bank time deposit: $500,000. The lower threshold applies to Banco Nacional de Panamá and Caja de Ahorros, again for at least five years.
“Panama property from $300,000” is therefore incomplete unless the property type is identified. The same applies to bank deposits: $750,000 is the private-bank threshold, while the two state banks have a separate $500,000 minimum.
For completed property, the qualifying figure is not simply the contract price. It is the lower of the price actually paid and the reasonably supported market value, minus liens. Only the amount above the required minimum may be financed, and the authority may request an independent appraisal where the value raises reasonable doubt.
Transition Rules for Existing Cases
Applications filed with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry or the National Immigration Service before 16 September 2026 remain governed by the requirements, conditions and amounts in force when they were filed. More favourable new procedural provisions may apply immediately.
An investment made or a binding contract perfected before 16 September may also use the former regime, provided the corresponding application is filed within six months after Decree 17 took effect. Previously issued investment certificates remain effective until their own expiry dates. This is not a blanket extension for every process that had merely “started”: the decree identifies a filed application, a completed investment or a perfected binding contract.
There is also a separate twelve-month window to move from permanent residence based on personal economic solvency into Qualified Investor. It covers pending applications and valid statuses, but investments made before 15 October 2020 do not qualify for that conversion.
What Good Lawyers Will Ask For
Before concluding that a route works, a lawyer will ask for more than the asset price: whether the property is first sale, resale or under construction; the amount actually paid, market value and liens; the source and transfer trail of the applicant’s own funds; the ownership and beneficial-control structure; family members and joint owners; and, for an existing case, the dates of the investment, contract and filing.
For property under construction, counsel will also examine the trust or bank security and the deadline for registering ownership. Gifted funds do not qualify, and a company or foundation structure must leave the applicant’s effective control provable. Those details—not the advertised price—determine whether the structure fits the decree.
What Happens After the Investment
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s investment-promotion directorate certifies the investment before the immigration filing. That certification is valid for three months. The application then proceeds to the National Immigration Service.
The principal applicant pays B/.5,000 to the National Treasury and a further B/.5,000 repatriation deposit. Each dependant adds B/.1,000 and B/.1,000 respectively. Document, translation, apostille, banking and legal costs sit outside those government charges.
The investment must be maintained for five years and evidenced annually. If it is sold, replaced or ceases to qualify earlier, MICI must be notified within 30 calendar days; the authority may allow up to 90 calendar days to document an equivalent reinvestment.
For a complete file, the decree sets a maximum of 15 business days for investment certification after admission and 30 business days for the immigration decision after formal receipt of the complete filing. Preparation, curing an incomplete file and additional checks sit outside those promises, so “guaranteed residence in 30 days” is inaccurate.
What Decree 17 Does Not Provide
The decree regulates permanent residence, not citizenship. Naturalisation is a separate route available after five consecutive years of residence and remains subject to constitutional and statutory requirements. The decree does not sell a Panamanian passport or turn a special Panama Travel Passport into a citizen’s national passport.
The new regulation makes the programme easier to describe, but it does not remove the need for individual analysis. Nationality, family composition, source of funds, tax consequences and ownership structure all matter. Our Panama residency page compares the commercial routes, while the real-estate and residence guide explains the property track in more detail.
Primary source: Executive Decree No. 17 of 8 September 2026, published in Panama’s Official Gazette on 16 September 2026.
If you are considering property, securities or a deposit as the basis for permanent residence, test the legal and banking structure before transferring funds. RULATAM can review the route, documents and risks in a private immigration consultation.