Panama Income Retiree Visa | An Incomplete Guide

Overview:

The Panama Income Retiree Visa program has been operational since 1987. It is a special form of investment visa: any foreigner who deposits a certain amount of funds in a fixed deposit account at one of two designated Panamanian state banks: Banco Nacional de Panama or Caja de Ahorro, and ensures that the deposit generates at least $850 per month in interest, qualifies for this visa.

The interest rates for five-year fixed deposits at these two banks range from 4% to 5%. This means that to apply for the Panama Income Retiree Visa, investors generally need to prepare between $260,000 and $300,000 for a five-year deposit.

Panama Travel Passport:

The Income Retiree Visa offers a very important benefit: its holders can also apply for a Panama Travel Passport.

In terms of appearance, the Panama Travel Passport looks exactly like a normal Panamanian passport, with the only difference being that the special passport will indicate the holder’s original nationality. For instance, if you are French and obtain this passport, it will state that your nationality is French.

This is not a true passport, but it allows the holder to study, work, and live in Panama, and according to official statements, it provides visa-free, e-visa, or visa-on-arrival access to 118 countries and regions around the world as a “special travel passport.”

According to information on the government website, holders of the Panama Travel Passport can enter the following 82 countries and regions without a visa.

Additionally, holders of the Panama Travel Passport can enter 26 countries and regions with either a visa on arrival or an electronic visa: Egypt, Qatar, India, Vietnam, Iran, Jordan, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Laos, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Armenia, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Palau, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Essentially, the visa-free regions for the Panama Travel Passport include most countries and regions in Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa. So, does this passport really work as effectively in reality?

This is a legally ambiguous issue. In real life, there are Panama Travel Passport holders who have successfully entered other countries, and there are also those who have been stopped at customs. It entirely depends on the attitude of the host country and the diligence of the local visa officers.

For example, the image below provided by the European Commission shows the recognition level of Panama passports by EU countries, where the column inside the red circle represents the Panama special passport (Travel Passport).

From the chart, we can see that Germany (DE) recognizes the Panama Travel Passport, but France (FR) does not. Therefore, if you wish to travel to the Schengen Area, you should use this passport to enter Europe through Germany, not France.

In summary, what can be confirmed at this point is that the Panama Travel Passport indeed allows holders to travel freely to a number of countries, and it is also one of the few second passports that can be legally obtained without requiring dual nationality.

In a sense, this travel passport is also the greatest value of the Panama Income Retiree Visa.

Application Process:

For the Panama Income Retiree Visa and Travel Passport, you simply need to open a bank account locally, deposit the required funds, and then you can directly apply at the Immigration Office in person. The entire visa processing period will not exceed two weeks.

The required documents are also very simple, including: passport and photocopies, bank deposit proof, five passport-sized photos, health examination certificate, criminal record certificate, etc.

Dependents:

For the Panama Income Retiree Visa, the main applicant’s spouse, children under 18, and financially dependent children aged 18 to 25 can also obtain permanent residency in Panama as secondary applicants.

Visa Validity:

Both the Income Retiree Visa and the Panama Travel Passport are valid for five years and are linked to the deposit. Simply put, as long as the deposit remains, the visa and passport can be renewed indefinitely. Once the deposit is withdrawn, these types of visas and passports become invalid immediately.

Citizenship:

For non-native Spanish speakers with permanent residency status, living in Panama for five years (or three years if you have a Panamanian spouse or children), and residing in the country for more than six months each year, you become eligible to apply for naturalization after passing an interview that assesses your knowledge of Spanish, as well as Panamanian history, geography, and civic rights.