Panama Retirement Visa | An Incomplete Guide

What Is Retirement Visa?

Retirement visas are a type of passive income visa that has been popular worldwide since the 1980s. Typically, they are issued to retirees who have sufficient retirement funds or stable income.

In general, global retirement visas have the following characteristics:

1. Applicant Qualifications: Typically, retirement visas require applicants to be retirees, reach a certain age, or have retirement funds.

2. Restrictions on Employment: Visa holders are usually not allowed to work locally.

3. Path to Permanent Residency: After residing in the destination country for a certain period, retirement visa holders can often apply for permanent residency or even citizenship.

If you’re interested in retirement visas or passive income visas, you might want to read our informative article: ‘Global Passive Income Visa | An Incomplete Guide‘.

Panama Retirement Visa:

Historically, Panama has always been a popular retirement destination for North Americans. Since the 1980s, it has offered a low-requirement retirement residency option called The Panama Retirees and Pensioners Visa to foreigners.

Legally, Panama requires retirement visa applicants to meet a certain retirement age: 62 for men and 57 for women. However, in practice, as long as they can prove sufficient passive income, foreigners who have not reached the retirement age can still apply for this visa. The trade-off is that they cannot enjoy the various local service discounts and tax benefits associated with the retirement visa program.

Currently, the Panama retirement visa has two economic options based on whether the applicant has purchased property locally:

1. No Real Estate Option: You need to provide proof of at least $1,000 in monthly retirement income. If you have dependents, you need to provide an additional $250 in monthly passive income for each dependent.

2. Real Estate Option: If you invest over $100,000 in purchasing property in Panama, you only need to provide proof of $750 in monthly retirement income. If you have dependents, you need to provide an additional $250 in monthly passive income for each dependent.

Application Process:

If you want to apply for a Panama retirement visa, you must appoint a local licensed lawyer to apply offline within Panama; you cannot apply DIY.

The application process is very simple. Once you have prepared the necessary documents and filled out the application form, your lawyer can submit the application directly to the immigration office in Panama City.

The required documents include:

• Identity Documents: Passports and four passport-sized photos for all applicants; birth certificates, marriage certificates, and other documents proving the relationship between primary and secondary applicants.

• Single Status Certificate: If you are single, you need to submit a single status certificate to the immigration office.

• Visa Application Form: You need to fill out a visa application form and an affidavit pledging to comply with Panama’s relevant laws.

• Medical Certificate: Medical certificates for all primary and secondary applicants must be issued by a local doctor in Panama.

• No Criminal Record Certificate: All primary and secondary applicants need to provide a no criminal record certificate issued within the last six months.

• Proof of Income: This can be proof of pension or other income documents, but the provided income must be passive income.

All documents must be notarized, and non-Spanish documents need to be translated into Spanish.

You do not need to visit Panama when applying this visa, instead, you can have a local immigration lawyer apply for the Panama retirement visa on your behalf. However, once the visa is approved, all primary and secondary applicants need to enter Panama once to have their fingerprints collected offline and receive their permanent residence card.

Dependent:

For the Panama retirement 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:

Once the Panama retirement visa is approved, it is permanently valid. However, the permanent residence card needs to be renewed every five years. The prerequisite for renewal is that the permanent resident maintains a certain connection with Panama, such as logging into the country at least once every two years.

Generally, non-Spanish-speaking individuals who have lived in Panama for five years with permanent residence (three years if they have a Panamanian spouse or children) can apply for naturalization. This requires passing an interview on their proficiency in Spanish, and knowledge of Panamanian history, geography, and civil rights.