Panama digital nomad visa

Requirements

• Foreign-source income of at least $36,000/year ($3,000/month), from an employer or clients outside Panama
• A work contract with a foreign company, or proof of self-employed remote work for clients abroad
• Private health insurance valid in Panama for the stay
• Valid passport with at least six months' validity and three passport photos
• Clean criminal background certificate
• A licensed Panamanian immigration lawyer to file the application — you can't submit directly

How to apply

1. Confirm you meet the $36,000/year foreign-income requirement
2. Engage a licensed Panamanian immigration lawyer — filing through one is legally required
3. Gather documents: passport, bank statements, work/client contracts, health insurance, criminal record
4. Your lawyer files with the Servicio Nacional de Migración and pays the fees (~$250 + $50 card)
5. On approval (about 30–45 business days), receive the 9-month visa, renewable once for 18 months total

Renewal and long-term stay

• Renewable: yes
• Path to permanent residency: no — time on this visa does not lead to residency
• Path to citizenship: no

Nine months, extendable once by another nine — 18 months maximum, then the route is finished. It is explicitly a non-resident permit: it establishes neither tax residency nor immigration residency, and no amount of it counts toward permanent residency or citizenship. Panama has plenty of routes that do settle you (Friendly Nations, Qualified Investor); this is not one of them.

Applying: where and how

• Apply from outside the country: yes — apply before you travel
• Income requirement as published: $36,000 per year

Tax

• Foreign income taxed locally: no — foreign-earned income is not taxed locally
• Special nomad or expat tax regime: yes — see below

Panama taxes territorially — income earned outside Panama is not subject to Panamanian income tax — and the remote-worker visa is explicitly a non-resident permit that does not establish tax residency at all. That combination is why the 18-month cap stings: the tax treatment is about as clean as it gets, and it expires.

This summarises published rules, not your situation, and it is not tax advice. Two things it can't tell you: your home country may tax you anyway — US citizens are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live — and day-count is only the most common trigger for tax residency, not the only one. Having a permanent home, a family or your centre of economic interests in a country can make you resident well before the day count does. Get advice before you move.

Moving abroad means more than the visa — sort your travel insurance (many visa applications require proof of coverage), set up borderless banking, and land with data working.

First nomad visa? Our digital nomad visa guide explains how qualifying, applying, and taxes work across every country.