A Detailed Comparison of the Two Most Popular Visa Options in Panama

Last Updated on October 7, 2026 by Retire in Panama

Panama, a country that keeps hitting the top retirement destination lists of many media outlets, is one of the most popular places in the world to retire in, or move to, to conduct business, mostly because of its ease of permanent residency programs. Of course, its climate helps, and it’s currency being pegged to the US dollar helps, and the welcoming smiles of it’s local people who have been accepting foreigners into this country for many years, adds to the reasons why people are moving here..

If you are considering moving to another county for retirement, starting a new business, or just adventure, one thing to consider is it’s residency programs, if you want to stay there. Most countries, rightfully so, have rules and enforcement on foreigners coming to their country, and wanting to say. You need to consider, does this country offer permanent residency, or is it temporary, and you have to renew it every year or so. Many other countries only want you if you bring in a lot of money, basically buying your residency with 100’s of thousands of dollars.

Now Panama, not only offers permanent residency for an affordable price, the government here treats its seniors, with discounts on many items, and extends those discounts to permanent residents. Panama has many ways to permanent residency, but the two most popular are the Pensionado Visa and the Friendly Nations Visa. There are also agricultural visas, employment visas, student visas, but for the purpose of this article, we will stick with the two most popular.

Before we get into detail with each visa, I would like to put a stop to a myth you hear often. I get told often, that the applicants only choice in a visa, is the Pensionado Visa as they want the discounts it offers. Well the fact is no matter what Residency Visa you hold, when a woman is 55 or older, and a man 60 or older, they qualify for the Pensionado Discounts. We will discuss these discounts later.

Now lest get started discussing each visa and who they are for.

Pensionado Visa:

This Visa if for those people who are currently receiving a retirement pension, or will be by the time you apply, from a government, like Social Security, or a public/private source. This can be public pensions like teachers pensions, VA benefits, a public company like IBM, General Motors, the only requirement is that the pension is over $1000 per month, plus $250 per dependent, and that the pension is for life. There is no age restriction on this Visa, so if you retired early in your 40’s and receive a life long pension, you can qualify. You will even qualify for the Panama Pensionado Discounts early with this Visa. The only restriction with this Visa is that it will never lead to a work permit. You must be retired and intend to remain retired in Panama.

Below is a list of the Pensionado Discounts we have discussed, the only two that are exclusive to this Visa, is the one time tax exemption on the importation of $10,000 of goods, and the tax exemption of importing a car. Now, if you move here on the Pensionado Visa, and you have not met the age requirements, 55 for a woman, and 60 for a man, you will still receive the discounts by showing your Pensionado Card. So this is a big advantage for those people who retired at an early age.

We will discuss the pros and cons of moving all your belongings here and importing your car after we discuss the visa options.

The total cost of receiving a Pensionado Visa, including legal fees, government fees, etc will be around $2400 for a single, and $2900 for a couple. This is an estimate, and could actually be a little less.

To get permanent residency in a country for less than $3000, and a country that will give you discounts for being a retired person, is almost unheard on in the world, and this is why Panama is the top choice for retirees. But remember, this visa is only for those of you that are retired and are planning to stay retired. You cannot work in Panama with this Visa, ever. So if you are only semi retired, and still looking at Panama and want to generate some additional income, you may want to look at the next visa option.

Panama’s Friendly Nations Visa

As of August 5th, 2021 there are major changes to the Friendly Nations Visa.  See these changes HERE.

The information below the line is outdated.  The three options to get a Friendly Nations Visa now are:

a. Employment contract to work in Panama, also with approval of working permit or
b. By an investment in a real estate property under your personal name with a minimum value of $200,000.00 which could be financed by a bank in Panama.
c. depositing $200,000.00 as a CD in an Panama bank.

The process, from start to permanent visa will take 2 years, and 2 applications.  First application is for your temporary visa and work permit if required.  After 2 years, you will apply for the permanent visa.

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Let’s recap which visa is best for you.

Person	Pensionado Visa	Friendly Nations Visa
Retire Person who will never work again	X
Semi Retired, Looking to Add Income		X
Retired Panama Property Owner	X	X
Younger Professional Job Seeker		X
Younger Entrepreneur		X

List of 50 countries that qualify for the Friendly Nations Visa

Andorra	Cyprus	Hungary	Monaco	Serbia
Argentina	Czech Republic	Ireland	Montenegro	Singapore
Australia	Denmark	Israel	Netherlands	Slovakia
Austria	Estonia	Japan	New Zealand	South Africa
Belgium	Finland	Latvia	Norway	Spain
Brazil	France	Liechtenstein	Paraguay	Sweden
Canada	Germany	Lithuania	Poland	Switzerland
Chile	Great Britain	Luxembourg	Portugal	Taiwan
Costa Rica	Greece	Malta	Republic of Korea	Uruguay
Croatia	Hong Kong	Mexico	San Marino	USA

* You may notice Italy is not on this list. Panama and Italy have a unique treaty called The Mutual Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaty, that allows Panama permanent residency for Italian Citizens.

 

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