Retirement visa in Panama

• The pensionado permit is for a foreigner who receives a retirement or pension payment from a foreign government, an international body or a private company, enters Panama to settle, and can cover the living costs of the family. The pension must be granted for life.
• The checklist states no minimum age, and we found nothing on whether a state pension or a retirement-account withdrawal counts, so that is unknown.
• A separate retired-rentista permit is for someone whose income comes only from interest on a fixed deposit at Banco Nacional de Panamá or Caja de Ahorros, left free of liens for at least five years.

Sources: Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026.

• The pension test is about B/.1,000 a month, in dollars or the foreign-currency equivalent. To be safe, have more than B/.1,100 a month.
• If you buy property in your own name for more than B/.100,000, the pension minimum drops to about B/.800 a month. To be safe, buy for more than B/.110,000 and have more than B/.800 a month.
• Spouses can add their pensions together. Each dependant adds about B/.300 a month to what you show; to be safe, show more than B/.300 a month for each. A pension from a private company also needs a letter from the foreign fund administrator and a payment voucher or bank statement.
• The rentista test is interest income of about B/.900 a month from the fixed deposit alone. To be safe, have more than B/.900 a month. The checklist does not state the size of the deposit, so that is unknown.

Sources: Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Both permits start with a notarised power of attorney and application, three photos, a certified passport copy, a criminal record certificate, a health certificate and a sworn statement of personal background.
• For the pensionado permit you add a certification of your status as retired or pensioned and the amount of the lifetime payment, and a Public Registry certificate for any property you buy.
• For the rentista permit you add a bank certification from Banco Nacional or Caja de Ahorros stating the deposit, its interest, its term and that it is free of liens, with a bank-authenticated copy of the certificate.

Sources: Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Both checklists open with a notarised power of attorney, so a Panamanian lawyer normally files on your behalf; the pensionado checklist refers to foreigners who enter Panama to settle there.
• A tourist who needs more time to change category can ask, through a lawyer and ten working days before the stay ends, for an extension of up to 60 days. We found no processing time for either retirement permit.

Sources: Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Neither retirement checklist lists the certified cheques of B/.250 and B/.800 that most Migración residence checklists carry.
• Retired or pensioned foreigners and retired rentistas can bring in personal effects of up to B/.25,000 once and one vehicle every two years under Law 9 of 1987, according to the customs authority. The vehicle still pays 5% selective consumption tax and 7% ITBMS. The page is footer-dated 2024, so confirm the amounts with customs before you ship anything.

Sources: Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official), Autoridad Nacional de Aduanas. Checked 17 October 2026.

• The pensionado permit is indefinite and needs no renewal; the rentista permit is granted for five years and can be renewed for the same term. A dependent child's permit is temporary until age 25 and only while the child studies full time, with no right to permanence, apart from those with a proven profound disability.

Sources: Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Migración's permits page lists the pensionado and rentista permits under permanent residence, special policies, and the pensionado permit has no end date.
• Naturalisation is a separate application for permanent residence card holders. Its checklist asks for an express, irrevocable renunciation of the previous nationality and does not state the years of residence, so the years are unknown for this route.

Sources: Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Panama's income-tax return instructions subtract income of foreign source, the basis for calling its system territorial. We found no tax authority page on how a foreign pension is treated, so that is unknown.
• You are tax resident after more than 183 days of presence in the current or preceding fiscal year, or with a permanent home and a centre of vital interests. Holding a residence permit does not on its own make you tax resident.

Sources: Dirección General de Ingresos. Checked 15 October 2026.

• Digital nomad visa in Panama
• Work permit in Panama
• Family visa in Panama
• Investor visa in Panama

• Visas in Panama
• Panama

1. Checklist: retired or pensioned person (Jubilado Pensionado, PRP-JP), Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026. Checklist PDF (uploaded April 2026), in Spanish: lifetime pension of at least B/.1,000 a month; B/.750 with property over B/.100,000; B/.250 a month for each dependant; indefinite permit.
2. Identity History Summary Checks, Internet Archive copy, Federal Bureau of Investigation (Internet Archive copy of 6 October 2026). Checked 16 October 2026. The fee is US$18 per person.
3. US citizens and residents abroad: filing requirements, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026.
4. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Checked 15 October 2026.
5. United States income tax treaties, A to Z, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026. Panama is not listed.
6. US international Social Security agreements, US Social Security Administration (Internet Archive copy). Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 10 October 2026. The list of agreements in force (latest: Romania, 1 September 2026) does not include Panama.
7. Panama travel advice and advisories, Government of Canada (travel.gc.ca). Checked 15 October 2026. Written for Canadian travellers: tourist visa not required for stays up to 180 days, passport valid three months beyond departure, US$500 or a credit card, entry stamp (US$1,000 fine), return or onward ticket may be asked for, currency is the balboa used with the US dollar.
8. Criminal record checks: processing times and fees, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Checked 16 October 2026. Federal fee 25 Canadian dollars per check, collected with any local fingerprinting charge; 3 business days or less with no match, up to 120 business days if manual processing is needed.
9. Status table: Convention abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents (Apostille), Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). Checked 17 October 2026. Entry into force: Panama 4 August 1991, United States 15 October 1981, Canada 11 January 2024, Australia 16 March 1995, New Zealand 22 November 2001.
10. Social security agreements, Government of Canada. Checked 15 October 2026. Panama is not on the list of countries with a Canada social security agreement.
11. Determining your residency status, Canada Revenue Agency (official). Checked 15 October 2026. Lists significant residential ties (a home, a spouse or common-law partner, dependants in Canada) and secondary ties; the deemed non-resident rule applies to a resident of a country with which Canada has a tax treaty.
12. Panama travel advice (entry requirements), Internet Archive copy, Australian Government, DFAT (Smartraveller), Internet Archive copy. Checked 17 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 13 October 2026: Australians need no visa for an initial stay of 90 days, which immigration officers may shorten; the equivalent of USD1,000 or a credit card and a return or onward ticket may be asked for; entry stamp needed.
13. National police checks, Australian Federal Police. Checked 16 October 2026. Each National Police Certificate costs A$57; A$114 when fingerprints are needed.
14. Notarial services and fees (fee schedule from 1 January 2026), Internet Archive copy, Australian Government, DFAT (Smartraveller), Internet Archive copy. Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 7 October 2026: an apostille costs A$105 per document.
15. International social security agreements, Australian Government, Department of Social Services (Internet Archive copy). Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 9 September 2026; lists 32 agreement countries and those under negotiation; Panama is not listed.
16. Income tax treaties in force, Australian Treasury. Checked 15 October 2026. Panama is not listed.
17. Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, section 6(1), definition of "resident or resident of Australia", Federal Register of Legislation (Australian Government). Checked 15 October 2026. Compilation of 1 July 2026: includes a person whose domicile is in Australia, unless the Commissioner is satisfied that the person's permanent place of abode is outside Australia.
18. Visas (Panama's visa-exemption list and tourist stay lengths), Embassy of Panama in the United States (Panamanian government mission). Checked 15 October 2026. Undated page. Says Resolution 22706 of September 2021 lets citizens of the United States and Canada stay up to 180 days as tourists, and lists Australia and New Zealand among the visa-exempt nationalities with a maximum of three months.
19. Resolution 41029 of 19 August 2024: Resolution 22068 of 1 September 2021 is left without effect (Gaceta Oficial Digital No. 30115, 10 September 2024), Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official; Internet Archive copy). Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 3 December 2024. A two-page resolution whose only operative line is that Resolution 22068 of 2021 (the three-month tourist limit) is left without effect. It does not say what stay length applies now.
20. Criminal records: get your own, Ministry of Justice (New Zealand). Checked 16 October 2026. Opened on 16 October 2026. The Ministry aims to respond to criminal record check requests within 20 working days (Privacy Act 2020); if a country asks for the record to be Apostille-certified, you send the record you get to the Department of Internal Affairs Apostille service.
21. Social security agreements, Work and Income (Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand). Checked 15 October 2026. Eleven agreements listed (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Greece, Malta, the Netherlands, South Korea, the United Kingdom); Panama is not one of them.
22. Tax treaties: double tax agreements and tax information exchange agreements, Inland Revenue (New Zealand), Tax Policy. Checked 15 October 2026. Panama is in none of the lists of double tax agreements or information exchange agreements in force.
23. Leaving New Zealand, Inland Revenue (New Zealand). Checked 15 October 2026. You become a non-resident only if you have no permanent place of abode in New Zealand and are away more than 325 days in any 12-month period.
24. Requirements: retired person living on interest, rentista retirado (PPT-RR), Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026. Checklist PDF (uploaded April 2026), in Spanish: article 196 of Decree 320 of 2008; interest income of B/.850 a month from a fixed deposit at Banco Nacional or Caja de Ahorros, free of liens for five years; five-year permit.
25. Checklist: extension of a tourist stay to change migratory category, Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 15 October 2026. Checklist PDF (uploaded April 2026), in Spanish: up to 60 days, requested through a lawyer ten working days before the stay ends, B/.250 and a B/.500 guarantee deposit.
26. Exoneraciones para turistas extranjeros jubilados o pensionados en el extranjero y rentistas retirados, Autoridad Nacional de Aduanas, published on Panamá Digital (Government of Panama). Checked 17 October 2026. In Spanish, footer dated 2024. Legal basis Law 9 of 24 June 1987: personal effects of up to B/.25,000 once; one vehicle every two years, paying 5% selective consumption tax and 7% ITBMS. The page does not mention limits on selling or leasing the goods.
27. Permisos migratorios (list of permits and checklists), Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026. Page lists the retired or pensioned person and the retired rentista under permanent residence, special policies, and the remote worker visa under non-residents. Undated.
28. Requirements for a letter of naturalisation (numerals 1, 2 and 3 of article 10 of the Constitution), Servicio Nacional de Migración de Panamá (official). Checked 17 October 2026. Checklist PDF (uploaded April 2026), in Spanish: asks for a copy of the permanent residence card and an express, irrevocable renunciation of the previous nationality; it does not state the years of residence.
29. Instructions for filling in the personal income tax return (Declaración jurada de renta de persona natural), Dirección General de Ingresos, Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas (official). Checked 15 October 2026. In Spanish; an older instruction sheet. Line 18 subtracts foreign-source income under paragraph 2 of Tax Code article 694. The sheet applies the rates of Tax Code article 700 as amended by Law 8 of 2010.
30. Panama: information on tax residency, Dirección General de Ingresos, via the OECD automatic-exchange portal (official). Checked 15 October 2026. Tax Code article 762-N: more than 183 days in the current or immediately preceding fiscal year, or permanent housing and a personal connection to it; a migratory or investment-based residence permit does not automatically confer tax residency.