🇵🇦 Panama Digital nomad visa

All requirements in detail

Official name

Visa de Corta Estancia como Trabajador Remoto (Short Stay Visa as a Remote Worker)

Visa type

Digital nomad visa

Status

Active

Income requirement (original currency)

3,000 USD / month

Income basis

Mixed (salary, freelance or savings)

Legal basis

Executive Decree 198 (Art. 1.3) sets a minimum FOREIGN-SOURCE income of B/.36,000 (Panamanian balboas, pegged 1:1 to USD) per year, i.e. USD 36,000/yr. The decree ALSO publishes a monthly figure: the employer letter (Art. 11.c) must state a monthly income of not less than B/.3,000 (USD 3,000/month), or its foreign-currency equivalent. USD 3,000/month converted at USD 1 = EUR 0.8612 (mid-market, 15 Jun 2026): ~EUR 2,580/month, ~EUR 30,960/year. Income may come from an employment contract as an operative of a transnational foreign company OR from self-employment/freelancing through one's own foreign-registered business for foreign clients; a foreign bank certification or authenticated bank statement showing foreign-origin funds (Art. 4), plus an employer letter or notarized declaration of the client relationship, serve as proof.

Proof of funds

Required

Family surcharges

Decree 198 does not publish an explicit additional income surcharge for dependents. Dependents (spouse, children) can typically be included as accompanying applicants but each is filed and paid for separately; no official per-dependent income increment is specified in the decree.

Working for local clients

Not allowed

Path to citizenship

No

Where to apply

In country

Processing time

6–9 weeks

Tax residency trigger

183 days

Insurance requirement, verbatim intent: Decree 198 (requirement no. 9) requires applicants to submit a copy of a medical insurance policy that maintains coverage WITHIN the national territory of Panama and is valid for the entire period of the applicant's stay. An international health plan with Panama coverage or a local Panamanian policy both satisfy this; pure travel insurance is generally not accepted by practitioners. No official minimum coverage amount is published in the decree.

Tax notes: Panama operates a territorial tax system: only Panama-source income is taxable, so foreign-source remote-work income earned under this visa is not subject to Panamanian income tax. Decree 198 requires the work to produce effects abroad and the holder to sign a sworn declaration not to accept work or offer services to Panamanian nationals, residents, tourists or companies, so income stays foreign-source. Tax residency is established by physical presence of more than 183 days in a calendar year (or a center of vital interests in Panama), but under territorial rules residency still does not tax foreign-source income; it mainly affects access to a tax-residency certificate. No special expat tax regime applies; this is the ordinary territorial system administered by the Direccion General de Ingresos (DGI).

Beyond the visa

Panama — the rest of the move

The visa is step one. Here is the rest of what it takes to live here — each researched and sourced.