Global Citizen

Panama

Panama Republic is a state located on the Isthmus of Panama, the narrowest piece of land connecting North America with South America. The country’s life is concentrated along the Panama Canal that is where the capital is located. It is the Canal that connects the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea.

There are a few programs in Panama for acquiring of the residence permit and citizenship. The main condition in all of them is investment into the country’s economy: it can be either real estate purchase, investment in reforestation, in agriculture or setting up of a company. The advantage of these programs is that the investment will bring profit, and at the end of investment period an investor would be able to return his/her investment.  

Requirements

Concerning investment into business (i.e. setting up of a company or investment in a working company where 3 and more Panama’s citizens work) we would like to underline that the minimum capital is $ 100,000. An applicant should be either a manager of this company or an officer whose net profit exceeds $ 100,000.  

Under the provision of forestry investment, any foreigner who participates in a reforestation project with a minimum investment of only US$ 40,000 is entitled to obtain full immigrant status (residence permit) in the Republic of Panama under the investor immigration program. This is a special incentive provided by the Panamanian legislation for the development of reforestation projects and is an added incentive to the tax incentives which were established specially for international investors. The period  of investment is up to 25 years and at the end of the investment term the land will remain at the investor’s disposal.

The real estate program for processing of the residence permit / citizenship in Panama applies when a foreign investor purchases the real estate for at least $ 200,000.  In case if the real estate price is lower than the mentioned fee, there is a possibility to place the remaining amount in a local bank for the period of up to 2 years.

Procedure and Timeframe

After setting up of a company / placing an investment, an applicant will be issued with a temporary 3-month visa. Upon review of all the documents, 1-year visa will be issued. Visa and residence permit are to be renewed annually. 

After five year of legal residence on the territory of Panama, an investor will have the right to apply for the citizenship. In order to acquire the citizenship of Panama, an applicant will have to pass the Spanish language, geography and history tests.

Advantages of Panama’s citizenship

Currently the tax policy in the country has one of the most favorable tax schemes in the world.  Foreigners are tax free for real estate for the period up to 20 years. The country investment is regulated by the legislation, central bank and government. 

Panama has actively sought to attract foreign investors with attractive incentives, some of them are: 

· American economy with US dollar as the official currency
· Low inflation rate and null exchange risk
· Lack of currency control
· Equal terms and conditions for foreign and native citizens
· One of the most flexible legislation on companies in the world
· Tax privileges for certain investments in the sectors of tourism, real estate, mining industry, export. 

Thus, tax incentives for projects in Special Tourism Zones are the following: 

· No taxation on property, including land plots
· No income tax within the period of 15 years
· No import tax, including sales tax of 5% for the period of 20 years