How to Beat Panama’s New Visa Laws

Get your visa by investing in forests in Panama.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Read more about Panama in International Living Postcards—your daily escape

Dan mentioned in yesterday’s Postcard that I was speaking to him about Panama’s fantastic health care and its pensionado program…but I have more news up my sleeve…

There are going to be changes in Panama’s immigration law, which will mean you’ll need to pay higher fees when applying for your residency visa. These new laws designed to regulate immigration are scheduled to come into effect by Aug. 26, 2008. Government officials have not yet confirmed just how expensive the new fees will be, but if you're on a budget, you're better off starting the residency application process before the August deadline, if possible.

Panama offers a range of residency visa options, with the pensionado, or pensioner's visa, being the most popular. But not everyone looking to live or invest in Panama is on a pension—in fact, the nation is seeing a significant influx of working-age expats with no plans to retire any time soon. If you fit into this group, the forestry investor visas may be the least expensive residency option.

Panama’s person of means visa is perhaps more popular, but it requires a minimum investment of $200,000 in property or certificate of deposit (or a combination of the two). Not everyone can afford that. Forestry investors, on the other hand, can obtain residency with an investment of $40,000 or $80,000…until Aug. 26, 2008.

The forestry investor visa is Panama’s way of encouraging reforestation and responsible production. Basically, the program consists of two options, dubbed the small forestry investor and the large forestry investor visas. The basic immigration requirements for both visas are the same as for the person of means visa:

• Your visa application must be handled by a Panama-registered lawyer (this is done once you’ve made your forestry investment)
• You must also authenticate all foreign-issue documentation that you intend to present to Panamanian authorities. The authentication must be done by a notary and by the Panamanian consulate nearest you, or by a notary and Apostille
• You must obtain documentation (from a U.S. police or sheriff’s office) showing whether or not you have a criminal record. This is called a police record or police clearance report, which you can usually obtain at your local county sheriff’s office. Just ensure the document is printed on police department letterhead and has an official signature on it
• You must present a Panama-issued health certificate (your lawyer can assist you with this prior to submitting your application)
• If you are going to include your spouse and/or dependents under your application, you must add to your paperwork a marriage certificate and/or birth certificates for dependent children. Do not bring original certificates—you’ll need to present official copies or transcripts that Immigration can keep
• You must be in Panama for the application filing. At that time, all your documents must be valid —that is, paperwork mentioned above should be issued no more than two months prior to visa application and your passport must be valid for at least another six months from date of application.

The small forestry investor visa requires a minimum investment of $40,000, whereas the large forestry investor visa requires a minimum investment of $80,000. The difference between the two visas? Small forestry investors can apply for permanent residency on their fifth year. (Prior to this, these investors may stay in Panama via one-year renewable immigrant visas.) Large forestry investors apply for permanent residency immediately after their first immigrant visa cards expire. Both small and large investors are eligible to apply for citizenship five years after their initial application.

Robert Kroesen of United Nature tells us he has it on good authority that the government will make two major changes to the forestry residency visa come Aug. 26; the small and large forestry investor categories will cease to exist, so all applicants will simply be forestry investors, and the minimum investment amount will be upped to $100,000. Although immigration authorities have yet to officially confirm this, local sources agree with Robert that the minimum investment amount seems likely to go up.

So if you’d like to save some money, now is the time to act…

Jessica Ramesch
The Panama Insider, International Living

P.S. I’m in Cancun at the moment, preparing for the Ultimate Event where I will be speaking about “The Hidden, Affordable Panama,” along with telling you about the incentives attached to doing business and living in Panama. If you couldn’t make the event this year, don’t worry; we are recording every speech and workshop…we’ll keep you posted about this offer in the upcoming IL Postcards.

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- The Truth About Investing in Panama City

- A Little-known Panamanian Law Could Save You Thousands