Panama.

Temporary residence for foreigners who have invested at least B/.60,000, personally or through a company, in agriculture, livestock or aquaculture in lines the Agriculture Ministry considers of national interest, plus B/.500 per dependant; valid six years, renewable every two (DE 320 of 2008, arts. 95-99). SNM approvals: 35 in 2010-2021 (none above 12 a year), and 3 extensions in 2023. The current SNM sheet restates B/.60,000, B/.500 per dependant and six years, but mentions only personal investment (not through a company); fees B/.250 (Treasury) plus B/.800 (SNM). Status active (checked 2026-10-11): the SNM's current website lists a requirements sheet for this category among residence permits (pan-snm-req-index-2026), and no repeal or suspension was found. No amending decree for this category was found in the SNM decree list.

Permanent residence for foreigners investing in a company providing call-centre services for export; DE 320 of 2008 (arts. 214-216) gives it the same requirements as the export processing zone investor permit (B/.250,000 from abroad, art. 211) and says this follows Decreto Ejecutivo 97 of 2002 (not stored), which may itself have created the permit. SNM approvals: 2 in 2013, 81 in 2021, 39 in 2022; not shown separately in 2023-2026. The current SNM sheet repeats art. 214 (same requirements as the processing-zone permit) and charges B/.250 (Treasury) plus B/.800 (SNM); it states no amount of its own. Status active (checked 2026-10-11): the SNM's current website lists a requirements sheet for this category among residence permits (pan-snm-req-index-2026), and no repeal or suspension was found.

SNM category for businesspeople at the City of Knowledge (Ciudad del Saber), a research and business park run by a foundation under Decreto Ley 6 of 1999. In the 2008 regulation (DE 320, art. 113) the matching subcategory is 'empresario o ejecutivo' of the City of Knowledge Foundation: it needs the Foundation's certificate that the company may operate there and a parent-company letter, and sets no investment amount. Launch is left empty because no stored text makes investing the route; whether the category is in scope under decision 15 needs a second look. SNM approvals: 301 in 2010-2021, 5 extensions in 2023, 48 in 2024. The current SNM sheet for the businessperson or executive of the City of Knowledge Foundation (DE 320 arts. 108, 113-114) asks for the Foundation's authorisation of the company and a parent-company letter, and sets no investment amount and no fee; status active because the SNM lists it as a current category and approved 48 permits in 2024. Launch stays empty and the scope question stands: nothing in the current sheet makes investing the route.

Permanent residence for foreigners who invest more than B/.150,000 from abroad in the film industry, in a company authorised under the special regime of Ley 36 of 2007 (not stored), certified by the Panama Film Commission (DE 320 of 2008, arts. 217-219); no amount per dependant is set. Fees are the general art. 315 rates for permanent permits for special policies (B/.250 application, B/.100 card). The category has no row in the stored SNM residence tables 2010-2026 (only 'Empleados de Empresas Cinematográficas', staff permits, which are out of scope). The current SNM sheet restates more than B/.150,000 and charges B/.250 (Treasury) plus B/.800 (SNM), which differs from the art. 315 fees above. Status active (checked 2026-10-11): the SNM's current website lists a requirements sheet for this category among residence permits (pan-snm-req-index-2026), and no repeal or suspension was found. No approvals appear in any SNM table, so whether anyone has used it is unknown.

Residence for foreigners investing in reforestation or forest plantations authorised by the National Environment Authority, personally or through a company (at most two foreign applicants per company). DE 320 of 2008 sets two permits: temporary, B/.60,000 on at least 10 hectares, six years renewable every two (arts. 95, 100-102); permanent, B/.80,000 on at least 20 hectares (arts. 180-182); B/.2,000 more per dependant in both. SNM approvals fell from 71 in 2010 to 2 in 2020 and none in 2021; the category does not appear separately in the 2022-2026 tables. The OECD listed a Panama 'Reforestation Investor Visa' as potentially high-risk for tax reporting in October 2018; in its 20 November 2018 version the scheme ('Reforestation Investor Permit') moved to a separate table in which only Panamanian ID cards with reference code 'PRP-FOR' count as potentially high-risk. Launch is the 2008 regulation, the first stored text; the SNM table note says its series also rests on the 1960 migration law. Current status and amendments after 2008 not checked.

Residence for nationals of a closed list of countries (24 in 2012, about 50 by 2021). First created by DE 343 of 16 May 2012 (not seen; known from its repeal), replaced by DE 416 of 13 June 2012 (Gaceta 27058-A). Until 2021 it needed only an economic or professional activity and a modest bank balance, not an investment. From 7 Aug 2021 (DE 197 and DE 226 of 2021) applicants get a two-year provisional permit and must show either a job with a work permit, real estate worth at least B/.200,000, or a B/.200,000 three-year fixed deposit; permanent residence follows after two years. Not an investment programme in the strict sense: the SNM statistics count all Friendly Nations permits, whatever the route. Naturalisation rules are the general constitutional ones (not checked in this pass).

Residence for foreigners who are sole holders of shares worth at least B/.160,000 in a company with a commercial licence (DE 320 of 2008, arts. 185-186). SNM approvals fell to 10-15 a year by 2020-2021; the category no longer appears separately in the 2022-2026 tables. The current SNM sheet restates B/.160,000 per applicant, B/.2,000 per dependant and five Panamanian employees per applicant, and says the first permit is a two-year provisional one; fees B/.250 (Treasury) plus B/.800 (SNM). Status active (checked 2026-10-11): the SNM's current website lists a requirements sheet for this category among residence permits (pan-snm-req-index-2026), and no repeal or suspension was found.

Permanent residence for foreigners who invest at least B/.250,000 from abroad in the risk capital of a company of the Panamá-Pacífico special economic area (the former Howard air base) or its developer or operator; the company must be authorised under Ley 41 of 2004 (not stored) and employ at least three Panamanians (DE 320 of 2008, arts. 206-208). The SNM tables have no separate investor row for the area (only employee and technician categories). The current SNM sheet restates B/.250,000 and three Panamanian employees; fees B/.250 (Treasury) plus B/.800 (SNM); its legal basis cites DE 320 as amended by DE 26 of 2 March 2009 (not stored). Status active (checked 2026-10-11): the SNM's current website lists a requirements sheet for this category among residence permits (pan-snm-req-index-2026), and no repeal or suspension was found.

Permanent residence for foreigners who invest at least B/.250,000 from abroad in a promoter or operator of an export processing zone or a company in one (DE 320 of 2008, arts. 211-213), referring to the zones law, Ley 25 of 1992 (not stored). SNM approvals ('Inversionista o Empr. de Zonas Procesadoras'): 52 in 2010-2021, at most 16 a year. The current SNM sheet restates B/.250,000 from abroad; fees B/.250 (Treasury) plus B/.800 (SNM); legal basis DE 320 as amended by DE 26 of 2009 (not stored). Not shown separately in SNM tables after 2021 (small categories are grouped as other categories from 2024). Status active (checked 2026-10-11): the SNM's current website lists a requirements sheet for this category among residence permits (pan-snm-req-index-2026), and no repeal or suspension was found.

Direct permanent residence (no provisional stage) for a qualifying investment from foreign funds, held for five years. Two steps: MICI (Dirección Nacional de Promoción de la Inversión) issues an investment certificate, then the SNM grants the permit (30 working days by decree). Created by Decreto Ejecutivo 722 of 15 Oct 2020 (Gaceta 29136, 16 Oct 2020); amended by DE 109 of 2022 and DE 193 of 2024; replaced ('subrogado') by DE 17 of 8 Sept 2026 (Gaceta 30613, 16 Sept 2026). Routes: real estate (incl. presale contracts), securities via the Panama stock exchange, fixed-term bank deposit. Citizenship: DE 17 art. 14 says holders and dependants may apply for naturalisation after five consecutive years of residence, under the Constitution. Applications can be filed from abroad through a lawyer.

Known only from the SNM statistics: 478 permits approved 2010-2021, 180 of them in 2010, falling to none after 2016 apart from 1 in 2019. No stored document sets its requirements or start: the 2008 migration regulation (DE 320) has no small-business investor section, so the category may come from earlier rules. Status still blank (checked 2026-10-11): the category has no requirements sheet among the SNM's current residence categories (pan-snm-req-index-2026) and no section in DE 320, but no repeal act or official statement closing it was found; the last approval in the stored tables is 1 in 2019.

Older investor residence under the 2008 migration regulation (DE 320 of 8 Aug 2008, arts. 191-195): B/.300,000 of foreign funds in real estate, a three-year fixed deposit, or a mix of both. SNM statistics show it as a provisional permit followed by a permanent one. A similar 'Solvencia Propia' status existed before 2008 under Decreto Ley 16 of 1960 (the SNM series from 2010 includes it). DE 722 of 2020 and DE 17 of 2026 let pending or current Solvencia holders switch to the Qualified Investor route. Amendments after 2008 were not checked.