Panama visas, from Pakistan.

Panama's short-stay visitor visa for holidays, family visits and business trips such as meetings or trade fairs. Because Pakistan is in the restricted group, the National Migration Service in Panama City must authorise the file before a consulate can stamp it. Single entry; the stay is set at the border, commonly 30 days, extendable in Panama up to 90. It carries no work rights.

• Passport valid 6+ months with two blank pages, plus copies of all used pages
• Authorisation issued by the Servicio Nacional de Migración in Panama City before any consulate can stamp the visa
• Confirmed return or onward ticket and paid hotel booking covering the whole stay
• Last 6 months' bank statements plus salary slips, or business registration and tax returns for the self-employed
• Invitation letter with the host's cédula or residence card, and a Panamanian company letter with exact dates for business trips

Short transit authorisation for passengers who must clear Panamanian immigration at Tocumen — overnight layovers, separate tickets, baggage re-check or a switch to a domestic flight. A pure airside connection on a single ticket usually does not need one, but get that confirmed in writing by the airline before travelling.

• Confirmed onward ticket departing Panama within the transit period
• Valid visa or residence permit for the final destination country
• Passport valid 6+ months
• Servicio Nacional de Migración authorisation, exactly as for the tourist visa

Temporary residence for degree, postgraduate or vocational study at a Panamanian institution recognised by MEDUCA. Issued for one year and renewed for the length of the programme. Teaching is overwhelmingly in Spanish, so language preparation is not optional. The permit carries no work rights.

• Acceptance letter and paid-tuition receipt from a MEDUCA-authorised institution
• Bank statements or a scholarship award letter covering tuition and living costs for the year
• Degrees and transcripts apostilled by Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, translated by a Panamanian authorised public translator
• Pakistani Police Character Certificate, apostilled and less than six months old
• Health certificate from a Panamanian doctor, and power of attorney to a Panamanian lawyer who must file the case

The standard route for a Panamanian employer to hire a foreign national: a MITRADEL work permit under the 10% ordinary-worker quota or the 15% quota for trusted personnel, experts and managers, filed alongside temporary residence as a worker. Tied to the employer and renewed yearly.

• Signed job offer and employment contract from a company registered with MITRADEL and current on CSS social-security payments
• Company payroll evidence showing it stays inside the 10% ordinary or 15% specialist foreign-staff quota
• Degrees and experience letters apostilled by MoFA Pakistan, translated by a Panamanian authorised public translator
• Pakistani Police Character Certificate, apostilled
• Health certificate from a Panamanian doctor; the contract must be filed with MITRADEL by a Panamanian attorney

The intra-company transfer route for staff moved to a company licensed under the SEM regime (Law 41 of 2007) or the EMMA manufacturing-services regime (Law 159 of 2020). Permits run up to five years, sit outside the ordinary hiring quotas, and carry income-tax and social-security concessions.

• Employment by a company holding a current SEM or EMMA licence, quoting the licence resolution number
• Company letter confirming the transfer, job title and salary paid from abroad
• Passport, apostilled Pakistani Police Character Certificate and a Panamanian health certificate
• Spouse and dependent children can be filed on the same permit with apostilled marriage and birth certificates

An open work permit for foreigners who already hold Panamanian permanent residence, granted on the basis of WTO membership — which Pakistan has held since 1995. It is the usual way an investor, pensionado or family-based resident converts residence into the right to work or run a business.

• Approved Panamanian permanent residence and an issued E-Cédula card
• Employment contract, or company incorporation deed and RUC registration if self-employed
• Copy of passport and the residence resolution; the permit is not counted against the employer's foreign-worker quota
• Filed with MITRADEL by a Panamanian attorney and renewed alongside your residence

Panama's digital-nomad permit for people employed or contracted by companies outside Panama. Granted for nine months and renewable once for a further nine. No Panamanian-source income is allowed, and the time does not count towards permanent residence or naturalisation.

• Employment or service contract with a company registered outside Panama
• Proof of at least US$36,000 a year in foreign income, with three months' bank statements
• Sworn affidavit that no income will be earned from Panamanian sources
• Health insurance valid in Panama for the full period of stay
• Apostilled Pakistani Police Character Certificate and passport valid 6+ months

Panama's investor residency. The decree sets no nationality list, so Pakistani nationals can apply, but files from restricted-visa nationalities go through additional security vetting — treat the advertised 30 business days as a best case, not a promise. The investment must be funded from abroad, held in your own name and maintained for five years.

• US$500,000 in titled Panamanian real estate, US$500,000 in securities through a Panama-licensed brokerage, or a US$750,000 five-year fixed-term bank deposit
• Funds wired from abroad in the applicant's own name, with full source-of-funds and source-of-wealth evidence
• Investment maintained for a minimum of five years
• Apostilled Pakistani Police Character Certificate, passport and a Panamanian health certificate
• One personal visit to Panama to register biometrics and collect the residence card

Residence for applicants who place substantial personal assets in Panama — property, a three-year fixed-term bank deposit, or a combination of the two. Two years of temporary residence are granted first, converting to permanent status on renewal. For Pakistani clients the real bottleneck is Panamanian bank onboarding, not the immigration file.

• US$300,000 in titled Panamanian real estate, a three-year fixed-term deposit with a Panamanian bank, or a combination
• Add US$2,000 to the qualifying amount for each dependant included
• Bank confirmation that the funds were transferred from abroad, with documented source of funds
• Apostilled Pakistani Police Character Certificate and a Panamanian health certificate
• Filing by a Panamanian attorney and personal attendance in Panama for biometrics

For entrepreneurs who capitalise and genuinely run a Panamanian company, requiring paid-in capital and real local hiring. A separate reforestation-investor category exists at a lower entry point for certified projects of at least five hectares — worth checking if the trading-business route is not a fit.

• At least US$160,000 paid-in capital in a Panamanian company registered in your own name
• At least five Panamanian employees on full-time contracts registered with the CSS and MITRADEL
• Company incorporation deed, RUC tax registration and accountant-certified financial statements
• Bank evidence that the capital was wired into Panama from abroad
• Apostilled Pakistani Police Character Certificate and a Panamanian health certificate

Permanent residence for people with a guaranteed lifetime pension, carrying Panama's statutory discounts on transport, healthcare and utilities. Be realistic about the threshold: US$1,000 a month is well above most Pakistani state and corporate pensions at current exchange rates, so this route mainly suits clients with an overseas pension.

• Lifetime pension of at least US$1,000 a month, or US$750 if you also own Panamanian property worth US$100,000+
• Add US$250 a month of pension for each dependant included
• Pension certificate from the paying government body, bank or company, apostilled and translated into Spanish
• Bank statements showing the pension actually credited over the last 6–12 months
• Apostilled Pakistani Police Character Certificate and a Panamanian health certificate

Residence for the foreign husband or wife of a Panamanian national, granted provisionally for two years and converted to permanent status afterwards. Scrutiny of genuineness is high and both spouses are interviewed.

• Panamanian marriage certificate, or a Pakistani nikah nama and NADRA marriage certificate apostilled by MoFA, translated and registered with Panama's Civil Registry
• Evidence of a genuine cohabiting marriage — dated photographs, utility bills in both names, joint account statements, witness affidavits
• Joint interview with both spouses at the Servicio Nacional de Migración
• Apostilled Pakistani Police Character Certificate and a Panamanian health certificate
• Panamanian spouse's cédula and proof of income or support

Permanent residence for the foreign parent of a Panamanian-national child, available once the child is over five years old. The applicant must show a genuine parental and financial relationship with the child.

• Panamanian birth certificate naming you as the parent; the child must already be over five years of age
• Evidence of support and contact — school fee receipts, medical bills, shared address or maintenance transfers
• Apostilled Pakistani Police Character Certificate and a Panamanian health certificate
• Passport valid 6+ months and filing through a Panamanian attorney

Family reunification for the spouse and children of someone holding Panamanian residence, and for dependent parents in the categories that permit them. Dependants are filed with, or after, the main applicant and normally track the main applicant's status.

• Spouse, children under 18, or children under 25 in full-time study, plus dependent parents where the category allows
• NADRA marriage and birth certificates apostilled by MoFA Pakistan and translated by a Panamanian authorised public translator
• Proof the main applicant supports them, plus any extra investment or income top-up the main category requires
• Apostilled Police Character Certificate for each dependant over 18, and a Panamanian health certificate