Visas and Residence
Panama is a cosmopolitan country where one of the main reasons the alien wants to immigrate to our country is the low costs of life as the primary reason, followed by the climate contrast, the politics and fiscal advantages.
Chen Lee & Associates offers professional services for obtaining visas of different nature, such as Tourism Visas, Short Stay Visas, Temporary and Permanent Residences, Retired or Pensioned Residence, Retired Independent Residence, among others, being Panama a country with many offers for the tourist or the foreign immigrant who wishes to live in Panama.
With total knowledge and dominion of the New Legislation adopted in the year 2008 and its Regulation in Migratory and Labor Migrations of the Republic of Panama, you shall contact us for more information on your migratory category.
For more information please access the following links:
In the Republic of Panama, the migratory rules are in constant changes, currently the Panama National Service of Migration demands:
- All permit requests for permanent residence shall be handled through a Panamanian lawyer.
- In general, there is no requirement of minimum or maximum age for request of any residence permit, except for the minimum legal age of 18 years. Young people under 18 years old can qualify for one visa as dependents of their parents.
- Children over 18 and less than 25 years old could be asked for as dependents, as long as they study regularly and are under the economical dependency of the resident or local. The resident or local that confirms to have the custody of the minor person could be able to request him as dependent.
- All documents that shall be submitted by the alien to the Panamanian authorities must be authenticated by a notary and by a Consulate of Panama or with the Apostille. The Apostille (Convention de La Haye of 1961) is one of the fastest way to authenticate documents and normally is obtained through the Secretary of State in its State of origin (in the U.S.A.) or by the Foreign Office (in the United Kingdom). Not available in Canada.
- All the documents shall have to be recent (within 3 months of the visa request) and the passports must have at least 1 year of validity.
- Dependents: If your spouse is to be covered by your visa, you need to bring two original certificate of marriage. If your children (under 18 years old), are included in your visa, you need to bring two original of their birth certificates. None of these residence permits grant working permits, unless otherwise is specified.
- All residence permits require that you obtain in Panama a certificate of good health. We will help you with this, as part of the application process.
- All residence permits require that all applicants over 18 years old have a Registry of Criminal or Police records of their last place of residence. In those countries where such document is not issued, the interest party shall contribute with a certification of a diplomatic or consular agent of his country of origin credited in the Republic of Panama, in which the nonexistence of such certificate consists and a sworn declaration before notary public, which states that there are no criminal records.
- All applications require 6 photos passport size (men in suit and necktie, ladies in blouses or dresses with sleeves - no hats or scarves).
- All requests are subject to decision of the Migration National Service.
For additional specific requirements of each residence permit, please contact us.
