Panama Residency Through A Company: What Our Clients Are Asking For In 2026

Around three of my clients in recent weeks have started their enquiry with the same question about Panama.

They are not asking whether Panama is a good place to live. They’re asking whether it’s true that they can buy property through a company, rather than in their own name, and still qualify for permanent residency.

The answer is yes, and Panama is one of very few countries where both of those things line up.

It’s worth being clear that the company route is not the standard way into Panama’s Qualified Investor Program. Most of our clients buy their qualifying property in their own name, and that remains the main route.

Holding the property through a corporation or foundation is an additional option the program allows, and it suits a smaller group of clients whose existing holdings are already structured that way. The investment thresholds, the residency rights and the path to citizenship are the same whichever route a client takes.

What Is Driving The Interest

Privacy and long-term planning have moved up the list of priorities for internationally mobile families this year. Clients want a structure that fits how they already hold their assets, and they want it in a jurisdiction where that structure also delivers a residency permit.

Very few programs allow that. Most Golden Visa programs require the applicant to hold the qualifying investment personally, and the ones that permit corporate ownership tend not to grant residency off the back of it. Panama’s Qualified Investor Program does both.

The clients asking about this route are not being drawn in by Panama itself. They are being drawn in by the way Panama lets them do it. Once they look closer, the country’s own strengths tend to close the deal.

How The Company Route Works

The Qualified Investor Program grants permanent residency from day one against an investment held for a minimum of five years.

The real estate route requires US$300,000 in a new-build property or US$500,000 in a resale property, titled and free of liens.

The alternatives are US$500,000 in Panamanian securities or a US$750,000 fixed-term bank deposit.

Where Panama differs from other programs is in who can hold the property. Clients on this route are choosing between two structures.

• A Panamanian corporation that owns the property directly. This is the option my clients are gravitating towards. The corporation is the registered owner of the property, and the beneficial owner is identified to the bank, the lawyers handling the purchase and the Panamanian authorities under the country’s beneficial ownership rules.
• A Panamanian private interest foundation connected to an existing trust, usually in the US. This suits wealthier families who already hold assets through a trust and want the Panama investment to sit inside that planning rather than alongside it. The same beneficial ownership disclosure applies.

Both structures go through full due diligence, and the source of funds is verified before the purchase and the residency application go ahead.

In my experience the residency approval takes around 45 days once the investment is in place and the documents are filed. There is no minimum stay requirement, so clients can hold the residency and continue living elsewhere.

What Else Panama Offers

The more time we spend discussing Panama with clients and partners, the clearer it becomes that the investment threshold is only part of its appeal.

Panama’s economy runs on the US dollar. The balboa is pegged one-to-one and dollars circulate as legal tender, so clients are not taking on currency risk on the investment.

Tax is levied on a territorial basis, meaning only Panamanian-source income is taxed in Panama. Income from the Panamanian property itself, such as rent, falls within that. Tax is a matter for the client’s own tax advisers rather than something we advise on, and a residency permit on its own doesn’t change anyone’s tax position.

It is possible to apply for citizenship after five years of permanent residency. Naturalisation carries its own requirements, which we talk through with each client individually.

Panama holds a bilateral treaty with the United States that makes Panamanian citizens eligible to apply for the US E-2 investor visa. Under US rules, investors who acquire citizenship through investment generally need to have been domiciled in Panama for at least three years before they can apply. That makes the E-2 a longer-term benefit, and a significant draw for clients with US business interests who plan to build a genuine base in the country.

Geography matters too as clients see value in a safe, stable base in the same time zone as the US with strong commercial ties to it, and the country is investing heavily in its own infrastructure.

When my colleagues and I attended the Investment Migration Forum in Paris earlier this year, the Panamanian delegation had around 20 people promoting the country to advisers. That level of effort tells you how seriously the government is taking the sector.

Where This Goes Next

Based on what I’m hearing from clients, I expect the company route to become one of the more popular options over the next two years.

Demand for privacy and structured ownership is not going away, and Panama is one of the few countries still offering a real estate path to residency at all. Portugal closed its property option in 2023 and several European programs have followed.

The Caribbean programs are going through a period of reform under EU scrutiny, and while they remain strong options for clients whose priority is a second citizenship, some investors are looking for a residency route in the Americas to sit alongside them. Panama fits that brief.

If the government follows through on clearer rules for the five-year citizenship application, which is something the industry has been asking for, the route becomes more attractive again.

Talk To Us About Panama

Most of the conversations I have about Panama start with one question and end with a much clearer picture of how the structure would work for a client’s own holdings. If you’re considering the company route, I’m happy to talk you through which structure suits you, what the purchase involves and how the residency application fits around it.

Panama also sits comfortably alongside the other programs our team works on. For clients who want a second citizenship as well as a residency base in the Americas, that often means pairing it with one of the Caribbean Citizenship by Investment programs in Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, and Dominica. We also advise on the Portugal Golden Visa, the Greece Golden Visa and the UAE Golden Visa.

Get in touch with me or one of our other advisers to discuss whether the Panama company route fits your plans.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal, tax or immigration advice. Program terms can change, and every application is subject to due diligence and approval by the Panamanian authorities.

Tags: Insights, Panama Qualified Investor Visa News, Richard Jacks