Panama set to introduce new immigration law
sduford on Jul 03 2008 at 12:41 pm | Filed under: Panama
If you are planning to get a visa for residency in Panama, you may want to start the proceedings real soon. A new draft law is being circulated for comments and the plan is to make it official on August 26th, 2008. There are several changes that will make it more difficult, and more expansive for foreigners to gain residency, Here are some of the main points:
- The Immigration Consultive Commission will be authorized to impose nationality quotas for residency,
- Tourists deemed “persona non grata” may be denied entry on a non-discriminatory basis,
- Tourists may remain in the country for 90 days, renewable for 60 days when justified,
- Monthly pension revenue requirements to apply for a Pensionada visa is doubling to $1000
- Foreign workers must have a salary between US$1,000 and US$1,500 monthly to apply for
residency and work permit, up from US$500,
- Investor visas may only be requested by one applicant per company,
- Forestry visa minimum investment is doubled to US$80,000,
- Small-business investor visa is eliminated,
- Macro-business investor visa minimum investment is doubled to US$200,000,
- Self-solvency investor visa minimum investment is increased to US$350,000 left in deposit for 4 years.
- Application fees will double
So hurry up, get down there, and apply for your visa.
