Decree 17 Replaces The 2020 Framework For Qualified Investor Residency
Panama has issued a new decree for the permanent residency subcategory held by qualified investors. Executive Decree No. 17 was published on 16 September 2026, setting out the economic, migratory and investment measures that now govern the subcategory.
That matters for anyone advising on Panama: the instrument the market has worked with since 2020 is no longer the operative text. Files prepared against the old decree are being assessed under a framework that has been rewritten rather than amended.
The Property Threshold Now Depends On Whether The Unit Is A First Sale
The most consequential change concerns real estate. Executive Decree No. 17 separates property into two tiers rather than applying one figure across the board.
A new, unoccupied property acquired directly from the developer, the promoter or their successor in interest, and qualifying as a first sale, carries a minimum of US$300,000. Property on the secondary market, meaning a unit that has previously been sold, occupied, leased or transferred to an unrelated third party, carries a minimum of US$500,000.
The practical consequence is that the entry point is now determined by the transaction history of the unit itself. The budget qualifies or does not qualify depending on where the property sits in its own chain of title, which is a different question from the one advisers were asking under the previous decree.
How The Qualifying Amount Is Measured
Executive Decree No. 17 measures the computable net value as the lower of the price actually paid and the reasonably substantiated commercial value. A contract price alone does not establish the qualifying amount, which removes the obvious workaround of writing a higher number into the deed.
Financing is accommodated above the line: the portion of the price exceeding the applicable minimum may be financed where it is documented and traceable. The minimum itself must be genuinely invested.
The Qualifying Routes And Their Minimums
| Qualifying route | Minimum | Term |
|---|---|---|
| First-sale property from the developer | US$300,000 | 5 years |
| Secondary-market property | US$500,000 | 5 years |
| Promise of sale with banking safeguards | US$300,000 | 5 years |
| Securities through a licensed brokerage | US$500,000 | 5 years |
| Deposit with a state institution | US$500,000 | 5 years |
| Deposit with a private bank | US$750,000 | 5 years |
Figures above follow Executive Decree No. 17 as published in Official Digital Gazette No. 30613; the decree is the controlling text and should be read in the Gazette before a file is committed to a route.
Holding Period, Substitution And The Limit On Promises Of Sale
Every route carries a minimum holding period of five years. Where a qualifying investment ceases to exist within that period, the investor has up to 90 calendar days to substitute it with another qualifying investment rather than losing the status outright.
The promise-of-sale route carries its own ceiling: cumulative time counted on promises of sale alone cannot exceed three years. It is a bridge to a completed purchase, not a standing qualifying position.
Transition For Investments Already Committed
Applications already filed remain governed by the requirements in force when they were submitted. Investments perfected before the decree took effect continue to qualify under the previous rules where the corresponding application is filed within six months. Anyone who committed capital under Decree 722 and has not yet filed is working against that window.
Abroad Mobility Note: Access To Qualifying First-Sale Inventory At US$300,000
Because the lower threshold attaches to first-sale units bought directly from the developer, the source of the property now decides the entry point. Abroad Mobility provides its immigration professional partners with access to leading developers in Panama offering qualified investment properties at the US$300,000 threshold, which is precisely the tier the decree reserves for new inventory bought at first sale.
For the wider program context, the Panama residency and citizenship page sets out how the qualified investor route sits alongside Panama’s other residency options.
Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Decree 17 keeps a US$300,000 entry point for Panama’s qualified investor residency but attaches it to first-sale property bought from the developer, while secondary-market property requires US$500,000. With a five-year holding period across the routes and a six-month transition for investments perfected under the old decree, the choice of property and the timing of the filing now carry more weight than the headline figure alone.
