She worked at the Justice Department and at the Judicial Branch,
achieving an appointment as Assistant Judge of the Criminal Branch
Circuit, before entering private practice 11 years ago.
Salduba Building, Third Floor
53rd East Street, Marbella
Panama City, Republic of Panama
507.269.2641 Phone
507.263-8079 Fax
quijano@quijano.com
www.quijano.com
Government, seeking to offer foreign
investors migratory stability, created
immigration policies directed towards
increasing foreign investment in Panama.
The existing immigration policies, up
until 2012, prevented some companies
from broadening their services because
the hiring of expert foreign personnel
in certain fields was limited by Article
17 of the Labor Code. According to the
code, an employer cannot hire foreigners
whose wages surpass 10 percent of the
payroll of Panamanian employees, for as
long as the employee does not acquire
the status of permanent residence.
Therefore, taking into consideration
the number of foreign nationals of certain
countries that are subject to "expatriation
contracts" by the headquarters of
companies recently established in
Panama, and the interest of many
foreigners to establish new businesses
create the migratory subcategory called
"Permanent Resident in the capacity of
foreign national of specific countries that
maintain friendly, professional, economic
and investment relationships with the
Republic of Panama." The category
grants the foreigner the possibility of
obtaining an indefinite work permit,
without it being related to a specific
company or the number of Panamanian
workers hired versus foreigners.
Among the foreigners who may opt
for this type of permanent resident
(pursuant to the provisions of Article 2
of Executive Decree No. 416 of June 15,
2012, modified by Executive Decree No.
548 of May 14, 2013), are the nationals
of: Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
Germany, Argentina, Australia, Korea,
Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Canada,
Spain, United States of America,
Slovak Republic, France, Finland, the
Czech Republic, Switzerland, Singapore,
Uruguay, Chile, Sweden, Poland,
Hungary, Greece, Portugal, Croatia,
Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Cyprus,
Malta, Serbia, Montenegro, Israel,
Denmark, South Africa, New Zealand,
Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein,
Monaco, Andorra, Marino, Taiwan and
Costa Rica.
To obtain said residence permit, the
foreigner must submit his/her passport
with a minimum of six months before
its expiration, a second identification
document whereby he/she evidences
his/her nationality, police record
from his/her country of origin or of
residence (U.S. citizens must submit a
certification issued by the FBI). In the
case of dependents, it is necessary to
submit a certification that evidences the
relationship, to have a bank account at a
local bank with a balance not under four
figures, a document certifying a domicile
in Panama and all documentation
evidencing the purpose for requesting
the permanent residence pursuant to the
economic or professional activity to be
carried out in Panama.
Nationalities with Right to Request Residence
in the Republic of Panama