Key Takeaways
- The countdown is over. The 15 October 2026 deadline that agents and guides have quoted for two years no longer exists. Executive Decree 17 of 8 September 2026 replaced the 2020 rules it came from.
- One program, two prices for property. Resale homes now need at least $500,000. The base minimum for the program stays at $300,000.
- The fine print got stricter. Payments go through a licensed trust or an enforceable bank guarantee, the investment is held for five years, and proof is filed every year.
- Signed before September? You have six months. Earlier investments and binding contracts can still use the old rules if the application is filed within six months of the decree taking effect.
The deadline that disappeared
For most of the past two years, Panama's Golden Visa came with a clock attached. The $300,000 real estate minimum was described as temporary, due to rise to $500,000 after 15 October 2026. Sales pitches and online guides told buyers to "close before October."
That clock stopped on 16 September. On that day the Gaceta Oficial, Panama's official gazette, published Executive Decree 17 of 8 September 2026. Its title leaves no room for doubt: it subroga, or replaces in full, Executive Decree 722 of 15 October 2020 "and its amendments." The amendment that created the October deadline went with it.
So if you have a reminder set for 15 October, you can delete it. The rules you need to know are already in force.
Two prices for one skyline
The headline change is that Panama now treats new and second-hand property differently.
Investment | Minimum under Decree 17 | What the decree says |
Base rule for any qualifying investment | $300,000 | Funds from abroad, held personally or through a company the applicant ultimately owns |
Resale (secondary-market) property | $500,000 | A property previously sold, occupied, rented or transferred to an unrelated third party |
Securities through a licensed brokerage | $500,000 | Bought through a Casa de Valores licensed by Panama's securities regulator and held for at least five years |
Amounts are in balboas, which trade one-to-one with the US dollar.
The definition of "resale" is broad on purpose. A flat does not have to have changed hands several times to count. If it has ever been sold, lived in or rented out, it sits in the $500,000 tier. In practice, a buyer who wants to stay at the $300,000 base should be looking at property that has never been sold, lived in or rented.
The fine print is the real story
The price tiers make the headlines, but the rules on how the money moves will shape most purchases.
- Pay through a trust, or guarantee the payment. The decree lets buyers pay into a trust run by a bank or trust company licensed in Panama. Pay a developer in full instead, and you must provide an enforceable bank guarantee and renew it every year.
- Five years, proven every year. The investment has to stay in place for five years, with annual certification of the payments or an updated guarantee.
- Appraisals with teeth. When the authorities ask for a valuation, it must be less than six months old and signed by an independent appraiser recognised by Banco Nacional de Panamá and Caja de Ahorros. The appraiser has to declare any conflict of interest.
- Questions at any stage. The Ministry of Commerce and Industries and the National Migration Service can ask for more documents at any point to check where the money came from.
The practical lesson: the paperwork has to be built carefully from the very first transfer.
Already signed? Read this first
The decree includes a transition rule that matters more than any headline figure for people who were mid-purchase:
- Applications filed with the Ministry or the Migration Service before the decree took effect are decided under the old requirements and amounts.
- Investments and binding contracts completed before the decree can still use the old regime, as long as the application is filed within six months of the decree taking effect.
A buyer who signed a $300,000 resale purchase in the summer is therefore not stuck. But the six-month window is now the date that counts, not 15 October.
What we cannot confirm yet
Two things are still unclear, and we would rather say so than guess.
Law firm summaries of Decree 17 report new minimums for bank deposits, including a lower figure for deposits at Panama's state banks. We have not yet confirmed those amounts in the official text, so we are not quoting them here. We will update this article when we do.
Panama's investment promotion portal also still describes the 2020 rules at the time of writing. When an official page and the official gazette disagree, the gazette is the law.
What to do now
- Check which tier your property is in before you pay a reservation fee. Ask the seller in writing whether the unit has ever been sold, occupied or rented.
- Plan the payment route first. Decide between a licensed trust and a bank guarantee before you sign, because the guarantee has to be renewed every year.
- Keep every transfer traceable, from your bank at home to the account in Panama. The authorities can ask for it at any stage, and you will prove the investment every year for five years.
- If you signed before September, count six months, not the old October date.
Full details on the program, including family members and the path to citizenship, are on our Panama Golden Visa page. Read more about life and costs on our Panama country page.
Source: Executive Decree No. 17 of 8 September 2026, Gaceta Oficial No. 30613, 16 September 2026.
