In August we flagged that the $300,000 real estate threshold for Panama's Qualified Investor Visa was scheduled to double on October 15. Executive Decree No. 17, published September 16, just answered the question — and the answer isn't a flat doubling for everyone.
On September 8, 2026, the Panamanian government signed Executive Decree No. 17, published in Official Gazette No. 30613 on September 16. It replaces Executive Decree No. 722 of 2020 and its amendments — including Decree 193 of 2024, the amendment that first introduced the $300,000 real estate threshold and the scheduled reversion we wrote about in August. Decree 17 doesn't carry that October 15 sunset forward. Instead, it splits the real estate route into two permanent tiers.
Source: NDM Law Firm & Associates' analysis of Executive Decree No. 17 of September 8, 2026 (Official Gazette No. 30613).
The $300,000 minimum survives — but only for a new property: a first sale, meaning a new, unoccupied unit transferred directly by the developer or promoter. Segregation, improvement declarations, trust contributions or corporate reorganizations don't strip a unit of its first-sale status, as long as it was never sold to an unrelated third party along the way. A resale property — anything previously sold, occupied, leased or transferred to an unrelated third party — now needs $500,000, up from the $300,000 that applied under the old decree.
| Route | Before Decree 17 | Under Decree 17 |
|---|---|---|
| New / first-sale real estate | $300,000 | $300,000 — unchanged |
| Resale real estate | $300,000 | $500,000 |
| Securities (brokerage) | $500,000 | $500,000, now with a 5-year hold requirement |
| Fixed-term deposit, private bank | $750,000 | $750,000 — unchanged |
| Fixed-term deposit, Banco Nacional / Caja de Ahorros | Not available | $500,000, new route |
A promise-to-purchase on a pre-construction unit still qualifies at $300,000. What changed is how that money has to be protected: it either sits in a trust deposit with a licensed bank or trust company, or — if paid directly to the developer — it must be backed by an irrevocable bank instrument (a standby letter of credit, bank guarantee, or performance bond) covering the full amount, renewed annually until the unit is registered in the buyer's name. If a developer defaults, the buyer has 180 business days to replace the investment. A buyer may switch to a second promise agreement only once, and residency supported solely by promise agreements can't run past three years in total before the title needs to convert to a registered deed.
The threshold didn't get harder to hit. It got harder to hit with the wrong kind of property.
The $500,000 brokerage-account route is unchanged in size, but Decree 17 now requires the capital to stay invested for five uninterrupted years. Market losses alone don't breach the minimum — a voluntary withdrawal, sale or pledge does, and triggers a 90-day window to restore the balance.
The $750,000 fixed-term deposit at any licensed private bank is unchanged. But depositing directly with Banco Nacional de Panamá or Caja de Ahorros now qualifies at $500,000, held five uninterrupted years, funded by international SWIFT transfer — a new, lower entry point the old rules didn't offer.
Under Article 19 of the decree, investments and binding contracts completed before Decree 17 took effect can still use the previous rules — provided the residency application is filed within six months of the decree's entry into force. That matters most for anyone who had already closed a $300,000 resale purchase before September 2026: the old threshold still applies to that specific deal, but only inside the filing window.
Every unit we currently show — Uptown, Generation Tower, Dieci, Selvática, Aurum, Kyte, The Hub, Euphoria, Pino Alto among them — is new-construction, first-sale inventory sold directly through the developer. That's precisely the category Decree 17 keeps at $300,000. A buyer chasing that number specifically for the Qualified Investor Visa should now be looking at new allocations rather than resale listings — the math on a resale unit changed, the math on ours didn't.
This summarizes NDM Law Firm & Associates' published analysis of Executive Decree No. 17 of September 8, 2026. It is not legal advice — confirm current requirements with a licensed Panamanian immigration attorney before filing.