Panama City, Panama
GayExpatsPanama.com
The honest guide to moving to Panama — written by gay expats, read by everyone
We built a bar on the Mediterranean in 2007. Then 2008 happened and it closed in early 2010. We know what it looks like when an international move goes wrong — and what it takes to do it right the second time. This site is what we wish had existed when we started researching Panama.
We’re Brian and Kent — a gay couple in St. Petersburg, Florida, planning a move to Panama in the next three to five years. Brian has his temporary Pensionado residency card. Kent’s application follows. We’ve walked the neighborhoods, met the attorney, priced the grocery stores and hardware stores, and documented all of it here. Read the trip diary →
The honest take
Panama isn’t perfect. Neither is anywhere else.
We won’t tell you what you want to hear. We’ll tell you what you need to know — including the parts that other sites skip over because they’re inconvenient.
What Panama genuinely offers
Private healthcare that is genuinely excellent at a fraction of U.S. costs — and accessible without a referral, without a six-week wait. The Pensionado visa is one of the most straightforward retirement residency programs in the world, and the discounts that come with it add up fast.
A real LGBTQ+ social scene in Panama City — bars, a sauna, a Pride that draws tens of thousands, and a community of gay expats who are genuinely welcoming to newcomers. Three hours from Miami. U.S. dollars, so no exchange rate risk. Local produce — especially fruit — that is meaningfully better and cheaper than anything we’ve found in Florida.
And a city that feels like a genuine place to live, not a retirement development. Panama City is ambitious and fast-moving in a way that makes daily life feel alive.
What it doesn’t offer
Legal recognition of same-sex partnerships doesn’t exist in Panama. Your relationship has no legal standing there without specific documents in place — and every couple needs to understand what those documents are before arriving, not after something happens.
Anti-discrimination protections on the books: none. The gay scene exists and is growing, but it is concentrated in Panama City. Outside the capital, visibility drops significantly. Public affection is more complicated than in the U.S. or Europe.
The heat in April — and we cannot stress this enough — is serious. Anyone who runs warm should factor in the daily logistics of managing body temperature as a genuine consideration, not a footnote.
Read the full honest assessment →Don’t miss what we post next
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Everything covered
Whatever stage you’re at, start here
In-depth guides on every topic that matters — written for gay expats, useful for everyone.
Visas & Residency
Pensionado, Friendly Nations, investor options — what each requires and which fits your situation.
Read the guide →Cost of Living
Real numbers, by location — with honest sample budgets not built around the cheapest possible lifestyle.
Read the guide →LGBTQ+ Life
Where the community lives, what the scene looks like, and what daily life as a gay expat actually feels like.
Read the guide →Legal Protections
The documents every same-sex couple needs before arriving — and why they matter more than you think.
Read the guide →Healthcare
Private hospitals, LGBTQ+-affirming providers, insurance options, and PrEP access in Panama.
Read the guide →Neighborhoods
Where to live based on how you actually want to live — walkability, housing type, and LGBTQ+ presence.
Read the guide →From the blog
The guides tell you what to expect. The blog shows you what it actually costs.
Our blog started with thirteen daily dispatches from our April 2026 research trip — real prices, real neighborhoods, the attorney meetings, the hardware stores, the gay bars, and it keeps going from there. In coming weeks we’re adding: electricity rates, mini-splits vs. central A/C, health insurance in practice, specific store pricing, and how to receive mail when your country has no postal delivery. The kind of detail that only comes from people who actually live this.
The attorney meeting, the health certificate, and what the Pensionado week actually looks like
Brian hands over his passport at Morgan & Morgan. The Monday-to-Friday timeline, the documents you need, and what each step actually involves — from someone in the middle of it.
Read the post →Grocery prices at three Panama City stores — Riba Smith, Super 99, and PriceSmart compared
Real shelf prices, photographed in April 2026. Chicken, eggs, produce, staples — all three stores side by side so you can see what the grocery math actually looks like.
Read the post →Making friends in Panama — how to build a social life from scratch as a gay expat
The apps, the bars, the community organizations, and the practical strategies — with honest advice on what actually works for gay men building community in a new country.
Read the post →Updated regularly — bookmark the blog to follow along.
Start reading
Most-read articles
The pieces readers come back to most — and share most often.
Is Panama Right for You?
The honest, LGBTQ+-centered answer to the question every gay expat asks before they start packing.
Read the article · 15 min → LegalLegal Protections for Same-Sex Couples
The documents you need before you arrive. What they protect. Why they matter more than you think.
Read → LGBTQ+ LifeLGBTQ+ Life in Panama City
Where the community is, what it looks like, and what daily life actually feels like on the ground.
Read →The questions only we ask
Sound familiar?
These are the real questions behind every search that leads someone here.
“Will I be safe as a gay man in Panama? Can my partner and I live openly?”
LGBTQ+ Safety →“If something happens to me, does my partner have any legal rights at all?”
Legal Protections →“What does it actually cost two people to live well in Panama City?”
Cost of Living →“Can I get a visa if I don’t have a pension? I’m still working remotely.”
Visas & Residency →“Is the healthcare actually good? Will providers be okay with who we are?”
Healthcare →“Is there a real gay community there, or would we be completely on our own?”
Community & Social Life →Free guide
A complete guide to moving to Panama for LGBTQ+ expats
Everything in one place. Visas, costs, healthcare, the LGBTQ+ social scene, legal protections for couples, and a 13-step relocation checklist. No sales pitch. No course upsell. Just the guide, free, because this information should exist.
What’s inside
✓Written for gay and LGBTQ+ expats specifically
✓Updated for 2026 visa and legal requirements
✓Covers same-sex couple legal protections
✓13-step relocation plan
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Who’s behind this
Two gay Americans. One big move.
In 2007 we opened a bar in Marbella, Spain. We’d moved from California, bought land, designed the space, built it from scratch. For a few years it was exactly the life we’d been planning. Then the 2008 financial crisis arrived, took most of what we’d built, and we came back to the U.S. knowing exactly what it costs when an international move goes wrong.
We spent twelve years rebuilding — Phoenix, then St. Petersburg — and never stopped thinking about trying again. This time with clearer eyes, better preparation, and a site that documents everything so other people don’t have to start from scratch.
GayExpatsPanama.com exists because we couldn’t find a resource that treated LGBTQ+ people as the primary audience. Every guide we found addressed our concerns in a paragraph at the end. We wanted the version where our questions are at the center.
Where things stand — April 2026
Brian’s residency card
Temporary Pensionado residency issued. Permanent card expected September 2026.
Attorney
Carolina Tejada Vaprio, Morgan & Morgan — Panama’s largest law firm.
Neighborhoods on our shortlist
San Francisco, Hato Pintado (southern), Bethania. Looking for single-family homes with flat terrain.
Move timeline
Three to five years, while building financial reserves for a comfortable long-term retirement.