For most of this year, the question around Panama’s Qualified Investor Visa was whether the $300,000 real estate minimum would survive. We reported both sides of that: our attorney told us in June 2026 that $300,000 would stay, while the decrees on the books pointed to a reversion to $500,000 in October 2026. On September 16, 2026, Panama answered with something neither side quite predicted — a split.

Executive Decree No. 17 keeps the $300,000 minimum for brand-new and pre-construction property and raises it to $500,000 for anything that’s been lived in, rented or sold before. This is an executive order, not a new law passed by the National Assembly, and it replaces the 2020 decree that has governed the program until now. If you were planning to qualify with a $300,000 resale condo, that plan just got $200,000 more expensive — or it needs a different visa.

What Actually Changed

Decree 17 rewrites the rules for Panama’s Qualified Investor program, the route that grants permanent residency in exchange for a qualifying investment. The headline change is in real estate, where the price now depends on whether the property is new to the market.

What counts as “resale”

This is the definition that matters. According to the reporting on the decree, a secondary-market property is one that has previously been commercialized, occupied, rented or transferred to a third party. A first-sale property is the initial acquisition of a new, unoccupied unit transferred by the developer or its successor, proven through a Public Registry certification plus construction and occupancy permits and tax records.

Read that definition carefully. A “new” unit the developer rented out for a year while it sat unsold may no longer qualify as a first sale. The label on the listing doesn’t decide it — the paperwork does.

Why Panama did it

The decree’s preamble is unusually direct. New construction, it says, reactivates the construction industry, energizes the local supply chain and reduces unsold primary inventory, while resale purchases have a substantially lower job-creation impact. In plain terms: Panama wants investor money going into new buildings, not changing hands on existing ones.

When It Took Effect — and Who’s Grandfathered

The decree was signed September 8, 2026, published in the Official Gazette (Gaceta Oficial Digital No. 30613) on September 16, 2026, and took effect on publication. There was no advance notice period. If you were house-hunting on September 15, the rules changed overnight.

There are three protections for people already in motion:

• Applications already filed before September 16, 2026 proceed under the old requirements and amounts.
• Investments or contracts made before September 16 can still use the old rules — including $300,000 for any real estate — as long as the application is filed within six months of the decree taking effect. By our math that lands around mid-March 2027, but confirm the exact deadline with your attorney.
• Investment certifications already issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MICI) remain valid until they expire.

The Other Changes Buried in the Decree

The resale price grabbed the headlines, but Decree 17 tightens the program in several other ways that affect how you buy, not just what you pay.

Your own money, with a paper trail

The qualifying investment must come from the applicant’s own funds, with documented ownership and traceability. Gifts and donations don’t count toward the minimum. Foreign-source funds are defined as money that entered Panama’s financial system through an international transfer. Law-firm summaries describe the expected trail as international wires via SWIFT.

The government can question your price

If the cadastral value looks misaligned with the purchase price, or if there’s reasonable doubt about market value, MICI can require an independent commercial appraisal. It has to be dated within six months before filing, prepared by an appraiser recognized by Banco Nacional and Caja de Ahorros, and you pay for it. The “$300,000 on paper” purchase of a property worth less is exactly what this is designed to catch.

Pre-construction now has guardrails — and a time limit

Off-plan purchases still qualify at $300,000, but the developer must provide an irrevocable, unconditional bank instrument (such as a standby letter of credit) guaranteeing the project. If the contract fails, you get 180 business days to substitute another qualifying investment, once. And residency based solely on promise-of-sale contracts is capped at three years total. If the building isn’t finished and titled by then, the permit can be cancelled.

Annual check-ins for five years

Residents must file an annual certification with MICI within the 30 days before each investment anniversary. Sell or swap the investment early and you have 90 days to reinvest, or the residency can be cancelled outright. Published summaries differ slightly on whether the five-year clock starts when the investment is made or when residency is granted — another question for your attorney.

The good news

Processing targets are now written down: 15 business days for MICI to issue the investment certification, and 30 business days for the National Migration Service to decide. Adding a spouse married after approval, or a new child, costs $1,000 each. And for the first time the program decree addresses naturalization, confirming that qualified investors can apply after five consecutive years of residence — with no fast track and no guarantee.

Friendly Nations: Still $200,000

We checked, because it’s the first question anyone buying a sub-$500,000 resale home should ask. Decree 17 governs the Qualified Investor program only. None of the news coverage or law-firm summaries of the decree that we reviewed mentions any change to the Friendly Nations Visa, and current 2026 legal guides still list the same three qualifying routes:

• Real estate: a property purchase of at least $200,000.
• Bank deposit: $200,000 in a Panamanian fixed-term deposit for three years.
• Employment: a formal job offer from a Panamanian company, with Ministry of Labor authorization.

The only recent Friendly Nations change we found was the addition of Ecuador to the eligible-country list by Executive Decree No. 16 of August 31, 2026 — same procedure, same costs, same stages. U.S. citizens remain eligible.

For a $250,000 or $400,000 resale condo, Friendly Nations is now the obvious path. But it isn’t the same product, and pretending it is would be doing you a disservice.

Qualified Investor vs. Friendly Nations: The Real Difference

The difference that matters most is time. The Qualified Investor Visa grants permanent residency from approval. Friendly Nations grants two years of provisional (temporary) residency first, after which you file a separate application for permanent residency. Legal guides put the full Friendly Nations path at roughly two and a half years.

That last row is easy to overlook. Panama’s naturalization eligibility runs off years of permanent residency, so Friendly Nations’ two-year provisional stage pushes back the earliest date you could even apply for citizenship — assuming you want it. For a retiree who just wants to live here legally, the provisional stage mostly means one more application and one more round of fees. For someone who cares about the citizenship timeline, it’s two years.

How This Changes Buying Decisions

Here’s where we think the decree actually bites. Some of this is straightforward reading of the rules; some is our judgment about where the market goes. We’ve tried to label which is which.

The $300,000–$499,999 resale band just lost its investor-visa buyers

Resale properties in that range were the sweet spot for Qualified Investor applicants — enough to qualify, no more. That buyer is now either shopping new construction, switching to Friendly Nations, or stretching to $500,000. Our read, not a prediction: sellers in that band who were counting on visa-driven demand may find fewer foreign buyers and more negotiating room for everyone else.

New construction gets a thumb on the scale

This is the uncomfortable part for us. In our own property-buying guide, we’ve argued that resale is generally lower risk for people who plan to live in the home: you can see the building’s management, the real HOA fees, the actual electricity bills and the neighbors. A brand-new building has no track record on any of that. Decree 17 now makes new construction $200,000 cheaper for anyone who wants permanent residency on day one. Don’t let the visa discount talk you into a building you wouldn’t otherwise choose — and expect some developers to price that discount into their units.

Pre-construction is cheaper, but the clock is real

Off-plan still qualifies at $300,000, with better protections than before. But the three-year cap on residency based only on a promise-of-sale contract turns a construction delay into an immigration problem. In Panama, construction delays are not a remote possibility.

Fixer-uppers and buy-to-remodel plans need a rethink

Every fixer-upper is a resale property. If your plan was to buy an older house for $300,000 and renovate, that purchase no longer qualifies for the Qualified Investor Visa. Your options are to buy at $500,000 or more, or use Friendly Nations at $200,000. We have not seen anything indicating that renovation spending counts toward the qualifying amount, so don’t assume it does.

The “rent first, buy later” trade-off shifted

Renting for a year before buying remains good advice for most people. But this decree is a reminder that the rules can change between the day you start renting and the day you buy. Anyone whose visa depends on a property purchase is carrying that risk while they wait.

The $500,000 state-bank deposit has an open question

The new $500,000 deposit option at Banco Nacional or Caja de Ahorros is a genuine alternative for someone who doesn’t want to own real estate. But in our banking research, we found that Panama’s two state banks typically require permanent residency and a cédula before opening accounts for foreigners. How a non-resident opens that deposit to qualify for residency in the first place is something we haven’t been able to confirm. Ask before you plan around it.

For couples: whose money is it?

The own-funds and no-gifts rules raise a question we haven’t seen answered anywhere. If a couple sells a jointly owned home and one partner uses the proceeds to qualify, does the other partner’s share count as that applicant’s own money, or as a gift? For a married straight couple, Panama’s recognition of the marriage may simplify this. Panama does not recognize same-sex marriage for immigration purposes, so gay couples should get a written answer from their attorney on how to document the funds before any money moves.

What This Means for Kent

Brian’s residency is already done — his Pensionado visa was approved in July 2026 and isn’t affected by any of this. Kent is the one who has been looking at the Qualified Investor Visa, and Decree 17 reopens the question of which visa he’ll actually use.

The honest context: Kent’s filing is roughly five years away. That’s long enough for these rules to change again, in either direction. So we’re not making a decision today. What the decree does change is the list of questions. If the home we eventually buy is new construction, the Qualified Investor route still works at $300,000. If it’s a resale home under $500,000, Friendly Nations becomes the more likely path, and the trade-off is the two-year provisional stage. If it’s a resale home at $500,000 or more, nothing changes except the paperwork.

What to Do Now

1. If you bought or signed before September 16, 2026: talk to your attorney immediately about filing within the six-month transition window.
2. If you’re shopping a resale property under $500,000: decide whether Friendly Nations works for you before you make an offer, not after.
3. If you’re shopping new construction: get the Public Registry certification and occupancy permits that prove first-sale status, and evaluate the building as a place to live, not just a visa ticket.
4. If you’re considering pre-construction: confirm the developer’s bank guarantee exists and model what happens to your residency if completion slips past three years.
5. Before any money moves: map the paper trail with your attorney — whose funds, which account, which wire. Gifts won’t count.
6. Get it in writing: ask your immigration attorney to confirm the current threshold that applies to your specific property before you sign a promise to purchase.