The cards and documents you receive
Your Pensionado permit itself is indefinite, but you receive several cards along the way. When you file, Immigration gives you a processing card valid for six months. To travel while the application is pending you need a multiple entry and exit visa.
Once approved, you receive your permanent residency card.
When you file
Processing card
Immigration issues a processing card for six months to everyone who files a residency application. The fee table lists B/. 30 for it. No rule we found sets an extension of this card, so the application should be resolved within that time.
If you travel while your application is pending
Multiple entry and exit visa
Without it, you cannot freely leave Panama and come back while the application is in process. It can be issued for up to five years. Fees: B/. 50 for less than a year, B/. 100 for the first year and B/. 25 for each additional year, so five years cost B/. 200. Once you are a resident, you enter and leave without prior authorization.
After approval
Permanent residency card
Once your permit is approved, you are registered in the Foreigners Registry with a permanent number and receive your permanent residency card. For permanent residents the fee table lists B/. 100 for the card, which we confirm before you pay; fingerprint filing and foreigner registration are B/. 5 each. The permit is indefinite; the card is a separate document with its own validity.
As a permanent resident
Identity document from the Electoral Tribunal
The law provides that permanent residents hold the identity document approved by the Electoral Tribunal, often called the cédula E. How and when it is requested, its fee and its validity are set by Electoral Tribunal rules that we confirm for your case before you pay.
- If you obtain your permit through a consulate abroad, it expires if you do not enter Panama within six months.
- There is no legal grace period for an expired card. If your card is about to expire, contact us before the date, not after.
- Your permit can be cancelled if the reason for it ends, for example if you stop receiving your pension. Tell us if your pension changes.
Executive Decree 320 of 2008, article 14; Decree-Law 3 of 2008, article 31(8)
Not sure which card you need next? Send us a photo of the cards you have and we will tell you.
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