Moving to Panama from the USA
Yes, a US citizen can move to Panama, mainly as remote workers and retirees. Both routes are viable, territorial tax means zero Panama income tax, and listings, cost, and healthcare are all verifiable.
- Who it is for: Remote workers and retirees
- Headline cost: From about 820 to 3,200 USD per month
- The tax reality: Pure territorial system means zero Panama tax on US income; self-employed still owe US self-employment tax.
Which route applies to you
If you keep working remotely
Served by the Short-Stay Remote Worker Visa, or Friendly Nations for permanence.
If you live on a pension or investments
Served by the Pensionado Visa, which grants permanent residency from day one.
The visa routes
- Short-Stay Remote Worker Visa
- 36,000 USD per year from foreign employers or clients; 9 months, extendable to about 18, but no path to permanent residency.
- Friendly Nations Visa
- For remote workers who want permanence: a 200,000 USD real-estate buy or bank deposit, then provisional and permanent residency.
- Pensionado Visa
- A 1,000 USD per month lifetime pension (750 USD with a property buy); permanent residency from day one.
The tax reality
Panama runs a pure territorial system: only Panama-source income is taxed, so US pensions, US-employer remote pay, and investment income are fully exempt locally for both segments. There is no treaty and no totalization agreement. US citizens stay on worldwide US taxation, with FEIE (and FTC as backstop) shielding earned remote income. The key bite: FEIE does not cover the 15.3 percent self-employment tax, so self-employed movers still owe it. One gray area to flag: whether remote work physically performed in Panama is Panama-source is open to interpretation, though the prevailing view is foreign-source if all clients are outside Panama.
What it costs
Target cities: Panama City, Boquete.
Panama City single budgets around 820 USD per month plus rent; Boquete comfortable living about 2,200 to 3,200 USD all-in.
Housing listings
Encuentra24 dominates and renders listings in server HTML with no hard anti-bot wall observed.
Healthcare
Two-tier public CSS plus a strong, cheap private sector; expat insurance roughly 100 to 300 USD per month.
Banking and admin
Detailed but tractable; holding or processing residency smooths approval, and a licensed attorney is mandatory for filings.
The single biggest friction
The remote-worker visa is temporary with no permanent-residency path, so staying means a 200,000 USD Friendly Nations route; self-employed movers still owe US self-employment tax.
Plan the move, not just the dream
When you are ready to go from comparing to actually doing it, the Planner turns this into your true all-in budget, your real visa timeline, and steps kept current for Panama.
Sources
Last verified June 2026.
Take Root Abroad is a planning tool, not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax law, and costs change; verify the specifics for your situation with a qualified professional before you act.