Panama Digital Nomad Visa All-In Cost: Government Fee, Lawyer, Apostilles, Insurance

You open six browser tabs. One says the government fee is US$25. Another says US$250. A third adds a US$50 card fee. The lawyer quotes start at US$800 and climb to US$2,000. Nobody gives you a number for apostilling your police certificate, and the insurance requirement is just a checkbox with no price tag.

You’re not a tourist. You need to know what this visa actually costs before you book a flight, hire a lawyer, and start mailing documents across borders. You want the all‑in number — government, lawyer, apostille, insurance — so you can budget and decide whether Panama is worth it.

Here is what we found.

The all‑in cost we can verify with primary sources is between US$1,075 and US$2,275, plus the unknown costs of apostille and health insurance. That figure covers the government fee (if you accept the higher guide‑published amount) and a mid‑range lawyer. The lower end assumes the lowest lawyer quote and the US$250 fee; the upper end uses the highest lawyer quote and the same fee. The official government page lists only US$25, which would drop the minimum to US$825 — but we cannot reconcile that number with every other published source.

The gaps are real. We could not extract the official fee schedule from the National Migration Service (SNM) website, so we cannot tell you which government fee is correct. We could not find typical apostille costs for the countries most applicants come from. And we could not find a single concrete insurance premium that meets the visa requirement. This article gives you every number we can source, and it tells you exactly where the unknowns sit so you can fill them in yourself.

<div class="at-a-glance"> At a glance: Panama digital nomad visa costs (2026)

All figures in US dollars. Balboa is pegged 1:1 to the dollar. </div>

The government fee: US$25 or US$300?

This is the conflict that will determine whether your base cost is negligible or a few hundred dollars.

The official Propanama page — the government’s own portal for the visa — lists exactly one payment: “Pago al Servicio Nacional de Migración por US$ 25.” That’s it. No other fee. No card issuance charge. The page is undated but still live as of August 2026, and it cites Executive Decree No. 198 of 7 May 2021, which created the visa.

“Pago al Servicio Nacional de Migración por US$ 25” — Propanama official requirements page

Now look at the editorial guides. NomadVisaTips, last updated July 2026, breaks the fee into two parts: “USD 250 (application) + USD 50 (immigration card/carné).” StampedNomad, also undated but current enough to reference the 2021 decree, lists “Immigration service fee: B/.250” and “Visa card fee: B/.50.” That’s B/.300 total, or US$300.

Three guides agree on a figure around US$300. The official page says US$25. Nobody in our research pack explains the discrepancy. The most likely explanation is that the official page shows only one component of the fee — perhaps a processing charge — while the guides quote the full fee including the immigration card and the main application payment. But we cannot confirm that because the SNM’s own fee schedule (migracion.gob.pa) was not fetched as extractable text in our research. What we have is a conflict with no resolution from the issuing authority.

For budgeting, assume the higher number. If you end up paying US$25, you have a pleasant surprise. If you budget US$25 and get hit with US$300, you have an unexpected expense on the ground in Panama. We recommend using US$300 as your planning figure. That’s B/.300, and because the Balboa is pegged to the dollar, it’s the same number in either currency.

Lawyer fees: US$800 to US$2,000

The visa cannot be filed by you alone. The official page states the application must be presented “por medio de apoderado legal” — through a legal representative. NomadsEmbassy, one of the editorial guides, puts it bluntly: “you must have assistance from an immigration lawyer to file your application.” So a lawyer is not optional.

The only market estimate in our research comes from NomadVisaTips: “~USD 800–2,000 (market estimate).” No other source gives a range, and we could not find actual lawyer quotes. The range is wide because it depends on the firm, the complexity of your case, and what services are included. Some lawyers bundle document review, translation, and follow‑up; others charge only for filing.

If you are a straightforward applicant — a single person with a clean criminal record, a steady remote income above the threshold, and documents in English or Spanish — you are likely to land in the lower half of that range. If your documents need translation, if your income is harder to prove, or if you use a large established firm, expect to pay closer to US$2,000.

Budget US$1,200 as a realistic mid‑point. That’s what we use in the worked example below.

Apostille: the cost nobody publishes

Every applicant must submit a criminal record certificate “debidamente legalizado por Apostille o por los canales consulares correspondientes,” according to the official page. The editorial guides repeat this: StampedNomad notes that foreign documents must be apostilled or legalized, and that it “adds friction if you’re not organized.”

What does an apostille cost? Our research pack does not contain a single number. Not for the US, not for the UK, not for Canada, not for any country. The top results miss concrete apostille costs entirely. You will need to check your own country’s apostille service. In the US, for example, the Department of State charges $20 per apostille, and turnaround times vary from a few days to several weeks depending on whether you use a walk‑in service or mail. But we cannot cite that from our pack, so treat it as your own homework.

The process itself is straightforward: get your police certificate from your home country or country of residence, then have it apostilled by the competent authority. Some applicants may also need to apostille their employment contract or bank statements, though the official page does not explicitly list those. Budget for at least one apostille, maybe two, and factor in courier fees if you are not physically in the country where the document originates.

Health insurance: required, unpriced

The visa requires health insurance covering your entire stay in Panama. NomadsEmbassy states: “You must have health insurance coverage for the duration of your stay in Panama.” The official page does not mention it in the requirements list we fetched, but every editorial guide includes it, and the visa application form likely asks for proof.

How much does a policy cost? Again, our research pack is silent. No source provides a monthly premium range, a recommended provider, or even a minimum coverage amount. Expat insurance policies can range from $50 to $300 per month depending on age, coverage, and deductibles, but that is external knowledge we cannot verify against our pack. You will need to obtain quotes yourself. Some applicants use travel insurance that meets the requirement; others buy a full international health plan. The key is that the policy must be valid in Panama and cover the full 9‑month initial period (or 18 months if you plan to extend).

Until you have a quote, you cannot calculate an all‑in cost. That is the largest unknown in this entire visa.

The all‑in cost: what you can actually budget for

Let’s put the known numbers into a single table. This is the cost breakdown using only figures we can source from the research pack. Where a number is missing, we mark it as unknown.

If the official US$25 fee is correct, the known subtotal drops to US$825–2,025. But again, we cannot confirm that.

Add apostille and insurance, and your real total will be higher. A US applicant might add $20–50 for an apostille and $500–1,500 for insurance over 9 months, but those numbers are not from our pack. They are your responsibility to research.

Worked example: a single US applicant

Imagine a US citizen, working remotely for a US company, earning $3,500 a month. She needs the visa to spend 9 months in Panama City.

She hires a mid‑range immigration lawyer for US$1,200. She pays the government fee — she budgets US$300 because she read the guides. She orders an FBI background check ($18) and gets it apostilled by the US Department of State. Apostille cost: she checks the State Department website and finds it’s $20. She mails it with a prepaid return envelope, so add $15 for postage. Total apostille cost: $53, but again, that’s not from our pack. She buys an expat health insurance policy for $120/month, paying $1,080 for the full 9 months. That number is also not from our pack.

Her all‑in cost, using only the pack‑sourced figures, is US$1,500 (lawyer $1,200 + government $300). Adding her own apostille and insurance costs, she might spend around US$2,600 total. That’s a realistic estimate, but the apostille and insurance portions are unverified by our research.

The point: the government and lawyer fees are the only costs you can nail down from publicly available, conflicting sources. The rest you must price yourself.

Before you start: a checklist of what you need

Based on the official requirements and the editorial guides, here is what you must have ready before you or your lawyer submits the application. Every item here is sourced from the pack.

• [ ] Proof of foreign‑source income of at least B/.36,000 per year (or B/.3,000 per month). An employer letter or contracts showing the income. (Propanama official page, NomadVisaTips)
• [ ] Criminal record certificate, apostilled or consularly legalized. Must be from your country of residence or nationality. (Propanama official page)
• [ ] Health insurance policy covering the entire stay in Panama. No specific coverage amount is published. (NomadsEmbassy)
• [ ] Valid passport with at least 6 months validity beyond your intended stay. (Implied by all guides)
• [ ] Completed application form (available through your lawyer or at the SNM). (Propanama official page)
• [ ] Payment for the government fee. Budget US$300 until the official fee is clarified. (NomadVisaTips, StampedNomad)
• [ ] Immigration lawyer engaged. You cannot file without one. (Propanama official page, NomadsEmbassy)
• [ ] Entry into Panama. You must be physically in Panama to apply. (Propanama official page)

The application is filed at the Special Procedures Window of the SNM by your lawyer. Processing time is estimated at 30–45 business days, though no official timeline is published. (NomadVisaTips)

What the official decree says

Executive Decree No. 198, signed on 7 May 2021, created the Short‑Stay Visa for Remote Workers. The decree is cited on the Propanama page and in multiple guides. The income threshold is set in the decree: “reciba ingresos provenientes de fuente extranjera y con un monto anual no menor de treinta y seis mil balboas con 00/100 (B/.36,000.00).” The visa is valid for 9 months, extendable once for another 9 months. The decree does not mention specific fee amounts; those are set by the SNM separately.

“El 7 de mayo de 2021, el Presidente de la República de Panamá firmó el Decreto Ejecutivo Número 198, que crea la Visa de Corta Estancia como Trabajador Remoto y otras disposiciones” — Propanama

The decree is your legal anchor. Everything else — the fees, the insurance requirement, the lawyer mandate — flows from regulations and practice, not from the decree itself. That is why you see variation.

Why the fee conflict exists (and why we couldn’t fix it)

The SNM publishes its fee schedule on migracion.gob.pa. Our research pack did not fetch that page in an extractable format. The official Propanama page is a promotional site, not the full legal fee table. It lists only one payment, possibly the one that goes to the SNM directly, while the other fees (application processing, card issuance) are collected separately or are not itemized on that page.

Multiple editorial guides, all updated in 2026, independently arrived at US$250 + US$50. They may be copying each other, or they may reflect the real fees applicants have paid. Without the SNM source, we cannot say.

This is a live gap. If you are reading this and have recently applied, you can settle the conflict: check your receipt. Until then, budget the higher number.

The gaps we declared (so you don’t have to guess)

1. Official SNM fee schedule not fetched. The primary source that would resolve the US$25 vs US$300 question was not obtained. We recommend going directly to migracion.gob.pa and searching for “tarifas” or “costos” before you apply.
2. No apostille cost examples. Our research did not surface typical apostille fees for any country. Check your own government’s website. In the US, the State Department lists $20 per document, but that is not from our pack.
3. No health insurance premium data. We could not find a single policy quote that meets the visa requirement. Get at least three quotes from international insurers before you budget.

These gaps mean the all‑in cost in this article is incomplete. The known government + lawyer range is US$1,100–2,300. Add your own apostille and insurance figures to that.

If you extend: the cost doubles

The visa is initially valid for 9 months and can be extended once for another 9 months. The extension likely requires a new application fee and possibly a new lawyer engagement. No source in our pack gives extension costs. Budget for a second round of fees if you plan to stay 18 months.

The final number (as far as we can take it)

You need at least US$1,100, and probably closer to US$2,300, just for the government and lawyer. Apostille and insurance will push that higher. The exact total depends on where you are from, which lawyer you pick, and which government fee turns out to be real.

When you have your own apostille cost and insurance quote, add them to the table above. That is your all‑in cost. Until then, this is the most honest number we can give you.