Visas for the dependents of many foreign workers are expected to be processed in two and a half to three months following an agreement among Panamanian government agencies to adjudicate dependent applications more quickly. Previously, dependent visas took six to nine months to process.
Panama is making the change in an effort to attract more foreign investment.
The new policy applies to the dependents of foreign workers in the following visa categories: Multinational Companies, Panamá-Pacífico Special Economic Area, the Panama Canal Authority and Free-Trade Zones. These visa categories are available to a wide variety of companies and industries.
Under the agreement, the two government agencies responsible for dependent visas – the Ministry of Labor and the National Immigration Service – will each have a maximum of 15 business days to adjudicate applications. In practice, however, it may take the agencies several weeks more to finish processing an application after it has been formally approved, so actual visa issuance may take as long as two and a half to three months.
Fragomen worked closely with Lambraño, Bultrón & de la Guardia (Panama) to prepare this alert. It is provided for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen Global Immigration Services or send an email to lar@fragomen.com.
Source: Fragomen
