A palm-covered islet in Guna Yala (San Blas), Panama

Who needs a visa for Panama?

Latin America and the Caribbean · Panama City

Photo: Mónica J. Mora / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Of 198 nationalities, 116 enter Panama with no paperwork at all. The rest: 82 must be approved before they travel.

We have not found a Panama government portal we can link to with confidence, so we link to none — a lookalike is worse than nothing. Apply through Panama's own immigration service or its embassy.

What do you need?

Who needs what

Visa free 116

Nothing to apply for and nothing to pay before you travel.

Visa required 82

You must apply and be approved before you travel. Airlines will refuse to board you without it.

About Panama

Region
Central America
Capital
Panama City
Population
4,571,189 2025 · 128th of 197
Size
75,417 km² 116th largest of 199
Density
61 per km²
Language
Spanish
Currency
Panamanian balboa PAB
Borders
Colombia Costa Rica

Capital, area, languages and currency from the open country dataset, pulled 21 September 2026. Population from the World Bank, series updated 13 July 2026. Density is calculated from the two figures above.