Panama visa and entry requirements

How long, and what the desk asks for

• Most Western passports get 90 days, granted on arrival - British, American, Canadian, Australian, and the EU. It is not extendable in the ordinary way; leaving and returning is the usual route.
• Your passport must be valid at least 6 months beyond the day you leave.
• You may be asked to prove you have 1,000 US dollars, or to show a credit card. This is a real requirement, not a formality on paper, and it is asked more often at land borders than at Tocumen.
• A return or onward ticket may be demanded, especially arriving overland from Costa Rica. Border staff at Paso Canoas apply this seriously.

The declaration form

• Everyone completes an immigration and customs declaration. It can be done online in advance at , which is faster than filling in paper on the plane.
• The site is frequently unreachable from outside Panama. If it will not load, that is normal and not your connection - the paper form handed out on the aircraft is still accepted.
• If it does work, do it before you fly and screenshot the confirmation rather than relying on airport wi-fi with a queue behind you.

If your passport needs a visa

• A valid visa or residence from Canada, the USA, the UK, Ireland, an EU state, Australia, Japan, South Korea or Singapore admits you without a Panamanian visa - on three conditions: it must be genuine and properly issued, it must already have been used in the country that issued it, and it must have at least 6 months left to run.
• This is the single most useful rule in Panama's visa system and it is why so many travellers on "visa-required" passports arrive here without one.
• Panama does not publish a consolidated list in English. If your passport is not one of the obviously exempt ones, confirm with the nearest Panamanian consulate before booking rather than trusting a summary.

Two things about the Darien

• The Darien Gap is not a border crossing. There is no road between Panama and Colombia, and the jungle route is a lethal migration corridor, not a travel option.
• Overland from South America means flying or a boat. Plan the itinerary around that rather than discovering it in Panama City.