Visa requirements for Panamanian citizens

Panamanian citizens can enter all 29 Schengen states without a visa, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, Panama and 95 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

21 countries ask holders of the Panamanian passport for a visa beforehand, although their own citizens enter Panama without one: Australia, Bhutan, Botswana, Brunei, Canada and 16 others.

The reverse holds for 31 countries: holders of the Panamanian passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for Panama (Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cape Verde and 26 others).

32 countries ask holders of the Panamanian passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 5 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in Panama.

27 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in Panama, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for Panama, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in Cuba (5).

The United States refused 6.5% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of Panama in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 15 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 181 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the Panamanian passport

By continent, the Panamanian passport is visa-free in 45 countries in Europe, 26 countries in the Americas, 11 countries in Asia, 4 countries in Africa and 2 countries in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for Panamanian citizens are allowed in Georgia (360 days), Antigua and Barbuda (180 days), Costa Rica (180 days), Mexico (180 days), Peru (180 days) and El Salvador (180 days).

Visa on arrival

Panamanian citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Armenia, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti and 25 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how Panamanian citizens enter Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Benin, Bhutan, Botswana, Burkina Faso and 33 others. Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Korea, Suriname and the United Kingdom ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Panama’s neighbours

Costa Rica and Colombia admit Panamanian citizens without a visa.

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the Costa Rican passport ranks 63rd (129 destinations) and the Colombian passport ranks 74th (118 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 116 can enter visa-free and 82 need a visa from an embassy or consulate for Panama.