Panamanian nationality · Carta de naturaleza
Foreigners become Panamanian by naturalization under article 10 of the Constitution.
The usual path is five consecutive years of residency (three if you have a Panamanian spouse or children), Spanish, a basic knowledge exam and a written renunciation of your current nationality. Panama does not sell citizenship.
Answer three questions and see which route of article 10 applies to you and when.
Naturalization is set by article 10 of the Constitution. Panama does not sell citizenship.
Immigration’s checklist requires your permanent-resident card. The Constitution asks for five consecutive years of residency, or three with a Panamanian spouse or children.
You prove Spanish and basic knowledge of Panama in an exam run by the Electoral Tribunal (Decree 13 of 2025).
You sign an express renunciation of your current nationality.
The official checklist has fourteen items, filed through a Panamanian lawyer.
Foreigners with five consecutive years of residency in Panama, who are of legal age, declare their wish to naturalize, expressly renounce their nationality and prove Spanish and basic knowledge of Panama’s geography, history and political organization.
Source: Constitution of the Republic of Panama, article 10, numeral 1
Foreigners with three consecutive years of residency who have children born in Panama to a Panamanian father or mother, or a Panamanian spouse, under the same declaration and proof.
Source: Constitution of the Republic of Panama, article 10, numeral 2
Nationals by birth of Spain or a Latin American state, if they meet the same requirements their own country asks of Panamanians to naturalize.
Source: Constitution of the Republic of Panama, article 10, numeral 3
You may read that Panama offers a passport for an investment. It does not. Investment can give you residency, and residency can lead, years later, to naturalization under article 10. The only shortcut the Constitution recognizes is reciprocity for nationals of Spain and Latin America.
Which of the three constitutional routes applies to you and when you can file.
Every document on the official list, explained in plain English.
What the knowledge exam covers and who is exempt.
From the petition to the naturalization certificate.
The renunciation, the exam, the rules for Spaniards and Latin Americans, and losing nationality.
Official sources · October 26, 2026
Book a free 15-minute call. We will tell you which route applies and when you can file.
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