Hello,
If you need to work while in Panama, say under the celebrated Friendly Nation Visa, you will face restrictions in many activities, including engineering. According to Panama relocation tour, you do not need a work permit if you are working online and not selling to Panamanians companies or individuals (see https://panamarelocationtours.com/working-in-panama ). E.g., see these quotes: "With an online business, you won’t need a work permit." and "If you live in Panama and work online selling products or services to people in other countries, you would not need a work permit in Panama." It is not stated, but I assume your online business needs to be incorporated outside Panama.
Can anyone confirm that? I was under the impression that this strategy worked in practice because of lack of control/enforcement, but might not be legal. Indeed, you do work in Panama after all, even though your company and your clients are outside the country. I am not a lawyer by any means, so this is just a concern, not a reliable assessment!
I should add that many online businesses will require work that is not permitted under the Friendly Nation Visa, for example, engineering. Nonetheless, when you work on your own (typically as a freelance), you own a company but you are no employee (e.g., engineer) even though you do the job (e.g., engineering). You get paid with dividends, not by a salary. I do not know if that makes a difference as for the work qualification.
It is a fairly technical issue, so I guess some solid understanding of the law is needed here.
Thanks!
If you need to work while in Panama, say under the celebrated Friendly Nation Visa, you will face restrictions in many activities, including engineering. According to Panama relocation tour, you do not need a work permit if you are working online and not selling to Panamanians companies or individuals (see https://panamarelocationtours.com/working-in-panama ). E.g., see these quotes: "With an online business, you won’t need a work permit." and "If you live in Panama and work online selling products or services to people in other countries, you would not need a work permit in Panama." It is not stated, but I assume your online business needs to be incorporated outside Panama.
Can anyone confirm that? I was under the impression that this strategy worked in practice because of lack of control/enforcement, but might not be legal. Indeed, you do work in Panama after all, even though your company and your clients are outside the country. I am not a lawyer by any means, so this is just a concern, not a reliable assessment!
I should add that many online businesses will require work that is not permitted under the Friendly Nation Visa, for example, engineering. Nonetheless, when you work on your own (typically as a freelance), you own a company but you are no employee (e.g., engineer) even though you do the job (e.g., engineering). You get paid with dividends, not by a salary. I do not know if that makes a difference as for the work qualification.
It is a fairly technical issue, so I guess some solid understanding of the law is needed here.
Thanks!
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