Panama extends the transit visa requirement for Cuban travelers.

Through Executive Decree No. 195 dated October 25, 2024, the government of Panama extended the mandatory transit visa requirement for Cuban travelers making a stopover in the country until July 2025, a measure that has been in place since March 2022.

The decree, signed by the president of that nation, José Raúl Mulino, requires that all passengers and crew members of Cuban nationality traveling to the Central American country must have a transit visa issued by the Panamanian embassy in Havana, which will allow them to remain in the international transit zone for a maximum of 24 hours.

The measure, although it continued to be implemented, had expired in July 2024, and the Panamanian government had not commented on the matter to date.

The decree in question includes six categories of Cuban citizens who are exempt from the transit visa requirement. They are:

1. Cubans traveling to the island from any country.
2. Cubans who have a valid tourist or residency visa for the Republic of Panama.
3. Cubans who hold a multiple entry visa granted by Canada, the United States, Australia, Japan, or any of the countries that make up the European Union, provided that these visas have been previously used in those territories and are valid for no less than six months at the time of transit.
4. Cubans who hold permanent residency in third countries and are traveling back to these locations.
5. Cubans who hold a valid visa to enter their final destination.
6. Cubans who can demonstrate having a work contract in the final destination country, bearing the registration stamps of the competent authority of that nation and duly legalized or apostilled, as applicable.

On the other hand, Executive Decree No. 196, published a few days later, removes the visa requirement for entering Panama as a tourist for foreigners who, despite being from countries that require a visa, hold a valid entry visa to Canada, the United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, or any member country of the European Union.

To apply for a transit visa, starting in July, the applicant must submit the transit visa application form, a simple copy of the applicant's passport, flight reservation, a simple copy of their identification card, and suitability documents. These must be presented through a legal representative at the Correspondence window in the SNM.

Those who do not carry out the procedure in person, but rather through another individual, must provide a power of attorney that is appropriately apostilled or authenticated by the Panamanian embassy in the country that issued it, and if applicable, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that country.