A Panamanian passport is the passport issued to citizens of Panama to facilitate international travel. Panamanian citizens enjoy visa-free access to 118 countries and territories. The passports are issued by the Passports Authority of Panama.
Design
The cover of the passport has a dark blue background. The front part of the cover has the words "REPÚBLICA DE PANAMÁ" on top, the coat of arms of Panama in the middle, and the word "PASAPORTE" on the bottom in Spanish, English and French. All of this is outlined in a grey color. The back part of the cover only has the blue background. The biometric passport symbol appears at the bottom of the front cover under the word "PASSEPORT". As of January 2016, Panamanian passports are still issued with Panama's old coat of arms, having 9 stars instead of 10. This change took effect in January 2014. This is because blank passports are bought in bulk from a supplier and issued later. It can take several years for a passport to be issued after it has been made.
Identity information page
The Panamanian passport includes the following data on the identity information page:
Photograph of the owner/holder
Type
Code
Nationality
Passport Number
Surname
Given Names
Sex
Personal Number
Place of Birth
Authority
Holder's signature
Date of Issue
Date of Expiry
Machine Readable Zone starting with PLanguages
The identity information page is printed in Spanish and English.
Visa pages
The passport contains 32 pages for visas. Each with an image of a planned or finished project of the 2009-2014 government of Panama as a background. The pages include the following:
All passports contain the following message: In Spanish: In English: In French:
Visa requirements
In 2015, Panamanian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 127 countries and territories, ranking the Panamanian passport 36th in the world according to the Henley Passport Index.
Electronic passport
Panama unveiled an electronic passport, in late 2012, with a supposed implementation in 2013, in either March, or October. Because of this, it was necessary to present a travel reservation to request a passport for the first time; older, expired passports merely had their validity extended. In January 2014 Panama finally started issuing electronic passports to its citizens. Its cost increased from $50 to $100, and the inside contains images of recent government projects.
Types
Ordinary passport - Issued for ordinary travel, such as holidays and business trips.
Diplomatic passport - Issued to Panamanian diplomats, top ranking government officials and diplomatic couriers.
Emergency travel document - Issued when Panamanians lose the document outside of Panama and must return home.. Must be ordered at a Panamanian embassy or consulate.
In 1998 Pavlo Lazarenko, the former Prime minister of Ukraine was arrested due to money laundering charges as he tried to enter Switzerland. He was found to be carrying an apparently valid Panamanian passport.
