Living in Panama Archives | Page 2 of 70 | Panama Relocation Tours

July 30, 2018 By Jackie Lange Leave a Comment

Demystifying the Panama Residency Visa Process

Like all countries, Panama has immigration laws which govern how long a tourist can stay in Panama and the immigration law also defines the rules for getting a Visa to live in Panama indefinitely. If you want to live in Panama, or obtain a second legal residency in Panama, you’ll need to get a permanent residency Visa. This Visa entitles you to live in Panama indefinitely. There are many different kinds of Visa and the rules are different for each one. The Visa most foreigners are interested in are the Pensionado Visa or the Friendly Nations Visa because they are the least expensive and the fastest Visa for getting permanent residency status. Below I will discuss the process for getting either of these Visas but first I want to discuss the big differences for qualifying for each.

The Pensionado Visa, also known as the retiree Visa, is the easiest and least expensive Visa to get. To qualify, you will need to show a lifetime income of $1,000 per month pension plus $250 per month for each dependent. So, a couple would need to prove $1250 a month in lifetime income from a pension, Social Security, military retirement. It is the least expensive Visa because the government of Panama waives all fees which saves you $1050 in expenses. The draw back of this Visa is that you can never work in Panama. You cannot offer any services or products for sale in Panama if you have a Pensionado Visa. The benefits are that you get a lot of discounts like 25% off all airfare, 25% off utility bills, 50% off movie theaters, 20% off prescriptions and restaurants.

The Friendly Nations Visa is the ideal Visa to get if you do not have a pension and/or if you would like to work in Panama. You do not need to prove any income other than to open a Panama bank account with a deposit of $5,000 plus $2,000 for each dependent. As soon as you get your Visa, you can start spending the money in the account. To apply for this Visa, you will either need a labor contract (job offer) or you will need to set up a corporation which shows Panama that you have the “intent” of doing business in Panama. Additional good news… if you are a woman who is 55 or a man who is 60 you will still qualify for all the Pensionado discounts even though you have the Friendly Nations Visa.

Unfortunately, getting a residency Visa is a multiple step process which will require several trips to Panama. Some of our tour clients decide to start the Visa process immediately after a Panama Relocation Tour since they are already in Panama.

These are the steps for getting a permanent residency Visa in Panama:

1. Select a Panama lawyer to work with. The lawyer will send you a list of documents you will need to obtain in your country. You will need a national criminal report, like an FBI report, marriage certificate, proof of pension if applying for the Pensionado Visa, etc. Most of those documents will need to be apostiled. Most documents cannot be more than 6 months old but better to apply for a Visa within 1-2 months after you get your documents. Bank reference letters cannot be more than 30 days old. You will need a Panama bank account to get the Friendly Nations Visa. You should confirm that your lawyer can help you set up a bank account for the Friendly Nations Visa. During a Panama Relocation Tour, you will meet the lawyer who handles all the Visa applications for our tour clients. And we will also help you set up a Panama bank account in 1-2 hour!

2. Once you have all the documents the lawyer requested, you should scan then email them to your lawyer so they can make sure everything is correct and get everything translated in to Spanish before you arrive. You certainly do not want to make a trip to Panama only to find out that one of the documents is not correct.

3. When you arrive in Panama, the first day you will meet with your lawyer at their office to sign documents giving them the authority to represent you at immigration. There is also a questionnaire form that is required for getting a Visa. Don’t be surprised if you are asked if you have even been a prostitute or a drug dealer. This will be a 2 hour meeting.

(NOTE: If you get your documents authenticated at the Panama Embassy in your country instead of an apostile, there is an additional step in Panama which must be done before you can apply for your Visa at immigration. You will need to get all documents authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Panama City. This will take 2 days and they charge $5 per document. You can avoid this step if you get your documents apostiled.)

4. The 2nd day, you will meet your lawyer, or their representative, at immigration to file your application for a Visa. This will take 1-3 hours depending on the line.

5. On day 3, you will meet your lawyer at immigration again to get your temporary or also called a processing Visa. The temporary Visa is good for 6 months. This gives immigration time to verify all the documents you have submitted. Once everything is verified, and before the 6 months is up, you will be notified by your lawyer that your permanent Visa is ready. You will probably be at immigration 2-4 hours this day.

Panama multi-entry Visa Stamp — Multi-Entry Stamp

6. If you do not plan to stay in Panama for the 6 months that your Visa is being processed, you will need to get a Multi-entry Visa stamp in your passport. This allows you to leave Panama while immigration is processing your Visa. Your lawyer will help you with the Mulit-Entry Stamp process. You will need to give immigration your passport. It will take 2 days to get it back. Failure to get the Multi Entry Stamp will result in a $2000 fine if you leave Panama while you are in the processing phase.

7. About 2 months to 5 months after you get your temporary Visa, your lawyer will notify you that your permanent Visa is ready. This will require a trip to Panama City for 1 day to get your permanent resident Visa.

8. The day you get your permanent Visa, your lawyer will apply for your Cedula (a national ID card) which you can pick up about 1 month later or your lawyer can pick it up for you. The Cedula or national ID card is good for 10 years so you will need to come back to Panama to renew your Cedula if you are not already living in Panama.

9. Once you get your Cedula, you can apply for a work permit if you got the Friendly Nations Visa. It takes several months to get the work permit and cost $500.

As you can see, getting your permanent Visa will take more than one trip to Panama. There are multiple steps in the Visa process.

Once you get your Visa, you are NOT required to live in Panama, but you are required to come back at least every 2 years for a visit.

10. After 5-years, you can apply for Panama citizenship and a passport IF you have lived in Panama the two previous years before applying.

I know it sounds complicated. And it certainly would be very complicated if you were trying to get a Visa without the help of a competent Panama lawyer. They will make the whole process easy for you. Picking the right lawyer to work with is essential in the entire Visa process.

July 23, 2018 By Jackie Lange Leave a Comment

Getting a Job in Panama

Want to get a job in Panama and bypass the need to get a Visa or work permit first? The solution is to work for a Multinational company who has established a headquarters in Panama. If you are offered a job by one of these companies, you will get a 5-year Permanent Employee Visa which can renewed. The Multinational company pays for the Visa (no cost to you) and you do not need to get a work permit. Click on the link below to see a brochure in English with more details about multinational company opportunities in Panama:

http://sem.mici.gob.pa/en/doc/BROCHURE_SEDES_ENG.pdf

Unfortunately, there is not a one-stop place to find a listing of all the jobs available through the Multinational Companies. You’ll need to go to each company’s website to see what jobs are available. Spanish will be required for some jobs but not for all jobs. (see the links at the bottom of the page for some job postings)

Several Panama Relocation Tour clients have obtained good paying (6-figure salary) jobs with multinational companies. So, it is possible to get a job in Panama but it will require a lot of investigating to find them. You’ll need to check out the jobs for each company individually and it certainly helps to have an impressive resume.

If you get a job with a Multinational company you are also exempt from all taxes on your income in Panama.

EMPLOYEE VISAS

Law No. 41 in Panama creates a Permanent Employee Visas specifically for foreign employees of the Multinational Company. These special visas will be issued for a 5-year period and can be renewed.

Multinational headquarters are set up in certain areas in Panama City. The City of Knowledge, Cuidad del Sabor, houses many Multinational companies with job opportunities. Click on their website link below then Click on WORK AREAS, then click on the company logo to be taken to information about the company and a link to their website:

http://ciudaddelsaber.org/en

Below is a list of additional Multinational companies in Panama. To find out what jobs are available with the companies, you’ll need to do a google search the “company name Panama” then look for their careers or jobs listings.

Enterprise	Country	Activity
Maersk Central America S.A.	Denmark	Maritime
Procter & Gamble International Operations	USA	Goods
Inelectra Panama S.A.	Venezuela	Construction and Engineering
Sinopec International	China	Energy
LG Consulting Corp.	South Korea	Goods
Productos Roche Interamericana, S.A. (Prisa)	Switzerland	Pharmacy
Caterpillar	USA	Construction
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. L.T.D.	South Korea.	Construction and Maritime
Aes Latin America	USA	Energy
Total America Latina Y Caribe	France	Energy
Grupo Volconsa	Spain	Construction
Endress + Hauser Instruments International Ag	Switzerland	Measuring Instruments
Western Union	USA	Money Transfer
Thunderbird Entertainment S.A.	USA	Entertainment
Peugeot Panama S.A.	France	Automation
Halliburton International Inc.	USA	Energy
Pan American Life Global Services, S.A.	USA	Insurance
Cemex Caribe, S.A.	Mexico	Construction
Moffatt & Nichol Latinamerican Inc.	USA	Engineering
ABB	Switzerland	Technology
Dell Panama Inc.	USA	Technology and Telecommunications
W. W. Grainger, Inc.	USA	Industrial Supply
BASF S.E.	Germany	Chemical, plastics and technology
Samtec	USA	Electronic Interconnect Industry
KLM	Netherlands	Air Transit
Pfizer, Inc	USA	Pharmaceutical
Hoffmann-La Roche	Switzerland	Pharmaceutical
We Simplify the Internet (WSI)	Canada	Technology and Telecommunications
William Wrigley Jr. Company (Wrigley)	USA	Food Processing
DHL Express	Germany	Express and Logisticas
Safra J. Asset Management S.A.	USA	Advising
Kumho Tire Panama Co. Inc.	South Korea	Automation
Heineken	Holand	Goods
Sab Miller	England	Goods
Genzyme	USA	Health
Philips	Holand	Goods
BMW	Germany	Automation
Nestle	Switzerland	Goods
Mars	USA	Goods
Cargotec	USA	Logistics
Hyosung Corporation	South Korea	Industry
Sanofi Aventis	France	Pharmacy
Otis	USA	Elevators Manufacturing
Ericsson	Sweden	Telecommunications
Adidas	Germany	Textile Industry
Smartmatic	Venezuela	Technology
Vf Sourcing	Luxembourg	Textile Industry
Alfa Laval, S.A.	Sweden	Engineering and Services
BWSC	Denmark	Energy

Here are a few websites where jobs are posted. These are not necessarily Multinational companies though so some of these jobs would require a residency Visa and a work permit:

PANAMA PACIFICO — https://logistics.gatech.pa/en/assets/special-economic-zones/panama-pacifico/companies

FIRST QUANTUM MINING – http://careers.first-quantum.com/cw/en/listing/

GLASSDOOR — https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/panama-jobs-SRCH_IL.0,6_IN194.htm

CAREERARC — https://www.careerarc.com/job-search/jobs-in-panama-city-panama-panama.html

DELL – https://jobs.dell.com/location/panama-jobs/375/3703430/2

To find more jobs available, go to the WORK AREA section at the City of Knowledge website. See the list of company logs in each category, then click on the logo to be taken to the company website.

Even though it IS possible to get a job in Panama, you may be able to make more money by starting your own business which is easy to do in Panama.

June 26, 2018 By Jackie Lange Leave a Comment

Do Not Build A House In Panama Unless…

Do Not Build a House in Panama Unless You Love Stress, Frustration and Have a Lot of Extra Money to Spend.

I usually write about the positive things I love about living in Panama but here’s information about the dark side. You need to know the good and the not so good things about living in Panama so you can make an intelligent decision about relocating.

I would not advise building a house in Panama unless you have a lot of patience and a lot of extra time and money. And absolutely do not attempt to build a house in Panama unless you can be present every single day during construction. Here’s why:

In October 2017, I signed a contract to have new custom cabinets built for my house. They were to be delivered in January but, like many things in Panama, there were delays so they were installed in March.

A month before they were installed, I had my old kitchen demolished – literally with a sledge hammer. With no kitchen, I was eating out more or using my Instant Pot to make meals then doing dishes in the bathroom sink for a month.

Before the cabinets could be installed, I had to install tile on the walls and on the area where my old kitchen was located because there was no tile under the cabinets. After looking for days at 6 different stores in David and Panama City, I knew it would be impossible to match the existing tile which was put down in 2007. So, I went looking for new tile and a transition tile that had both colors in it. I needed 10 boxes of tile.

I found the perfect tile at one store but they only had 5 boxes and said it would take a month to get more (if at all).

So, I shopped at some other stores to find a different tile. I found the great tile but they only had 8 boxes.

Finally, I picked out a tile because it was the ONLY tile in Panama where I could get at least 10 boxes of the same thing.

The tile was finally installed on the floors and walls.

In my new kitchen design, the sink and stove were moved to a new, more functional, location. But the plumber could not move the plumbing to where the sink needed to go so the cabinets had to be moved slightly to accommodate the plumbing.

Next came the search for the cabinet knobs. You’d think it would be easy to buy cabinet knobs. But not in Panama. There is no Home Depot or Lowe’s in Panama. I searched high and low in David and even in Panama City. The knobs I bought were the only knobs in all of Panama that I could get 38 of the same thing in stock.

I could order cabinet knobs from Amazon and pay $4 a pound to get them delivered but it’s hard to see what the knobs really look like from a photo on Amazon.

The next nightmare…

The granite countertop company had to see the cabinets installed before he would come out to measure. But he measured wrong. The absolutely beautiful granite I picked out was ruined when he measured wrong. To make matters worse, he wanted an extra $1800 to order new granite and correct HIS mistake.

Instead, I hired a different company to make my granite countertops. After searching for two months, the granite I wanted was no where to be found in Panama.

So, I picked out a different granite. But when it was being loaded on the truck, they dropped the granite and broke in to a million pieces.

So, I had to pick out a different granite that I don’t like as much but at least it fits. The new granite company did a really professional job with the granite and installation.

Next, my plumber came out to install the kitchen faucets. There’s a main faucet and a filtered water faucet. By the way it took three full days to find these faucets. Every time I found one I liked, they were out of that faucet so I had to keep looking. The plumber discovered that the water filter faucet had a missing bolt even though the package was sealed when he opened it. I went back to Elmec, (35 minute drive one way) where I bought the faucet to get the bolt. Even though they had the same faucet in stock they would not give me a bolt out of that package or exchange my faucet. So I had to order the bolt on Amazon to get it delivered to Panama in about 7 days.

More punishment…

Thinking that my kitchen remodel was almost over, I hired a company to add a room on to my house. My little 960SF house really needed a little more room so I could get my office out of the bedroom.

The contractors bid was labor only like most bids in Panama. So, I was making daily, sometimes 2-3 times a day, trips to various hardware stores for supplies. If the local store did not have what was needed, I had to drive more than 30 minutes one way to David and go to 4-5 stores to get everything on the list. Sometimes when materials were delivered to the house, it was the wrong thing so I had to go back to get it straightened out. This was very very frustrating and very time consuming.

The room addition project turned out great and was finished on time… EXCEPT they built the new patio right on top of my septic tank.

I had no idea where my septic tank was. My husband took care of getting the septic cleaned out so I never paid attention to the location. The blueprints for my house show that the septic tank is in a completely different location than where it is actually located.

TIP = This is Panama

When the contractors were digging for the foundation of the patio they should have mentioned that they saw pipes. They should have investigated what the pipes went to. But nope… they just wanted to finish the project so they could get paid.

Now, I need to get a new septic system installed which will take more time, more frustration and cost more money.

I have been buying and remodeling houses for 25 years.. in Texas. But all of that did not prepare me for the frustrations of remodeling a house in Panama or the lack of the availability of materials in Panama.

These were just two little projects with contractors who came highly recommended. I can’t imagine the stress and frustration in trying to build a whole house in Panama.

Everyone I know who has had a house built in Panama says they they would never EVER do it again. It always takes twice as long and costs about twice as much. Sometimes the builder and their crew disappear for weeks at a time or forever.

Last weekend I met a lady who had a house built two years ago. She’s still finding problems and the house has become a money-pit in correcting all the problems.

I have talked to several people who paid a contractor a 20-30% deposit to build a house in Panama but the contractor disappeared with their money.

Don’t build a house in Panama. It will be way too frustrating and stressful.

It is much better to buy an existing house then make modification to it if you absolutely need to. At least with an existing house, you can hire an inspector to make sure everything is ok before you buy. And an existing house will already have plenty of landscaping (though you’ll probably want to add more).

As always, I highly recommend that you just RENT for several months before you decide to buy.