Yesterday we made a huge step towards residency – our temporary residency cards. They will serve as the real thing while everything is getting processed, which should take 2-6 months.
I am so happy. I love this country so I am glad to be a resident and no longer a tourist. We also have a multitude of benefits and discounts because we now have jubalado (retired) status.
It has been a process but everything went smoothly. I am so thankful to have our lawyer, Marcos Kraemer. He has been really professional, thorough, and competent as well as being a nice guy to work with. If you need a lawyer here I would highly recommend him, and you can check out his website HERE. We have heard so many stories about people who weren’t given all the information they needed, or things weren’t done right, or a multitude of other problems that caused delays and anxiety and additional expense. I was apprehensive even though we seemed to be in good hands. Now I can say that yes indeed, it went very well.
So, what all did we have to do to get to this point?
The first thing was to wait quite a while. The income requirement for a couple is $1250/month guaranteed income for life (social security, retirement, annuity, etc) For us, we didn’t qualify until last August when my social security payments finally started.
Then it was time to gather all the necessary documents. We got statements from social security and had them apostilled (like an notary but for international business). This involved sending the documents to the state department in Washington, specifying which country they were going to (apparently apostile agreements between different countries can vary), paying the fees, and waiting for them to be processed and sent back.
Then, we needed our marriage certificate which also had to be apostilled, and this went to the Kansas Secretary of State because we were married in KS and it is a state document, not a federal thing. It is so easy to get tripped up on details like this. Also, keep in mind that these documents have expiration dates (usually 6 months) so once they are done things must move forward in a timely manner.
Since there isn’t convenient mail service in Panama they were all sent to my daughter’s CA house, our US address, and when they had all arrived she sent them on to our mailing service here in Panama.
The rest was all done in Panama.
Background check – we were very lucky on this one! Most people have this done in their country of origin. In the US this means you have to have fingerprints done (either there or here) and sent to the FBI. If they are clear enough to be processed (which doesn’t always happen) the FBI will check them against their database and return a report on your status. Then, this must be apostilled. Once this is done and gets to Panama you cannot leave the country or it is null and void (who knows what you were up to when you were traveling about). Since your drivers licence is only good for 90 days on a tourist visa in Panama, before it expires you have to leave the country and return to get a new stamp on your passport and reset it for another 90 days. You can see where people can run into problems with this.
But, since we had been in Panama for over two years, and we hadn’t left Panama for more than 30 days at a time, we qualified to have the background check done here. We went to the office for Report Policia (police report), handed them our passports and copies of our passports, signed our names, wrote the names of our parents, and were told to sit down. In about 10 minutes our reports were ready, free of charge. It couldn’t have been easier.
We also had to get a certificate of good health, so off to the doctor we went for a checkup and those documents.
Then we had some other things to gather – our rental agreement, a utility bill, 5 passport size photos, an application for residency to fill out with piles of questions, a form giving our lawyer authority to work on our behalf, and copies of every single page of our passports including the outside covers. whew!
Marcos looked everything over, got any documents in English translated by a certified translator, got anything notarized that needed it, double checked that we had everything in order, triple checked everything and told us to show up at the Department of Immigration at 8AM on Tuesday so we could be the first in line.
We actually arrived before many of the employees, and there was another couple from the US also going through the process. Marcos explained that there were four stages. The first was entering all the information into the computer. He talked with people, left to make copies, talked more, brought us some things to sign, answered some questions, copied more things, and told us things were moving into the second stage. That, if I remember, is when they check all the information to be sure there aren’t any problems with anything. He talked with the employees, left to make more copies, talked more, we hung out and enjoying talking with the other couple. He left to make copies, brought us things to sign, and then it was time for pictures, the third stage (they also took our pictures even though we had also brought all the pictures with our applications). More copies were made, we signed multiple copies, more copies (it seemed like every time we turned around he was heading out to the copy place!) And, at 11:30 he put our passports back into our hands along with our new cards!!
He said that was the fastest application he had done. We were prepared to spend the day, and he said it is often an hour or two more than this. But, if we had done it in Panama City it would have been three days because one must go to three different offices to get it all done.
Next, we wait. Our applications will be sent to Panama City and assigned to a case worker. When everything is ready Marcos will be notified. We could go to Panama City at that time, but he recommends that he takes our passports and goes by himself to be sure everything is actually ready, that nothing is lost, or they don’t have a problem with anything, or there aren’t any other snags that will cause us a wasted trip. Once he sees for himself that everything is in order we will go to the city, get more pictures taken and I’m sure sign more things, and we will be finished. He says this part is a very quick and easy process.
What next?
A drivers licence. Now we have 30 days to get a drivers licence, which involves going to one office in Panama City to verify our US drivers licence, and then another office to verify the verification. Once we have these documents we can return to David and request our Panamanian licenses. If you don’t get your licence in time, you had better keep your residency card in your pocket and show the police your passport and US licence like you are a tourist, in case you get stopped.
Also, another good thing to know – you have to have a multi entry visa in your passport while your application is pending. If you do not have this and you leave the country, you will be charged a $2000 fine! I have heard of people getting this nasty surprise. Thankfully Marcos says he does this for everyone because you just don’t know if there might be an emergency or something that causes you to leave.
Once we get our permanent residency cards, we will apply for a cedula which is a Panamanian permanent ID card. Right now our identity is tied to our passport numbers. When we have to renew our passports the number will change, and will then need to be updated everywhere. The cedula number is permanent so we won’t ever have to worry about it changing. That though, will be a discussion for another day.
Right now, I have a card! We have waited for this for a long time, so it’s almost hard to believe it is actually done. It is too close to Christmas for a party, but when the permanent one comes in we are definitely having a celebration!
The Panama Adventure 
Awesome! Great for you guys! So nice to hear of your great experience with Marcos!
Thanks for a great detailed report. Marcos sounds fantastic and great info on his web site. How did you find him?
We will contact Marcos as we get closer to our move.
Cheers,
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Thank you 🙂
Great about Marcos. I felt like he know his stuff and gave us the info we needed all along, and the end result has proved that without a doubt.
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Congratulations — you worked long and hard for this. So happy for you both. Now, onward to the Cedula. We too are waiting to get this final step.
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Thanks! We mostly waited a long time so it’s great to have our cards. I’ll be interested to hear how it goes for you getting your cedula.
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Thanks Kris, nice clear info!
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My pleasure, glad you found it helpful.
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congrats!
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Thank you 🙂
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Getting the driver’s license isn’t a big deal. You go to the U.S. Embassy and get your current U.S. licenses notarized (it HAS to be done there). Then you go to the Panamanian Foreign Ministry Bureau and submit those papers (they know the drill so it’s no problem) down stairs to the Banco Nacional to buy two stamps and go back in the afternoon and it’s all done. I got everything taken care of in one day.
One neat thing is, now you have your carnets, when you come back from visiting your family in January, you take your passports and your carnets and go through the SHORT LINE at PTY!
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Thanks for the info. I think we will take care of this on our way back from the US next month.
Now we can go in the short line, and even more important to me, we don’t have to buy tickets back to the US! I can actually book round trips from Panama which will be much easier.
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Thanks for all of the great information! I’m wondering… I’m hoping this is not too forward of me to ask, but I was wondering if you would be willing to share the total cost involved in the process. Thanks in advance, and congrats to you!
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I think it is going to come out around $2000 with lawyer fees and various filing fees. That isn’t counting our costs of getting documents, trips to Panama City, etc. There are probably lawyers who do it for less (and others who charge more too, though that doesn’t mean they are better) We have been well taken care of so I’m very happy.
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Okay, good to know! Someone else I know said about the same amount, so that’s good to hear! That’s not so bad, I guess. Now, was that $2000 for both of you, or each?
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That’s for both of us, as a couple
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Tick, tock, tick, tock. We’re still waiting to find someone who gets their permanent cards faster than our 2.5 months. Let the contest begin! Congratulations! 🙂
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You must have baked cookies for your case worker or something 😀 It’s out of our hands at this point, so we shall see what happens.
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Congratulations!
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Thank you 🙂
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Great information. Thanks Kris. I have two questions if you don’t mind. The first and probably most common, can you give me an idea of what your total cost was? Second, how long do you have to be in Panama before you can have your police report done there. I know you said you were there for 2 years but just curious if it could have been done sooner. Thanks in advance for any info. Gary
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Thanks, glad you find it helpful. I think the lawyer and filing fees etc are going to come out around $2000. That doesn’t count costs getting documents, traveling to Panama City, etc.
You have to be here for 2 years before you can get your police report done here. Too bad it isn’t shorter because it’s a hassle otherwise.
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Thanks for the information. We will contact him. This will be the 4th country for us to go through the process. The police report we had it in two days in Saint Lucia where we are permanent residents and had it Apostilled at the ministry of foreign affairs. Same with our Lucian permanent
residence permit as well as our local drivers license. A friend of ours went to the city council in the Netherlands and got the marriage certificate multilingual Inc. Spanish and the certification of our social security pension in SPANISH. She went to the ministry in The Netherlands and had them apostilled. Sent them by FEDEX and ready. We our now in St. Lucia to get the papers for our 4 dogs. A coincidence ? We live in Saint Lucia since 2003 and rented a house in Santa Lucia
Boquete.
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Excellent. It sounds like you are well on your way. And, apparently you are meant to live in Santa Lucia wherever you go 😀
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Congrats Kris. Til and I have been jubilados for 11 years and the benefits have been extremely welcome. The discount on electricity does make a difference. We do use the discount for travel to the US. Let ne know if you need a good travel agent. We have a great one. Welcome to the retirement club!
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Thank you so much! I’m glad to hear the benefits work out so well. I might take you up on the travel agent, thanks. That would be welcome help with travel discounts.
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Fantastic! Muchas felicitaciones. It was a long wait, but worth it. Time to party!
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Gracias amiga 🙂 Yes, party indeed!
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Congratulations! Can’t wait until this day comes for us… someday :).
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It will come. You are closer today than you were yesterday!
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Very true!!
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Thank you so much for sharing your process and adventure with us. I read each and every post you write and dream of being in the same place some day. I amm filled with hope we can move to paradise. I love the people and the counrty of Panama. David and Boquete are my favorite.
Congratulations!! Happy for you.
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My pleasure, and thank you so much for your comment and kind words about my blog 🙂 I also hope you can move here. It’s a really nice life. Keep planning and it can happen!
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Thank you for the supportive words.
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Yea! Congrats to you both! I look forward to our first exploratory visit in April of next year, and hopefully David will suit us as well as it does you two.
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Thank you! April will be here before you know it. It will be interesting to see what you think. There are a lot of options in this area for elevation – climate, city – small town – country, so hopefully you will find something that is just right for you.
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Thanks Kris! Awesome article! I think you are a former military officer because your post is so direct and well written (Be brief, be brilliant, and be gone!). Hopefully, I’ll be able to meet you and yours in person in March 2015. I’ve been retired since age 39 and am 50 now. I’m lookin’ to settle down and maybe even find a nice woman to share my life. I’ll definitely be contacting your lawyer when I get there. When the snow melts I’ll be comin’ down the mountain and headin’ to the tropics. Thanks again for sharing your experience with all of us! Ron Hamilton
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Thank you 😀 I’m a former nurse so maybe that has similar needs for precise communication. We should be here in March and will be happy to meet you. Panamanian women are very nice and also beautiful, and chances are good you can meet someone here. I hope you are as happy in Panama as we have been.
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