The Panama Adventure

This article HERE was published today in La Prensa. It basically says that if a tourist is in Panama for 5 months, they must leave for 30 days before they will be allowed back into Panama. But, if they are close to their 180 day limit, they won’t be allowed back at all.

These are new changes and there is a lot of confusion, of course. The article says a tourist who is here for a brief period and then wants to come back later won’t have a problem. (define brief – a week, a month, 3 months?)  If you are close to 180 days and aren’t allowed back, for how long? months? a year? ever? How close to 180 days is too close?

The feelings I have been hearing from Panamanians is that the people from Venezuela and Colombia are the problem. They work illegally, commit crimes, and deal drugs and Panamanians want something done, and done now! (Of course this is generalization and perception and I don’t know how much, if any is based on facts). Panamanians are very happy about these new regulations that close the “border hop” loophole. But of course, all expat-tourists affected by these changes.

There has been a lot of talk among the expats in the usual forums and discussion groups. How will this affect tourism? the Panamanian economy? Will many leave, and will Panama miss the money they spend here? Myself, I can’t imagine it will be a huge impact. All the homeowners I know are legal. Perpetual tourists generally don’t live in hotels and spend every day doing tourist things. Maybe lawyers will be busier with residency applications? Time will tell, and time will help sort out some of the confusion.

This message has been shared in a few places, one of which is the blog of our David embassy warden. http://www.chiriquichatter.net/blog/2017/03/15/message-for-u-s-citizensinformation-on-panamanian-immigration-regulations/

The short version is that tourists are allowed to stay for 180 days, and then they must leave for a minimum of 30 days before they will be allowed to come back into Panama.

Here is the full text of the message.

U.S. Embassy in Panama

Message for U.S. Citizens

March 15, 2017

The U.S. Embassy in Panama would like to inform all U.S. Citizens in Panama that on March 6^th 2017, the Panamanian Immigration Authority (Servicio Nacional de Migracion-SNM) announced new guidance for Panamanian immigration officials on the enforcement of pre-existing regulations.  According to the SNM, immigration officials have been instructed to be stricter about the enforcement of the regulation that foreigners entering Panama with tourist status prove that they are in fact entering Panama as tourists and not residing in Panama.  Since the announcement, the Consular Section has received many questions from U.S. citizens about this new guidance.  Below are the most frequently asked questions along with the responses the Consular Section received from the SNM.  Should you have further questions, please reach out to the SNM directly via phone at 507-1800 or visit their website at: http://www.migracion.gob.pa

In order to re-enter Panama on tourist status, does a U.S. Citizen need to return to their country of origin (the country from which they came into Panama) or can they return from a third-country (example: Costa Rica)?

Answer:  In the new guidance SNM does not specify if the tourist needs to return his/her country of origin. What is being implemented is that, in most cases, the person needs to leave Panama for a minimum of 30 days before reentering as a tourist.

In order for a person to re-enter Panama on tourist status, what is the minimum amount of time the person needs to spend outside of Panama?

Answer: The new requirement that is being implemented by SNM in reference to time spent out of Panama is a minimum of 30 days before applying for admission, in most cases.

In order for a person to re-enter Panama on mariner visa status, what is the minimum amount of time the person needs to spend outside of Panama.

Answer: According to SNM, mariner visas are valid for 90 days and must be renewed on the 90^th day, or the day before, from the date of the previous mariner visa stamp.  Mariner visas can only be renewed once before the visa- holder needs to exit Panama. The amount of time the person with the mariner visa needs to stay outside of Panama is not specified by SNM.

If entering Panama on tourist status, does the method of entry need to match the method of exit (i.e. can a U.S. Citizen enter Panama on a plane and use as proof of exit evidence that they own a boat in Panama and plan to exit via boat)?

Answer: The method of entry and exit into and out of Panama does not have to be the same so long as the entries and departures are met legally by using established Ports of Entry – land, maritime or air and admitted by a Panamanian immigration officer.

Do U.S. Citizens with legal Panamanian residency status also require a roundtrip ticket when entering Panama?

Answer: No.  A foreigner with legal residence in Panama does not need to show proof of exit from Panama.

Is a person applying for Panamanian residency required to stay in Panama for the entire duration of time required to complete the residency process? If so, what happens if the process takes more than the allotted six months for tourist status.

Answer: If the person has an ID that shows that his/her residency is in process, the person is fine to leave and return to Panama.  If there is no ID, then the person should exit as a tourist (i.e., before the sixth month approaches).

How long does the FBI Identification Record process, required for purposes of obtaining residency in Panama, take? Can this process be expedited?

Answer: For information on the FBI identification record process, individuals may visit https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks.  According to the FBI website, the current turnaround estimate for these records is 12 to 14 weeks plus the amount of time the results may take to arrive in the mail.  Currently there is no option to receive the response electronically. For questions on this topic, individuals may call (304) 625-5590 or write an email to identity@ic.fbi.gov

Tourists are only allowed to drive in Panama for 90 days.  Is there an exception for this given that tourists are allowed to stay in Panama for 180 days?

Answer: According to the Transit authority (http://www.transito.gob.pa/sites/default/files/reglamento_decreto_640..pdf Artículo 110) foreigners that enter Panama as tourists are not permitted to obtain Panamanian drivers’ licenses and are only allowed to drive with a foreign license for 90 days.  There are no exceptions to this rule.

Can SNM waive the FBI Identification Record process if a person does not exit Panama for two years? If so, would there be an exception to the 180 day stay limit for tourists for a person trying to obtain this waiver?

Answer: If a person stays in Panama for more than two years then the FBI requirement does not apply.  The waiver of the FBI requirement applies to those people that stay in Panama two years, without exiting.  In these cases, a fine is paid by the person for overstaying their tourist visa and the person is only required to present a PNM police record rather than the FBI check.

 

I hadn’t been out on my bike for SO long! I don’t know, inertia, laziness, busy… but yesterday Joel gave me the boost I needed to get out there. We didn’t go far but it felt great! I took my camera so here is a little bit of what we saw.

There is a new neighborhood going in not far from ours. Just across from our neighborhood is another of single family homes but they are building an apartment building there. It doesn’t seem like it will fit in but we’ll see what it’s like when it’s done. The last photo is the hill with the cross on top that you can see as you go up the road to Boquete. We are on the back side of that hill. It is the height of summer dry season and you can see how brown and dry everything looks.

an apartment building?!

nice houses in the new neighborhood

well done street

a playground in progress

we are behind this hill

There are some gorgeous trees at this time of year. The most spectacular are the yellow ones that are about done for the season, but pink and white ones are still blooming and looking beautiful.

a pretty pink

and another

a white one in our neighborhood

Joel on his way home past a pretty pink one

the yellow one in our neighborhood is done for the year. On windy days the flowers can be blown off in a day or two.

There are quite a few other things blooming as well.

the neighbor’s bougainvillea continues to come through the fence and bloom like crazy

Some more bougainvilleas and other flowers

I’m not sure what these are

I don’t know what these are either but many of these are very big trees covered with these pretty flowers

this huge tree is making new lacy leaves and dropping seed pods everywhere’

Mangoes! they are getting big all over town

By March I am always tired of dry season. I don’t like everything brown and dead, and the constant heat and sun is getting old. But, there are upsides like all these beautiful flowers. If I whine, remind me of all the people in the northeast USA who are getting a blizzard!

We stopped by to visit my friend Avionetta

Her friend, who’s name I can remember, wanted some lovin too.

Our neighborhood hourse

This mom and baby are just outside our neighborhood. The young one is getting as tall as mom.

The church down the road is decorated for Easter

I wouldn’t want that job in this hot weather

Joel stops in front of the view of Volcan Baru

I went to a store that sells clothing for road workers and construction workers, bright safety oriented things. Check out my new shirt. it’s very comfortable, breathable, reflective, and bright. It was about $10 and I’m very happy.

(Bug warning below!)  This noisy bird was sitting on our front fence the other day, and one night I came out to see this cool bug sitting on one of my solar lights. It was very nice and let me get as close as I wanted, use a flash, turn it this way and that, and it didn’t even move.

these grackles can make a lot of noise

Here is my nighttime visitor with the long feelers

I’m not sure I would call the face handsome though

Just another day in the life of a retired expat in Panama.

Living in Panama, or any Spanish speaking country is so much easier and so much more fun when you know some Spanish! I thank my teacher every day for my ability to communicate, and for my ability to have Panamanian friends.

Summer vacation is over here. The kids are back in school, and Yaira goes back to university this week. We were talking about her schedule this morning, and she has enough time to fit in a couple more students. So, I figured I’d share this opportunity with you all in case any of you want to take classes. She teaches over Skype so it’s like being there. Private lessons are great because you can go at your own pace and concentrate on your own needs. She is Panamanian so you can also learn about life and customs in Panama. And, she’s just a really nice teacher, patient, kind, understanding, and very experienced.

Here website is here http://www.yairatutoria.com/

Contact Yaira while she still has some time open! It takes time to learn a language, but it’s so worth it and when you know your teacher is expecting you, you are much more likely to do your homework 😀

There have been news articles and a lot of talk about recent happenings at Panama immigration, and how this might affect people here as tourists. One of the news articles is HERE and another is HERE.

From what I understand, the problem has been with people from Venezuela fleeing their troubled country and coming here to work, but without legal status in Panama. There has also been this loophole in the rules. You are allowed to stay in Panama for 180 days as a tourist, but if you leave the country for some unwritten amount of time, usually three days, you can reenter Panama and get another 180 days. Some people from Venezuela tried to do this recently and were not permitted to come back into Panama. So far, as far as I know, no one else has been denied entry back into Panama. But there seems to be a trend towards tightening up border security and enforcing immigration laws, so it is quite possible that anyone who lives here as a tourist doing “border runs” won’t be able to continue this.

I checked Chiriqui Chatter since Mr. Williams in our embassy warden. Click the link to read his post, and I am also sharing here the response from the US Embassy.

We here at the Embassy have reached out to immigration to obtain details about the news pasted below regarding the implementation of immigration regulations. According to the Duty Chief at Migracion-Paso Canoas, the PNM Immigration Director is enforcing these migratory requirements across Panama. This means that if an Immigration Official determines that a foreigner is using tourism status to reside in Panama, the entry will not be allowed. The Duty Chief gave examples of this situation, indicating that persons who exit Panama before the 6th month approaches and re-enter after three days, which is a clear sign that the individual is residing in Panama under a tourist status, will not be allowed re-entry.

In summary, these regulations were already in the books but now it seems the immigration authorities throughout Panama are going to be stricter about enforcement. That said, we have yet to receive a complaint from a U.S. citizen actually denied entry at the border for the reason outlined above.

Someone posted the latest information that the Canadian Embassy received from Panama immigration and it is essentially the same.

Tourists may only remain in Panama for a maximum of 180 days. If you wish to remain in the country after that time, you must change your residency status. If you attempt to renew your stay in Panama by travelling out of the country for a short period of time with the intention of returning to Panama as a tourist, immigration authorities may deny you re-entry, as they are implementing stricter border controls. Consult Immigration Panama for more information.

It seems to me that anyone living here as a tourist would be advised to either get legal or consider moving elsewhere. There is no guarantee that the border hopping and perpetual tourist thing is going to work for much longer.

Just when you think you have seen every new and interesting bug, something else comes along. This one was on the floor the other night.

It wasn’t very big. That’s a quarter nearby for comparison

I put a glass over it so it wouldn’t run off. Is that front part the head? It used its feelers on the front to explore.

I got a clearer glass. It had no problem walking up the inside of the glass

This is one of the strangest bugs I’ve seen yet

When I downloaded the photos, I found a bunch more than I had forgotten about. I was house sitting for a friend who has a great yard full of flowers, so most are from there.

This beauty had wrapped itself up in a leaf on a heliconia plant in my yard

In my friend’s yard – I want to paint this one, interesting play of light

These interesting flowers look like big globes from the side

cool view of the pollen on the stamen

the ti plants were blooming

bamboo orchid

my friend also has cool spiders

another interesting bug that was on our wall one night

I looked up ti plant to be sure I spelled it right. It is Cordyline_fruticosa, has a number of other names, is from Polynesia,  and is in the asparagus family. The rhizomes can be eaten, and the leaves can be used to thatch roofs, store food, or make Hawaiian hula skirts. Who knew! Click on the link. The article is short but interesting. Ghost repellent? Good luck? Lava sledding?