It's been awhile since I've seen a post about obtaining a visa, so I thought I would share our recent experience. A few caveats: we are American so the process might be different if you are from a different country; this was our experience and yours may be different.
We are planning our move from the U.S. to Boquete within the next 2 months - I started the visa process from the U.S. after contacting an attorney in Boquete who was recommended by a member of this site. Our attorney has offices both in Boquete and in Panama City, which we have found was very convenient! PM me for attorney's contact info.
We applied for a Pensionado visa. The following process takes some time, but it will speed up the process if you do everything ahead of time:
1. You must have proof of your pension, and it must be certified (apostilled) by the Secretary of State in the state where you live, or by the nearest Panamanian Consulate. Our pension is through Social Security and they will not provide a notarized copy - you will have to download a pension letter from their website, then also get a certification letter you must sign and have notarized (this simply says the letter from social security is a true and valid copy of your pension amount). Once you have both the pension letter and the notarized certification, you can log on to the Secretary of State's website and search "apostille" for instructions for your specific state. Follow the instructions and pay the fee. Our apostille cost $3.00 and took about a week.
2. You will also need an original copy of your marriage license (if a couple) and that must be apostilled (certified) by the Secretary of State where it was issued. We were married in Minnesota but currently live in Arizona, so we had to send it off to Minnesota for the apostille. Again, a small fee and about a week to get it back.
Everything that needs to be apostilled can be sent to the nearest Panamanian Consulate, but I believe their fees are higher.
3. You must each have a report from the FBI - it is a national report now called an Identity History Summary Check, and local police reports are no longer accepted. Prior to submitting your request, you must have your fingerprints taken. Our local police department doesn't do this any more, but we found a local postal store that could give us fingerprint cards for a nominal fee (as I remember, it was about $7 per person). Thank God for Google! It can be invaluable as you go through this process. Once you have your fingerprint cards, go to this website to complete the paperwork: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/identity-history-summary-checks
Complete the form and submit it (with the requested fees and fingerprint card). It can take a month or more to get the report back, although we got ours back within 2 weeks. Once you receive it back, you must log on to the U.S. State Department's website and follow directions to submit your FBI report to them for an apostille. here is the website address:
http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/english/legal-considerations/judicial/authentication-of-documents/requesting-authentication-services.html
Once you have all documents in hand, you will probably need to scan and e-mail them to your Panama attorney for review and translation into Spanish. Once that step is completed, plan your visit to Panama - you must appear in person at the ministry office to get your temporary visa.
We traveled to Boquete and met our attorney, who needed a copy of every page of our passports (you can make color copies in advance including the front and back covers, but the pages with new stamps from your recent entry into Panama must be copied after you get to Panama). We also had to get 6 passport sized photos each (I assume you could do this in advance - we didn't, so went to the one guy in Boquete with a good digital camera and the ability to print out the photos). These photos are NOT used on your temporary visa - they just go into your file!
We met the paralegal from our attorney's office at the ministry office in David - you can also go to the primary ministry office in PC. This is where hiring a knowledgeable attorney is invaluable! Keep in mind that this is NOT the U.S. - it may take hours to go through the process. Each individual at the ministry has a specific job, and no one else can do that job - so if one guy is out to lunch, you wait. Your attorney or paralegal (if they do this often) has developed relationships with people at the ministry and can help ease the process - not necessarily speed it up, but at least make sure you are taken care of.
You will want to make sure you have your original passport with you, and that your attorney also gets a multi-entry visa stamp in your passport so you can come and go as many times as you like before your move.
One of the steps in the visa process is that a new photo will be taken - the one that will actually be used on your temporary visa. I don't know what happened to the passport-sized photos we had - but I looked good in those, and the photo on my visa is terrible!
Once you get your temporary visa, there will be a wait while your paperwork is processed. We were just notified that we have been approved (after 3 months) and now will need to meet our attorney in Panama City, hand over our passports and some additional funds, get a new photo taken for the permanent visa (yeah!) and personally appear at the main ministry office to pick up the permanent visa. We plan to do this when we make our final move in a month or two.
In total, the cost for everything (attorney's fees, ministry fees, apostilles, postage, etc.) ran about $3,000 - not including the trip to Panama, and once again, this was our experience and yours may be different!
Panama
Living in Panama Guide
Panama Forum
Contribute
Best Places to Live in Panama
Healthcare in Panama
Cost of Living in Panama
Moving to Panama Guide
Pros & Cons of Living in Panama
Panama Visa & Residency Guide
10 Tips for Living in Panama