golric
4/3/2017 13:09 EST
"Since Monday, March 27, the National Migration Service (SNM) of Panama has made available two new online services so that interested parties can take the first steps to regularize their immigration status without having to go to one of the Migration Offices.
This new service includes applications for immigration status and foreign pre-registration as well as naturalization and regular and authorized visa services which were already available. With this new system applicants can apply for an immigration status request from home and will only have to go to the immigration institution at the time of payment and subsequent collection of the status.
In the case of applications for foreign pre registration with this method interested party will be able to enter their data in the migration system so that when they visit the facilities of the SNM to formalize the registration the procedure will take considerably less time.
Another benefit of this new system is that foreign residents can request an appointment for renewal of the provisional immigration ID from the same website.
These new services come after a month of reorganization in the SNM making such changes as the reduction to 3 months of stay in the country for those who enter as a tourist in addition to having to stay a month abroad before re-entering Panama
These services are available to the general public on the website of the Nationalo Migration System www.Migracion.gob.pa."
El Visitante April 5th.
I viewed the site and it is in Spanish. Also it mentions that this is now the new law revoking the old one.
As we have mentioned before every day there is a new law. Let's see how long this one will stay.
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ranadelnorte
4/3/2017 15:07 EST
@golric
Thanks for posting this intel. Wonder how the role of lawyers will be affected now that the new application and tracking system for visas can be done online?
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expatdude
4/3/2017 15:25 EST
Good to know, I need it for my newborn son, don't know how much longer we will be here but he will be here for 5 months at the end of this month so Ill either have to jump ship now or just regularize. The rest of the fam are perm residents, just didn't want to go through the hassle again if we are leaving soon...
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golric
4/3/2017 15:49 EST
@ Panama 2017.
I don't agree. Lots of expats are here renting, buying food, going to restaurants, and hiring cleaning people etc. and they just go to the border or fly out of Panama and come in every 90 0r 180 days....no problem.
They want to have more time to decide if this is the right place to stay or not. Some (I include myself) do not want to be pushed to do something we don't know is right. I know my landlord will not be happy and I think lawyers will be the same.
The people the government is trying to address is not expats who are thinking of relocating here in the near future but the other nationalities that come in as tourist and stay to work. Unfortunately, we will all pay the consequences.
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Panama2017
4/3/2017 16:27 EST
Hmmm, I don't have an opinion about differentiating between expats. But once they begin showing different treatment of certain nations they are potentially discriminating. But I am the crazy person that visited PTY for the 1st time for 5 days, went home and applied for visa, bought a condo and never looked back. Wrong person to empathize with indecision. If 6 months isn't enough for a yes...then the answer is probably no.
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RICOBREEZE802MARK
4/3/2017 18:04 EST
I agree, it doesn't take a person over 6 months to know if they are staying or not, and if that is the case before they buy a home then that is fine, but they still should get the visa. The problem is as I see it, it isn't they need more time to make up their minds to stay or go, but that they can't apply for the visa for some reason, either they have a record, are being hunted by police, or maybe they don't have the funds to apply. So they have used a loop hole in the law to play tourist when they are not a tourist. A tourist to me is a person who comes to a country for a week maybe two, to see the sites and then goes home, not live here 6 months jump to C.R. for a few days and jumps back for another 6 months. get legal or get gone.
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golric
4/4/2017 12:21 EST
The new law only allows for 3 months stay so it will be equal to the time you are permitted to drive with a foreign driver license.
I agree that some persons could make a decision in 3-6 months others are still wearing their pink eyeglasses at that stage. So before you jump come and visit several times, read everything you can, visit all areas, beach, mountains, city if you think it is the right decision start your visa process.
Purchasing a property is something I will think very carefully especially if you are using money you saved for retirement. Read the link I sent from the US Embassy. It is a step that I personally will take only if I am pretty sure I am spending here more than 10-15 years. Apartment and house prices have come down in price since I have been here.
Cheers,
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volcan357
4/4/2017 17:57 EST
The harder Panama makes it for people to stay here from countries like the USA or Canada then the more money they lose for the Panamanian people and Panamanian businesses. Obviously people from the USA or Canada are not going to work here because of the lower wages so they are only going to spend here money that they have earned somewhere else. The longer they stay the more they are going to spend. I am saying this from the viewpoint of a Panamanian and not an American since I have been a citizen here for over three years. now. We also have illegals working here from other Latin American countries but that is an entirely different issue. As a country we in Panama are competing against other countries for American retirees. In the Dominican Republic for example you can overstay your tourist visa for as long as you wish and you only end up paying a small fine when you leave the country.
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golric
4/5/2017 13:18 EST
@ Volcan
Agree with you 100%
I will add also European citizens. UK, Germany, Spain, Italy.
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Panama2017
4/5/2017 13:26 EST
This sounds like what Trump is trying to do for US. Doesn't seem to be working for him...
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expatdude
4/5/2017 13:27 EST
I think this is mostly discriminating against people from other nations other than US and Canada as expats in my opinion regularize themselves quite quickly. There seems to be a lot of negative sentiment against Venezuelans and Colombians coming in. Panama has every right to put their foot down on this, the common folks are complaining that the foreigners are taken their jobs (IMO due to the horrible work ethic locally) so I don't hold it against the nation for doing this. I already started the process with my lawyer to get my son as a resident, fairly easy but sucks I have to spend the money on it. The lady that works for us is from a Central American country, while she is legal here, her friends don't seem to be and they are freaking out because if they get kicked out I don't think they are allowed back in.
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expatdude
4/5/2017 13:40 EST
Regarding Spanish citizens (there's 50,000 of them in the city) there is a double treaty with Panama that any Spanish that becomes a resident in Panama gets Panamanian citizenship in two years, same if a Panamanian moves to Spain. The Spanish passport if I remember correctly is the second strongest in the world due to similar treaties with foreign countries. Colombia just signed a treaty a while back for the same, but I believe for them its 3 years.
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