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Panama: temporary driver's license:
Your wife can present her Panamanian passport and a blood test at any motor vehicle office and after passing the written, eye, and hearing exams she'll be issued a drivers license.
Panama: Shipping Household Goods Exclusions?:
@ Longing2LeaveUS
There's a commercial restaurant supply store in David in the Beverly Hills Plaza on Ave Belisario Porras just south of the stadium. The woman who owns it speaks English and says she can order anything. I know someone who ordered Ball type canning jars from her years ago.
The problem with ordering things from the states is that there's no ground shipping, it's all air so expensive. Eshop in Boquete rates begin at $7.76 for the first pound up to $195.81 for 50 pounds. When I first arrived I had two college years books shipped down, maybe 1.5" thick for both, and the shipping was $32 to give you an idea.
As for a container shipment for household goods, you can't pack liquids, firearms, food, and believe it or not no gasoline powered tools from the garage. I know I'm missing something. My shipping company here in Panama discovered my gasoline powered pressure washer and leaf blower while unpacking my container and informed me that tools from the garage aren't considered household goods.
Panama: Thinking about going to Cuba:
How soon people forget.
When will Cuba government return the property it confiscated from people? They confiscated my family's property but I guess that's OK to you liberals. Where's our compensation?
Panama: Bringing motorcycle:
Shelbi,
I shipped my SUV with my household goods in a container from the states. I'm not familiar with the Canadian regulations but I'm sure the same goes as someone mentioned having the motorcycle safely secured via tie downs as well as having the gas tank drained and the battery disconnected.
For the receiving end in Panama, they require a clean title with no liens or hand writing on the title. The title must be in the name of the owner of the contents of the container and not a third party unless that is prearranged with your shipper. Vehicles in containers are unloaded and processed first so they must be loaded last unless it's a dual door container then it can be loaded first or last. If the container is being delivered to a customs office outside of the Colon or Balboa ports such as the office in David for people moving to Boquete, ensure that your shipper has the container unloaded from the truck with the container doors accessible. I know of one case where they unloaded the container from the truck with it's doors up against a wall at customs which required a crane to move it so that the vehicle could be unloaded - a $500 added expense.
And when you pick up your motorcycle at customs, bring a wrench to secure the battery because they do not have tools! And beware of any potential electrical problems due to the fact that the battery will be disconnected for some time. You can encounter problems with starting since some alarm systems have to be re-programmed.
Yes, they do charge storage fees in the event of any delays. I believe they give you 24 hours notice to pickup your vehicle. In my case, they called on a Friday which under normal circumstances I could've picked it up on Saturday. But they informed me that the following Monday was a Holiday so they'd be closed on Saturday requiring me to pay storage until I picked it up on Tuesday.
Another snag with titling a vehicle in Panama is they require authentication of the vehicle's engine model and serial number if it's not recorded on the title. Most vehicle titles in the states do not record the engine model or serial number. If this is the case with your motorcycle, there will be an added step of having that authenticated at a DIJ office (the police's detective's division - Direccion de Investigacion Judicial) which will add about one week to the titling process.
As for wooden crates, that would certainly be an added safety measure. I've met two people here in Boquete who shipped their Harley's in wooden crates along with their household goods without declaring them. They thought that they could avoid paying import duties but in doing so couldn't register them since the import duty wasn't paid let alone zero proof of how the motorcycles entered the country rendering them useless! They had to return to customs and cry "mea culpa" and pay a fine. I've heard the same thing with ATVs and golf carts.
Panama: Purchasing Property in Panama:
@ Alexa2014
For all intents and purposes, there is no MLS in Panama since no one is using it.
As for mortgages, it's virtually impossible to obtain a mortgage on existing real estate unless it is new construction in a condo project or subdivision.
As for obtaining a bank account before residency, your immigration attorney should be able to arrange that for you.
Panama: Lawyer:
@ Shelbi,
You wrote:
"He said to plan for two full weeks in Panama."
I obtained my Friendly Nations visa in early 2013 in PC and it only took two days. I went to immigration with my attorney early one morning and I was issued my temporary permanent residency visa card in the afternoon the following day. I believe it was one hour the first day and then one and a half hours the second day. I then obtained a Panamanian drivers license on the third day. It's that easy if all of your paper work is in order.
I do understand that it's quiet busier now and that they don't allow you to obtain all of the required window tickets at once further delaying your visit. It used to be that you would arrive at 7:00 AM to wait inline for the doors to open at 7:30 AM to get all of your window tickets with low numbers and they begin processing at 8:00 AM. I know for a fact that you used to be able to purchase window tickets back then but possibly not now.
Panama: Non-US residents, visitors/tourists, etc........any problems at the borders?:
@ SunsetSteve
"If he would have invested his inheritance in any mutual fund he would be worth 10X what he is worth today."
It looks as though you drank the main stream media's Koolaide! President Trump began his empire in the 1970s, his father passed away in 1999.
Here are two predictions from the main stream media:
MSNBC "Hillary has a 99% chance of winning."
NY Times "Hillary has a 85% chance of winning."
It's funny how you label President Trump a fool, are you saying that Hillary lost to a fool?
Oh the liberal melt down!
Panama: Help me understand:
@ longreach
Here in Boquete the demographics have changed considerably. It used to be that your typical expat obtained permanent residency, purchased a home, shipped down their households goods, and also purchased or shipped down a car. The real estate market was vibrant then, in fact there were numerous real estate offices in Boquete up until a few years ago. Now it appears that the majority of expats moving to Boquete come with a backpack and/or suit cases, they don't obtain permanent residency (they border hop), nor do they purchase homes or cars.
That's been my observation. I don't know about the rest of the country.
Panama: Wino needs info please!:
@ StanleySankey
There is a Filipe Motta store in David. It's located on the old via Boquete highway, west side, three blocks north of the PanAmerican highway, next to the new Honda dealership.
Great selection. It's just like being at home.
Panama: police shakedown:
Your drivers license from your homeland is only valid for 30 days upon the issuance of a temporary residency visa of any kind.
Using the "passport" method described above only works if the police officer doesn't view the Panamanian immigration stamps in your passport indicating that you've possessed a residency visa for more than 30 days.
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