Okay I am finally posting all this info, and is intended for Canadians moving permanently to Panama although I believe most of the info also applies to Americans.
My wife and I are both Canadians, and lived in the Windsor area (about 3 hours from Toronto, Ontario). We came to Panama in April of this year (2014). We did the following:
• Brought our dog
• Purchased a panama corporation
• Opened a personal bank account in Panama
• Applied for and received a Friendly Nations Visa
• Got a multiple entry permit
• Got our Panama drivers licences
Below are the steps required to accomplish the above:
We did a ton of research on this website and met a very nice and knowledgeable gent named Panamajames. We actually rented our apartment from him in Boquete. On his advice we started all the paperwork ahead of our move and e mailed it to the lawyer and the bank. This made the time required to finalize everything here in Panama much shorter, although we still needed to provide them with the original documents upon our arrival.
THE DOG
Get a rabies shot for your dog. It must be more than 3 months old and less than a year old.
Go to your Vet and get an International health certificate from them.
Take that form to Agriculture Canada and have them stamp it.
Take those forms to the Panama Consulate and have them approve (they call it Apostled) we call it Notarized) all the paperwork. (More detail about them later)
E mail or fax the airport in Panama giving them you flight arrival information and the dog’s details, this must be done at least 48 hours before your arrival in Panama.
IMPORTANT: You MUST arrive in Panama within 10 days after the date on the International Health certificate from your Vet.
ALL this info can be found on the Panama Embassy website in Ottawa.
Purchase the Corporation
Don’t be scared, this is a simple transaction done through your lawyer here in Panama. There are lots of Corporations available from people that had them and have since returned to their home country. It is best (easiest) to purchase an existing one rather than set up a new one. You don’t have to actually run the company it is just required to get the Friendly Nations Visa. I paid about $350.00.
You need to get a ton of paperwork from Canada to send to the lawyer but its all easy stuff.
• Police reports
• Bank recommendation letters
• Last year’s income tax returns
• Copies of any schooling or university degrees
• Copies of your passports
• Copies of your Birth certificate and Marriage licences
• You need to prove you have at least $5000 in a panama bank (more on this later)
All of these papers as well as the ones required for the bank below also need to be authenticated by the Authentication dept. of Canada PRIOR to going to the Panama Consulate in Canada. They will NOT accept your lawyers Notarization otherwise. Basically the Canadian government is certifying that your Canadian lawyer is real. They attach a paper with a big red seal on it and all agencies here in Panama recognize this seal.
It would be best to ask the Panama consulate which ones you need to authenticate as its gets expensive
The lawyer will send you an e mail telling you what you need to send to him.
IMPORTANT: Get a good trustworthy lawyer, I used the one that Panamajames recommended and he is fantastic. If you private message me I can provide his contact info. Legal fees for both my wife and I were about $4,500 for everything including the corporation.
PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNT
Again we sent info ahead of time in order to speed up the process. It is VERY different than opening an account in Canada. You need almost the same info as you need for the lawyer. We used Scotiabank here in Panama and they will also e mail you with their requirements. This is the account you need to deposit the $5,000 minimum into. Once you do that you need to have them send a letter to the lawyer proving you have the funds available.
FRIENDLY NATION VISA
The lawyer will do all this for you. You will need to go to the immigration office in Panama City for the initial application, the lawyer will go with you. Then you wait about 6 weeks and you need to go back to have your picture taken and receive your temporary visa card (good for 1 year) you will also need to get a MULTI EXIT stamp on you Canadian Passport. This allows you to be able to leave the country while you wait for the permeant visa to be approved in about 6 months. You need to surrender you passports for 48 hours to accomplish this so expect to spend several days in the city.
PANAMA DRIVERS LICENCE
Okay now you have your temporary visa card you can get your licence. You will need to go and get a blood test to show your blood type as they put that info on the licence. You need to go to the Canadian embassy in Panama City and have them notarize you Canadian licence. For this you need to show them your Canadian licence and also your passport (NOT A COPY) you return the next day and pick up your notarized copy and a letter from them. This next step is VERY important. We missed it and had to drive all the way back to Panama City to do it. You take the papers and your licence and passports to the department of authentication and have them authenticate the Canadian embassy’s paperwork. This takes 3 hours and not a minute less. Once you have all that done you can go to the licence issuing office and apply for your licence. This costs $40.00 each and you will be given a rudimentary hearing and sight test and you will get your licence. It will be valid for 1 year as that is when your temporary visa expires. When you get your permeant visa card you can simply renew you license with just the hearing and sight tests and another $40 and the new licence will be good for 4 years.
Okay why do you need to do all this? Although it’s true as a Canadian you don’t need a visa to enter panama you are still required to leave the country and go home every 6 months. You can return the very next day but you have to leave again in 6 months. If you intend to drive in Panama using your Canadian licence it is only good for 3 months so again you need to leave the country every 3 months. So in order NOT to have to leave every 3 months you need a Panama licence and for that you need a Visa of some sort. And for the Visa you need to go through the hoops above. The good news is once you have all the above you can live, work and play and get jubilado discounts in Panama forever. There are several other Visas available but this one worked best in our situation.
HINTS
We had all our paperwork Notarized by our lawyer in Canada before sending it to the bank and the lawyer in Panama as well as before going to the Panama Consulate in Toronto. If you want you can ask the Panama consulate which ones need to be done before doing them as it gets expensive. We did them all just in case and have no problems.
Contact information is below for almost all the various offices you need.
Panama consulate in Toronto 2788 Bathurst st suite 211 (Bathurst and Glencairn) open 10 to 2 Mon to Fri. 416 651 2350
Canadian authentication office is on Jarvis st downtown near the old armory. The Panama consulate can give you the address.
Agriculture Canada you will have to look it up for your area.
Canadian embassy in Panama City Torres De Las Americas Tower A Piso 11 Punta Pacifica Panama City. Open 8:30 to 1 Mon to Fri 294 2500.
Panama immigration office Tumba Muerto Al Lado De La 3M Panama city No Phone number
Panama authentication office Just down the street from the immigration office You could walk to it about 10 minute walk.
GOOD LUCK
My wife and I are both Canadians, and lived in the Windsor area (about 3 hours from Toronto, Ontario). We came to Panama in April of this year (2014). We did the following:
• Brought our dog
• Purchased a panama corporation
• Opened a personal bank account in Panama
• Applied for and received a Friendly Nations Visa
• Got a multiple entry permit
• Got our Panama drivers licences
Below are the steps required to accomplish the above:
We did a ton of research on this website and met a very nice and knowledgeable gent named Panamajames. We actually rented our apartment from him in Boquete. On his advice we started all the paperwork ahead of our move and e mailed it to the lawyer and the bank. This made the time required to finalize everything here in Panama much shorter, although we still needed to provide them with the original documents upon our arrival.
THE DOG
Get a rabies shot for your dog. It must be more than 3 months old and less than a year old.
Go to your Vet and get an International health certificate from them.
Take that form to Agriculture Canada and have them stamp it.
Take those forms to the Panama Consulate and have them approve (they call it Apostled) we call it Notarized) all the paperwork. (More detail about them later)
E mail or fax the airport in Panama giving them you flight arrival information and the dog’s details, this must be done at least 48 hours before your arrival in Panama.
IMPORTANT: You MUST arrive in Panama within 10 days after the date on the International Health certificate from your Vet.
ALL this info can be found on the Panama Embassy website in Ottawa.
Purchase the Corporation
Don’t be scared, this is a simple transaction done through your lawyer here in Panama. There are lots of Corporations available from people that had them and have since returned to their home country. It is best (easiest) to purchase an existing one rather than set up a new one. You don’t have to actually run the company it is just required to get the Friendly Nations Visa. I paid about $350.00.
You need to get a ton of paperwork from Canada to send to the lawyer but its all easy stuff.
• Police reports
• Bank recommendation letters
• Last year’s income tax returns
• Copies of any schooling or university degrees
• Copies of your passports
• Copies of your Birth certificate and Marriage licences
• You need to prove you have at least $5000 in a panama bank (more on this later)
All of these papers as well as the ones required for the bank below also need to be authenticated by the Authentication dept. of Canada PRIOR to going to the Panama Consulate in Canada. They will NOT accept your lawyers Notarization otherwise. Basically the Canadian government is certifying that your Canadian lawyer is real. They attach a paper with a big red seal on it and all agencies here in Panama recognize this seal.
It would be best to ask the Panama consulate which ones you need to authenticate as its gets expensive
The lawyer will send you an e mail telling you what you need to send to him.
IMPORTANT: Get a good trustworthy lawyer, I used the one that Panamajames recommended and he is fantastic. If you private message me I can provide his contact info. Legal fees for both my wife and I were about $4,500 for everything including the corporation.
PERSONAL BANK ACCOUNT
Again we sent info ahead of time in order to speed up the process. It is VERY different than opening an account in Canada. You need almost the same info as you need for the lawyer. We used Scotiabank here in Panama and they will also e mail you with their requirements. This is the account you need to deposit the $5,000 minimum into. Once you do that you need to have them send a letter to the lawyer proving you have the funds available.
FRIENDLY NATION VISA
The lawyer will do all this for you. You will need to go to the immigration office in Panama City for the initial application, the lawyer will go with you. Then you wait about 6 weeks and you need to go back to have your picture taken and receive your temporary visa card (good for 1 year) you will also need to get a MULTI EXIT stamp on you Canadian Passport. This allows you to be able to leave the country while you wait for the permeant visa to be approved in about 6 months. You need to surrender you passports for 48 hours to accomplish this so expect to spend several days in the city.
PANAMA DRIVERS LICENCE
Okay now you have your temporary visa card you can get your licence. You will need to go and get a blood test to show your blood type as they put that info on the licence. You need to go to the Canadian embassy in Panama City and have them notarize you Canadian licence. For this you need to show them your Canadian licence and also your passport (NOT A COPY) you return the next day and pick up your notarized copy and a letter from them. This next step is VERY important. We missed it and had to drive all the way back to Panama City to do it. You take the papers and your licence and passports to the department of authentication and have them authenticate the Canadian embassy’s paperwork. This takes 3 hours and not a minute less. Once you have all that done you can go to the licence issuing office and apply for your licence. This costs $40.00 each and you will be given a rudimentary hearing and sight test and you will get your licence. It will be valid for 1 year as that is when your temporary visa expires. When you get your permeant visa card you can simply renew you license with just the hearing and sight tests and another $40 and the new licence will be good for 4 years.
Okay why do you need to do all this? Although it’s true as a Canadian you don’t need a visa to enter panama you are still required to leave the country and go home every 6 months. You can return the very next day but you have to leave again in 6 months. If you intend to drive in Panama using your Canadian licence it is only good for 3 months so again you need to leave the country every 3 months. So in order NOT to have to leave every 3 months you need a Panama licence and for that you need a Visa of some sort. And for the Visa you need to go through the hoops above. The good news is once you have all the above you can live, work and play and get jubilado discounts in Panama forever. There are several other Visas available but this one worked best in our situation.
HINTS
We had all our paperwork Notarized by our lawyer in Canada before sending it to the bank and the lawyer in Panama as well as before going to the Panama Consulate in Toronto. If you want you can ask the Panama consulate which ones need to be done before doing them as it gets expensive. We did them all just in case and have no problems.
Contact information is below for almost all the various offices you need.
Panama consulate in Toronto 2788 Bathurst st suite 211 (Bathurst and Glencairn) open 10 to 2 Mon to Fri. 416 651 2350
Canadian authentication office is on Jarvis st downtown near the old armory. The Panama consulate can give you the address.
Agriculture Canada you will have to look it up for your area.
Canadian embassy in Panama City Torres De Las Americas Tower A Piso 11 Punta Pacifica Panama City. Open 8:30 to 1 Mon to Fri 294 2500.
Panama immigration office Tumba Muerto Al Lado De La 3M Panama city No Phone number
Panama authentication office Just down the street from the immigration office You could walk to it about 10 minute walk.
GOOD LUCK
