Panama
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National Government
Panamanian Tourist Visas are currently under review for change from 30 days to 90 days. There is some confusion over this because originally tourist visas were good for 90 days, and in 2007 they changed to 30 days. A short time later, this law was reversed back to 90 days, with an effective date of August 2008. This means that border officials may grant 30 days, or they may grant 90 days. If you receive a 30 day visa, and want to stay longer, go to an Immigration Office at least 1 week before your visa expires and get an extension for 60 days longer.
Web Site for Panamanian Immigration in English
Web Site for Panamanian Government
Web Site for Panamanian Public Registry (Property)
Web Site for Panamanian State Department
Click Here for Visa information Document
Click Here for Pensionado Benefit Document
Immigration Office – Panama City: 507-1800
Motor Vehicles
Driver's License
First time license applications:
If you are a permanent resident with a Pensionado Visa then a license with four year validity will be issued to you. Those who have come to the land of Panama on a visit may drive for the maximum time span of three months with the official driver's license of the country to which they belong.
Documentation required:
1. Your Permanent Residency Card, and a photocopy of it; 2. Your foreign driver's license (with a copy duly authenticated by your Consulate here in Panama); 3. $40.25; 4. Glucose Test (from a medical lab, showing that your blood sugar levels are not outside the standard range); 5. Auditory and Visual examinations made at the Licence department 6. Medical test (if 70 years or older).
The Glucose Test can be done at any medical Laboratory. It should probably be done first thing in the morning, before you have had anything to eat, since you will not wish to have high sugar levels.
License Renewal
Documentation required:
To get a license renewed you must have one of the cedulas with a hologram on the front and a bar code on the back, so if you have one of the old cedulas you must get your cedula renewed before you can get your license. However, we relate the following experience:
"If you are an expat, have a Jubilado card and need to renew your Panamanian drivers license, you must take your passport with you to the Traffic Department. Then, your current passport number must be the same as the number on your Jubilado card. My old passport expired since I last applied for a drivers license. I had heard from several sources that in order to renew your drivers license under these circumstances, I would need to have my Jubilado card reissued.
So, I decided to visit the immigrations office in David. We went to the counter and showed/told them of my problem. I asked if they could reissue my Jubilado card. They advised that this was certainly a solution that would enable me to get a new drivers license. The cost would be $100.00 plus a lot of time and paperwork. They then advised there was an option I might want to consider it. They could issue a one time certification letter for $10.00 and I would have the letter in approximately an hour and a half. For this option, I needed my new passport, my Jubilado card and a copy of my old passport...
At 10:25am, I walked out with my letter and proceeded to the Traffic department at Chiriqui Mall to get my license renewed."
1. Glucose Test (from a medical lab, showing that your blood sugar levels are not outside the standard range); 2. Auditory and visual examinations made at the License department 3. Medical test (if 70 years or older)
Cost $40.25
The Driver’s License bureau is located in the Chiriqui Mall (by the contractor Sertracen located on the back side of Mall Chiriqui). To obtain a driver’s license, you must first go to a lab and get a blood test for Diabetes. You must carry ALL paperwork in the car at all times (registration, insurance and the current driving laws book). You can purchase the driving laws book at the pharmacy at the front corner of Chiriqui Mall.
Passport Enumeration, Vehicle Title and Drivers License Complications - 2010
A glitch in the Vehicle registration and title issuing system has come to light concerning the manner in which passport numbers of extranjeros were previously entered into the system. The two letter prefix on passport numbers from Canada and some other countries was omitted when registering a vehicle but is now required. It seems it was discovered that two or more individuals from different countries could have the same I.D. number if the prefix was not included. In the case of U.S. citizens, who have a 9 digit Passport number, four zeros were entered in front of the number on the title. The previous system had 13 spaces that the person entering the data needed to fill.
The new system, set up by Sertracen, the contractor that issues driver's licenses and provided the TPV cards, inputs prefixes and digits exactly as printed on the passport.
What does this mean?
Since the vehicle registrations and drivers' license systems are now coordinated, an individual who's ID number does not exactly match the one on their vehicle title, will be required to have the title re-issued by the ATTT. Otherwise, their drivers license will not be issued or renewed, and as I wrote beforehand regarding requirements involving new passports, these folks just say NO.
It seems this issue will eventually affect almost every foreigner who has a driver's license and has registered a vehicle before the latter part of 2009. To add to the problem, the ATTT issuing offices are already under-equipped and overworked. Obviously this a growing pain that is necessary to upgrade the system. It's also appropriate to remember that the previous systems were designed for the cedula numbers of the citizens of Panama, not the passport numbers of foreigners.
by Keith.....kwoolford@gmail.com
Vehicle Registration
You must register your vehicle and get new license plates every year during the month in which it was originally registered. This is a three step process comprising inspection, photos and getting the plates. First you need to get the vehicle inspected. There are many places in David to have this done. Unfortunately there are none closer to Boquete. Sometimes your auto dealer can do it (Toyota) but sometimes not (Nissan, Yamaha). Here are a couple recommended places:
Felipe Rodriguez (Across from Romero/HSBC on Avenida Obaldia. Same intersection as Vidrios y Espejas) Servicentro (Yellow and blue bldg on the north side of the Transamerica Hwy, 1.2km west of Plaza Terronal (El Rey))
You will need:
1. Your original auto registration (Registro Unico) 2. Your auto insurance policy 3. (soon, 2011) your auto ID card
The inspection is fairly cursory and takes about ten minutes. You will receive a "Revisado" paper if it passes. Then they will take photos of the front, back, and side of the car. Then you will get a "Certificado de Inspeccion Vehicular" and you are done. The cost should be between B/.10 and B/.20.
Finally you will need to take all the papers to your the Municipio where the vehicle is registered and present them there to get your license plates. Go to the Tramites de Placas window in the Tesorero office and give them your Certificado. They'll process the paperwork and give you a paper to take to the cashier window. When you pay at the cashier they will give you your plates and window sticker. This costs another B/.12.50.
PENSIONADOS WHO HAVE A NEW PASSPORT WHOSE NUMBER DOESN'T MATCH YOUR CEDULA, AND WHO HAVE A VEHICLE REGISTERED IN YOUR NAME - you must go to the David (or Dolega or Boquete, depending on where your vehicle is registered) municipal building (2nd floor) and get a new vehicle registration with the new passport number. Cost: $20. And the clerk will give you a bill which then must be taken to Banco Nacional to pay. (There is one a few blocks away.) Then you return the receipt and they type up your new registration. You are still not done, however. You must go downstairs to the caja and change the passport number on your vehicle registration ($3), assuming its registered in David. If it's registered in Dolega, Boquete or Panama City, I suspect you must do the same at the Municipio there. All this is necessary because your records with Traffico must all match now (license and vehicle registration). In addition, local government vehicle records, in this case David, must also match.
Importing an Auto
By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com
People who are moving to Panama, particularly from the United States, often come up on the Americans in Panama Yahoo email group and ask "should I bring my car with me to Panama or should I sell it here and buy something there?" Many people, and I mean thousands of people, have already faced this same decision. And, the great majority have figured it out - it makes much more sense to sell whatever vehicles you own in the United States, "ship" the money in your back pocket when you fly down, and then buy something here, new or used, once you arrive. There are all kinds of good reasons for doing it this way. Here are a few; Example Vehicle: Let's say you're driving a 2002 Chevy Suburban 1500 4x4 SUV with an 8 cylinder engine and about 65,000 miles in pretty good condition. That car has a Kelly Blue Book value of about $10,000 dollars. And, let's say you live in Wisconsin and you're going to retire and move to Panama. I will be using this vehicle for the example, but the same principles apply to practically all.
Shipping Cost: First things first. You will have to make arrangements to have your car shipped from Wisconsin to Panama on a boat. Of course there are companies who do this and it's not cheap. I don't know what the exact cost would be to ship this vehicle from point to point, but it's probably in the neighborhood of $2,000 dollars or so.
Import Taxes: When you car gets to Panama you will have to pay 18% importation duty plus another 7% ITBMS, based on the value of the vehicle. So there's another $1,800 in duty and $700 in ITBMS. You're already up to $4,500 dollars in combined shipping, import taxes, and sales tax - which is practically 50% of the value of the vehicle.
Bribes At The Dock: You're going to end up paying bribes and fees one way or the other to get your vehicle into Panama. There is a "customs agent" - the guy who runs your paperwork through the system and gets all of the right stamps. At the docks those government officials are under no pressure to move your paperwork quickly, so if you want to see your vehicle any time this century they are standing around with their hands out, waiting for a bribe to "hurry things up." You don't have to pay these little $20 and $40 bribes, but if you don't you can expect you car to come off of the lot dead last. So, at this step you can add a few hundred more dollars in fees and bribes.
Bug Spray To Screw Up Your Paint Job: Somebody just posted this morning that their car was sprayed at the docks, supposedly for potential insect infestation, even though it had already been sitting at the docks for more than two months. He wrote: "I thought the same thing. But after the car sitting 2 months in Colon, finding all the hidden costs someone could dream up. Pay this guy, pay that guy, Oh and better pay this guy over here. Then when I go to leave the port there in Colon and some guy wants to spray this crap all over my car to kill what ever I might have brought into the country after it had been sitting in a lot for 2 months. Totally ruined a really good original paint job. If you got plenty of time and money is no object then go for it. If these cars are something you cherish, I wouldn't do it. I tried to buy off the guy spraying what ever they spray on the car but he wouldn't do it. From the smile on his face I think he enjoyed it. I think the only reason it didn't eat the paint off the car was that it started raining on the way back to PC and washed it off."
Your Suburban Is Too Big for Panama: In the United States there are big, wide open highways with lots of parking in front of the Walmart and it's easy to drive a huge Suburban all over the place with little additional concern. Here in Panama the streets are more narrow, lanes are tighter, and parking in often nonexistent. Vehicles that are nice and practical in the United States are absolute nightmares in Panama. And that not only applies to cars that are too big. The roads are full of potholes so small little sports cars that run low to the road are just as impractical. Also, no one owns convertibles down here because any moron with a switchblade can open it up in a second. Take a hard look at the vehicle you're thinking about shipping down, and ask yourself it that might be a practical vehicle for Panamanian streets and byways.
Parts and Pieces: Here in Panama Japanese cars dominate the market. There are by far many more Toyota and Nissan vehicles running around than any other, followed by Mitsubishi and Hyundai. American cars carry a very small percentage of the market. Therefore, parts and replacement pieces are much harder to come by. The other thing to think about is "American Specifications." You might be driving a vehicle that looks the same on the outside, but if you bought it in the United States then there are going to be additional things, especially for safety, impact, fuel economy, and emissions. The Toyota you buy in Panama is different than the Toyota you buy in Wisconsin.
Experienced Mechanics: All cars need repairs sooner or later. Since most of the vehicles here are made in Japan (or elsewhere in Asia) that means the bulk of the mechanics know the most about working on those kinds of vehicles. If you have something thats made in the US or exotic in any way, you will have a much smaller pool of available mechanics to choose from. And, God forbid you should be forced to pull into the dealer to get your car fixed, because then the prices double or triple.
You're Gonna Get "Dinged" The chances that you will become involved in a some kind of a minor fender-bender while here are practically 100% - sooner or later. Low speed contact accidents are very common, mostly in intersections and during lane changes in heavy traffic. Both drivers thought they could duck into that open space and they arrived in the middle, that sort of stuff. The drivers here tend to be very aggressive in traffic and minor accidents are common.
Gas Guzzler: Your Suburban V8 sucks down a whole lot of gas. It's not so bad when you're flying down the highways and byways of the great United States at 75 miles per hour, but in Panama you're going to be sitting in a traffic jam, going nowhere, and burning up mucho dinero in stop and go traffic.
Low Resale Value: For all of those reasons, nobody here in Panama will want to buy your huge American car once you finally figure out that you screwed up when you brought it down here in the first place. You'll end up selling it for much less than what you could have gotten if you had sold it in the United States before you left. If It's About the Money: Since it's going to cost you more than $15,000 to import your Suburban that's only worth $10,000 doesn't it make more sense to sell your vehicle in the United States, and then spend the same amount of money to buy something nice down here? Something that's a little smaller physically so it's easier to drive and park in Panama, smaller more practical engine that burns less gas, maybe not so new so if it gets dinged then who cares, made in Japan so the parts and mechanics are available. Thousands of members of the community of English speaking expatriates agree - bringing a car with you doesn't make any sense from a strictly economical point of view. If it's about the money, sell it there and buy down here. We've already got this one figured out for you.
I Love My Car: If you're driving the love of your life then it might be worth it for emotional reasons. Let's say you got that '69 Impala you drove while you were in high school and you've spent ten years to have it rebuild and restored. If the situation is something like this, then all bets are off. Pay the money, pay the bribes, and be willing to order the parts and pieces from eBay. Good luck.
What I'm Driving: I drive a 15 year old Jeep that's probably worth less than $2,000 if I ever tried to sell it in this market. It still looks pretty good inside and out (I've had it painted) and it runs well (thanks to Alvaro and Campos, my mechanics). If something breaks I get it fixed. It's been dinged on all corners a little bit here and there, but if I swap paint with a taxi we both just say "I don't have time to wait for the traffic cops" and we go our separate ways. I have a huge steel bumper guard (slash) tow hitch welded to the frame on the back which has absorbed what would have been a couple of read-enders. It's an SUV and the high clearance is good for driving over curbs and pulling illegal u-turns to avoid demonstrations in Transistmica, or driving through deeply flooded streets during the rainy season. In other words, think "Mad Max" - it gets me around in this environment. And, I bought it here, used, more than ten years ago.
The Uncommon Exception: This most recent discussion on the Americans in Panama Yahoo email group was started by "Dave." It turns out he's a master mechanic who will be importing six cars, as well as the tools and equipment to maintain them, paint them, and keep them looking sharp. He also has modified the vehicles with over sized and wide tires, raised bodies, and upgraded suspensions. His personal garage can hold "six cars, and one on the lift." Obviously, if you're this guy you know what you're doing and can fix anything. Hey Dave, do you work on Jeeps?
Copyright 2010 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com.
