in Panama City
This week we spent a few days in Panamá City. We flew from David to Panamá City to complete our e-cédulas. David, the 3rd largest city in Panamá, is a 35 minute drive from Boquete. The flight is approximately 45 minutes, a real time saver and relatively inexpensive with a 20% jubilado discount. The drive would take you around 7 hours.
The e-cédula is an optional form of identification that provides an unique ID number which becomes the official proof of identity in Panamá. Permanent residents are not required to obtain the e-cédula; however, it is highly recommended. This is because the e-cédula card is an accepted proof of identity anywhere in Panamá, while the permanent residency card requires foreigners to carry their passport as a proof of ID. All Panamanians over the age of 18 are issued a cédula. The only difference between the cédula issued to those who are born in Panamá and those who become permanent residents, is the “e” on the card’s ID number, which stands for extranjero – foreigner in Spanish.
When you have an e-cédula card, you can do your day-to-day tasks more easily – whether it be cashing your checks or paying for public transport. When in Panamá, an e-cédula card is all you need to carry. See full article about important Panamá IDs (from our attorneys website), at https://kraemerlaw.com/en/articles/important-panama-ids-residency-card-e-cedula-drivers-license/
It’s not necessary for an attorney to accompany you, however we did have our bilingual driver/tour guide extraordinaire, Marc Vargas, drive us to the Tribunal Electoral in Albrook, Panamá City, and he helped us with any translation issues. After our files were reviewed, we paid the fee of $32.50 each (normally $65.00 but we get a 50% jubilado discount), then got our photos taken and also fingerprinted. In a week our e-cédulas will be mailed to us. Everything was done in less than 3 hours, which left us some time to explore which is always very enjoyable. This completes our process!
We are back home in Boquete, until our next adventure.
Today is Independence Day in the US, home of the free because of the brave. I remain grateful for our many freedoms in both my mother land and my newly adopted home of Panamá. Happy Independence Day!
