We are a happily married couple from Pennsylvania who are retiring and moving to Panamá in late April 2019. We have our Friendly Nations Visas and are planning on making Panamá our permanent home. We are taking Spanish lessons and our goal is to become fluent. We will be great house guests, great house caretakers, and committed and active pet lovers for your need. We are smoke free, drug free, and party free, We are prompt, dependable, fit and clean. Having been homeowners for over 30 years, we understand property issues. We understand the value of caring for a home and are considerate of other people’s property. We have lots of experience with gardening and yard maintenance as well as home repairs and improvements. We have had dog owners for many years Here is a pic of our beloved husky, “Otis” who passed away a few years ago. We have also had cats, ferrets, rabbits and fish. We love all animals! While we’re in your home with your pets, we’ll gladly send you as many pictures/updates as you’d like. We would love to spend a little bit of time all over Panamá, to experience all the micro-climates and to ultimately find that special place that speaks to us, where we will make our forever home. Thank you for your consideration. We are happy to supply character references. We want you to feel comfortable knowing that we will take good care of your home and/or pets.
Our faithful pal Otis who crossed the rainbow bridge
If you want to apply for residency in Panama, it will require a special trip to Panama to do all the paperwork. You cannot do this remotely, it takes about 7 business days for the process. But, before this step, there is paperwork you must have done ahead of time. As U.S. citizens, we had to be fingerprinted and have criminal background checks done with the FBI. After that step, the FBI checks need to be “apostilled” with the Secretary of State, another level of authentication.
After touching down at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, we quickly found a taxi who took us to The Executive Hotel smack dab in the middle of the business district, within walking distance to our attorney’s office. The following morning we met with Attorney Marcos Kraemer, of Kraemer & Kraemer Law, who went through all our paperwork. We cannot say enough good things about our experience with Attorney Kraemer and his staff. We were treated like family. There are many options for residency visas, but we opted for the Friendly Nations visas for a few reasons…we want to keep our options open in case any opportunities for work present themselves, and also because we are not drawing from a pension yet. The Friendly Nations Visa offer many perks and benefits for men over 60 and women over 55.
After meeting with our Attorney, we took a taxi to Banistmo Bank to open our Panamanian bank account. We sat down with a teller who did not speak much English, but thankfully the bank manager did, and after 3+ hours, we got our account open. If you want to open up a Panamanian bank account, it is not a cut and dry process. We had to have references letters from our U.S. banks stating we were in good standing with them. And these letters needed to be dated within 30 days of our Panamanian bank account opening. Then it was back to our attorney’s office with the checks from our new account that were needed at immigration to pay for repatriation fees and application fees.
The next day was our L-O-N-G day at immigration. If you’ve read our previous post about my broken foot incident, I had to hobble around with crutches because the previous afternoon I fell attempting to step off a high curb and broke my foot. The morning of immigration day, Attorney Kraemer’s staff brought me crutches to help me get through the day which I cannot express our thanks to him and his staff for going above and beyond. Everyone needs to spend a day at immigration, lol. There was a melting pot of faces encompassing two floors of various windows and stations, with flashing signs showing your number and to which window you were to go. There was a lot of waiting in between. Craig and I were accompanied by another client of our attorney (now friend), going through the same process, which made our day a little more enjoyable. Thanks Saku! Right before 5:00 we were starting to get concerned that we hadn’t gotten our photo ID taken yet and dreading the fact that we may have to go back the next day, but we managed to get it done in the knick of time. Leaving that same day with our Temporary Residency Visas. It was a phenomenal feeling holding that little card in my hand
There are a lot of steps involved and not for the faint of heart. There were obstacles along the way, but it made us even more focused on getting to the finish line. We were notified recently that our Permanent Visas are ready. So totally psyched!
I have to keep reminding myself that when this drudgery is done we will be in Panama starting our new life. But until then, we are working at it every day!
I have been busy trying to sell the mementos of our life on Ebay, Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist. Some of the furniture and household items are staying with our kids, much is also going to Goodwill. At first I found it difficult parting with many of these things, but they are just things and they will soon be replaced by new adventures and living a low key and simple life.
We have rented a 5’x10′ storage unit here in PA, the size of a walk in closet, to store the things we plan on shipping to Panama. But first we will travel around a while and decide where we will settle permanently.
So it seems things are moving forward with the sale of our house! Home inspection and appraisal done, we continue to jump through hurdles, but we have our eye on the prize! End of March is settlement, but will hang around for a few weeks afterwards to tie up loose ends, like selling our cars!
So once we arrive, what then? Only two months to go! Well I’ve been trying to set up a house sitting gig but so far have not been successful. Tick tock…
For anyone interested in retiring in Panama, I highly recommend Panama Relocation Tours. Craig and I took the tour in August 2018 and were very impressed. Let me say that so many of your questions and concerns will be answered by Jackie Lange, the owner. You will receive your own personal Guide Book that you can refer to after the tour. You will meet an immigration attorney who will answer your questions, meet expats who have made Panama their home, and visit various places from Panama City, to Coronado, to Las Tablas, David, Boquete, and more.
Almost immediately after the tour, we initiated the Visa process with Attorney Marcos Kraemer. I cannot say enough nice things about our experience with him. I will report on this in another post.
While on the tour, we met some great people from various places throughout the US and Canada, and also South Africa. Some of these people are in the process of getting their Residency Visas as well. It was wonderful meeting so many people from all over, all with the desire to live in Panama being our common denominator.
You will be greeted on the first day of the tour in Panama City where Jackie will meet and greet everyone on the tour and give a talk. You will also get a chance to talk to an immigration lawyer and ask him/her questions. After that, you head out into a very comfortable air conditioned Panama Relocation Bus. While we drive, Jackie picks different topics each day to talk about. You learn not only the good things, but the not so good as well. And for us, the good far outweighs the not so good. If you have questions she can’t answer, she will find out for you and have an answer for you. Even after the tour, Jackie will respond to your questions and continue to help you. You will also have access to a private Facebook Group for Relocation Tour Alumni where you can chat with other alumni and is another vital resource.
If you are looking to get away from the cold northern winters and are looking for a warm escape for retirement, I recommend you have a look at Panama. You can have it all there…from the metropolitan city of Panama City, to David, the 2nd largest city, to sleepy beach towns, expat communities, mountains towns where the climate is spring-like all year long. And, you don’t have to be a millionaire, there are many affordable options, from being in a gated community and having all the amenities you are used to, to very inexpensive options.
I also want to mention that Panama Relocation Tours WILL NOT try to sell you real estate! They are a pure “Boots on the Ground” tour in which you will get to see “The Real Panama.”
Our experiences with the people of Panama are pretty amazing. Life is at a slower pace and it shows. The smiles on everyone’s faces show how much they love their country. We met a lot of warm and friendly Panamanians who we like to call friends.
In my opinion, there really is no other way than to invest in taking this tour. You will become equipped with the knowledge to help you move forward with your decision to move to Panama.
Having a desire to move to Central America for several years, we have finally decided to make our dream a reality. After much research and taking a tour, we fell in love and wanted more.
We were finally ready to make our dream come true. We are purging all our “stuff” and our house in Pennsylvania is under contract. After having been a graphic designer for over 30 years, I am now readying things for our move. My husband, an Estimator/Project Manager in the commercial glass business, is still working (reluctantly), and we are so ready to start our new lives in Panama.
We started this blog to share our stories and share our experiences with other people who are thinking of making the move. We are new to blog-writing but we are excited to share our journey with you.
Remember, if you are considering making such a move, these are only our experiences. This doesn’t work for everybody. Do your own homework. What’s right for one person may not be right for the other.
Have you ever dreamed of going to an exotic location, start a new life, have a new adventure? It’s really scary. We tend to be comfortable in what we know. How many of us actually take that kind of plunge into the unknown? We’ve been talking about this subject for years. Watching International House Hunters shows, dreaming of that kind of life, beaches, laid back living, discovering a new culture. But family obligations, work, friendships, they all keep us grounded to what we know, what is safe. Being part of the “sandwich generation”, my husband and I were taking care of elderly parents. Children and grandchildren, jobs that we needed to continue growing our nest egg, and health insurance, a biggie for us. We have finally pulled the plug…we are finally ready to go for it, and I believe we have found it in Panama.
After a cruise stop at the port of Colon in Panama about 5 years ago, we took an excursion through the Panama Canal. Our tour guide on this excursion told us about all the benefits available to expats. The people were friendly, they used US dollars, the country is stable, there is so much beauty. Something about that trip stayed with me…there was always something pulling me to go back again and tour the country.
Last year, we had our opportunity to go back again when we took a Panama Relocation Tour, hosted by Jackie Lange. I highly recommend it if you want to learn all the ins and outs, the good and the bad. We met with other expats, talked to an attorney, visited areas between Panama City and Boquete in the mountains, beaches and cities. The beauty surrounding us was breathtaking.
We have received our temporary residency visas. We felt the best option for us was the Friendly Nations Visa. There are numerous visa options, but we felt this was the best fit for us. More on this subject at a later date
