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Going to Costa Rica

I'm wondering if anybody went to Costa Rica recently. If so, were you able to return to Panama the same day or did you have to spend three days in Costa Rica? We are getting conflicting information. A friend told us that he heard rumors that everybody had to stay for three days, while our attorney told us that that rule was only enforced at the Colombian border, but not at the Costa Rican border. We need to leave the country to get our passports stamped (waiting for our permanent carnets) and would like to know what to expect. Any info is much appreciated!

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  • Check with a good lawyer, but once you have applied for a permanent resident visa (Pensionado, Friendly Nations, etc.) and have received your temporary visa, you are no longer on a "tourist visa".  You are then on a "resident" visa which requires you to get your Panamanian drivers license within 30 days from the date your temporary visa was issued.  The Costa Rica border runs are for expats in Panama on a "tourist visa" which is good for 6 months which allows you to drive in Panama for 90 days with a valid US drivers license from your home state; hence the border runs every 3 months.   NOTE:  If you leave Panama on a temporary visa you must have a MULTI ENTRANCE visa stamp in your passport, OR, you could be subject to a $2,000 fine!  The fine is disclosed in the small print on the reverse side of your temporary visa.  Hope this helps!

    • Richard,

      You are exactly correct. Sounds like the poster was miss-informed. Once you have a temporary 1 year visa you are a resident of Panama and are required to get a Panamanian drivers license. This also means you do not have to make border crossings ever 90 days. You can cross the border if you wish but you better make sure your lawyer has secured multi-entry visa's. They will be stamped in your passport and expiration should coincide with the expiration of your temporary residency visa.

      • Our Panamanian attorney specializes in immigration and corporate law. She helped us with our temporary, multi entry visas and we are waiting for our permanent resident visas. She specifically told us that we have 3 months from each stamp date before we need to obtain a Panamanian driver's license. An officer from Policia Nacional told us the same thing.
        • 90 days is correct. It seems like it would be easier to go to the embassy and get your license apostle and then go to Sertracen and get your Panamanian license. You have to do it anyway within 90 days if you hold a temporary visa. A recently stamped passport will not work if you have a temporary residency. You have 90 days from the time your temporary carnet was issued not the last time you entered the country.

        • It seems someone is misunderstanding something. We had 30 days from the time of obtaining our temp Pensionado until we obtained a Panamanian license.
          • I can only tell you what our lawyer and the officer told us. Our lawyer told us that most people make several trips to Costa Rica to get their passports stamped before they get their permanent visa and then obtain their driver's license, otherwise the license is only valid for the duration of the temporary carnet. Most people wait to get their license until they get their permanent visa, that way the license is good for four years.
            • A requirement of residency in Panama is obtaining a Panamanian DL whether it be temporary or permanent. This was explained to us by our attorney, Sertracen and by reading the law from Migracion. Sertracen is the agency responsible for issuing DL's. Maybe you should stop by there and ask if this has changed recently. We had to renew ours 6 times before we got the four year license.

              • Setracen and Migracion are next door to each other in the shopping plaza next to Pricemart. There are English speakers at both and would certainly be worth an hour to check as this could cause problems with your residency and could possibly get your car confiscated.

  • We did it twice. We are not giving any advise. First time July 2016. They stamped us out and wrote the time at the stamp. In out of Costa Rica customs no problem. But checking in at Panama customs they said that we had to stay 6 hours. After 5 hours we fixed it. January 2016 we all did it within 1 hour and 15 minutes. Showed our Dutch passport and no questions, just stamped in. We stamped out with a male officer and stamping in with another officer. It all depends. But be prepared to have all documents required.I speak fluent Spanish and present my passport we a smile. 

  • When we came to Panama and applied for our Pensionado status, we did not have to worry about crossing the boarder I wonder how long people wait to decide to get their resident cards?
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