Should Panama Consider Additional Visa Options?
Panama Offers No Visa Options For Foreigners Who Work Online
Much debate has taken place in Panama with regards to visa options for foreigners. Many foreigners come to Panama planning to get a retirement visa, investors visa, or one of the other visas available for foreigners. Though there are a handful of visas, there is one group of people that is often forgotten about.
I have been hearing from more and more people that there are no visa options for people who make their living working online in Panama. I know many people in Panama who work online (myself included) and can’t obtain a residency visa. I also receive emails from people who work online in the US and want to move to Panama legally. These people either work as writers, online consultants, or in various other positions. These people earn their own living in Panama. They do not work for Panamanian companies, therefore they are not taking jobs away from locals.
These people earn their income from foreign companies, yet they spend their hard earned dollars in Panama. They purchase cars, insurance, rent or buy houses, eat in Panamanian restaurants, hire locals to clean their houses. Is this such a threat to the country that they should not be allowed residency of some sort? It’s easier for a Colombian prostitute to obtain a visa than a travel writer, a position that is actually doing a service for Panama by promoting tourism (though I suppose that argument could be made for both positions!).
I understand the need for the government to have requirements in place for foreigners wanting to live in Panama. If there was a complete open door policy, it could certainly place a great strain on the social security system, etc. These independent workers are not causing a strain, they are supporting the country in the same way as any person with a retirement visa.
What problem would it cause to offer a one year visa (with renewal options) for expats who work online? These people don’t need social security or anything like that. It would not place a strain on the country. They just want to be able to live in Panama legally. If the government wants people to stop living in Panama as “perpetual tourists”, there must be a new visa category created. Most of the perpetual tourists are the people working online from Panama.
I suppose the one caveat would be, if someone is given a visa as an online writer, it would open the door for the government to decide what that person can and cannot write.
What are the other visa options that you think Panama should consider?
| Written by Rebecca Tyre |  |
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Filed under: Living & Retirement, News on September 18th, 2008
Panama is going to need a major “plan B” when it comes to immigration if there’s any hope of absorbing all these friggin’ condos. It’s way too hard to get in and/or stay as an investor, far more difficult as an employee. Even the pensionado visa has become a pain in the butt.
Well put.
I can think of a way to circumvent this, although it might or might not work depending on your age: Apply for a pensionado visa. To my understanding, depending on your retirement income source, age might not be an issue. If that’s the case, you can move in legally.
Of course, you are not supposed to work in Panama with such visa but, just as you mentioned, you are, technically, NOT working in Panama.