Four Years After We Began I Officially Have My Residency in Panama.
It has been a difficult ride. We hit so many hurdles on my road to residency in Panama but it is officially completed. I went the marriage route but for those of you interested in Panama Residency I recommend going the investment route or through the friendly nations visa route.
Panama is a Wonderful Country but Not Perfect.
If you are planning to move here or anywhere in Central America I recommend you live here as a tourist first. So many people come down here and can not hack it. I am lucky because @AnaHilarski is Panamanian. If it was not for my wife I probably would have moved to Colombia a few years ago.
Good Things About Panama.
- Freedom
- Cost of Living
- Taxes
- Like-minded Individuals
- Crypto Currency Hub
Bad Things About Panama.
- Customer Service
- Government Ineptitude
- Traffic
- Infrastructure
- Lack of Respect for the Environment
Test the Waters Before Making a Decision.
If you are serious about moving down here then you must try it out before making a full commitment. I can't express this enough. I do not feel bad for people who move down here and end up leaving quickly because they could not adjust.
If you visit let me know so that we can meet for a coffee or a beer.
Check out my article, "Panama Cost of Living 2017."
I guess that you feel a great relief now.
Congratulations!
Big time relief.
Congrats.
How much did it cost you in total to go through the whole process? What was the most expensive component of the whole ordeal?
Thanks.
I did it through marriage so it was cheaper a few thousand but for someone going through the Friendly Nations path it would cost around $7K plus you need $5k in a bank account in Panama.
Well, I'm not sure the marriage option is available for me LOL ;-) . The $7k cost + $5k bank account deposit isn't bad I suppose. Actually, that seems very doable. Thanks for replying, appreciate it.
Congratulations for your new nationality!!!
Congrats dude, where you from actually?
great place,enjoy beautiful moment
Rottenchester
Congratulations, I would like to know this country, it is beautiful
Awesome place...with great shot in sunset ...have a nice time
Congratulations! I wish you many happy days in Panama and feel yourself at home there!:)
Congratulations @hilarski. I love seeing more and more people moving down to Central America from around the world. I myself lived in El Salvador for more than 2 years with my husband and 2 boys (my husband is from there). I understand how frustrating, hard and time consuming it is to get Residency in those countries. I absolutely love El Salvador and the life style, but like you said it is not for everybody and of course there are great things about it and bad things about it, and they are pretty much the same like you prescribed it. We are working hard to go back to El Salvador and enjoy our lives there. Very happy for you and Ana. Love the picture. Following to see more of your life in Panama.
Wow, I have never heard of anyone moving to El Salvador. I imagine the cost of living is a fraction of Panama.
Congratulation , have a great day. visit to panama , very beautiful couple photography. thanks @hilarski
your all the best.
Congrats man. Their is more good things than bad. Weather also most be awesome. My ex-girlfriend visited Panama as a tourist and she sad it was just amazing.
Congratulations man.
Congratulations Randy! I love hearing the good and the bad. I've been wanting to get out of the USSA for a while now, but I think you're giving solid advice. Test the waters first.
Absolutely, try different countries as a tourist first. It will save a ton of headaches in the end.
Felicidades
I'm planning on leaving the US soon. I am torn between where I want to end up so i decided to go live a few places as a tourist and see how I like it. So thanks for this little pro/con list.. Seems to have more pros than cons
Definitely do lot's of research on foot. Don't listen to the websites.
Congratulations on the new achievement.Following you.
Congratulations on being Panamanian.
Congrats @hilarski :) And those bad things which you mentioned seems to exist in almost all countries and the good things are rare. Hope you have a great time there.
And i love that view.. Heavens <3
Congratulations @hilarski happy for you
Congratulations ;-)
Congrats! Panama reminds me of the old PC game 'gold rush'. There you had to get to California to find gold. I think I remember coming down with malaria in the game because I forgot to bring the mosquito net.
Malaria? Wow, the worst we get is dengue here now.
Congrats
and That is such a Super Fantastic Photo
Love the Subtle Soft Glowing Lights on your faces and what a Backdrop.
Looks like Paradise !!!
Stunning Photograph +++++
Lovely couple . best of best photo. it is look like. officially panama travel is good,
thanks for your post.
100% like and resteem.
Congratulations! Wish you the best. It is always tough for most people to make changes to their way of life and adjust to life on a foreign country. Keep it up! Upvoted and Follow!
Congratulations, you have won the @OriginalWorks resteem contest.
BOOOM! Thank you
congratualation@hilarski, appreciate with best ever new connection.
great photography and lovers post.
To post more value to your post
Upvote /resteem
it's beautiful. thanks for sharing
Congratulation. Long journey. :-)
Always make a holyday before go to live somewhere! Agree.
Excellent. We get our Cedulas in November. Is that what you got?
Yup
Congratulations to you.
I have never visited but perhaps one day I can come and buy you a beer. Cheers!
Felicidades. Soy de Venezuela y he pisado sólo el aeropuerto, una vez que hice escala para llegar al Perú. Tengo muchos amigos que ha ido a vivir allá, sin consultar antes como es, y han padecido de muchos pesares, no obstante, muchos de ellos ya esperan el permiso de trabajo.
Te seguiré y mi voto para tu post.
that is a great news. A very big congrats dear.
Congratulations to you for the PR status, u and your wife make such a beautiful couple:) As you Americans escape the US,many in Africa want to go there, Ironic :)
I know, it seems so odd to me but heh people believe what they see on TV.
Congratulations on your move....I presume you left the states to head down there. I had a buddy who moved there a couple years ago. He loves it down there.
As for your bad list, it seem 1,2,3, and 5 are not only there but the US also. So maybe, just maybe, the infrastructure in the US is better....that is about it.
Consider yourself a lucky man my friend. :)
Congratulations!
Good to see you are living the dream mate and taking control of your life.
Pretty sure that's a con of living anywhere lol
Happy to see someone living their dream! Will contact you sure for a beer if I ever come to Panama☺
Congrats! It must feel great to have a new nationality ;)))))))
Congratulations there is no peace of mind to be in order in a country that is not ours, and that we chose as our home. ;)
Congratulations on your new citizenship! I have been studying about moving to Panama some day. Any insight you can divulge is greatly appreciated. Also, perhaps like you the other spot was Columbia. Disheartened to hear one of your bad points was lack of environmental awareness, but I have found this to be true in other countries as well. There just doesn't seem to be an awareness of focus. In any case I am off to read your post on Cost Of Living... take care.
Colombia is cheaper and seems to be moving up quickly. It is vital to get on the ground and explore.
Congratulations on your new residency status! It must feel really good to have made the milestone (and have the hurdles behind you).
Do you plan to go for full citizenship and passport as soon as possible?
Wow, congrads!
It took me 27 years of marriage to a Filipina before I realized I needed to move to the Philippines. Like Panama, and all that it has to offer, the Philippines also has those same "bad" things you described. In the Philippines, there is a saying that goes Bahala na which means "It is what it is." And for what it's worth... it's better than where we came from. Expat to expat - rock on!
Thank you, exactly we just deal with the BS. Being free sure beats convenience.
I have not looked into Columbia. You considered going there?
Absolutely, Medellin would be my choice.
I will check it out. Thank you!
I agree and that would be my choice as well. It has been nicknamed the Paris of South America.
Mate, you should have gone the Friendly Nations visa route. Three months!!!
I know, big blunder on my part. Marriage was so much cheaper but the headaches were so much more.
Well, you're official now. Welcome to the club.
I think Panama is a beautiful country and I would like to meet it.
Congratulation!!!
Congratulations! Hope you enjoy a long and happy life down there!
Congrats to you on that huge accomplishment. I'm still wandering on visas and i would feel a nice sense of relief if I were you :)
you are very romantic
You see @AnaHilarski!! Woo Hoo thank you @Zubett.
nice moment and enjoy beauty of nature