Aquiring My Friendly Nations Visa - Panama

I will officially be going from being a very Happy Tourist for the last 4 years to holding a Friendly Nations Visa in my adopted soon to be home country.

The Visa was announced and made available to 24 nations last year in May and is one that I have been waiting for, for over 5 years.  The Visa is designed to allow people to work in Panama due to the shortage of skilled labour in the country.  I am a Real Estate Advisor and will soon be employed through Inside Panama as such.  This will be made possible through this Visa de Amistad and will give me the option of permanent residency in 2 years.

The process has not been difficult but has taken time.  The hardest part was acquiring a criminal check report without having to travel back to Canada.  I found an online solution through my Recruiter and Hiring connections.  I can produce a criminal check for any Canadian that needs one, so please do not hesitate to contact me.

Here is what I have had to do to date and what still needs to be done with my lawyer:

• Apply and set up a Corporation.  My Corporation is KS Management Inc.  
• Set up a Corporation Bank Account.  This is easily accomplished at Multibank.  This took some time but really only required a bank reference letter and completing a lot of paperwork that asked for the same information many times. :)
• Obtain a  completed Criminal Check from the country in which you hold a passport.
• Take a trip to Immigration with your lawyer and register your passport with immigration (schedule 1/2 a day for this)
• Produce a stamped bank statement that confirms you have at least $5000 in a Panamanian Bank Account.
• Produce a copy of your drivers license and several passport size photos which will be used throughout the visa process.
• Answer 10 pages of simple questions that refer to why, when and what you want to accomplish with your visa.
• Hand this all into your lawyer and wait.
• Take a trip to immigration to obtain your temporary visa. If you plan to leave the country while holding the temporary visa you then must pay $50 for an entry and exit stamp that will allow you to leave the country.
• Within 4 months you will receive your permanent visa and a work visa.

The whole process will cost you approx $3500.  If you are applying with a dependent add $850.  For me this is well worth the money and the time.  Panama is overflowing with employment opportunities and the sky is the limit for any entrepreneur or wanta-be entrepreneur.  My only advice is, and this is a very strong piece of advice......do not go near Immigration unless you have long pants to your ankles or a very short skirt on.  Repeat that a few times and you will understand the humour in what I have said.  I look forward to seeing you all Aqui En Panama.

Karyn
karyn@ipreinfo.com

Referrals:  Tanya Coronado of PTY Lawyers has been incredible throughout this whole process.  MultiBank is now my bank of choice, super customer service and seamless process.