Sheila

Was he expensive?

Is a pet exporter required, or can you do this yourself?

Also you have to wonder if someone used this workaround in the past to get residency, could they be subject to a random FBI check when traveling and re-entering Panama, and then denied entry?

It does say criminal conviction in that link, not arrest record. Those can be two entirely different things. I wonder if the people detained and sent back had actual convictions. Are you able to contact the person that sent you the email to get any more information?

I agree something doesn't sound quite right. My first thought was what are the odds that several Americans all entered with arrest records at around the same time.

The border could simply have a sign posted at the window so that people would know, I don't understand why they aren't doing this. I wondered if there were many people getting caught unaware because some people don't use internet forums, or even use the internet much at all.

The time is probably ripe now for snagging vehicles where people are driving after the 3 month time is up on their tourist visas since no more border hopping is allowed to renew.

I think Marie is talking about the decree 167 visa. It gives you a two year residency and a work visa. It is low cost compared to other visa options. The only things I have heard on another forum is someone who filled out the application online, and then you are supposed to wait for them to notify you for an appointment. I believe he is still waiting to be contacted for an appointment. He posted that he is out doing a 30 day border hop right now. Another person posted that they applied last year when this first came out. He waited several months and then was contacted that he had an appointment time this May. I haven't seen any posts by him as to how it went. Another person posted that they talked to someone that went down to immigration and they said this visa was only for people that are wanting to work in Panama, not people with pensions. I personally talked to someone from immigration and they said to apply online and they were giving out appointments for May. This was maybe 6 weeks or so ago. I don't believe an appointment would be given out that fast. They also said that doing a 30 day border hop would disqualify you since you can't have left the country for more than 30 days and you should try to fly out for two weeks instead if you were needing to do a border hop.This also doesn't make sense. Someone else posted that they were told that immigration has received over 30,000 applications. If that were the case, I can't imagine how long it would take them to go through all of those applications and then have them all come in for appointments. Other than that I haven't seen anything online about anyone that has said that they actually have this visa.

In light of the tourism numbers being down, it was probably really bad timing for Panama to toss out the perpetual tourists and snowbirds.

I thought that with the decree 167 visa it was a requirement to enroll in the system. I wonder how that is going to work now.

Of course he doesn't owe anyone an explanation, but someone in his position should at least give a general reason as to why. He was the Embassy Warden, and was a very outspoken person who talked about his personal life quite frequently, so it is a bit strange and disconcerting that he would not comment on the reason.

Has anyone heard why he abruptly decided to leave? He made no comment as to why, and has not replied to anyone on his site.

Yes, but the point of this thread is not to go over the merits of why Panama is implementing these new changes or if you are a bad person or not because you have border hopped, it is to try to help those that need to cross the border and to gain insight into the new policies and what people need to do. This is not only affecting "border hoppers", it is also affecting the "regular tourists". I read on another forum about a couple of tourists that had flown into Panama City and then crossed through Paso Canoas into Costa Rica to spend a few days there before returning to Panama to fly out. They were reportedly denied re-entry into Panama.

It's more a matter of how long you need to stay out rather than if you let your stamp expire. The information that people are wanting is if you leave at 5 months can you come back in if you stay out for two weeks or 30 days or 3 days? Also if you leave at your 6th month before it expires are you going to be let back in after 30 days, or do you need to stay out for 6 months or longer? Also does it matter how many border hops you have done in the past?

Bonnie, it would be nice if they were able to tell you if they have had any issues with people having to call them from the airport.