| I work in Panama for a Real Estate Company. | | | | lawyer to get around these problems. She knows |
| Essentially, I am an illegal immigrant in Panama. Today | | | | first hand the dangers of overstaying your welcome. |
| I realized that my tourist visa, which is good for 3 | | | | A year ago she was held in an immigration detention |
| months, is set to expire tomorrow. This poses an | | | | center while her passport was confiscated and |
| immediate problem as deportation is a very real | | | | transferred to the Airport, where she had to pick it |
| threat to foreigners who overstay their welcome. | | | | up and leave the country that day. They gave her |
| When you enter Panama as a non-citizen, you are | | | | just hours to pack enough for the trip and get out. |
| able to pay for a Tourist Visa. This visa costs $5 at | | | | Luckily she was able to fly to San Jose and stay with |
| the border or at the international airport and is valid | | | | friends, but she reports that it was a traumatic |
| for 90 days from day of entry. I am sitting on day | | | | experience. She notes that she had not been in the |
| 89 hoping that tomorrow I'm not in jail or on a plane. | | | | country for the allotted 90 days, but that immigration |
| I enjoy living and working in Panama and intend to | | | | judged that she did not have sufficient time to get |
| continue to stay here for some time. I would prefer | | | | her affairs in order and they were not issuing her a |
| not to leave as it is a monetary and time consuming | | | | visa extension, so they deported her. |
| obligation. The easiest option is to fly to Costa Rica, | | | | I'm on my way to buy a bus pass out of Panama. |
| a one hour flight that costs around $250 each way. | | | | The government requires that all entering parties |
| For a fraction of the cost, $25, you can take a bus | | | | have a ticket showing that they are planning to leave |
| ride from Panama City to San Jose, Costa Rica. This | | | | Panama. I had purchased a $12 ticket in Costa Rica |
| ride is seventeen hours long. Having done both, I | | | | before I left to come down here that I showed to |
| dread the thought of having to sit cramped in a bus | | | | immigration when I entered. It has since expired and |
| for another ¾ of a day. If it is within your | | | | I need a new one that shows even with an |
| means, there is no reason to not take the flight. | | | | extension, that I plan to leave. The penalty for not |
| Otherwise, get ready for a long, long drive. | | | | giving Immigration 48 hours to process my request is |
| You are allowed to extend your stay for up to 180 | | | | $25, along with the normal $25 administrative fee and |
| days. This is what I am attempting to accomplish | | | | the $12 bus ticket, a $72 extension much less that |
| today. My roommate, a Canadian who has lived in | | | | the $600+ flight and stay or the $150+ bus and stay. |
| Panama for 18 months, has hired an immigration | | | | Wish me luck. |