Hello From Panama!

Hello and welcome back to paradise!

Just a note about licenses - the last time we got our licenses (due again this year) we had to take a hearing test as well as an eye test. I don't know what the standards are and I didn't hear some of the sounds, but made it through and got my license.

Bob

Hey welcome to Panama. I'm glad to hear that the disability thing worked out for you. Hopefully that will help you have a much better life here.

Chris

CMichael wrote:

Hey welcome to Panama. I'm glad to hear that the disability thing worked out for you. Hopefully that will help you have a much better life here.

Chris

Thanks CMichael! I see in your profile that you like watching movies but you speak very little espanol. So that brings me to a question for everybody. I can speak enough spanish to get by but with me having hearing loss and wearing hearing aids I can't really watch tv over here because without english being spoken on the tv with closed captions in english at the same time I can't really understand what's being said. So I'm wondering what all the native english speakers do over here in Panama for tv?

I'm presently in the process of buying a plasma tv and I brought my BluRay player with me from the states and I'm planning on starting to buy every BluRay disc I can find in Panama!!! lol
Also planning on another subscription to NetFlix as soon as I get the tv here but most of their programs don't have closed captions as well. Watch a few BluRay's and get back to my computer games I guess--lol

Hey there, Gasman! My wife Susan and I just moved to Panama three days ago. We came here from Tennessee, too - Downtown Franklin, near Nashville.

Hey Gasman, I currently live in Knoxville TN and will be visiting Panama in June. If it turns out to be everything and more I read about I will probably move there and retire early. I plan to explore the Boquete area first. How was the move from the states for you? Did you bring your stuff? What advice can you give me about making such a life-changing decision.

I would recommend just bringing only the things you can fit into your luggage. I wouldn't bring a car since you would have the cost of shipping it plus all the tariffs and other fees associated with it once it gets here. The more valuable the auto the more you'd need to pay. Plus it's gonna take 3-5 months before they'll release it. That's what I've heard anyway. I guess they probably want you to buy one here is the reason for the cost and the wait time.
If you're filing for a Pensionado Visa like me make sure to get a copy of your police record. Also make sure you get what they call an APPOSEAL on it. It needs to have the stamp from the facility where you get it plus the apposeal. An apposeal is just a stamp that says it's a verified statement from whichever country you're coming from. I brought the record from Knoxville signed, stamped and dated-Buy no apposeal. And the embassy won't do it here so now I need to try to get it done some other way.
Bring at least 2 years tax statements from wherever you filed.
Also bring statements from 2 banks stating what type of customer you are. (Not a bank statement)
The biggest thing you need to do though is to learn some spanish. Most Panamanians know quite a bit of english but won't talk to you using english. They want you to try to talk in spanish and when they see that you're trying to speak their native language they'll start opening up and speak a little english but you NEED the spanish.
Also a taxi here will cost you more if you're from the states. I'm always with my wife when we go out and when we get a taxi I never say a word because they'll charge us more. We can go all the way across town for about 3 dollars but if I did it alone it'd probably cost me more than 10 dollars.(Maybe more).
I'd try to open a bank account b4 I came to Panama because until you get a cedula (Panamanian ID card) they won't let you put an account in your name. We use HSBC and they do have those in the states. Took me over a week to get added to my wife's account.
Hopefully I'll be getting a car here in the next few months and maybe we can meet somewhere.
We used the Radisson Summit Hotel & Golf Club in Paraiso for a little over a week when we first arrived. It's a nice hotel but a couple miles away form anything. They do give you a pretty nice breakfast though. Complimentary too! If you have any more questions send me a pm and I'll give you my phone number.

Almost forgot-I had Vonage telephone service in the states and when I called to cancel my service since I was moving to Panama they told me I could still use the service here also, So it might be a good idea to get Vonage b4 you come. I still have the same number I had in the states but the service is cheaper and I can call the states and doesn't cost me anything.