A lawyer advises

How to get Panamanian residence as an immigrant

All people interested in this subject want to know the different types of residence permits an immigrant can request here in Panama.

Lic. Rodrigo Tapia.

It is important to know the different types, because this can affect the final result of the request, which is obtaining the residence permit; and it is important for you to know that the entity in charge of approving the requests is the Department of Migration and Naturalization of the Ministry of Government and Justice. A person or family group can present this request

The immigrant status here in Panama is obtained in two phases, the first one is when you receive a provisional permit of residence for a year, and it is a provisional card given to a person or family group. In the second and final phase you receive the Permanent Residence, with the right to have an i.d. card.

Person of Means
Once you know the previous information, then you can apply for residence under various types of visa such as: Person of Means, in which you must have a two-year deposit in a local bank with a minimum of US $200,000. Or buy in your own name, a real estate property in Panama for the minimum sum of US $200,000. Or it could be a combination of these two options: acquire in your own name a property in Panama for the sum of US $80,000, and in addition, have a two-year deposit in a local bank for a minimum of US $120,000.

Macro Investor
Another type of residence option is as a Macro Investor, designed for those who wish to establish a business in Panama. There must be a minimum investment of US $150,000 and minimum of 3 Panamanian employees hired.

Small Business Investor
Another option of residency is the Small Business Investor, in which there must be a minimum investment on a business in Panama of US $40,000 and minimum of 3 Panamanian employees hired.

Work Permit
Another option of residence is the Work Permit. Companies are entitled to include 10% of foreign workers on their payroll (the 10% applies either to the number of employees or the salaries earned).

Immigrant married to a Panamanian national
Another way to get residency is if you apply as an Immigrant married to a Panamanian national. In the case of males, they need additionally to have a work permit, however women don't have this requirement.

Dependent of a Panamanian resident
Another case when you can apply for residence is as a Dependent of a Panamanian resident, which includes only dependents directly related to the resident such as parents, spouses or sons over 18 years, but less than 25 years if still studying. All of these cases are the most used by lawyers to apply for residence permits.

Tourist Pensioner
Panamanian law allows for another type of residence permit, with the advantage that the immigrant can obtain permanent residency in just one phase. This is as a Tourist Pensioner, designed for persons whose pension from a Government entity or Private Corporation is $500 or more per month. In this case the favored person also receives a series of tax exemptions.

Private Income Retiree
Another type of visa is as a Private Income Retiree, which is a provisional visa for foreigners who have a sum which may be deposited on a 5-year Certificate of Deposit with the National Bank of Panama, yielding at least $750 a month. This visa is renewable every five years, as long as the Certificate of Deposit keeps being renewed.

All the types of visa just mentioned can be combined with the dependent visa type in order to cover a family group.

I agree with many experts in this field that the easiest way of getting Panamanian Residency is through the Person of Means Visa, because of the simplicity of the requirements for the application.

Another good way is if you are a Tourist Pensioner, for foreigners with a permanent pension.

When people don't have a permanent pension, I always recommend the option of Person of Means Visa, because is easier to get a fixed-term bank deposit than establish a company and other related requirements of the Investor Visa and the Small Business Visa.

I hope this is of help to you and I am at your service, related to this subject or any other of Panamanian Law.

For information consult Rodrigo Manuel Tapia M., Attorney at law
Cel.: 6708-3080
Email: rodtapia&cwpanama.net
Office: Balboa Avenue, Plaza Bay Mall, 3rd floor, Office #304.

Go Kart competitions

Many of the Formula One drivers started their careers in the Go Karting circuit, honing their driving skills to become the best drivers in the world. Star Kart, a popular track located at Via Tocumen, Panama City, has organized a series of competitions to discover the next Fernando Alonso.

For more information call 233-6240.

Parlez vous francais?

If you don’t, you should says French ambassador

By: Marijulia Pujol Lloyd

"One of my goals is to promote the learning of French in Panamanian schools, because the knowledge of languages can help youngsters to obtain jobs more easily due to globalization", said the new French Ambassador in Panama, His Excellency, Pierre Henri Guignard.

The French representative, who has only been in the post for two months, has had meetings with the Alliance Francaise and the Association of French Professors to find more effective ways to spread the language and he expects to meet the Education Minister soon to discuss the subject.

Years ago the teaching of French was compulsory in all Panamanian high schools, but with changes in the curriculum, the subject has been relegated to the past.

His Excellency, Pierre Henri Guiguard, French Ambassador in Panama.

His Excellency, Mr. Guignard hopes that Panamanians will get to know his culture, but a language barrier exists and therefore events related to music, photography, cinema and dance provide a more effective way of communication. To move this program of cultural activities forward and with the assistance of the Alliance Francaise, a chamber music concert has been organized on August 14, a French cinema week in October and a photographic exhibition in January.

Next year there are plans to organize a dance festival in the Casco Antiguo area, where several presentations of dance groups will take place in different locations at the same time. The public will have the opportunity to appreciate these street dancers as they do in France. There are plans for a jazz festival in the near future.

The diplomat is trying to get private French companies involved so that they can sponsor these activities and actively participate in the cultural development of Panama. He added that companies who wish to be associated with France or the European Union and help to organize these types of events are welcome.

Talking about the possible involvements of the French consortium in the widening of the Canal, Ambassador Guignard pointed out that they will participate in the bidding process, once the more technological part of the work starts. He said that the presence of French companies will increase in the next few months.

From California with love —for the culinary arts

A couple from Yosemite and their pets, settle in El Valle

By Craig J. Weincek

THERE IS A NEW COOKING SCHOOL in El Valle called the Three Sisters. It is named after three pot-bellied pigs. When Glenn and Reinhild Gamboa moved to Panama from Yosemite, California, they imported their beloved menagerie of pets.... three Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pigs and two white bull terriers. They also brought their love of cooking based on an aggregate 65 years in the food business. Now set up in a pleasant, open, two-story stone house, back on a side street in El Valle, the couple seems anxious to share their knowledge of food preparation, with anyone and everyone.

La pareja trabaja en su cocina.

During a recent visit, Glenn was standing at the stove boiling some home-made bagels. A big guy, with curly black hair, Glenn spoke quickly and enthusiastically about what he hopes to do. “I want to provide my students with world-class instruction, using the ingredients and commodities that are found here in the Republic of Panama.”

Glenn is less certain who his students might be. “They could be anyone,” he says with a flamboyant gesture. In fact, Glenn hopes that people will contact him via his web site.

“Obviously some expats will enjoy learning how to prepare new cuisines,” Glenn noted, “but I think plenty of Panamanians would enjoy expanding their culinary horizons. Perhaps, the lady of the house, or she might want to educate her cook. Men also enjoy cooking, some simply for themselves, some recreationally.”

Experto cocinero Glenn Gamboa
demuestra sus talentos.

There is also the possibility that food service professionals could learn to bring more variety and style to their often predictable menus. In addition, the Gamboas plan to provide pro-bono instruction to the locals, who might need some assistance adding spice to their subsistence diets.

Currently, the school offers a series of hands-on classes based on a variety of international cuisines, but the Gamboas are willing to customize the approach to fit the needs of the students. Classes go for a tuition of $50 per four-hour session and include a very comprehensive learning guide, all necessary materials and plenty of tastings. The chef is also willing (maybe even anxious) to come to a person’s home, to provide private, one-to-one instruction “anywhere in the republic,” to help the head of the household and the staff learn how to prepare restaurant quality dishes “that will allow you to impress anyone you entertain or cook for,” as Glenn points out in his web site. The intensive, six-hour session costs $300, plus the cost of food. Some unique catering services are also offered.

There’s even a small guest house on the property, across a foot bridge spanning a stream, next to the main house. There, pilgrims can stay for about $50 a day and take cooking classes in the Gamboa’s large, airy kitchen.

At lunch, with pork scaloppini Marcella (that didn’t seem to trouble the three pig sisters hanging out on the porch); roasted potatoes; and a creamy banana short-cake; Glenn explained his philosophy: “I’ve tried to design my curriculum to impart the essence of any given cuisine, so that my students learn to cook ‘whatever,’ not just recipes.”

The couple, whose coincidental last name has nothing to do with the Gamboa at the Canal, have been married for 32 years and met while working in the restaurant business in the San Francisco area. Reinhild, who is an expert pastry chef, is originally from Hamburg, Germany, and often worked “the front of the house.” Before coming to Panama, the Gamboas operated the Three Sisters Café for ten years in Oakhurst, California. Apparently the pigs have been around for a while.

Mascotas —tres puerquitos barrigones, vietnamitas.

Glenn, who has cooked in restaurants, hotels, country clubs and casinos, is a Native American, who grew up in Palo Alto, California, even though his tribe, the Wamponopa, originated on the east coast and were the indigenous people who first welcomed the Pilgrims with a Thanksgiving feast. In fact, his grandmother was a cook on a whaling ship out of New Bedford, which means that Glenn has a long heritage of cooking in his family.

A self-described “foodie,” he is an erudite, well-read, educated cook, who has done his full apprenticeship (He once was head chef for a sit-down dinner of 18,000.) and not only gained the experience, but the knowledge and the background to qualify as an expert, and he seeks contacts from all around Panama. For starters, he is looking for a source for natural sausage casings and for high-gluten flour so he can put his bread oven to good use.

The Gamboas, who maintain a large garden of herbs and vegetables, considered retiring to Bulgaria or Canada, but decided on Panama because they like the weather and the people. They seem genuinely dedicated to finding a nitch for themselves in their new adopted country.

For more information and/or to contact Glenn and Reinhild Gamboa and to find out more specifics about The Three Sisters Cooking School go to http://threesisters.biz.

Panama’s meteoric development

By: Steven Rich, Marketing Manager for Panama Offshore Legal Services

PANAMA GROWS in leaps and bounds with many new mind-blowing projects, including more than $20 billion of investments in Panama over the next five years for refineries, canal expansion, and port projects, mostly coming from foreign investors. Here are summaries of the major new projects:

Canal Expansion: This $5.2 billion colossal project adds a third set of locks to the Canal, doubling its capacity to allow larger cruise liners, container ships and oil tankers currently too big for its 108-foot wide locks to pass through.

Three Energy Parks: Energy parks in Colon, Howard, and on Taboga Island for petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, and hydrocarbon storage facilities are mooted. These are valued at $1 billion in just the first stage of execution including in oil pipeline.

Oil Pipeline: A 56-mile oil pipeline called the “energy highway” is planned under the Panama Canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This 90-kilometer pipeline will connect all three energy parks.

Balboa Ave. Extension: La Cinta Costera (Coastal Belt) highway project running alongside Balboa Avenue in Panama City is a $189 million project requiring a 62-acre landfill. Half of this landfill includes environmental “green” areas including a 20-hectare park.

$8 Billion Oil Refinery: Occidental Petroleum and Qatar Petroleum Companies signed an agreement with President Torrijos to build an oil refinery in Puerto Armuelles in Chiriqui dependent on a feasibility study. Qatar owns the largest natural gas deposits in the world. Completion in 2012 will produce 350,000 barrels of refined petroleum a day. The extra petroleum will help alleviate rapidly increasing energy demands caused by new projects on Panama’s infrastructure.

Meeting Energy Demands: Panama’s government is already taking steps to meet rising energy demands by seeking public bids to supply 100 megawatts of additional energy starting in 2009.

Carlos Slim: Investments in energy and mobile telephone programming by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim who is one of the richest men in the world. Mr. Slim’s companies plan to invest around $7 billion in Panama’s infrastructure, energy, and telecommunications projects. One of his subsidiaries, Cicsa Panama, won the right to build hydroelectric projects in the northern part of Chiriqui province. Another of his subsidiaries, Cilsa Panama-Minera Maria, won the bid to excavate the first phase of the Panama Canal extension. Slim is also interested in providing mobile phone services in Panama. Forbes magazine lists Mr. Slim as the second richest man in the world.

Howard Air Force Base: The giant UK development company London & Regional Properties will develop this former U.S. military base into a 1,410-hectare commercial urban city. Their initial investment of $405 million will develop the city in the first eight years with an additional $300 million over the next 40 years. This project aims to create 25,000 jobs in the next 20 years. The abandoned 1.7 mile U.S. air force strip will be rebuilt as a massive trading hub known as the “multi-model port” as a cargo storage depot for goods passing through the Canal. Howard City also includes thousands of new homes, hotels, a golf course, and commercial centers with a science park.

400 Real Estate Projects: Yes, that is correct. There are currently 400 building projects in Panama City. 175 buildings are currently under construction. Another 120 projects have construction permits approved but work has not begun yet. Another 80 building projects are applying for construction permits. So far this year, Panama City has issued building permits for $1.1 billion in projects. More projects are on the drawing board.

Boom! Yet, only three out of the 400 projects failed to be developed. Is this a real estate boom or what?

The sensual it rhythm of the belly dance... a hobby and a fun way to excercise

By Karla Jimenez Comrie

Belly dance gives flexibility.

WHEN THE COLOMBIAN singer Shakira released her single "Ojos Así (Eyes like these)" at the end of the 90's and Brazilian director Jayme Monjardim launched the TV soap "El Clon", a small group of followers of the sensual rhythm of the belly dance emerged in Panama.

Dancer Malak Farah during her
performance in the play
“The Dance of Salome”.

Today, this group has grown roots in the artistic Panamanian environment and women of all ages, practice the dance not only as a hobby, but as a fun way to exercise.

The belly dance is also known as "raqs sharqi", or “dance from the East”. It is a female dance that includes movements of Egyptian folklore, classical and contemporary dance, with turns and disassociated movements of the body, especially the hips.

Malak Farah, manager of Leyla Salam Dance Studio, said that college girls, professional women and retirees show the most interest in learning belly dancing. The dance mistakenly gained fame as an "erotic dance", in the 19th and 20th centuries a product of Hollywood hype, but in reality it is a classical dance which promotes physical and mental well-being, which is why older women are attracted to it.

Sandra E. Stevenson, a fitness instructor and personal trainer in Connecticut, U.S.A., claims that certain aerobic fusions like the "Belly Dance Workout" can stimulate energy and create a sensation of well-being.

With belly dancing you can
burn 320 calories per session.

Malak Farah and Stevenson agree that the benefits of belly dance are numerous: it is a cardiovascular activity that burns 320 calories per class, helps weight-loss and gradually shapes the figure. It gives flexibility, tones muscles, prevents bad posture, eliminates tension on the cervical area, provides grace, beauty and self confidence and helps to develop balance, coordination and flexibility of the perineal muscles and the pelvis.

Some aficionados like 52-year-old Nora Hernandez, who spent more than a year taking classes at Leyla Salam Projection, lost 24 pounds and says that she has developed certain new abilities and skills.

Professional dancer Ediza Jimenez claims that belly dancing was essential to her career in ballet, modern dance and jazz. Melody Chemier, a college student, said that initially she did not have enough flexibility to follow the rhythm, but now she is happy to dance.

In Panama City there are approximately 12 academies that offer belly dancing, without counting some gyms that provide this activity as an aerobic and cardiovascular option. Some specialized academies perform theatrical spectacles based on the dance and organize workshops with instructors, and local and international profes-sionals.