½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Where in the EU are you from?

Dear Walder90,

We are from Hungary.

What is your profession, if I may ask? An why did you pick Coronado as a place to visit?

I own a small paint trading company here, my wife is a shop assistant.
Our first pick is Panama city, but I guess it might be useful to see a popular touristic area on the beach -  am I wrong...? Is that a bad idea...?

Coronado is one of the most high class tourist places in the country. I am not sure what you mean by 'popular'.  Panama City is, in my opinion, an impossible place. There are many foreigners living there, but it is no place to raise children. unless you don't want to interact with the local population.
   I would suggest a provincial town. If you are good as a baker, a smaller town would be more suited for your situation. As far as educating your children, David (capital city of the Chiriqui Province) would be a good choice. But climate wise, Volcan (in the highlands of the same province) would be more appropriate. There was a large European immigration to this area at the first half of the last century, so culturally it  would be a bit closer to you.

[Moderated: No free ad on the forum]

Hi I moved to Panama a year ago and I love it. I have lived in Puerto Rico, Peru, Miami, Atlanta and Indiana and Panama is by far the best choice for retirement. You must remember, and a lot of people often forget, that Panama is still a third world country. BUT with lots of advantages like currency, cost of living, life style, and much more. It's a lot safer than Puerto Rico and Miami. You can have a maid for $350 a month. Fruit and vegetables are always fresh. I even became vegetarian in Panama. If you like sports, every weekend there is at least two sports events in the City or at any of its provinces. Panama has a lot of beauty. I do agree that the service industry needs a lot of improvement. When it comes to people and manners the average Panamanian is behind. However, my close Panamanian friends are well educated with manners, very good people. Traffic is an issue, like any cities such as Miami, New York, Atlanta. I have learned 'short cuts' and always managed my way out of it. One more thing, I have visited 75% of the country, I have been to places like Torrijos Carter, San Miguelito for business as well as Boca Chica, Las Lajas, Boquete, San Blas and great resorts. In summary, I know Panama very well and my experience has been fantastic. Read more about my experience [moderated: no ads pls] or email me at info@savvylink.net  Keila Mulero

I have lived in Panama 8 years an we love it.  Contact me at 2panamadon@gmail.com an I will try to help

following.....

how much do you plan to invest

eliot76 wrote:

Dear forum members,

Firstly, welcome to all the members here - I think some of You can give us useful informations about moving to Panama from the EU.
We are planning our move this summer (before that we'll visit Panama city and Coronado for 1-2 weeks), our goal is to rent a house or flat, besides that a smaller commercial property and do our own business - bakery or a small restaurant are in the first place. We have two children, age of 14 (leaving primary school this summer) and 16.

My topic opening questions are:
- What are the necessary steps to do in the first place to get residency and permit opening our small business?
-Do we have any qualification or special permit for opening a restaurant or bakery or just simply establish the company with my wife and start it?
- May we allowed to have one or two EU citizens employed in our company? We'll also work in it, of course.
- How can we enroll the children into new school? They are starting to learn some Spanish now, so they'll have only a basic knowledge of the language (I think it won't be a real problem as they'll get along with it an learn fast in that environment).

I think these questions will do for the first time - waiting for Your kind replies, thank You!

Hi Eliot,

You can open a business in about a week, a corporation is registered quite easy as well as a new visa that provides you a Permanent Residency with Panamanian ID and a Work Permit. You can include your children in the request. You can have the US citizens in the payroll, but you will need to have Panamanians in the payroll too. There is no special permits you need for a restaurant besides the Aviso de Operación that allows you to sell alcohol and the regular business registrations. if you manipulate food, you will need a special ID given by the Health Ministry, but it is not that complicated. If you have your work permit you will not have any problems, you do not even have to be included in the payroll since you will be the owner.

If you have any further questions I would be happy to help.

Kind regards,

Janice