By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - According to Didacio Camargo, the Director of Public Affairs for Panama's Immigration Service, you could be setting yourself up for some serious problems if you overstay your 90 day tourist visa in the Republic of Panama. Most people just hop across the border to Costa Rica for the minimum 72 hour stay outside of the county, or return to Florida for a few days to "reset" their tourist status. However, according to Mr. Camargo, overstaying your 90 tourist visa and slipping into an "illegal" status is a really bad idea.

I recently got a call from a member of the English speaking expatriate community who was concerned because they would have to overstay their 90 day tourist visa card. Their lawyer had told them "don't worry about it, just pay the fine when you leave, no problem." There is a standard $50 fine for every month you overstay, and one day equals one month fine. If you overstay 32 days, you will be fined $100, for example. The person had gotten some dental work done and needed to stay for a few more days in order to get some stitches removed. I told the person I didn't agree with the advice given by the lawyer. I know people do this all the time, just overstay and then pay the fine upon exiting the country, but in Panama either you're legal, or you're not. If you have overstayed your 90 day tourist visa then any police officer or immigration official can ask to see your passport at any time. If you are in an illegal status then you risk being arrested on the spot and deported to your country of origin.

I asked Mr. Camargo specifically about this situation - the person who had the dental work done - and he said there is something you can do if you absolutely have to overstay your 90 tourist visa. He explained it this way. The entire computer system is programmed so that it is impossible to extend a 90 day tourist visa beyond the 90 day limit. It simply can not be done, by anyone. However the Director of Immigration has the authority to issue what's known as an "Investigation Card" (Carnet de Investigacion). This is a kind of special permission only the Director herself and authorize and issue. The expiration data for the permission is established by the Director when the card is issued, and the director has a pretty free hand to do whatever she sees fit, given the situation. So, if you're running out of time but you can't leave for whatever reason, you can make an application to immigration for this special "Investigation Card" which will allow you to stay for a certain period of time without having to pay any fines or penalties. And what's more, you will not be in an illegal status so if you're stopped on the street you and show your special card. If you don't, then you might get deported, and if that happens then they put a special stamp in your passport which prevents you from returning to the country for at least five years.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

A group of Cubans who are naturalized American Citizens denounced a series of irregularities in the Panamanian customs service, and one of them was even arrested. Carlos Sigas has been in Panama for eight days, and he owns an automobile business in Tampa, Florida. In 2008 he sent four cars to Panama that as of today are still under investigation. The cars are being held by customs because the broker he hired, Ricardo Aronategui, defrauded him and did not pay the importation taxes. However after filing a complaint at Customs Carlos Sigas was arrested. The documents prove the creation of a legal business in Panama between Sigas and his partner Roberto Vadido, which is why they are waiting for an investigation. Sigas was arrested together with Gerardo Valdespino, who he hired to be a guide for him in Panama. Carlos Sigas and Gerardo Valdespino were accused of following the Director of Customs, but she later clarified that it was a misunderstanding. In spite of this, Carlos Sigas and Gerardo Valdespino remain under arrest. The public relations official for immigration confirmed that Carlos Sigas entered Panama legally and that all of his documents are in order. (Source: TVN Noticias)

Editor's Comment: Are they still under arrest? If so, why? Is this a case of "you'll have to sit there until after Carnival?" It appears to me that this man is a victim of a crime in Panama - he was ripped off by a corrupt customs broker - and he probably just came down here to try to straighten things out. And for this he (and his hired guide) are arrested? Totally unacceptable. Of course, there's always the possibility that there are other elements to this case that I'm unaware of because they were not in the original report.    

The deputy director of the National Immigration Service, Eduardo Penaloza, said he would ask the Government for $2.7 million dollars to repair and remodel the building the institution acquired in 2007 on Ricardo J. Alfaro (Tumba Muerto) which is in a deplorable condition. These new funds will be in addition to the $5.2 million dollars spent during the administration of Martín Torrijos to buy the property, as well as another $7.1 million dollars that was spent to furnish, equip, and move the offices from the old location on Ave Cuba, which is still being used. (Source: La Prensa)   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Received this morning via email: "Mr. Winner, I am a panamanian who lives is the US and like to read your articles. This morning I read your editor's comments and I needed to reply to you. That woman does not know what she is doing and corruption is very high. This information comes from a person that works there, very afraid and ready to quit. I am not making this up, this person who is like a sibling to me and has all my trust. I am afraid they will blamed her or him of all this crap. Please keep checking with all you contacts and get the woman removed, she is bad news." Name and address withheld, for obvious reasons.

I have to say - I don't think I have ever heard positive feedback about any Director of Immigration in Panama, ever. I mean, have you ever heard anyone say "we love the Immigration Service in Panama - they are fast and efficient, we had no problems whatsoever, and the entire organization is completely corruption free..." Hello, Disney. I believe that a past Director of Immigration, Ricardo Julio Vargas, was eventually removed from his post and "Promoted" to the position of Ombudsman or Human Rights Defender, basically because he was almost too clean or ethical and he simply would not allow anyone else to play ball either. During his reign in Immigration the workers and staff were scared shitless of getting caught taking even a $5 bribe. There were hidden cameras and microphones installed all over the place, and (predictably) everything came to a grinding halt. The other (corrupt) PRD guys in the Martin Torrijos administration put enough pressure on and eventually Vargas was promoted and moved up to the position of Ombudsman, where he remains today. Then of course the new guy who replaced Vargas at Immigration immediately went right back into the shenanigans - and 60 new hooker visas were approved in one day. Go figure. Only in Panama. "Ka-ching! - Application Approved - Next!" Remember that former Panamanian President Ernesto Perez Balladares, who is currently under house arrest in Panama for money laundering, supposedly lost his visa to visit the United States of America due to a scheme to sell visas and immigration documents to illegal Chinese immigrants, who would use Panama as a lily-pad to eventually move North to the United States. Panama under Perez Balladares was just a stop on the Chinese Underground Railroad. There's a long standing tradition of serious graft and corruption at the Immigration Office. Traditionally, it's one of the best producers for corrupt political pricks.

Now, what is the current Director doing? The email says I should "get the woman removed." Now hold on there, Sparky. From my past experience I've learned that people like this who are allegedly or supposedly making mistakes in office eventually are removed from their positions thanks to their own decisions and actions and consequences of those actions. I remain open to the possibility that María Cristina González Batista might be doing a great job and her level best in a hard position. Remember Vargas? Maybe people are pissed off at her precisely because she's doing "too good" of a job and "mucking up" the smoothly functioning system of Ka-ching! - Application Approved - Next!" The only thing I'm doing is passing on what other people are telling me about her, for what it's worth.

If anyone has a serious problem with any action María Cristina González Batista has taken while in office, then they should file an official complaint against her with the Public Ministry or other appropriate governmental agency. The source of this email who supposedly knows the Immigration worker "like a sibling" - if in fact that person holds direct information or evidence of wrong doing on the part of the Director of Immigration - should approach the Anti Corruption Czar, the Defensoria del Pueblo, the prosecutors of the Public Ministry, and the press simultaneously. If that happens the all journalists will talk about it a whole lot more, and it will become practically impossible for the Director to fire that person as a whistle blower. But in the meantime, it's all just so much "bochinche." Those of us who consider ourselves to be serious and responsible journalists have to keep the doors and windows open to all possible versions of the truth. I'm just letting this one fly through as well. My readers are smart enough to figure things out for themselves. Let's see how it works out in the end. I'm still waiting to see if the pissed off club owners who were talking a lot of smack this weekend are actually going to follow through on their threats to take legal action against the Director of Immigration. Like I said, I'm still waiting.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

Panama's National Immigration Service deported at least 24 foreigners to their home counties in the past few days. These people were deported after they were detained without proper documentation, and those who were found to be working illegally in the country during the raids recently conducted in Panama City. A press release from the Immigration Service says most of those deported were Colombians who were returned to their home country between Saturday 23 January and Monday 25 January 2010. "We will not accept dirty tricks, false passports, or dual affiliations, so that any foreigner discovered in these categories will be removed from the country, because what they are doing is a serious administrative offense against the State and the National Treasury," said the director of National Immigration Service, María Cristina González Batista. (Source: La Prensa)

Editor's Comment: Immigration has always been a hotbed of corruption in Panama. The foreigners who come through Panama are often relatively powerless and they are easily exploited. In past administrations it has been common practice for Immigration officials to accept bribes in exchange for pushing paperwork through faster, getting this or that approved, or what have you. In this most recent series of raids against the whore houses and foreign prostitutes, there have been many recurring claims and complaints that at least some of the women who were deported were actually working here in Panama legally with all documents in order. According to these complaints, Immigration officials picked these girls up late on a Thursday night and by Saturday they had already been deported, without ever having the chance to talk to the lawyers representing the nightclubs where they worked. Often times these lawyers are the ones who keep and safeguard all of the documentation, and they can supposedly prove that everything was in order. However, the Director of Immigration María Cristina González Batista arbitrarily ordered the quick deportations simply because she got mad, angry, or pissed off at some of the women who were being detained.

While there is no doubt in my mind that some of these women were in Panama illegally and without proper and legal documentation, and still others were probably working on papers and documentation that might look good on the surface but that was in fact obtained by having paid bribes to corrupt immigration officials. So if the Director of Immigration wanted to clean house, why not start by making sure that those people who are complying with existing laws are not singled out for selective enforcement, just because they are the weak and relatively vulnerable. In the case of these women they get the triple-whammy. They are foreigners, they have the stigma of being prostitutes and sex workers, and now they are gone because they were summarily deported so there's an even smaller chance that they will try to come back to fight or complain about what happened to them.

The Director of Immigration has a power at her disposal that no other government functionary or official has - she can order a foreigner to be deported, basically at will. We members of the English speaking expatriate community should be keenly aware of the power wielded by this woman. Anything that even looks like or smells like an abuse of office should be of exceptional concern to our entire community, even if you're not a Colombian hooker. I hope she's right and that there were significant problems or illegalities in the documentation of the women who were deported. But if even one of them was in fact here legally, but was summarily arrested and then deported anyway just because María Cristina González Batista got pissed off or was having a bad day, then she should be immediately removed from office and replaced by someone with a cooler head, more patience, and the ability to deal with a room full of angry Colombian hookers - a situation that literally comes with her job description. I expect this week the owners of the clubs who had tens of thousands of dollars invested in these sex trade workers will be filing charges against her this week. At least, that's what I've been told by my contacts in this industry. Stay tuned, this one is not over yet. I think this one is on a slow boil, with more to come between today and tomorrow.   

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Received via email yesterday afternoon: "Hi Don, Here’s the inside scoop on the immigration “sweep” on Thursday night. Please don’t use my name or any identifying information for obvious reasons. Sorry it’s so jumbled – there’s a lot to cover. On Thursday night, around 11:30, immigration came into almost every club in town and summarily took every foreign worker to immigration’s offices, regardless of whether they had correct paperwork or not. The director herself was at one of the businesses as they pulled the girls. She told everyone that this was a routine check on all the girls. An immigration inspector that was with her told a different story. He said that there were problems with the records of the $1,000 deposits the businesses have to make for each foreign worker, and they were taking all the girls in to check their records. It goes a little deeper. Another immigration source confided that some attorneys and a clerk at immigration were collaborating in a scam. The attorneys would pay the clerk $330, and the clerk would update the records to show the deposit had been made correctly. This failed miserably, the clerk is already in jail, and because of the damage to the records, the director decided to pull ALL the girls at once, then go over their records. Stupid move, as you will see."

"They brought all these women to their offices. Of course, nothing was organized, they couldn’t find all the correct records, and they were horribly understaffed. They would not allow attorneys from the businesses to have access to the girls. They wouldn’t discuss the issues with the attorneys. It turned into a huge black hole. The girls were supposed to be out by 4:00am, assuming their records were in order. The girls ended up staying there until Saturday afternoon. They were given no food and no water – it was left up to the businesses to support the women. Their cell phones were confiscated and they were not allowed to make any calls. This happened after some smart ladies took cell phone videos, including the one you probably saw on TVN-2, where the director was questioned about making the girls sleep in the parking area, between cars, on the ground. The one where she said that was a lie, and all the girls had beds, and had been fed, and allowed to shower, etc. The video clearly showed the ladies sleeping on the ground between the cars, in dirty clothes, with unwashed hair. The director tried to cover with a brilliant “oh – that’s not here”, even though it’s plain to see that it’s the immigration headquarters parking area."

"The girls were held for a period of over 40 hours, in many cases. As said above, they were allowed no phone calls, no facilities to clean up, no place to sleep. They were not allowed visitors – what food and water that was supplied by others had to be given to the security people for delivery to the girls. Propinas had to be paid to get them to take the food inside."

"As immigration workers made their way through the jumble of records, the girls were released, or held for deportation. Immigration officials told one of the bar managers that the girls held for deportation would be held until Monday, when attorneys would be allowed to present receipts, etc. On Saturday afternoon, roughly 60 girls were herded onto a bus, taken to the airport, and summarily deported, with no chance to talk to their lawyers. The lawyers who had proof of proper processing and receipts for payments made to immigration, social security, labor, health, etc, were not allowed to present that data."

"There was a lady who had all the records for the girls who were being deported. She tried to give them to the director, and was told that if she bothered her again she would be fired. All of the women were sent to Bogota, Colombia, regardless of where they traveled into Panama from originally. One girl, who is a cancer survivor, managed to get a call out to her sister who lives in Panama. The sister drove to the airport with the girl’s luggage and some pocket money, as they knew no one in Bogota – the girl is from Tulua, about two hours north of Cali. The sister tried to give the girl her luggage and the money. Immigration refused. The girl has to wear a wig, as her hair is just starting to grow back. They took her wig and would not return it. So, the girl got onto the plane, dirty and tired and hungry, with no money, going to a city where she knows no one. The girl is 19 years old."

"In summary, this girl was in processing with Immigration. All of the appropriate fees and charges had been paid, including the $1,000 deposit. The only thing left to finalize her legal status was to be issued an authorization letter from immigration, signed by the director. This letter was delayed for weeks. She was held against her will, after being removed from her place of legal employment (she’s on the social security payroll with her work permit and SS card), for close to 40 hours. She was denied food, water and shelter. She was summarily deported, to a location where she doesn’t live and has no friends or family. Her belongings were denied to her. Access to a lawyer, or even family was denied to her."

"Another girl that was held and later released said the girls were deported after one of them got into an argument with the director. According to her, the director got angry and simply ordered the deportation of all the girls, with no review of their records. This is a gross violation of human rights, and I’m sure that many Panamanian laws were broken, though I can’t personally tell you which ones. The lawyers for the affected businesses are absolutely incensed, and somewhat shocked, at the level of incompetence and arrogance perpetuated by the director and her staff. You are going to see some huge fallout from this next week. The attorneys from the various businesses are working right now to draft charges and a consolidated statement."

"It costs approximately $2750 to process an entertainer through the system here in Panama. These business owners just lost their investments. In Bogota, immigration officials are stamping their passports, showing they were deported from Panama. That means that getting permission to come back will be nearly impossible. Assuming a girl’s records are in order, there will be a huge cost to fixing this mess, so they can bring the girl back. Assuming she’s not scared to death of Panama and agrees to return. One business I know of had all of the entertainers released on Saturday. Over half of those entertainers are planning to immediately return to Colombia, Venezuela, or whever they came from, giving up their investment in Panama. Maybe that’s what the director had in mind all along. I doubt it. I think it’s plain stupidity and arrogance."

"Regards, A concerned citizen."

Editor's Comment: Many of the dance clubs and massage parlors who employ these girls in Panama are owned or managed by foreigners, mostly from the US. The simple fact that this case has to do with women who are declared as prostitutes means they won't get much sympathy from the mainstream Panamanian culture. In short, the women are foreigners primarily from Colombia who are allowed to come here to work as prostitutes, and the primary plan calls for them to mainly screw other foreigners, meaning tourists who are attracted to Panama thanks to the hot chicks and cheap sex. The business owners have to jump through miles and miles of red tape to get into this business, and then with the stroke of a pen the Director if Immigration apparently or allegedly deported dozens of women who did, in fact, have their paperwork in order without giving those women a chance to talk to the lawyers who were working for the clubs. I am waiting to see what the formal response will be from the club owners. They are now out thousands of dollars they spent on paperwork red tape, and bribes to get these women "legal." I expect they will be filing some kind of legal action against the Director of Immigration this week. The funny thing is - you can bet there will now be a huge influx of "tourists" from Colombia, women who will come here and turn tricks using a cell phone and classified ads, with no regulation or red tape whatsoever. These raids are a huge disincentive, and they are almost forcing everyone to go underground where it's practically invisible and much harder to regulate. And as usual, the photo credit goes to www.elcomplaciente.com, which I access any time I get to write an article about the sex trade in Panama.

Copyright 2009 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.   

Last year 1,533,902 foreigners entered Panama legally, according to a report by the National Immigration Service. The same document specified that the three countries with the most people arriving to Panama are the United States (430,017), Colombians (374,858) and Venezuelans (315,219.) On the other side of the coin, they also announced that 1,248,475 foreigners departed the country during 2009. (La Prensa)

Editor's Comment: Let's see, quickly doing the math, that means 285,427 foreigners stayed in Panama. And since people from the United States made up about 28% of the total number of people arriving, you could possibly conclude that about 28% of those who stayed in Panama are from the US - which works out to 79,919 new gringos in Panama. That's what the math says, given the assumptions. Do you think that's even close? What if it's half that - 39,959. It's still an impressive number. However the Panamanian Immigration Service notoriously presents statistics but out of context, like in this story. They are just counting beans at the airport - you figure out what it means. Anyway, no matter how you slice it there seems to have been a net increase of 285,427 newly arriving foreigners who stayed in Panama last year. Welcome aboard. Wanna buy a condo? By the way, this number would represent 8.6% of the entire population (3.3 million).   

Foreign professionals who are unaccredited with the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (SPIA) are directing multi-million dollar construction projects in Panama using plans that are not property signed or approved, using unsuitable personnel, denounced Ernesto De Leon, the President of SPIA. De Leon, who is also the Chairman of the Technical Board of Engineers and Architects, expressed his discomfort that the government allows Colombians to work in this profession and to contract foreigners in all positions. Meanwhile Ramses Cajar, the Defense Coordinator for SPIA, requested that projects be supervised by Panamanians, a requirement that is not being met. Reporters from the Panama America participated in an operation (inspection) on the construction site of the Decapolis building on Balboa Avenue, where two Colombian workers were referred to Immigration. Felicidad Vaslin, an immigration official, said they were working on a tourist visa. This operation was undertaken by the SPIA and the Technical Board of Architects and Engineers together with inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and the National Migration Service.   

Panama's Minister of Government and Justice, Jose Raul Mulino, announced in a press release his interest in reactivating naturalization applications. Mulino said many of these applicants have been waiting for years and others have been filed without giving a response to these people who have been living in Panama from between five to twenty years. Mulino said he has signed 102 letters of naturalization since taking office in July. Applicants must meet all requirements, verify or prove that they are good citizens and obtain the approval of the Ministry of Government and Justice, then finally these applications must also be signed by the President, Ricardo Martinelli, according to the press release. (Source: La Prensa)