Panama’s legislature is scheduled to convene in a special session in mid-July to readdress the tourist visa duration, which was previously reduced from 90 days to 30 days. There are strong indications suggesting a return to the original 90-day tourist card visa, not merely a 30-day visa with a 60-day extension.
These tourist cards, priced at $5.00, are readily obtainable at the airport upon arrival or at the departure gate, requiring only a few minutes to complete. Surveys reflecting the opinions of foreigners in Panama regarding the visa duration reduction have been presented to the legislature. While the 30-day limit might remain, the special legislative session offers a reasonable prospect for reinstating the 90-day tourist card visa. Further updates will be provided as they become available.
Addressing a frequently asked question, it remains uncertain whether existing 30-day visas will automatically convert to 90-day visas. Such a conversion would likely involve considerable administrative and logistical efforts, including updating passport stamps and tourist cards. It’s more probable that affected individuals would need to exit and re-enter Panama to obtain a new 90-day tourist card visa.
In addition to the visa issue, the special session will also consider extending the 20-year real estate tax exemption until December 31, 2007. Although passage is anticipated, confirmation awaits the session’s outcome. This extension would allow projects meeting specific criteria to benefit from a 20-year tax exemption. A previous lapse in this law resulted in some projects missing the deadline, and this extension offers them a renewed opportunity.
Regarding vaccinations, a bill mandating vaccinations passed the Panama Assembly, but the President has not yet signed it into law. This stance is unlikely to change, suggesting that mandatory vaccinations are not imminent. The primary focus of the proposed vaccinations was yellow fever inoculations. The Panama Health Minister expressed concerns about the practicality of airport inoculations due to the ten-day incubation period required for the vaccine to become effective. Currently, Panama does not face any yellow fever outbreaks, making mandatory vaccinations in the near future improbable.
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