Required Travel Documents in Panama
Three Key Documents for a Hassle-Free Panama Vacation
If you’re getting ready for your upcoming travel to Panama, there are three KEY documents you must remember bringing for a hassle-free holiday in Panama: a valid passport, a COPY of your passport and an outbound ticket!
Entering & Exiting Panama
Panamanian law requires that travelers present a valid passport when entering or departing Panama, plus the passport must have a validity of at least three months at the time of entry. Really, if you don’t have the required validity on your passport you risk losing your trip altogether as a good airlines representative would not allow you to board in the first place. If you do make it all the way to Panama, you risk being sent back on the first flight at your own cost. To be safe, we recommend that you never travel without at least 6 months of validity on your passport for peace of mind.
Second, and very important, is to show PROOF OF EXIT from Panama in compliance with the time frame of your valid stay, which is 180 days without obtaining a valid visa extension. A copy of your return ticket should suffice as long as you are leaving from Panama. If by any chance you’re flying out from a different country, i.e. Costa Rica, you MUST hold an onward ticket FROM Panama, whether an air ticket or a bus ticket. If you don’t have your departure ticket by the time of entry, you might be forced to BUY one!! You really don’t want to find yourself in the need of buying a last minute return ticket while at the airport which most likely will be EXPENSIVE!! If entering by land across the border, you will be forced to go to the bus station and purchase a return ticket regardless of the time you may have invested already on the waiting line at the Panama border crossing. Even worse you could be denied travel by your airline and forego your traveling plans altogether. Make sure to have your outbound ticket right from the start.
Traveling Within Panama
Last but not least, always carry a COPY of your passport with you. You’ll see that it is very common to be stopped while traveling within Panama at road checks; entire busloads of people can be pulled over and everyone must show their valid passport, or at least copy of both the front page with photo and information as well as the page that has the entry stamp and date. If you fail to have it on you it can be a pretty big deal and will have to remain there for an unwanted and uncalled for amount of time giving out your names, accommodations and any other piece of information the “officials” find necessary before letting you go. If you’re on the road to take a tour, you might even miss it!! Carrying your passport is an option, yet you really want to avoid the risk of losing it so better to just leave it in the safe of your hotel! A copy of your passport can be easily replaced, while replacing a lost passport is a whole different scenario. If you happen to find yourself in this most unfortunate situation, visit the following link and follow the steps to replace a lost or stolen passport.
We hope this information comes handy for your Panama travel preparations; just put together a travel check list for yourself! Having all you need ready ahead of time can be as easy as 1 passport, 2 proof of exit and 3 passport copy!!
