Day Four — The Attorney, the Doctor, and the Day We Actually Did the Thing

Monday. Attorney day. The day we’d planned the entire trip around.

I had to wear long pants.

I want to be clear that I understood the reason, accepted it completely, and put on the long pants without complaint. I also want to be clear that I changed back into shorts approximately four minutes after we returned to the hotel that afternoon. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

First stop — the doctor

Before the attorney, we needed something that trips up a lot of people who try to plan this process remotely: the health certificate. Every Pensionado visa application requires a wellness certificate issued by a licensed Panamanian doctor, dated within 90 days of filing. You cannot get this before you arrive in Panama. You cannot get it from your doctor at home. You get it here, in person, from a Panamanian physician — which is one of the reasons the “fly in, file the paperwork, fly home tomorrow” plan that circulates in the Facebook groups is impossible. We’ve written about that in full here.

We Ubered to the Wellmed Clinic at Santa Maria Village Center in Costa del Este — 7.5 miles during morning rush hour for $11.69. We were early, so we stopped at Unido Café first. Two tiny espressos and a slice of banana bread: $11.20. We noted, not for the first time, that Tim Hortons’ large iced French Vanilla at $3.99 is one of the great underappreciated bargains of Panama City and we had perhaps been taking it for granted.

The appointment at Wellmed was straightforward. The doctor took my blood pressure, asked about my prescriptions, and asked how often I see my doctor back home. Then I briefly made things interesting.

My blood pressure came back at 130. I told him it runs high at medical appointments — white coat syndrome — and that my normal reading is usually around 78. He stared at me. “It is normally 178?” I realized immediately what had happened and clarified: no, 78 is the bottom number. The top is typically 118 to 120. He laughed, said that was perfectly reasonable, signed the certificate, and sent us on our way. Health certificate: obtained. Cost: $25.00 and one mutually confusing moment.

Morgan & Morgan — and I mean the building

From the clinic we Ubered to Morgan & Morgan. When I say Morgan & Morgan, I mean a 25 or 26-story building that they own. Theirs. The firm occupies floors 24 through 26, with a second adjacent building also in their portfolio. It is new, beautifully designed, and communicates exactly what you want a law firm handling your immigration paperwork to communicate.

The view from the 24th floor of Morgan & Morgan’s tower. Panama City’s skyline, the bay, the canal approach in the distance. Not a bad place to begin the permanent residency process.

We took the elevator to the 24th floor and waited a few minutes — we were early again — for Carolina Tejada Vaprio, senior associate in the Immigration Department. The meeting was thorough and well-organized, and answered several questions we hadn’t fully thought to ask.

Our conversation with Carolina Tejada Vaprio — Senior Associate, Immigration

Brian’s conversation with Carolina Tejada Vaprio, Senior Associate in the Immigration Department at Morgan & Morgan. She walks through exactly what the Pensionado visa process looks like, what documents you need, and what to expect each step of the way.

A few other useful things from the meeting

Car insurance came up in passing — Carolina mentioned her own policy runs around $480 per year, paid monthly. A useful real-world data point for anyone budgeting a Panama life.

Selling property without an agent is genuinely common here. Kent had noticed a lot of for-sale properties listed without agents during his walks. Carolina confirmed that many owners sell directly specifically to avoid the 7% commission. Worth knowing if buying is part of your plan.

Visa timelines: The Pensionado visa takes approximately five months from filing to permanent residency card. A Qualified Investor Visa moves faster — around two months. Property sales typically take about four months to close. All useful for sequencing a move.

The documents and how the week unfolds

Here is what the Pensionado visa process actually looks like on the ground — not from a checklist found online, but from sitting across a desk from the attorney handling it.

To the Monday meeting, you bring four things:

• Original non-criminal record — FBI background report, apostilled. Brian had his apostilled at the Panamanian Consulate in Tampa before leaving the U.S.
• Original pension certificate — duly legalized (apostilled). The consulate handles this. You obtain the letter directly from Social Security online — it must explicitly state the income is a “pension” paid “for life.”
• Original passport — the attorney keeps it. Your passport is retained until the temporary residency process is complete. Plan your travel accordingly — you will not have it back for several days.
• Good health certification — from a licensed Panamanian doctor, within 90 days of filing. We got ours that same morning at Wellmed.

From there the attorney handles everything — the forms, the coordination with Immigration, and the filing. Here is how the week unfolds:

Back to the hotel. Shorts on. Immediately.

We returned to the hotel and I changed out of long pants in approximately the time it takes to open a drawer. Then Tim Hortons — the iced French Vanilla calling us home as it did every morning — and on to lunch.

Lunch at Qbano — and the lime slushy revelation

Feeling ready for something more local, we went to Qbano. The name is a play on “Cubano” — and yes, they serve Cuban-style sandwiches. Kent ordered the more authentic version. I had a teriyaki chicken sandwich. Both came with fries, and the thing I was entirely unprepared for: a Panamanian lime slushy.

Here is how it is made. You take three whole limes — whole, meaning with the skins and seeds still on them — and drop them into a blender with water. You blend everything thoroughly until it becomes a thoroughly green liquid. You strain out the seeds and large chunks. You add sugar. You blend the result with ice. What comes out is bracingly tart, cold, and exactly what you want in your hand when the temperature is in the upper 80s with full humidity. I had three more of these before the trip was over.

Qbano — two sandwiches, two sets of fries, two lime slushies made from whole blended limes. $14.48. One of the best-value meals of the trip.

The hotel room

Our room at the Marriott Executive Apartments Finisterre — spacious, small fully-equipped kitchen, proper desk area, and an A/C unit with very strong opinions. We loved it. For a research trip involving visa paperwork, the apartment-hotel format is significantly better than a standard hotel room.

Back at the hotel in the afternoon we reviewed everything we had learned, took notes, and properly appreciated the room we had been treating mainly as a blast chiller for four days. The apartment-hotel format — studio with kitchen, desk, actual living space — made considerably more sense for this kind of trip than a standard hotel room would have. If you’re coming to Panama to start the Pensionado process, we’d recommend the same approach.

Dinner at El Trapiche — an education in Panamanian food

After four days of Wendy’s, McDonald’s, TGI Fridays, and a very overpriced small dark bar, we committed to Panamanian cuisine for dinner. We went to El Trapiche, a well-regarded traditional restaurant, and ordered things we had never eaten before.

First decision: fried yucca as a starter. Neither of us had ever eaten yucca. We ordered it in the spirit of adventure and discovered immediately that fried yucca tastes remarkably like French fries — same texture, similar flavor with a slight earthiness underneath. I was immediately and unreservedly happy about this. I would have eaten nothing else for the remainder of the meal if given the option.

The El Trapiche appetizers. Fried yucca on the left — tastes like French fries, excellent, order it without hesitation. Curry chicken plantain empanadas on the right — Kent loved them, Brian politely finished his and quietly requested more yucca.

The second appetizer was curry chicken-filled plantain empanadas. Kent found them excellent. I found them genuinely interesting — the plantain wrapper has a sweetness I hadn’t anticipated, which is different from what I normally reach for. I ate mine. I did not wish for more. I very clearly wished for more yucca.

For mains: Kent had chicken and pork in mushroom gravy with fries, which he described as genuinely excellent. I had roasted pork with garlic and cilantro gravy and fries — solid and well-prepared, though perhaps I had built up the pork slightly in my imagination. We had passion fruit margaritas, which were very good. We also tried Seco with Nance — Seco being the traditional Panamanian cane spirit, Nance being a small tropical fruit used as a mixer. Kent liked it. I finished mine with the quiet determination of someone who respects the local culture but is not yet ready to order a second one.

Kent made me walk up the steep hill back to the hotel afterward. I survived. He seemed to find this more satisfying than was strictly necessary.

What day four actually meant

Back at the hotel, the room at its now-customary slightly-too-cold temperature, we were quieter than usual. It had been a significant day — not just a productive one. Brian had handed over his passport. Forms were signed. The attorney had everything she needed. The process we’d been researching and planning and talking about over dinners in St. Petersburg for the better part of two years was now actually in motion in a building in Panama City.

We watched television, kept the room cold, and went to sleep more settled than we had been in a while.

Day five coming up.

— Brian & Kent