If you’re moving to Panama (or anywhere), it makes sense to pare down. But if after the garage sale and the dump run and donating your clunker to your nephew, you’ve still got stuff to ship, here’s some firsthand advice from Our Man in Boquete, who relocated to Panama in late 2009. Scroll to the bottom for advice on shipping cars, though Our Man’s basic advice is: Don’t Do It!
“First, if you already have a pensionado visa granting you residency in Panama, you may import US$10,000 worth of used household goods duty-free. If you don’t have residency, you’ll have to pay customs duty on everything. Basically it’s 5% as far as I know. It depends, however, on the discretion of the customs guys to appraise the value of the goods, so it’s an open field (and subject to how much you’re willing to bribe). It doesn’t help to show receipts from where you bought the stuff; they are free to appraise whatever they want.”
Heading for Chiriqui? Arrange for customs clearance in David
“Try to avoid having customs clearance done in Balboa harbor (that’s the harbor at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal) or in Colon (at the Caribbean end of the canal). If you’re intending to live anywhere in the province of Chiriqui [like the expat haven of Boquete], ask the shipping agent to have the container dispatched to David [after it goes through the canal] for customs clearance. To achieve this it is very important to have the destination in the Bill of Loading read: “To____(the place where you’re going to live) via David” Insist on this with your U.S. shipping agent and/or the local agent contracted by the U.S. shipper.
“There’s a very small customs office near the David airport, and it’s much easier to get the stuff through customs here. There’s a lady named Juana who’s in charge of imports (Spanish speaking only), and a small “regalo” (gift) passed discretely via handshake helps smooth the procedure considerably.”
Don’t sit on your hands
“It is also very important and helpful to be present in person a couple of days before the shipment is due to arrive in port [Balboa or Colon], and to contact the local agent directly. Get involved — don’t leave it to the discretion of your agent! There may be many kinds of problems showing up anytime…and for every day the container stays in the harbor they’ll charge you an additional $125. Again, having the container shipped to David for customs clearance avoids this possible storage problem since the container will only stay in port for the minimum required time before going on to David. Also, David customs most likely won’t charge you exotic fees like “Quarantine exemption fee for wooden furniture” or “Fee for unusually extensive customs inspection” that might (and did, for people I know) occur at those other customs offices. It goes without saying that one should be also present at the customs office where clearance will take place.”
(Not) importing cars into Panama
Our Man in Boquete strongly advises not importing cars to Panama. “From everything I’ve heard,” he writes, “it’s a nerve-wracking and costly procedure. There’s the appraisal problem, where they don’t give a damn about what you paid for your car in the U.S. They will also keep your car(s) in custody for as long as all the necessary paperwork needs to be finished, and that can take months!
“And they’ll charge you storage costs for each and every day.
“If you’re willing to cough up a couple of grand it may speed up the procedure but why do this? Cars in Panama are reasonably priced and readily available, so unless you’ve hung your heart on a very special car it really doesn’t make sense to import a car here.
“One more note: Although by law you’re entitled to import a car duty-free every two years if you’ve got a pensionado visa, hardly anybody is doing it. Why not? Well, although you won’t have to pay customs duty, they’ll charge you a 5% “sales tax” based (again) on their free-ranging appraisal of the car’s value, plus storage fees and the whole shebang.”
Parting advice
“Basically, I’d advise to scale down the amount of stuff to be shipped. Moving to another country also is some kind of a new beginning, so why carry all that old baggage with you?”
Thanks for your article. Can you recommend a shipping company. I have contacted APX Shipping and also Charles Zeller. I am thinking we are going to ship a 20ft container from La Quinta, CA (near Palm Springs) They are both telling me that we have to load it ourselves. The driver will wait for 2 hours. How well does it need to be packed? The 2 companies I have contacted are about $1,000 different in price. I would appreciate any advice you have
Thanks
Kathy, we have worked with Unity Van Lines (based in New Jersey) when moving to Panama from the Bay area. They were a bit more expensive than others but they sent a packing crew to our home who took the furniture apart, as necessary, and packed up everything well, especially the larger items. We had packed most of the smaller stuff in boxes ourselves but they would have done that also if we hadn’t done it yet. And they also loaded the container. No time limit.
You should check that both the THC’s (terminal handling charges at departure and destination ports) are included in the price. The US shipping agent is usually working with a contracted local agent here in Panama the services of whom are of varying quality, to say the least. We’ve had a good experience with Panama International Packers (www.panamainternationalpackers.com), so you might ask your US-shipper to work with them. And if you’re planning to move to anywhere in Chiriqui province (like e.g. Boquete) it is of utter importance to instruct your shipping agent(s) to have the customs clearance done in David, the provincial capital. You’d have to pay for the additional road transport (check the correct calculation of the distance!) but it makes everything much easier.
Best of luck!
Hans
Are you moving to Panama or Costa Rica? In Costa Rica, I tried Charles Zeller a few years back but they never answered my emails, so I can’t speak to their services. As for packing the container yourself, there are many schools of thought, but I have to agree with Panama-Hans that it’s usually worth it to let the pros handle it.
On the subject of shipping containers, people are getting creative with old ones. In Costa Rica there’s a small company that makes living quarters from used shipping containers
http://www.containerhomes.net/.
Some people have also been using old containers for emergency housing in post-earthquake Haiti.
In the event that you decide to duly import your US car in Panama, there is a great online source that offers all the information you’ll ever need (in English) on the procedure, paperwork, expectations and costs involved with importing a car into Panama. Their website is http://www.how2panama.com. My wife and I used it and sure were glad we did.
Hello,
I find your information regarding moving things to Panama interesting. We are into metal crafts, stained glass and fusing glass. We have welding equipment and other related items that we could use for things to do in retirement there (Panama). Do you have any suggestions if these articles could be shipped or worth the shipping?
Thank you,
welshb2
Dear Welshb2,
Depending on how specialized your equipment is, you may be able to find similar tools in Panama. But I’ve found that specialized equipment–for anything from artwork to cooking–is one thing I would advise shipping down. I’ve known carpenters moving to Costa Rica to bring their best tools along, chefs bring along their own knives, and massage therapists ship their custom-made massage table. As a writer I bring all of my own electronics, complete with necessary cables. I might be able to find them in CR, but I might not, and I’d rather not take the chance. As always, if you can bring it with you as carry-on, that’s the best bet. But if it’s too large or heavy for that, such equipment can also be shipped.
Dear Welshb2,
Most artists who move to Panama from abroad are quite disappointed in their search around the Isthmus for the materials they need to work. I think most of this has to do with the fact that they are set on certain brands, prices, and textures, having used them in their home countries and gotten used to what is offered. The entire moving abroad experience is about change, so unless you are up for experimenting with your metal and stained glass crafts, you might want to start by bringing along your essentials, and then see what is available and how your supplies can grow.
If of course you do a scouting out trip, (highly recommended anyway, for your entire living abroad experience), that would be even better.
There are welders in Panama (in Spanish “Soldador”) and of course there are many available resources to pick up glass, or “vidrio.” But you may find that welding equipment is not up to date.
Also some equipment can be very expensive when bought new especially if it is manufactured outside of Panama, so the price of shipping would be equal or maybe less than the price to buy it down here.
As for shipping companies, I highly recommend contacting Nobel Relocation Panama, http://www.movingpanama.com. And ask for Max Gea. He is very knowledgeable and provides great customer service.
Like Miss Move Abroad, I’ve authored for the Moon Living Abroad Series — Panama. The book was launched in February 2010, so the information is newly updated. It’s available at major booksellers. http://www.moon.com/books/moon-living-abroad/moon-living-abroad-panama-first-edition.
Best of Luck!
Miriam Butterman