Panama’s New Immigration Program

As part of a new National Immigration program visitors and returning foreign residents will be fingerprinted when entering Panama. If you are a foreign resident, this does not mean you must join the immigration line reserved for tourists.

There are now three lines, one for tourists, one for Panamanians and  another for foreign residents. This is good news for foreign residents as the majority of people coming into the country are either citizens or visitors.  This makes for shorter wait times of those holding a cedula starting with an E.

According to the immigration agency the system seeks to strengthen the security measures for entry into the country. They also stated that visitors and foreign residents will only be fingerprinted once.