requirement for national to fly out of colombia

Chuck says on Nov 29, 2004, 22:28:

I'll be scared... .. if I boarded an international flight with only $500 in my wallet!

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mark says on Nov 30, 2004, 00:09:

.they are full of SHIT I went through the same thing, exact same thing.. I made a few personal calls to the airline.. try avianca instead. they denied any law to that effect. I think they dont want hookers visiting with no cash in hand.

SOLUTION: Send your woman some MONEY...

http://www.viamericas.com/login.asp

viamericas is cheaper than western union, your need her bank account info to have it deposited.

immigration may hold her passport till you show up too.

I met mine there roughly the same time, when i met up with her in the luggage area she went back to the inspection booth with me, afterwards they gave her the passports.

p.s. we stayed at an upscale hotel. but dont use their cabs to get around, they rip you off.

you'll dig it there too

also there is a beach area that robert duran (boxer) hangs out at ( drunkie alcoholic), i missed him..


theres also a cool marina night spot about 20min towards the canal, good food & dancing..

enjoy..

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EdGunn1 says on Nov 30, 2004, 04:36:

Must be Deja Vu! I just had he exact same experience. My fiance called a local travel agency and they told her she needed the $500 US dollars to enter Panama. So I made a call to a Latin American travel agency out of Miami and they gave me the same information, of course I also thought it was BS. Upon checking with Western Union to wire her this amount, plus cash for an airline ticket..........I decided this was not an option. Western Union charges a PREMIUM price to send that amount of cash. The endgame is, i will be flying to Bogota this weekend, instead of her to PTY.

........and thanks Mark for the info on viamericas.com

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lokipbh says on Nov 30, 2004, 05:18:

cash or plastic is the question Chuck, maybe at one time, but I rarely carry 500 cash in my pocket any longer. I rely on ATM in the destination country nearly exclusively, except for a small amount of US cash. My question was more about the various ways that this requirement could be fulfilled, not whether it is wise to travel penniless, but I appreciate the comment.

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lokipbh says on Nov 30, 2004, 05:27:

Full of it? Thanks Mark, No problem with sending the money. She has an atm i can feed. And I'm sure there is no problem buying dollars though I have no experience with this. I was just wondering if it would make sense to help her obtian a credit or debit card and back it with at least the same amount of money to meet the requirement. The best airlines to go with seem to be Aires or Copa as both have direct flights. I am also interested in this immigration issue you bring up. I cannot help but think there must be a way for a Colombiana to show that she is financially reputable and on a legitimate trip. I expect to arrive before her so it should not be a problem, but I cannot imagine all colombian women have to go thru this type of process when traveling to foreign countries. But I certainly understand the concerns of the destination country. Thanks again for the quick reply.

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viewpoint says on Nov 30, 2004, 06:16:

Panama Requirements Yes the US$500 and return ticket requirement is real and imposed randomly (profiling) by immigration at the airport upon people entering Panama that are judged "questionable". A young single Colombian woman will surely be asked to produce the $500 because many Colombian women enter Panama and overstay the Tourist Card term working as domestic help, dancers or working girls. There is no accurate count of the Colombians in Panama but it is substantial. There are about 60,000 legal Colombians with resident status and an estimated 40,000 (probably much more) residing and working there illegally. Many Colombian businesses have a presence in Colombia and regularly transfer employees from Colombia to Panama to work with no legal status in Panama. Panama immigration is not stupid and that's why they have the US$500 requirement. Of course, the Colombians (and others) just place US$500 in their employees hands before boarding the flight to Panama and meet them at the airport and retreave the US$500.

The US$500 requirement is not unreasonable as it represents some proof that the person can support themselves. Credit or debit cards are extremely helpful and sometimes accepted as evidence of financial ability.

My guess is that the Colombian population in Panama is going to increase substantally because Panama has many more opportunities for well educated Colombians than Colombia. There is a lot of wealth and better paying jobs per capita in Panama City especially for bilingual people. A bilingual secretary with good skills can command a salary of US$700 per month equal to CP$1.750.000 compared to CP$750.000 in Colombia.

Both you and your girlfriend need to puchase a US$5 Panama Tourist Card at counter when you check in for your flight or at the COPA service counter by immigration. It is better to purchase it at check-in before the flight departs do you can fill it out and have it ready at immigration otherwise it will delay the immigration process while you have to leave the immigration area to buy the card and fill it out. I find better results flying COPA as most arrivals from numerous destinations are the same time. If you both fly COPA chances are you can select flights that arrive about 9:30am to 10:00am and then get together and go through immigration which will make the process easier for both of you.

A good reasonably priced hotel (US$35 for two people) in Panama is Hotel Marbella located on Calle D between Calle 55 and Calle Eusebio A. Morales (downtown Panama City). It's just one block south of Hotel El Panama and a block east of via Espana. The phone number is 507-263-2220 or email hmarbella at cableonda.net. It's newish, clean, well run, management speaks english and has a good resturant. Take you girlfriend to the new shopping mall called Multicentro (Colombian owned) located on Ave. Balboa and she will think they never left Colombia as most all of the shops and resturants are Colombian with 80% Colombian employees.

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Gator says on Nov 30, 2004, 06:29:

Don't Forget this could well be an "rule" enorced depending upon the individual traveler, the particular inspector, and the assment of the traveler. When any of you travel NEVER forget, reguardless of the country, the inspector is the MAN. Samething goes for your trip to Bogotá. If the DAS man at the airport says, "No," that's it.

Good luck.

BTW, viewpoint's take is on the money(no pun intended).

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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lokipbh says on Nov 30, 2004, 17:43:

Viewpoint,
Thank you very much for the reply. This is exactly the information I am looking for. The situation is very understandable once it is all placed in the proper perspective. We are going to be travelling seperately, me from the US on American and her from Barranquilla on Copa, but I think we can work out the logistics (arrival times are close) so that there is no problem at immigration. The money is not the issue, it is only trying to understand the process, so this info is extremely helpful. I think we will be staying in the Faralon Playa Blanca area, but now I am intrigued about the panama city area as well, maybe we will make some time for some shopping. It sounds like a wonderful place and it will be her first trip out of the country, hopefully not too traumatic. Thanks again

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viewpoint says on Nov 30, 2004, 19:20:

LOKIPBH If both of you take just "carry on baggage" whoever arrives first can wait in the arrival area for the other flight to come in so both of you can go through immigration at the same time. Sometimes it's difficult to determine the exact arrival gate at that airport as the arrival information is primative (at best) but all of the personnel are bilingual so a few questions will get you pointed in the right direction. If you have checked baggage you should still be OK but you cannot pick it up until after you clear immigration and you run the risk of getting separated from your baggage but don't worry about it as the chances of losing it is slim.

Panama City is where it's all happening and things go downhill as you get outside the city except for sightseeing, good beaches and rural senery. Panama is making a big push to attract tourists worldwide and there are lots of activities for you to pursue. If you have a strong heart rent a car to get around. Panama is more like Puerto Rico than Colombia. You will see plenty of foreign people there from all over the world.

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mark says on Nov 30, 2004, 22:17:

Viewpoint- good narrative... good points viewpoint..

Also one more point..

When my woman left medellin they searched her big-time.. heheh I guess hot chicks are profiled there, they thought she was a drug mule or something.. they took her to a seperat room and had a female agent search her.

Also one thing led to another and she wound up drinking a lot of orange juice to satisfy them that she did not have anything in her stomach..

this kinda freaked her out, cause she never traveled out of colombia and thought this was normal..

but at the same time she was all dressed up looking real HOT I told her its better to keep a low profile when you travel..hehehhe

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viewpoint says on Dec 1, 2004, 05:29:

Mark I have noticed more women pulled aside from departing flights at the Medellin airport for questioning, searches, etc. than the men. Incoming passengers are met in the ramp (most international flights at Medellin airport) with drug sniffing dogs who then migrate down to the baggage conveyor with the dogs walking the conveyor belt in reverse smelling the baggage peice by peice. I can not understand the elevated concern about someone importing drugs into Colombia. Last trip the military handling the dog was saying in perfect english to the dog repeatedly "find it, find it, find it". Maybe the dog was trained to know english commands.

One thing a woman should not wear is her "clog" elevated shoes because they get crazy about inspecting and ex-raying them over and over. She is better off with flats. Another shoe that Colombian women love are the big black ankle high shoes (boots) that are straight out of the movie "Pretty Woman" that Julia Roberts wore (as a working girl) when she first met Richard Gere on Sunset Strip. These type of shoes are another target for inspection.

I used to try to explain this to the Colombian women but I learned years ago that it only brings a reverse response. Only reverse psychology works with the Colombian woman (in fact all women).

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greg says on Dec 1, 2004, 07:53:

Its true It happened to a Colombian girlfriend of mine a few years ago. When i went to meet her at the airport in Panama city, she was being detained. she only had about $250 on her and they sent her back to Bogota. i tried to explain to them i was her boyfriend and had photos of us together but they were very rude. would not even let me talk to her. Did not know about the $500 rule at the time. Had to send money to her for new ticket and to make sure she had $500 on her. On top of that some moron had told her that they had thrown me in jail for arguing with the immigration officials. Finally got her back in Panama a few days later.

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