The full guide
The Panama Relocation Guide
Everything you need to move to Panama, in one download: a step-by-step plan from leaving home to your first year, the real costs, and the lawyers, doctors, brokers, movers, builders and tradespeople we actually use, with their phone numbers.
Why a paid guide?
This website covers the basics for free. The guide is what we'd hand a friend who's serious about moving: more than 40 chapters and about 90 pages, written by a team that lives in Panama City, Pedasí, Boquete and beyond.
- Vetted local contacts in every chapter. Lawyers by region and specialty, the health insurance broker we use, private hospitals with phone numbers, movers, a pet relocation company, car dealers, mechanics, drivers, builders, architects, property managers, plumbers, electricians and more.
- Real numbers. Monthly budgets for city, beach and highland living, a one-time moving budget, closing costs, taxes, bus fares and domestic flight prices.
- The parts other guides skip. Leaving Canada or the US cleanly, wills and probate, hiring household help legally, keeping your residency, ageing in Panama and adjusting to life here.
- Reference pages you'll keep using: a yearly calendar, a printable emergency sheet and a directory of every contact in the guide.
What's inside
Planning the move
- Why Panama, and the honest trade-offs
- A 12-month move timeline
- Leaving Canada or the US cleanly: tax, pensions, health cover and banks
- Choosing where to live, region by region
- Safety, weather and natural hazards
Residency and legal
- Residency visas, and how to keep your residency
- The lawyers we use, by region
- Wills and estate planning
Money
- Banking and moving money
- Taxes in Panama
- Working and doing business in Panama
- Cost of living, with monthly budgets
- Budgeting for the move itself
Health
- Health insurance and the broker we use
- Private hospitals and clinics in every region
- Pharmacies and medications
- Ageing in Panama
Home
- Housing: scouting before you buy, and renting
- Buying property in Panama: titles, due diligence, closing costs and financing
- Property management
- Hiring household help
- Home and auto insurance
The move itself
- Moving your belongings: pulling, not pushing, your shipment
- Pets
- Driving, Uber, buses and domestic flights
- Phones, internet and utilities
- Plumbers, electricians and handymen
Settling in
- Learning Spanish
- Families: schools and kids
- Shopping and daily life
- Community and social life
- Culture and etiquette
- Adjusting to life in Panama
- Your first 30 days
Reference
- Your yearly calendar
- Common concerns, answered
- A printable emergency sheet
- Your contacts at a glance: every recommended contact in one directory
Information checked in October 2026. General information, not legal, tax, immigration or medical advice. Our team is affiliated with Panama Properties, a licensed Panamanian real estate brokerage; see our disclosure.