Who We Are
Who You Are Actually Dealing With
Relocation is a business full of anonymous websites. Here is the person behind this one, and how the work really runs.
John Phillips
CO-FOUNDER & ADVISOR
I was born and raised in Panama. We run Turnkey Panamá from both ends — We take the consultation calls ourselves, and We follow your file from the first apostille to the day your resident card is in your hand.
That I grew up here matters more than it sounds like it should. The immigration file, the bank forms, and the lease are all in Spanish. We are not reading them through a translator, and We are not learning how this country works from the same blogs you are. Most of what goes wrong in an American's application, meanwhile, goes wrong on the US side, months before Panama ever sees it — which is why we start there.
For clients who stay on with us, the work does not stop at residency. Our team pay the utility bills, handle the HOA fees and maintenance, sit through the mandatory HOA meetings in Spanish, and send one consolidated statement a month.
Your US Taxes Do Not Stop at the Border
Moving to Panama does not end your obligation to the IRS. Americans abroad still file every year, and there are foreign-account reporting requirements most people have never heard of until they are already late on them.
Panama's territorial tax system is genuinely favourable, and it is one of the honest reasons to come. It does not make your US filing disappear. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
Most of our clients already have an accountant or a CFO back home, and we are not trying to replace them. What they usually do not have is someone who has seen how a Panamanian beach property, an HOA, and a change in residency actually land on a US return.
That is where my wife and partner in this business comes in:
Danna Phillips, EA
Enrolled Agent, admitted to practice before the IRS
She answers questions for Turnkey clients and works alongside whoever already prepares your return.
Who Files Your Application
Panamanian law requires a licensed Panamanian attorney to file a residency application. Nobody can do it for you from the United States, and any service implying otherwise is worth a second look. Ours is:
Licda. Yorlenis Martinez
How the Work Runs
Four stages. The first one happens entirely in the United States.
- 01
The US side
Apostilles, the federal background check, certified copies, and the consulate appointment. This is where American applications stall, and it is where we start.
- 02
Filing in Panama
Your attorney submits the application to Servicio Nacional de Migración. We coordinate the file, track it, and tell you what is actually happening rather than what you are hoping to hear.
- 03
In-country steps
Your entry, biometrics, the temporary card, and the return trip for the permanent one. We meet you, we drive you, and we translate.
- 04
After approval
Banking, healthcare, housing, shipping, and the discounts you are now entitled to. Some clients stop here. Others hand us the keys and keep going.
What We Do Not Do
- We are not a real estate brokerage. We earn no commission on where you decide to live, which is why we can tell you plainly when a building is a bad idea.
- We do not promise a timeline that immigration controls. We will tell you what cases like yours have actually taken, and what makes them take longer.
- We do not take on cases that will not qualify. If your pension does not meet the Pensionado threshold, we will say so on the first call and point you at the route that does fit.
Where We Are
- United States
- Reachable at (484) 341-0810 during US business hours.
- Panama
- San Francisco, PH Terra Wind, Edificio Mil, Piso 20 puerta B, Panama City.