Actually I think that is precisely their reasoning. Panama has a lot of laws and there is a good chance if you;re doing something that's dangerous illegal (selling drugs, killing people etc), that you'll be caught and prosecuted. On the other hand if you liked the country and decide you don't want to leave they really do just want you to pay your taxes. I guess their assumption is that people who want to be there so bad they would risk deportation etc must really want to be there.
I talked to a few US expats who had gone to Panama set themselves up alright with a restaurant or whatever and then ended up becoming citizens by virtue of the amnesty programs. Fact is immigrants tend to create more jobs than they take. At least in Panama, same thing in Ecuador. Invest $25k in Ecuador and you are a citizen, period. They also have a class of permanent residency that leads to Citizenship that requires no investment just a 4 year degree or better. You hear horror stories of how weird their immigration system is, but it's really because bureaucracy is very slow to react to changes to the law. Here's an example. I went to Ecuador on a tourist visa. Got caught up in a project that caused me to overstay my visa by more than double. On the way out of the country they gave me two choices. Write a letter (in spanish) explaining why I stayed so long, or get a stamp that says I can't come back for 18 months. I wrote the letter (2pages) and they traded me that letter for a visa (really nothing more than a sticker with a hologram) that lets me come and go as I choose for the next 12 months. No fee, no charge, no arrest and other no hassle other than the letter. Countries in Central and South America have been doing a lot of things to try and attract people who will be of benefit to their economies. I still stand by my previous assertion that Ecuador is like the USA circa 1950 and is about to embark on the same type of growth that we experienced from the 50's to the 70's. They also have the advantage of technology and hindsight. Probably helps that their president is an economist and not a lawyer too. Still I think their President is making himself to be a target for another coup or assisination attempt. He keeps kicking US businesses to keep them in line. Previous leaders who acted in a similar fashion have ended up on the wrong side of the CIAs lists as evidenced by my previous links. On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 5:16 PM, Nicholas Leippe <n...@leippe.com> wrote: > On Tue, Jun 25, 2013 at 5:02 PM, S. Dale Morrey <sdalemor...@gmail.com > >wrote: > > > Panama has a regular process of rounding up > > illegal immigrants and granting them citizenship. > > > > > That just sounds like good business--track then tax. > > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */ > /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
