No. The upfront payment covers all (100%) of the third-party expenses + 30% of the legal fees and corresponding sales taxes. Expenses cover government fees and other third-party costs that we pay on your behalf — they are entirely separate from the legal fees that our office charges to prepare your application and provide guidance throughout the residency application process. Each line item in your quote will specify whether it is an expense or a fee.

Because we pay these costs on your behalf at specific points during your case — often right at the start. Having those funds available ensures we can act immediately without pausing your case mid-process to request additional small payments.

Expenses depend on the specific visa or service, the number of applicants, and whether additional or variable services and products may be required by your circumstances. A solo application will typically have different expenses than a family case. Your quote reflects exactly what applies to you and your residency application strategy.

Our office does not maintain a formal or rigid policy on cancellations and refunds. Instead, we approach these situations on a case-by-case basis to reach a fair outcome. On the rare occasions that a client must cancel a process unexpectedly, our general practice is to refund any expense advancements to the extent that those expenses have not yet been incurred. We also make every effort to refund professional fee advancements; however, we do reserve the right to deduct a nominal amount when substantial time has already been invested in preparing the client's file.

To the extent that you simply need to change your travel plans, we generally have plenty of flexibility to work with you on scheduling changes. In terms of planning your trips to Panama, the main parameters to navigate are the validation periods of your documents and public holidays in Panama.

When you come to Panama to submit the residency application, we'll schedule an initial face-to-face meeting here in our office to get started. We call this the "Residency Launch" meeting. This is generally when you will deliver your original document(s) with the corresponding apostille(s) or Consular authentication(s). We'll also have some forms for you to review, fill out, and sign. This is also generally when we will need to take your passport(s) for a few days — don't worry, we'll give you some paperwork to carry explaining to anyone who asks why you don't have your passport(s). You are welcome to pay the second installment during the Residency Launch meeting by credit card using our point of sale, in cash, or by a pre-arranged wire transfer.