Riding Through Panama - Urgent
 

I have a friend planning to ride through Panama to get to a boat for to Colombia, after sneaking his Australian-registered bike out of Costa Rica to avoid paying taxes because he had left it there for a year.
If he can legally get himself out of Costa Rica and into Panama, how much risk will there be to run into highway checkpoints that will want to see customs papers showing his bike's legal entry into Panama?
He has registration papers and a bill of sale.

I was there for three weeks last year and never had to show any documents on the road. But I think this is a side issue -his big issue though will be when he tries to ship the bike out of Panama, his lack of legal entry papers would be very apparent because there will be no computer entry and he will have no TIP to hand in.

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I don't get it: why does trouble in Costa Rica mean he can't legally import the bike once he reaches Panama?

When I shipped my bike out of Panama by plane I had to insist that the aduana cancel my TIP--they said it wasn't necessary, I said it was. I prevailed....which is good, because when I returned to Panama 8 months later they insisted on proof that I'd done everything correctly the first time through.

I don't know whether that'll apply to your friend, or even whether it's still working that way. Good luck!

Mark

I rode through Panama 4-5 weeks ago and had to go through 3 Aduana checkpoints along the roads and show TIP and other documents. And also 3 police checkpoints. So Panama seems to be quite active checking foreign vehicles documents and TIPs.

The big " IF " is how can he can legally get himself and the bike out of Costa Rica without the proper exit documents completed .I know that at the Paso Canoas crossing from CR into Panama it is a simple matter to do an end run around the customs terminal , but there has always been a military customs- paper check point a few km into Panama .
Getting INTO Panama legally requires ( or used to ?) the CR exit stuff to be in order so that the Panama customs can see that .
Taking the bike out of Costa Rica without those papers and stamps will be noticed if he presents at the Panama customs to legally bring the bike in .
Might be less trouble and expense to face up and pay the CR tax .

There are no stamps for the bike in CR therefore if the person stamps out of CR & then arrives at Panama immigration with the bike there should be no problem. If you are at Canoas there is a checkpoint 2km up the road in Panama where they will be looking for permits

This may be true....but I have a vehicle stamp entering C.R. and another one leaving from a trip in 2009.

2 years ago when I crossed from Costa Rica to Panama I came across an American who had been in an accident and overstayed and was in the same predicament as you. He basically just drove past the Costa Rica exit towards Panama and had zero issues. It was at the time the only border that I recall where they didn't check any paperwork before you actually leave the country. He then just entered Panama as normal. I then rode with him for a few hours before we parted. If the border is set up the same which I'm sure it is you should have no issues just riding through.

The problem is there are checkpoints after the border. He went ahead and the bike has been held by customs for going on a month, even though he's put the fine and tax money into a customs agent account (almost $2000)!
I've only been to 111 countries, but this is the worst bureaucracy that I've seen. They won't even let him get to the things on the bike and he's had to buy shirts and pants and underwear.
I think they're punishing him and slowing the process. He's already missed one ship to Colombia and may miss the second one on 7 January.

Demonstrating once again why you should never fully believe something just because you read it on the internet.

I’m still unclear, as is often the case. Which country has his bike? What did he try to do? What actually happened? This sort of information could be helpful to others in similar predicaments, but at the moment it’s impossible to figure out.

Mark

To answer markharf's questions:
1. The bike is in Costa Rica's customs lot, which they will not release until the fine and full bike taxes (as if he were bringing it into CR as a resident).
2. He was trying to leave Costa Rica to go to Panama after originally bringing the bike there from Panama in 2017.
When you enter Costa Rica with a bike, you must take it back out with you when you leave, or leave it in an official customs lot and pay for the time there. He left it with a friend to sell while he was riding around Oz and southeast Asia. The friend did not sell it.
He has returned on a tourist visa and was trying to leave with the bike to go to Panama.
Unfortunately, Costa Rica has the draconian practice of not only fining an individual who overstays their vehicle, but also requires the payment of the high taxes as if the vehicle were being imported into the country.
Consequently, my friend has had to deposit $500 + $1500 in taxes with a Costa Rican customs agent.
This is bad enough, but he has now had to wait what will be approaching a month for the paperwork to arrive to customs from the Policia Fiscal. Because he is not allowed access to his bike, he's had to buy clothes along with paying for a room while waiting waiting waiting.
It now being December and year end bonus time for all CR employees, very little gets done and/or he is being punished for his indiscretion.
The bottom line lesson here is don't leave a bike in Costa Rica past your visa limit. I guess if it breaks down and you are waiting for parts (or leave to go get them) past your visa limit, don't just go to Panama or Nicaragua for a new visa. You are required to put the bike in an official customs lot. It begs the question of what to do if hospitalized.
I really wonder how many other countries require you to officially import (expensively) your vehicle in these situations?

Thanks, motoman. I think I’m beginning to get it. My only remaining question is: How did the Costa Rica authorities actually catch him? Did he try to exit the country by road without declaring that he had a bike with him?

FWIW, the situation you’re describing is not unique to your friend, or to Costa Rica. In some Latin American countries you’d not ever get the bike back, so would be best advised to just write it off completely (which can mean not returning to the country in question). In others, a local fixer and some baksheesh can take care of any problem. In yet others, people have had successes (and failures) exiting by road without volunteering that they’re traveling by bike.

Yes thanks for the details. He did not make it as far as I first thought .
You have provided a reference worthy tale.

Understandably we all dislike bureaucratic messing around but in this case the rider has only himself to blame . If in the first place he had taken the trouble to follow the prescribed steps and paid the storage and bond fees he could have spent less money than he now has and he would have been clear for riding into Panama .
Instead he took a gamble with poor odds and trusted" a friend " to sell his bike
and he lost .
The same would probably happen if we tried that tactic in the USA or Australia or the EU .Trying to circumvent the rules is not likely to work for every case . Every country can make their own rules , Costa Rica is not the culprit. Ignoring the regulations is no excuse .