PERMANENT TOURISTS in Panama will soon be a thing of the past according to new immigration regulations.

Foreigners  living in Panama as tourists will no longer be  able to pop across the border to Costa Rica to get  their passports stamped with an exit visa but will have to leave the country for a month if they want to re-­enter Panamanian territory

The  move is in addition to other immigration restrictions announced by Migration Director Javier Carrillo The new measure applies to foreigners residing in the country as tourists. When they have reached five months living in the country, they must leave for at least one month if they want to re­enter, Carrillo  told AFP.

Panamanian law establishes that foreigners with a tourist visa have a limit of six months of continuous stay in the country. But once that deadline nears  completion, many crossed briefly to Costa Rica with so their passports showed the exit stamp from Panama They would then re­enter Panama, and be allowed to stay another six months.

"The difference now is that if they leave with six months they will not be allowed to enter

because people should be regularized, no one can be a tourist permanently," said Carrillo.

The  measure will not affect a tourist who is in Panama for a brief period of time and then re­enters.