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You can start your research by visiting the
US State Department’s Country Specific Information page. There, you can learn how long you can stay in your retirement destination without a visa. For example, consider Panama, which was ranked by InternationalLiving.com as the #1 top international retirement destination for 2016. Panama allows US citizens to stay for up to 180 days without a visa. This means that if you’re just looking to escape the cold winters in the northern US, you can stay in Panama for up to six months every year without any documentation other than your valid US passport.
After you’ve found out how long you can stay in the country without a visa – or if you need a visa just to enter, as you do for countries like Brazil – your next stop should be the website of that country’s embassy to the United States. There, you can learn more about the procedures to obtain the visa you will need. You can also contact a visa expediting service for assistance.