There are 12,000 Dominicans working as maids in Panama, and President Leonel Fernandez is heading efforts to legalize their status in that nation. Government estimates say that there are 35,000 Dominicans, all told, living in Panama. Yesterday, according to the El Caribe, the Dominican consul in Panama, Domingo Ramirez, told reporters at the National Palace in Santo Domingo that the Panamanian government would issue special visas for the women working as maids in the neighboring country. President Fernandez ordered the effort to locate and identify the women after an agreement between the two countries formalized the status of the women. Now, the Dominican consulate in Panama will be calling the women to legalize their status. One of the results of the new legal status is that the labor laws of Panama will be in effect for the domestic workers, and this will give them better wages and protection.