Visa and Residency
Paperwork
NOTE: When you fly to Ecuador to visit us, you do NOT need any
paperwork or a special visa for your US Passport. You will be granted a 90-day visa upon your
arrival. Easy, peasy. This conversation is only for those wanting
information on how we plan to get our permanent visas to live in Ecuador.
I won’t get into all of the various types of entry visas
Ecuador offers to foreigners. Suffice it
to say, they make it very easy to move to Ecuador – especially when you compare
it to other countries.
When we arrive in Ecuador, we will have the standard 90-day
visas I mentioned above. We will
immediately apply for a longer TEMPORARY 6-month visa to give us time to apply
for a PERMANENT visa.
Confused yet? Try to
understand all of this in Spanish!!
Regardless of the visa one obtains, much of the same
paperwork is needed - birth certificates, marriage certificates, arrest records, fingerprints, bank
account statements, etc. Some of that
paperwork is needed while still in the US, some is needed after we arrive in
Ecuador. It can be confusing and
intimidating. It is certainly possible
that one may obtain their visas entirely on their own. Many, like us, hire a facilitator to do the
legwork for you. We still have to gather
the paperwork; however, the facilitator makes sure it is correct, translated
into Spanish, and is current with the ever-changing Ecuadorian
laws/rules/requirements.
There are two main types of permanent visas ex-pats get (very simplified explanations):
Pensioner Visa. If you can prove an $800/month pension
(either Social Security or private) Ecuador will grant you a visa. They want to make sure you are able to
support yourself while in country. I’m
sure the $800 is set to increase at some point.
Personally, I would not want to have to live on $800/month – even though
it is over 2 times the Ecuadorian minimum wage.
Investor’s Visa. If you deposit $25,000 in an Ecuadorian bank,
Ecuador will grant you a visa. Again,
they want to make sure you have funds at your disposal. That money cannot be accessed for quite some
time. (It does pay interest, though) This is probably the easiest visa to get.
We are getting a permanent “Professional Visa.” Ecuador
has a master list of pre-approved universities around the world. If you have a degree from one of those
universities, Ecuador will give you a visa.
There are some other requirements such as proving you have thousands in
a bank account (a US bank is fine) but that is the deal in a nutshell.
Why don’t many ex-pats go this route, you ask? Well, most qualify for a Pensioner Visa
because they are retired and drawing Social Security. Also, it appears the Professional Visa was
sort of a seldom talked about secret. It
takes longer than an Investor’s Visa; however, you don’t have $25,000 tied up
in a foreign (ie: risky) bank. I'm too much of a Capricorn accountant to be comfortable with that!
Tom’s University of North Carolina was on the list. My school, Ball State University, was not on
the pre-approved list. That means an
extra step (ie: slight delay) as they add BSU to the list. Now that BSU is being added, subsequent
alumni seeking a Professional Visa won’t have this delay. You’re welcome!
Oddly enough, with a Professional Visa you are NOT required
to have a job in Ecuador. They just like
the POSSIBILITY that you may work there.
Ecuador obviously values education – it is evident from grade school
through the 4 universities in Cuenca alone.
Yes, you read that correctly: 4
universities.
Will we work in Ecuador?
Who knows. I will be working as
an independent contractor for my current company. That will keep me busy during tax
season. We both may volunteer for
something in Cuenca, but for now, our plan is to not work locally.
RESIDENCY
As soon as we get our permanent professional visas, we will
then apply to become residents (not
citizens) of Ecuador. Of course,
this is a separate piece of paper (and entirely different process) The “cedula” (sed-u-la) will give us almost
all of the rights and responsibilities as a citizen. Think of it as sort of a national ID card – a
lot of information is tied to your cedula number. The facilitator we hired to do our visas
will also help us with the cedula.
We are retaining our US citizenship. Will we become Ecuadorians? Who knows.
At this point, I don’t see much benefit – other than getting to meet el
Presidente, and being able to carry a cool Ecuadorian passport. When the hijackers round up the passports,
I’ll be handing over my Ecuadorian one…….but somehow I
suspect they will still
know I’m from Indiana!
NOTE: During the first couple of years after being
granted your visa, Ecuador limits the number of days you may spend out of
Ecuador. They don’t want you to get your
visa, then hardly ever return to Ecuador.
They granted you a visa to live in Ecuador and contribute to its society
and economy! Remember: they WELCOME and WANT you here!
