Want to know how to live in Ecuador on a tourist visa or with residency?
This article will provide you with the basics of how to achieve that.
By first talking about living in Ecuador on a tourist visa…
Then moving onto the nuances of that…
Such as the possibility of doing a visa run….
And also the consequences of overstaying your visa…
Before ending it on the topic of the temporary and permanent residency programs that exist.
For those who wish to live in this country longer than what a tourist visa allows…
And do to so legally and with more security.
So let’s get to it!
Tourist Visa in Ecuador
Once you enter Ecuador, you can be in the country for 90 days at first.
However, you can extend it in Ecuador for another 90 days if you want.
For a total of 180 days allowed in a 365 day period.
From my understanding, it is not based on a calendar year but just in any 365 day period.
So if you arrive in July, you cannot stay for a total of 180 days and then renew it by leaving on December 31st and coming back January 1st.
Instead, if you spend the 180 days total until December, you would have to leave and come back in July of next year more or less.
Overstay the Visa?
From my understanding from reading the available information online…
It seems that you will not be fined if you overstay your visa in Ecuador…
However, you will likely be banned from reentering Ecuador for 9 to 12 months after you leave the country.
Visa Run?
Because of the fact that you can only stay, at most, 180 days in any 365 day period…
You cannot do a visa run technically by running to a nearby country and coming back.
You will have to stay out of the country for a length of time and come back when the 365 days ends.
Temporary Residency in Ecuador
In order to apply for temporary residency in Ecuador, you need to fall under one of the following groups from my understanding:
- Professional Visa: Where you can prove at least 400 USD a month in income, have a undergraduate or graduate degree from a approved university and the necessary documents to prove your education.
- Investor Visa: Invest 40,000 USD and 500 USD for each dependent in Ecuador.
- Pensioners Visa: Prove at least 400 USD per month and no dependent from some type of income that will last the rest of your life, such as social security for example.
- Rentista Visa: Prove at least 400 USD per month in income. The difference here is that you don’t have to prove it is for life but show the last 12 month’s worth of bank statements with that amount of money being deposited over the last 12 months
- Dependent Visa: This is for those who are either a spouse or a dependent child of someone looking to or lives in Ecuador.
- Work Visa: You have a contract showing that you have approved work in Ecuador.
- Student Visa: You will be studying at a university in Ecuador.
Permanent Residency in Ecuador
To get permanent residency in Ecuador is to want to live in the country permanently.
In order to get permanent residency in Ecuador, you need to have one of the following:
- Have lived in Ecuador for at least 21 months on a temporary residency visa.
- Be someone who is dependent on someone with Ecuadorian citizenship or permanent residency in Ecuador.
- Be related to someone with Ecuadorian citizenship or who has permanent residency in Ecuador.
- Married or have recognized civil union with someone who has Ecuadorian citizenship.
And that is all the basic info you need!
If you have any questions or comments, drop them below.
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Thanks.
Best regards,
Matt