2015 - anybody in the Ecuador visa pipelines?

I'm just beginning the process and have been gathering information. So far I have printed the application but have not submitted anything. My plan is to move to Cuenca in November. I'll keep you posted as I progress through the system.

Yea! Thanks Dorothy. Believe me, I'll be watching and waiting. Thanks!

Also please keep us updated on whether or not you used an Ecuador attorney, how many apostilled police reports were required, how long it took to acquire those police reports w/apostilles, which Ecuador city visa ministry you worked with; the whole kit and kaboodle. Details, details, details.

In the two years since we went on our fact finding mission to Ecuador, I can't even think how many rules have changed - document requirements, time frames, apostilles for this and not that, the closing of some Ecuador consulates and embassies. The whole landscape has shifted quite a bit in just two years time.

You're a peach.

gardener1 wrote:

I can count on the fingers of both hands the number of Ecuador visa applicants who post here and have gone through the permanent residency visa process in the last two years. So for all the hoopla Ecuador gets as a great place to emigrate to, either:

It has become a less great place
Or
fewer people are applying
Or
Fewer applicants are posting here

I don't know which.

Good question!  Maybe people are doing their own research more - nah.  But, I think what attracts expats and potential expats to Ecuador remains solidly in place - at least for me it does.  And, I think what motivates potential expats to leave their home country has not changed.  If anything, their motivation is even greater.

What interests me (and probably few others) is how the strong USD will affect the flow of expats as Ecuador becomes far more expensive (relatively speaking) than it was just a year ago for the prospective non-USD emigrates.  The EUR has fallen (and is headed down further every day) over 25% in the past year relative to the USD and the GBP and CAD too have fallen against the USD around 15%.  This puts a bit more strain on the economic refugees.

Of course, our Canadian and European friends owning property in Ecuador will be in for a pleasant surprise if and when they sell their Ecuador property and move back home to their home country.  Aside from the appreciation in the value of their property, they will be able to buy far more EURs, CADs and GBPs than in recent times! (Not that anyone ever wants to leave Ecuador!)

gardener1 wrote:

I can count on the fingers of both hands the number of Ecuador visa applicants who post here and have gone through the permanent residency visa process in the last two years. So for all the hoopla Ecuador gets as a great place to emigrate to, either:

It has become a less great place
Or
fewer people are applying
Or
Fewer applicants are posting here

I don't know which.

Anybody in the process right now? Starting on the document journey? Have any current tips as to how the visa system is functioning in 2015? Changes, speed bumps, new bureaucracy demands, referrals or insights for the current visa process? Anyone?

All experience and input greatly appreciated. Current information seems to be lacking, it's been mighty quiet of new migrants around here.

Thanks for reading, and I await all the enthusiastic responses to pour in with success stories.

Local expert cccmedia would probably tell you more folks from Ven. are coming, have you checked the Spanish language blog?

gardener1 wrote:

In the two years since we went on our fact finding mission to Ecuador, I can't even think how many rules have changed - document requirements, time frames, apostilles for this and not that, the closing of some Ecuador consulates and embassies. The whole landscape has shifted quite a bit in just two years time.

What's your time frame on seeking residency gardener? Assuming you're still thinking of going that route? If it's still a year or two down the road, isn't there a good chance that all the rules, and requirements will have changed again?

I'm going to be reapplying for my visa. Mine is no longer valid because I spent more than 90 days outside Ecuador in the first 2 years of having my visa.

The first time through the visa process the thing that stood out the most was how every rule could be bent or broken and all sorts of unofficial rules created out of thin air. In the end, I managed to skip about half the "requirements."

j600rr wrote:

gardener1 wrote:

In the two years since we went on our fact finding mission to Ecuador, I can't even think how many rules have changed - document requirements, time frames, apostilles for this and not that, the closing of some Ecuador consulates and embassies. The whole landscape has shifted quite a bit in just two years time.

What's your time frame on seeking residency gardener? Assuming you're still thinking of going that route? If it's still a year or two down the road, isn't there a good chance that all the rules, and requirements will have changed again?

Good point. I went through the process last year, and in the meantime apparently one major change has taken place -- I've read recently that now reports are required from both local police and FBI (for USians), while I had to submit only a report from my state police.

Who knows what the future holds? Plus, as Jesse notes, rules are open to a considerable degree of bureaucratic interpretation (though that's nothing new).

mugtech wrote:

more folks from Ven. are coming, have you checked the Spanish language blog?

By monitoring the national flags that accompany new-member introductions, it's clear that today -- and almost every day -- there's an inflow of new Ven. members to Expat.com Ecuador/Engish version.  Most of these folks are ESL and do not post on the English-language blog.  But you can bet they're monitoring, as they want out of Ven.

I still get many notifications of Venezuelan new-members posting on the Spanish-language version of the Ecuador blog, where I had been answering posts until an excellent Spain-based Ecuador expert started putting up some long posts explaining in español about visa procedures and such.

cccmedia in Quito

I was hoping to be outta here by the end of the year.....but that's not looking so realistic right now. Money. The debt level needs to be at zero so that we can leave, and it's not there.

I just want to have every single document to perfection before we go because we can't afford to travel back and forth to America collecting apostilled papers we forgot, or that we didn't know about.  Plus once we make the break we won't have any place to stay in the US. We have no wiggle room for errors.

Yes, I've looked at the Spanish forum, but my Spanish is limited to poorly conversational "Donde esta la biblioteca" and cafe menus. I don't read Spanish well enough to browse the Spanish forum. Are the Venezuelans being held to the same document standards? I would imagine most of them would be working age, not pensioners. Are they successfully getting through the process? Any hot tips in Espanol?

gardener1 wrote:

Are the Venezuelans being held to the same document standards? I would imagine most of them would be working age, not pensioners. Are they successfully getting through the process?

Thousands of Ecuadorians who have been living in Venezuela have been able to return home to EC.  In a two year period (2012-early 2014), according to Ven. records, the number of Ecuadorians living in Venezuela dropped from 90,000 to 80,000.

Alfonso Quevedo is among the recent Ecuadorian returnees.  He lived in Venezuela for more than 15 years.  He and his wife have been unable to find jobs here in Quito so they bought a car and turned it into what they call an executive taxi -- often a euphemism for "gypsy cab."  But making a profit of $25 in a 14-hour day is a tough way to make ends meet.

source: latinamericacurrentevents.com

gardener1 wrote:

my Spanish is limited to poorly conversational "Donde esta la biblioteca" and cafe menus. I don't read Spanish well enough to browse the Spanish forum....Any hot tips in Espanol?

Sure.  Start doing something about your español.

Try a variety of things until you find one or more methods you prefer:

-- Get a Spanish-language dictionary and use it to help navigate the Spanish forum.

-- Watch a movie on DVD with English subtitles.  Pause it when you want to look up a phrase or a word, and check the meaning at wordreference.com

-- Read the posts on the Expat-blog thread "español for Gringos."

-- Pick up a Spanish newspaper and see how much you can understand using your dictionary or wordreference.com

-- Buy some tapes or download some material off the Internet for Spanish practice.

-- Find a study partner and use a learning-Spanish book for your practice.

Mejorará su conocimiento del idioma en poco tiempo.

cccmedia in Quito

I don't want to stray too far off the visa topic here as it is priority #1 for me -

But the last time I had to learn a foreign language I found the only thing that finally increased my fluency beyond billboards and food labels,  was being immersed in the language all day every day in the foreign country. For years. The classroom study was helpful (which I did for over a year) but formal language teaching is often divorced from the real reality of conversation, how people actually use the language in real everyday life.

It's funny, I learned most of of that foreign speech just by exposure, not from lessons. My daughter came to stay for long periods of time and she had studied the foreign language at the college level for quite some time. Her grammar and construction were pretty good (mine was crap) - but no one could understand a thing she said. I had to translate for her whenever she spoke to someone. After all that classroom studying once she got boots on the ground in the foreign country she discovered she had no grasp of common usage.  And her accent was godawful.

So I'm not terribly excited to 'study' Spanish now, although I know it would be helpful. I'm just going to wait till I dive in head first to the Espanol milieu and live it.

gardener1, don't be surprised if my FBI check comes back more quickly than normal. I've had two done in the past year. One was for work and the second for "known traveller" status to enable me to go through security at airports faster. The second came back in three days. I'm going to try to do the visa process without an attorney. I'm fortunate that there is an Ecuadoran Consulate here in the Twin Cities, MN. Wish me luck!!

DorothyPeck wrote:

gardener1, don't be surprised if my FBI check comes back more quickly than normal. I've had two done in the past year. One was for work and the second for "known traveller" status to enable me to go through security at airports faster. The second came back in three days. I'm going to try to do the visa process without an attorney. I'm fortunate that there is an Ecuadoran Consulate here in the Twin Cities, MN. Wish me luck!!

Remember: apostille!

The apostilling is done after the document is issued. Once the report is duly issued the 180 day validity clock starts ticking. That means the apostille process is eating into your 180 days. I'm dying to know how long the apostilling takes. This is one of my biggest concerns.

Thanks again.

DorothyPeck wrote:

"known traveller" status to enable me to go through security at airports faster. The second came back in three days....I'm fortunate that there is an Ecuadoran Consulate here in the Twin Cities.

Now that you're on the fast track, Dorothy, see if you can move your timetable ahead one month.  You could get out of town in October and possibly avoid an early-season Gopher State snowstorm.

cccmedia in Quito, former resident of Eden Prairie, MN

cccmedia wrote "Now that you're on the fast track, Dorothy, see if you can move your timetable ahead one month.  You could get out of town in October and possibly avoid an early-season Gopher State snowstorm. "

Much will depend on the timing of my certification course for teaching English. That and I have a lot of crap to get rid of! 

When the time comes, make it easy on yourself and sell your car to CarMax, the nation's number-one car retailer.

In Cincinnati in 2013, they gave me a fair price and accepted my vehicle at my convenience.

No hassle, almost no waiting time.

cccmedia in Quito

I did my own 9-1 Visa several months ago in Cuenca, Ecuador and documented the whole process, step by step... paulallanacee.wordpress.com/

Contact Maite Duran on FaceBook

gardener1 wrote:

I just want to have every single document to perfection before we go because we can't afford to travel back and forth to America collecting apostilled papers we forgot, or that we didn't know about.  Plus once we make the break we won't have any place to stay in the US. We have no wiggle room for errors.

What about attaining your visa while in the US?  That way you can easily get anything you are missing, you aren't on any kind of in-country visa clock, and it all happens in English.

MikeGB wrote:

gardener1 wrote:

I just want to have every single document to perfection before we go because we can't afford to travel back and forth to America collecting apostilled papers we forgot, or that we didn't know about.  Plus once we make the break we won't have any place to stay in the US. We have no wiggle room for errors.

What about attaining your visa while in the US?  That way you can easily get anything you are missing, you aren't on any kind of in-country visa clock, and it all happens in English.

As far as I know it is all but impossible to acquire a permanent residency visa outside of Ecuador.

And even if I thought it could be accomplished it would be necessary to be present at the Ecuador embassy/consulate to which the visa application is submitted. Their nearest location to me is approximately 2,000 miles away.  Not a huge improvement over doing it in Ecuador.

MikeGB wrote:

What about attaining your visa while in the US?  That way you can easily get anything you are missing, you aren't on any kind of in-country visa clock, and it all happens in English.

'Cat's right about the residency visa.  Do it only in Ecuador.

Non-immigrant visas, however, may be processed at the Ecuadorian Embassy in Washington or via EC's consular services in the United States.

These include visas for students, volunteers, diplomats, tourists (90 days) and several other visa classes.

The English-language website for non-immigrant-visa information is:

     www.ecuador.org/neuvosite/Req_Visas_NoInmigrante_e.php

If that link is unavailable from your computer, use this one:

     www.ecuador.org/nuevosite/servicioscons … isas_e.php

cccmedia wrote:

MikeGB wrote:

What about attaining your visa while in the US?  That way you can easily get anything you are missing, you aren't on any kind of in-country visa clock, and it all happens in English.

'Cat's right about the residency visa.  Do it only in Ecuador.

The reason I suggested doing it that way is that "gardener1" mentioned that he could not afford making the mistake of getting here and not having all the correct documents and in the form that is required.

Several people have done this in Canada and they found it fairly easy to do. Maybe it is more difficult in the US.

MikeGB wrote:

The reason I suggested doing it that way is that "gardener1" mentioned that she* could not afford making the mistake of getting here and not having all the correct documents and in the form that is required.

Several people have done this in Canada and they found it fairly easy to do. Maybe it is more difficult in the U.S.

For U.S. citizens, the following is the straight scoop as of this moment as posted on the website of the Ecuadorian Embassy in Washington, D.C.  It applies to immigrant aka permanent-residency visas only.

"Immigrant visas may be approved in Ecuador only.  This means that an Ecuadorian consulate cannot accept visa applications."

cccmedia in Quito

*correcting for gardener1 aka Top Cat's gender.

cccmedia wrote:

MikeGB wrote:

The reason I suggested doing it that way is that "gardener1" mentioned that she* could not afford making the mistake of getting here and not having all the correct documents and in the form that is required.

Several people have done this in Canada and they found it fairly easy to do. Maybe it is more difficult in the U.S.

For U.S. citizens, the following is the straight scoop as of this moment as posted on the website of the Ecuadorian Embassy in Washington, D.C.  It applies to immigrant aka permanent-residency visas only.

"Immigrant visas may be approved in Ecuador only.  This means that an Ecuadorian consulate cannot accept visa applications."

cccmedia in Quito

There is, however, one other option to acquiring a visa while still in the US. You hire a facilitator and grant them limited power of attorney to act on your behalf in Ecuador. You then send them all your documents and they take care of acquiring the visa for you. Several people I have read about have done it this way. There is some risk in doing this because some facilitators can turn out to be shysters. So, it is important to get "good" references if pursuing this route.

MikeGB wrote:

What about attaining your visa while in the US?  That way you can easily get anything you are missing, you aren't on any kind of in-country visa clock, and it all happens in English.

The following could be the news that Top Cat -- among others -- has been hoping for!

There is a company based in Cuenca -- with offices in Quito and in the United States -- that is offering a service for departing U.S. citizens to  obtain Ecuadorian residency-visas before traveling to Ecuador.

Gringo Visas evidently takes the application from you in the U.S. and processes it in Ecuador, niftily avoiding the prohibition against applying for the visa at a consulate in the U.S.  You do pick up the visa at your nearest consulate, according to the company.

"Upon entering Ecuador," says the company's website at gringovisas.com, "you will be accompanied to the Immigration Office for visa registration and cédula (federal ID) processing."

Gringo Visas claims that by having offices in both countries, it is uniquely able to provide this service.

cccmedia in Quito

And the price is?

Is that the place  in Dallas?  (going through 385,000 bookmarked websites....burns up Apple computer....)

Forgot the location in the US (Big D?), yes it's been mentioned before and I have it riggghht here-

http://www.gringovisas.com/

No hint of prices. If you google this visa expediter there are some fairly staged youtube videos testifying to their competence and not much else to be found, most of it from some years ago.

Methinks that Ecuador bureaucrats don't love gringos now as much as they thought they did. The internet has gone rather quiet on retiring in Ecuador. Document requirements and costs have risen, US banking and financial laws have become ever more restrictive and oversightful.

Anybody who got out and made the move a couple of years ago did well to seize the day.

I contacted Gringo Visas in February. I filled out a form with my basic information and received a reply a week later. They gave detailed instructions and state that they require a 50% deposit ($750). I have included a portion of the response below:

"Based on the information you provided, and subject to final review of your original documents, you qualify for a PENSION VISA (9:I). Our all-inclusive service fee for obtaining this Visa is $1,440.

Gringo Visas has streamlined the Visa process to make it fast, easy, and affordable. We recommend obtaining your Visa while you're still in the United States. Our office in Danbury, CT, can notarize and apostille all your documents, and send them to our office in Ecuador for translation and further notarization, before your application can be presented to the Ecuadorian Immigration authorities.

Once your application is approved, we can notify you by email that your Visa is ready to be picked up at your nearest Ecuadorian Embassy or Consulate. When you arrive in Ecuador with your Visa, we can assist you with the registration process."

The $1,440 fee does not include the cost of the Visa itself which is $350.
I've heard rave reviews as well as horror stories about GV. I would definitely do some hard core research before putting out that kind of money.
My husband and I were able to do it ourselves. Not everyone's circumstances allows for this.
Good luck

Sounds overpriced to me. I had a very good Quito lawyer who made everything smooth as silk, for about half that.

DorothyPeck wrote:

I contacted Gringo Visas in February. I filled out a form with my basic information and received a reply a week later. They gave detailed instructions and state that they require a 50% deposit ($750).

That is a very high cost. I suggest you contact my friend here in Cuenca. He performs this process for much less and is reliable.  His website is:  http://www.ecuadorvisaservices.com/. Despite what it says on his website about being here in Cuenca to acquire the Visa, he has told me has acquired Visas for people at arm's length. So fill in the contact form and ask him if he is still doing this for people when they are not in Ecuador yet.

dfcordero wrote:

The $1,440 fee does not include the cost of the Visa itself which is $350.
I've heard rave reviews as well as horror stories about GV. I would definitely do some hard core research before putting out that kind of money.
My husband and I were able to do it ourselves. Not everyone's circumstances allows for this.
Good luck

You can't do it yourself if you are not here in the country. We have been talking about having a facilitator do this for the person(s) so they can still be in the US when the application is filed.

gardener1 wrote:

I can count on the fingers of both hands the number of Ecuador visa applicants who post here and have gone through the permanent residency visa process in the last two years. So for all the hoopla Ecuador gets as a great place to emigrate to, either:

It has become a less great place
Or
fewer people are applying
Or
Fewer applicants are posting here

I don't know which.

Anybody in the process right now? Starting on the document journey? Have any current tips as to how the visa system is functioning in 2015? Changes, speed bumps, new bureaucracy demands, referrals or insights for the current visa process? Anyone?

All experience and input greatly appreciated. Current information seems to be lacking, it's been mighty quiet of new migrants around here.

Thanks for reading, and I await all the enthusiastic responses to pour in with success stories.

I was replying to this original post asking for tips....my bad.

$1500 the last price I seen. With plenty of other services for sale.

*bump*

Now at the end of July 2015, we have not had one single poster on this website post with a new permanent residency visa victory yet this year. None. Not one.

So I'm goosing this thread to see if any new visa holders may have missed it and want to share stories and insights.

gardener1 wrote:

*bump*

Now at the end of July 2015, we have not had one single poster on this website post with a new permanent residency visa victory yet this year. None. Not one.

So I'm goosing this thread to see if any new visa holders may have missed it and want to share stories and insights.

Also a while ago someone said the minimum income for pensioners is increasing and the investment amount for said visa is going above $25,000, have heard nothing about it.  I get the idea that for many once they have obtained Perm Res visa they have no use for this forum, are ready to go off the grid, blend in with the locals etc.etc.

I obtained my residency in Jan 2015……a problem I had was with the new FBI requirement…….what finally worked for me was to have my local/state police report to mention the databases searched which included the FBI……..once I submitted this, my application was accepted.
Even after obtaining the residency visa, following the forum is worthwhile to keep up on things…….even having obtained a visa, we all know or speak with others who are interested and we should have up to date info.

One question I would add to the discussion is how many have obtained naturalization or intend to do so……
The time out of country requirement is 90 days or less for 3 years (NOT 90/yr).