In need of urgent help for student visa

Hi, Chris,

Yes, your Background checks need to be apostilled. That's usually done in the Country's ministry of Foreign affairs. Yes, you need that to be able to obtain the student visa. My advice would be for you guys to obtain a 90days extension visa so you have time to figure out how to get your docs apostilled.

Which visa do you currently hold?

Best,
J

I suggest that the German students in Cuenca go as a group to the university president's office and explain this predicament.  At that point, you may be referred to another campus office.

When you reach the correct university official, you can politely yet firmly solicit the university's assistance.  After all, the university invited you to study there .. and the correct thing is that they support you in obtaining the requisite visa.

Ideally, there is a university department or university attorney who deals with such matters frequently .. and has the connections and knowledge to assist you in the visa quest.

Possibly, this major university has a Cuenca law firm on retainer and can arrange a meeting for y'all with an attorney at the firm at no cost to you.

If someone at a university in Germany assisted in arranging your semester abroad, perhaps he or she can start sending emails to the Cuenca school supporting your quest.  It might be your role to provide Germany with the name, title and email address(es) that are relevant.

cccmedia

If I understand the timeline correctly, you are facing a registration deadline of late next week.

In that case, Cacahuate's advice to get an extension may be valid.

An extension of what, though?  The tourist permit?  The 30-day registration deadline?

You may need an attorney on the case to sort out the answer .. and then guide you to a successful outcome.

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This is the worst case of visa confusion based on the new immigration law that we have learned about on this forum.  There is bound to be someone in the Cuenca-area visa office who can relax the rules, expecially the registration deadline, to accommodate the fact that Ecuador has not gotten its visa act together.  If there is such an official, you or an attorney needs to find that out .. and make the relevant request.

cccmedia

Still more brainstorming.

If the law states that a visa must be registered within 30 days of arrival, that may not apply to you .. since you apparently have a tourist permit and not a visa.

Historically, a tourist permit is good for 90 days .. and can be renewed for another 90 or 180 days.

I realize you discussed this in your first post.

The solution to your problem may be as simple as:  forget about a student visa .. ride out your 90 day tourist stamp .. and, along the way, apply for an extension.

You stated that the tourist permit extension is more expensive than a student visa.  However, it may be worth it to get around apostille requirements, a registration deadline and/or a trip to Quito .. not to mention peace of mind.

cccmedia

Hey guys,

thanks for your quick and profound advice, much appreciated!
We're currently holding the regular 90 day tourist stamp and plan b would be to get said extension. We're trying to get the student visa instead though, because it's $300 cheaper. So yes, the extension is a possibility but we're poor students, so we're trying to spend our money travelling instead haha. But the advice to seek guidance at the university might actually be very helpful, we're going to try that!
And again, thank you guys very much!!

Hi,

The 90 days visa extension only costs 150$, it is the same cost as the student, I thought about that one because you will need to buy enough time to have all your background checks apostilled in Germany.

Good luck!