Expat Community > Ecuador

OceanHideaway
Joined 2010
Posts: 6876

Updated Touurist Visa Information

14 years ago

Here is a cut & paste from the Ex_pat yahoo group with some infromation about Tourist Visa Information
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Latest Visa info update!
Posted by: "James Carroll" [email protected] jacarroll58
Wed Mar 3, 2010 5:41 am (PST)

A recent Ecuador visa update (scroll down to see this) looked at new enforcements in place for Ecuador tourist visas.
There are two important clarifications.
First… the tourist visa qualification does not restart at the beginning of each year.
Second, tourist visas provide 90 days stayed in Ecuador. The new Commercial Acts Visa provides 180 consecutive days (stayed or not) from the date it is issued.
Our immigration attorney Roberto Moreno wrote:
Dear Gary;
Regarding changes in tourist visas please be advised that in the last months we have noticed that is more common that the immigration authorities at the airports in Quito and Guayaquil are not just giving 90 days when you enter Ecuador again in the same year. They are more and more counting the days that you have already been in Ecuador and giving you what is left to complete the 90 days as a tourist.
At the same time now it is easier to get 180 days commercial acts visa while you are in the country when you see that you will need more than your stay as a tourist.
Therefore what we are starting to doing with our clients to be in the safe side is the following;
Let’s say they enter in Ecuador as a tourist in January and used 30 days, come back in July and use 30 days and finally in October if you see that you will need more than 30 days or will come back again in the same year we request a commercial acts visa with just the passport our recommendation letter and any bank statement that shows ability to purchase a ticket back. This will take 4 or 5 working days and the client will get 180 days to enter and leave Ecuador as they wish.
Roberto.
The new enforcement began last October. We have clarified how the enforcement works as some of our US staff travel regularly back and forth to Ecuador and are in Ecuador for more than 90 days a year.
Here is what we are doing for them.
The 90 days run for a year and does not restart in January. One staff member for example was in Ecuador last November and December 2009 for 20 days each, so when she entered Ecuador in February 2010, she was given only 50 days, allowing her to stay intoApril 2010.
She has left Ecuador March 1, and will return later in March at which time we expect her to be given about 35 days to remain.
Two weeks before her 35 day tourist visa expires, we will apply for a Commercial Acts Visa.
When granted, this visa will allow her to be in and out of Ecuador for the next 180 days. For example if this visa is granted April 15, she will be able to come in and go out of Ecuador until October 15, 2010.
Even if she is in Ecuador only one day during that time, the visa will still expire October 15, 2010. The Commercial Acts Visa provides a period of time.. NOT… a number of days… to be in Ecuador.

After that time, we’ll have to help her obtain a different type of visa… based on circumstances.
For more details contact immigration attorney Roberto Moreno.
Moreno di Donato Law Firm
Avenida M3 y Calle 24, Edificio Fortaleza oficina 3, Manta, Ecuador
Tel. +593 (5) 261-3764; Fax +593 (2) 261-3460
Diego de Almagro N34-12 y Avenida de los Shyris, Edificio Torrenova 6to piso, Quito, Ecuador
Tel. +593 (2) 256-8207; +593 (9) 970-8798 (mobile); Fax: +593 (2) 256-8208
E-mail: [email protected]
Gary
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Ecuador Visa Update

Ecuador tourist visa enforcement has changed.

Ecuador is a beautiful country that offers many benefits…such as excellent low cost housing. Here are delegates on one of our real estate tours looking at real estate in Imbabura.
Ecuador offers so many delights that one can be tempted to stay and stay… without remembering visa regulations.
Do not make that mistake because Ecuador visa enforcement has been increased.
In the past, visitors could stay for 90 days on a tourist visa and then expect to stay on 90 days more if they left Ecuador for one day.
The immigration authorities were very lax about this visa and the normal procedure if you wanted to stay longer was to give another 90 days. This meant you could use a tourist visa to stay in Ecuador up to 180 days a year.
Or you could do as Merri and I did for years… come in for five or six weeks… leave… come back for five or six weeks etc. Each time they gave 90 more days.
NO MORE!
A new type visa has been made easier to stay 180 days BUT the relaxation over the tourist visa has been withdrawn.
One reader discovered this in a very harsh way when leaving Ecuador after spending the Christmas holiday at their condo in Cuenca. This reader had been in and out of Ecuador three previous times in 2009 attending to renovations and furnishing the condo. No one stay was longer than 30 days. The between times on visits was a matter of months. On the fourth trip the total time for 2009 was 104 days. None of those stays was for more then 30 days.
At Quito airport the reader was prevented from leaving the country and was told by the Immigration official at the exit booth, that the maximum annual stay could be no more than 90 days.
The reader had to pay a fine of $200.
Even worse was told not to return to Ecuador for nine months and that to be allowed back would require a special visa from a Ecuadorian Consulate in the US.
Roberto Moreno, the immigration attorneys who we introduce to our readers explained:
Usually non Ecuadorians have been able to stay in Ecuador as a tourist for 90 days. After they used these first 90 days, they used to get 90 days more as a tourist if they requested an extension at an immigration office prior of expiry of the first 90 days.
Several months ago immigration changed its policy. Now instead of renewing a tourist visa for 90 days they grant a 180 day Commercial Acts Visa.
In a way this new procedure makes it more convenient (though more expensive) to stay for longer periods
If a non Ecuadorian wants to stay in Ecuador in any one year for more than 90 days with a tourist visa, they can still apply to the immigration authorities for an extension. If they leave Ecuador in their first stay of the year before reaching 90 days, BUT anticipate returning in that same year, and that return stay will take them beyond 90 days total in that year, before leaving, they should petition the immigration authorities either prior to leaving the first time, or before returning to Ecuador via a local consulate office near our overseas home (USA, Canada, England etc).
These changes in immigration policy are actually changes in strictness of enforcement of the procedures, not the procedures themselves.
The easiest approach though is for those wishing to stay more than 90 days a year in Ecuador to go to an Ecuador consul and apply for the Commercial Acts Visa, good 180 days travel in a calendar year. This allows a total of 180 days stay in Ecuador without any extension beyond the 90 day maximum under a tourist visa.
The fee for the Commercial Act Visa is $230 per person. Given the growing restrictions and/or increased enforcement on the tourist visa and extensions beyond 90 days, this is a good option for those who want to maximize their time in Ecuador but who do not with to apply for a full resident visa.
There are some other immigration points to observe.

First the immigration authorities can require you to prove that you have sufficient funds to support yourself while in Ecuador. I have never been asked this and rarely is this the case. However if you arrive in Ecuador without a return ticket… you mostly likely will be asked.
Second if you arrive by land… there can be problems as outlined in the note below by The Foreign & Commonwealth Office which says:

Since June 2008, all foreign nationals have been allowed to visit Ecuador without a visa. However, those with criminal records in Ecuador may still be denied entry. On arrival in the country, the immigration police will normally allow holders of British passports(presumably this applies to USA passports as well –sic Norm) to remain in Ecuador for up to 90 days. If you are planning on staying in Ecuador for more than three months, obtain a visa from an Ecuadorian Embassy before your arrival in the country. In certain circumstances, a 91-day extension for tourist visas can be applied for at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Please check their website for further details and requirements.
If you enter Ecuador via the border with Peru or Colombia you must insist on being given an entry stamp at the border showing the date of your arrival. There have been cases of buses not stopping at the border, which has caused difficulties for foreign visitors.
Overstaying without permission from the immigration authorities is an offense and will result in a US$200 fine and deportation. In order to avoid a fine you should ensure that you get an entry stamp in your passport on arrival in the country and that you leave before the 90 days is up. If for any reason you overstay, you will have to pay the fine at a bank and take the deposit slip to show to the immigration authorities at the airport. You need to be aware that once you have paid the fine you have 48 hours to leave the country. We recommend that you avoid overstaying because you will not be allowed back into Ecuador for six months and your name could remain on immigration records.
Third, if you overstay and do not realize it until you reach the airport… you may miss your flight. One reader reports that because they did not have time to visit a bank to pay the fine so they paid cash… but have found that without the deposit slip as a receipt, they have had problems getting their non visit restrictions lifted.
Roberto Moreno, an Ecuador immigration attorney sent this note:

Dear Gary; I hope everything is fine for you and your family.
Regarding changes in tourist visas, please be advised that in the last months we have notice that is more common that the immigration authorities at the airports in Quito and Guayaquil are not just giving 90 days when you enter Ecuador again in the same year.
They are more and more counting the days that you have already been in Ecuador and giving you what is left to complete the 90 days as a tourist.
At the same time now it is easier to get 180 days commercial acts visa while you are in the country when you see that you will need more than your stay as a tourist.
Therefore what we are starting to doing with our clients to be in the safe side is the following;
Let’s say they enter Ecuador as tourist in January and stay 30 days, come back in July and stay 30 days and finally return in October.
If we see that they need more than 30 days or will come back again in the same year we request a Commercial Acts Visa. All that is required is the client’s passport, our recommendation letter and any bank statement that shows ability to purchase a ticket out of Ecuador.
This takes four or five working days and the client gets to stay up to 180 days. They can leave and enter for that many days as they wish.
Please update your readers with this information. Regards Roberto
The contact details for ROBERTO MORENO are:
Moreno di Donato Law Firm
Avenida M3 y Calle 24, Edificio Fortaleza oficina 3, Manta, Ecuador
Tel. +593 (5) 261-3764; Fax +593 (2) 261-3460
Diego de Almagro N34-12 y Avenida de los Shyris, Edificio Torrenova 6to piso, Quito, Ecuador
Tel. +593 (2) 256-8207; +593 (9) 970-8798 (mobile); Fax: +593 (2) 256-8208
E-mail: [email protected]
You are now updated. Immigration procedures have changed so be sure to plan ahead and make sure you visas are in order if you plan to stay in Ecuador for more than 90 days.
Gary

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