Expat Community > Ecuador

craigandsteph
Joined 2014
Posts: 5

Residency questions

9 years ago

Hi folks,

We are new to the forum. We are from the US and are considering retiring early and moving to the countryside outside of Cotacachi to be near our compadres. We have a few questions that we are hoping some of you could answer. We are both working full time now, and wouldn't want to give our notice at work until we know that our residency visa is approved.

1) We would be applying for an Investor's visa, since we are not yet "pensioners". We understand this means that we would need to deposit $25k into an Ecuadorian bank. For a married couple, is this $25k + $500 for a dependent, or would we each need to deposit $25k?

2) If our residency visa is granted, how quickly do we need to relocate once it is approved?

3) We understand that you can’t be absent from the country for more than 90 days per year during the first two years of your residency. When does the clock start ticking for that? Is it once the visa is approved, or once you enter Ecuador after your visa has been approved (e.g. if it takes us 3 months to get things settled and move down there, can we not return to the US for an entire year?)

4) I read somewhere that you need to submit a health evaluation. My husband has relapse/remitting MS. Would this be a barrier to us being granted residency?

5) I also read that residents are eligible for national health care coverage for $70/month with no preexisting condition restrictions. Is this true? Do any of you have experience with this?

Apologies if these answers are easily available elsewhere on the site. As I said, we are newbies here. feel free to point us in the right direction.

Thanks,
Steph and Craig

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Expat Community > Ecuador

Residency questions

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