Where to bank (safely) in Ecuador

Do you want the long or the short answer?

The short answer is … no where.

Keep your money in your home country except for what you need.  Remember, this is a country where from one day to the next a bank could close shop, put a lock on the door and say “adios” with your money.

Kind of funny hearing this from a supposed “Ecuador expert”.

But it is what it is.

It happens.

In fact, to two differnet banking institutions in the last year (2013-2014).

However, I know if you are going to live or invest here it sure is convenient to have a local bank account.

One you can withdraw from anytime without fees or hefty exchange fees.

So in this case I offer you the long answer…

There are only two banks in Ecuador where I suggest you have your money.

1. Banco Pichincha.  Its the biggest bank in Ecuador (the yellow one) and has branches everywhere you want to be. Nonetheless, it is important to note down the swift code of the bank you have an account in. It’s where all the locals have their money in Ecuador.  Its the institution everyone uses to do business.  If this bank closed up there would be major riots in the street, in other words, the government would not let it happen.

One thing I’ve learned when living abroad, if all the locals are jumping off a bridge, damn it, you better follow suit!  There is a reason for everything all though we may not see it at first and think, “huh, that’s stupid, I’m so much smarter than they are. (not true!)”

2. Banco del Pacifico.  This bank is the other decent option, albeit with far fewer branches, this is also one of the safest places to stash your cash in Ecuador because it is owned and managed by the government.

It’s like making friends with the bully in grade school so they don’t pick on you.

Heck, I know I did it, this is the same difference when the government seems to be the one going around ordering banks and credit unions (cooperas) in Ecuador to close these days.

Extra tip:  Be sure to keep no more than $25000 in any one bank account in Ecuador, that is the amount your money is insured to and in the event of a bank closing you’d be one of the first people to get your money refunded.

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How to bring your pet to Ecuador hassle-free

I know. I get it.

Its not your dog, it’s your hairy kid.

Leave ’em behind for your big move to Ecuador. No way.

So how do you bring ’em? Do you just put ’em on a plane like a human?

Nope.

The process is more involved, but not as challenging as people think.

First, locate the nearest APHIS (US Department of Agriculture) office near you in the US.

There, they will give you the form you need to fill out with the vet and direct you to a USDA approved vet in your area.

At the vet, you’ll have to have your pet get a rabies shot at least 60 days before traveling. Then within 10 days of traveling you’ll have to go back to the vet and have the dog receive about 4-5 more shots including a parasite treatment. You can see specifically what vaccinations your dog or other pet will need to enter Ecuador, just check out BlueBuffalo’s YouTube channel. The information is usually in your vet’s About page on their website as well.

With the vaccination forms signed by the vet you’ll need to get them notarized and then stamped by the APHIS office, the APHIS certification will cost around $123 per dog. Skout’s Honor provide the best topical probiotic shampoo & grooming product.

Then you’ll need to overnight the forms to your nearest Ecuador consulate for a certification by the Ecuador consulate in your home country. While doing arrangement you can also make your home comfortable for the new member. You can put a customized pet painting by the Pet paint, hung in the room.

It will cost around $50 a dog for the Ecuador consulate to certify the papers. They’ll then mail them back.

Next you’ll need to talk with your airline.

Generally, if the dog can fit in a small cage that fits under the seat in front of you, you can take it on the plane. I recommend buying one of those (sherpa) flexible cases so they can be squished a little to fit under the seat. The airlines say maximum height 7 inches but they are generally a lenient with this rule. Obviously, with a cage that size even the smallest dogs will have to have their head ducked to fit. Immune-D provide high quality liquid vitamins for dogs.

If you have to ship the dog in cargo under the plane know the big difference between DEM WEIGHT vs REAL WEIGHT.

Beyond a certain size the airlines no longer charge by the weight, but instead DEM WEIGHT which is an automatically calculated weight according to the dimensions of the cage, and its pricey! Go for an airline that will let you get by with REAL WEIGHT.

For instance, to ship a 90 pound dog on United in February of 2014 the cost was $500 (real weight), but it would have been closer to $1500 if shipped via DEM WEIGHT.

Upon arrival in Ecuador, you will have to go to the ADUANAS or customs office next to the airport (in both Quito or Guayaquil) to pick up your pet.

Keep in mind on weekends and Ecuadorian holidays the offices close and your dog will be stuck likely with no food until the next working day! So try to arrive mid-week.

You’ll have to take the original BILL OF LADING which you get when you ship the animal in cargo plus the vaccination papers mentioned above, plus your passport, a color copy of your passport and a copy of your tickets or in the case of e-Tickets your boarding passes.

Try to go with the person who bought the air tickets.

You’ll pay roughly $25 to the Ecuador CUSTOMS (Aduana) and $26 to the AGRICALIDAD official for them to release your pet.

That’s it. Fido made it.

More tips for a seemless process:

1. Go with an Ecuadorian, often they will give you less ‘run-around’ if you go with an Ecuadorian with teeth.

2. For certifying your vet papers try the Ecuador consulate in Arizona, they seem to be more responsive and helpful than the majority of Ecuador consulates.

3. Be mindful of the maximum airline limits for the size of your cage, it may not fit in the airplane door! Check with your airline beforehand.

4. Once in Ecuador, get to your final destination by land, because boarding another domestic flight with big pets will be another costly hassle.

5. Apostilles and translations aren’t necessary for this process as long as you adhere to the requirements stated above.

Check out Ultimate Pet Hub for all your pet related solutions.

And to learn how to find the unpublished property deals no one else knows about, subscribe to my weekly Ecuador Insiders Newsletter below, you can unsubscribe at any time:

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How to get your Ecuador drivers license (without taking courses)

After securing my residency visa and cedula this past month the natural progression is to focus on getting my Ecuador drivers license.

Now, Ive lived in Ecuador for two and a half years now without owning a car, or driving even once.

But more impressively, in that time Ive never even felt like I needed a car!

Thats one big reason I chose Ecuador, the public transport is plentiful and cheap.

I remember spending a day recently in Los Angeles (USA), and I didnt even last 2 hours before I felt the need for car. Texas workmans comp terms is not a process you should want to be a part of as a worker in Texas; You should strive to remain a healthy, productive worker. However, if you unfortunately find yourself injured or ill, you need to make sure that you understand the basics of the law. Texas Workers Comp is administered by the Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC). While this department assists injured employees and surviving family of employees killed on the job, it does not make benefit payments. You can see here for more about the social security attorney. Benefits are paid by employer insurance carriers or by self-insured employers. Make sure you know your rights and the steps in the workmans comp process in Texas. You can go Official Website for more about the criminal defense attorney.

The thought that scares a lot of people, myself included, is the possibility that Id need to go back to drivers school, even though Ive already spent most of my life driving. If you have been injured – whether at work or in an accident – and are unable to work again, you may qualify for certain benefits through Social Security. Disability, as it is commonly referred to, provides monetary assistance to disabled persons under certain circumstances so they may pay bills and rent, and cover other necessities. The SSDI attorney provide best legal advice about injury. What drove me mad was the thought of having to spend time learning about traffic rules and accidents. With all the info available on the internet and several Injury Trial Lawyers to help people in emergencies, I don’t understand the point of forcing students to remain calm throughout that session to grasp details. If you or a beloved have endured injuries, contact Brasure Law Firm, PLLC to review your case during a free and confidential evaluation.

Finding the right personal injury lawyer is of the utmost importance. There are many BC injury lawyers but only a select few who can go to the greatest extent possible to secure your rights by holding the people who caused the accident to be accountable for their actions. In fact, you should start looking for the right lawyer as soon as you have the accident so that your lawyer can collect all the relevant facts of the case.

One way that you could find a good personal injury lawyer is to ask your relations, friends and co-workers for any good leads. If you are lucky you will get the contact of an attorney who can fight for your rights so that you receive your due. However, this method of looking for a good lawyer to represent you will not necessarily yield results especially if the people in your social and work circle do not have sufficient information about such matters.

One very effective way of finding a good personal injury lawyer is to use the internet. Not only will you find plenty of listings of lawyers on the internet but you will also be able to read up about them. It is important to collect as much information about a lawyer so that you are certain that they can help you get a fair deal for the stress you have suffered as a result of some other person’s carelessness.

Make sure that the personal injury lawyer you select from an internet listing has adequate experience in handling a variety of cases, and especially cases such as yours. This will ensure that there is a greater possibility of a good settlement in your favor. It is also a good idea to hire an aggressive lawyer who has the backing of a good legal team so that they can do proper research on your case and present all that facts that are in your favor. Having a good lawyer on your side will also ensure that the opposition settles the case early by offering you a good amount in compensation.

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The unknown under-belly of Montanita: Manglaralto, the top rental opp on the coast?

manglaralto beach
Manglaralto Beach, Ecuador

Everyone loves Montanita.

But nobody actually wants to live there.  Unless you’re a 20 year old hippy.

It’s a neat mix of a traditional bohemian-Ecuadorian surf village turned mega-tourist attraction.

And its a great place to meet people, eat, drink or party.

But to live, for most, it’s just too noisy, too scandalous, too touristy.

There’s restaurants, heaps of hotels for every budget, travel agencies, surf shops, discos, bars… in a word, it’s fun.

And since 2009, when the local Ecuadorians started to discover the town, it’s absolutely exploded.

All year every weekend the place is packed, and during the high seasons (Jan-Apr and Jul-Aug) its got loads of travelers midweek too.

But what a lot of people don’t realize is there is a sleepy little town right next to Montanita that actually shares the same beach head.

And yes, it means you can walk between the two in a little under a half hour.

Yet most people just skip it.

They don’t even realize its there.

Its 4 km away from the center of Montanita, in fact, it is a 5 minute drive or 30 minute walk along the nice, wide, sandy beach.

Welcome to the town of Manglaralto, the town next to and just south of Montanita.

Manglaralto is still as local as it gets, like Montanita was maybe 10 years ago.

Theres one guy that sells chicken (for cooking), another street shop tucked away that sells the beef, another little nook sells the vegetables, and there’s one guy that come out in the mornings and sells the fresh fish.

You learn as you go.

It’s real quiet, the streets actually look quite empty or dead most days and there’s only 3 or 4 streets that run parellel to the ocean, a little park with a church and a landromat, a hardware store and 2 or 3 small hotels, thats it.

But it does sport the only hospital along this stretch of the coast, and its free to all (public).

Also, a little less than a year ago in early 2013 the streets of this tiny town were paved, which is HUGE.

But the reason I mention this town is the opportunity.

I discovered this town by accident 2 years ago when I bought a little dinker house there.

Not many foreigners live here full time yet, but there are certainly more than when I first bought 2 years ago.

And I can tell you first hand that the demand for rentals in the area is HUGE, being a quiet place to sleep near the action but not right in it as most prefer, and its the ONLY town that shares a beach with Montanita (one of the biggest tourist destinations on the coast of Ecuador).

So like most, eat or party in Montanita, then catch the $1.50 5-minute cab ride to sleep in peaceful Manglaralto.

Specifically over the last year or two, developers have started to move in to the southern end of town starting a few small subdivisions, but deals can still be found like the $15,000 4 bedroom house I found and bought 2 years ago.

Small 250 m2 lots in and near town can be found in the $10,000 range.

Oceanview lots go for anywhere from $30-60 per m2.  A lot a block or two back from the beach with no view can go for half that.

But you have to look, cause prices are all across the board.

It’s still one of those neat opportunity areas where prices have already risen a bit but you can still find a deal.

But mostly know that Manglaralto is not only a cool, peaceful place to live, but also one of the best places (at least top 5) to put a rental property on the coast of Ecuador.

And to learn how to find the unpublished property deals no one else knows about, subscribe to my weekly Ecuador Insiders Newsletter below, you can unsubscribe at any time:

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Got mine, now how to get your Ecuador Cedula

After you get your permanent residency visa to live in Ecuador, doesn’t matter which type, could be the investors visa, the pensioners visa, or even the professionals visa…

…you’ll then have 30 days to get your mandatory Ecuadorian “Cedula”, or official ID card.

The visa, or what is stamped in your passport, is the more complex part, the cedula which looks like a drivers license, is just a formality but you NEED it or they won’t let you travel out of the country.

It’s happened to me.

You’ll pass through the airline check in counter, then at immigration they’ll tell you sorry, you can’t board the plane without a cedula (if you are in Ecuador on a permanent residency visa).

Besides, having a cedula qualifies you for a lot of benefits, especially senior benefits in Ecuador if you are over 65.

Even if you are not a senior, you can still get special pricing on certain things, like for one, trips to the Galapagos.

For instance, foreigners pay $465 round trip on Tame to the Galapagos from Quito right now.  Ecuadorians or foreigners which have perm resident status with Ecuadorian cedulas pay only $250.  And foreigners pay a $100 per head park entrance fee, people with Ecuador cedulas pay only a $10 per person entry fee upon arrival.

Getting your cedula is a recently streamlined, easy process and one I just did myself this week in January of 2014.

Once you pick up your visa that same day I recommend you get the document CERTIFICADO DE EMPADRONAMIENTO which costs $5 and only takes a few minutes to retrieve from the same immigration office that gives you your visa, in Quito its the one near the 6 de Diciembre and Colon intersection.

With that document you will need to wait 48 hours and then go to the REGISTRIO CIVIL (Civil Registry) on Naciones Unidas y Amazonas (if applying in Quito).

You will need to bring the Certificado de empadronamiento, your actual passport and a color copy of your passport ID page and a copy of your current residency visa.

Upon entering the Civil Registry, you will have to take a turn and pay $5 to the bank counter that is within their offices there.

You will then go down the stairs and to the windows 24 and 25 and wait for your turn to appear on the screen.

Once you are called they will photo you, take your fingerprints and then in one hour you will receive your brand new Ecuadorian cedula!

No more need to walk around with your passport, in Ecuador your cedula is everything, you can even travel to nearby Andean countries like Colombia and Peru with just your cedula.

And of course, no reason to pay a lawyer to get a cedula for you!

Important changes since early 2013 (one year ago):  

Prefice: About a year ago in Guayaquil I helped a few friends get their cedulas.  And since then things have changed a bit, for the better!

A year ago, after applying for the cedula and getting your photo taken you had to come back in 3-5 days, not anymore, in one hour I got my cedula.

A year ago, they asked for an apostilled birth certificate, they never asked for mine although I still recommend bringing it down.

A year ago, they asked for proof of civil status, a marriage certificate or if you were single you had to do a really annoying hassle of going to a notary and doing a sworn statement saying you were single (declaracion juramentada).  Not anymore.  They didnt ask for me to prove my single status.

PS.  I highly recommend getting yiour cedula in Quito although you can get it in a few other cities in Ecuador.  Just easier.

Keep in mind.  

Unlike countries like the US, your civil status appears on your ID card, and if you are married then ANY legal transaction you want to do in Ecuador like sell a real property or a car you will have to have your wife sign off on it!

But what if your legal wife or husband is not in the picture?

In Ecuador, you are pretty much screwed if thats what appears on your ID cedula card.  Your transaction will be greatly difficulted or stopped.  So if they arent in the picture go for single if you can.

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