Ecuador dual citizenship myths debunked- How to get around the 90 day rule

There’s really only one simple requirement that qualifies you for an Ecuadorian second passport (aka Ecuador dual citizenship)… you need 3 years of permanent residency after getting any of the resident visas and obtaining your “cedula” ID card.

In fact, I was told by my source in immigration you can actually apply after about 2 and a half years.

That’s it!  By far the easiest South American passport to obtain!

But there is a lot of mis-information out there on this subject, mainly us gringos regurgitating random stuff we read on online forums.

1. Will getting dual Ecuadorian citizenship cause me to lose my original citizenship and passport?  No!  Not if you are from a country that allows and recognizes dual citizens like the USA, Canada, Ecuador and Great Britain to name a few.

2. Will getting Ecuador dual citizenship create an EXTRA tax burden for me?  No. Ecuador like most countries not named THE US…tax only income made in Ecuador, doesn’t even matter what nationality the person that makes it is, if you are given an official Ecuadorian purchase receipt (factura) you have to pay tax to Ecuador on it.  If not, no.  Ecuador does not tax foreign made income.

3. Isn’t Ecuador one of those mandatory military service states?  Actually yes, it is, but T.I.E. my friend (this is Ecuador)… to get out of it all an Ecuadorian male has to do is pay a tiny fine (last I heard it was well under $200).  And truth be told, they would only be interested in you and possibly enforce it if you were 18-21 anyway.  In fact, its not at all like the US, or like you think, there is actually a surplus of demand from locals to join the forces, and many who want to join are left out!  Really!  There just aren’t that many spots.

Now the biggest, baddest two myths that prevent most us gringos from even trying…
4. Isn’t there a new law that states you must be out of the country for a maximum of 90 days TOTAL for the three years prior to applying for residency?  Actually, this is CORRECT, BUT T.I.E. my friend (this is Ecuador), I know you probably think like a gringo and everything is black or white, right or wrong, I get it, I do too.  But this is Ecuador, the land where who you know and what you know often prevails.  For instance, to get around this one in a totally legit, legal way you can right a letter and submit with your application explaining the extenuating circumstances that caused you to be out of country more than the time allotment.  For example, a death, a health issue, etc… of course substantiated by apostilled proof from a doctor or whatnot helps.  Its not a given they would pass it, but its possible, one ecuadorian immigration official working in the Quito citizenship office informed me THIS MONTH, June 2015 in Quito.  I would personally apply in Quito too, not Cuenca, they just seem nicer.

5. Isn’t there a nasty verbal exam of my Spanish level?  No!  The exam is actually WRITTEN, which makes it MUCH easier, yes, it is in Spanish, but with some test prep like the guide I’m offering today you should be fine.  You will have to sing the Ecuadorian hym, but that is when you have ALREADY been accepted and you won’t be by yourself, but with everyone else sworn in that day so I’m sure you could find a way to ‘fake it til you make it’ like you did back in high school choir class.  As for the written exam, the official told me you really have to B#MB it to fail it and yes, they’d let you take it again.  They just want to see some effort.  He also said the older you are the less they expect you to speak decent Spanish.  So NO, there is no verbal exam but yes, some basic Spanish chit-chat would be nice to know going in, you know, stuff you can learn in a few weeks of Spanish lessons.

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Getting electricity to your lot in Ecuador

Next up, electricity, not necessarily a sure thing in Ecuador.

But in this case, the electricity was about 100 meters away from my lot, maybe a bit less, so it wasn’t a huge deal hooking it up to my property, if you need some help just visit the contractors website and Get a Free Service Estimate.

Total cost $2450 for everything, one residential electrician did it all, installed two posts, one transformer for max 2 houses, and also did the certification with the electric company  and got the meter installed. You can visit one of the best electric company at https://www.ph-el.dk.

In a few days he was done.

If I build more houses in the near future i can trade him the transformer i got for a more powerful one and he will discount the full price of the one i have.

As for installing the electrical outlets and breakers in the home itself, normally, I now electricians in Ecuador charge $12 per point, or per outlet installed. We found one recommended local that will do it for a total of $700 the whole house.

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Pedernales beachfront lot for sale 920m2, $43k

pedernales-beachfront-real-estatePedernales beachfront lot for sale 920m2, $43k Negotiable. Right on the main Ecuador Coastal Realty road.  Lot goes from road to ocean.  Hard to beat beachfront even in Ecuador for under $40 per meter.  Call to learn about new home sales.

Jorge luis sanchez

0983680353

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Getting water to your lot on the coast of Ecuador

Before we could even think about building anything here on the coast just south of Manta, Ecuador, we had to get water to the lot by hiring residential plumbing services who can build pipes inside the property.

Electricity can come later.

Like with most things in Ecuador, its usually either ridiculously easy or extraordinarily difficult making plumbing services a good choice to avoid this headache. for your luck we have the perfect plumbing service here.

Thankfully, this time it was easy.

Like usual in Ecuador, we asked our neighbors how they got water and found out there was a newly installed city line right near our property. Finally, it will be good to understand the factors that might affect, and what makes the best reverse osmosis system, if performance and value for money are important to you. The water softening process is accomplished by a chemical cation exchange that replaces the calcium and magnesium in your water with a equivalent number of sodium or potassium ions. During the softening process, your household water passes through the resin bed, and the magnesium and calcium contained in the water are removed. A given sized resin bed has a fixed capacity to remove hardness before it needs to be regenerated to full capacity in order to continue to provide softened water (for example, one cubic foot of resin has the ability to remove 32,000 grains of hardness from your water). When the resin bed is nearing exhaustion, the control valve washes the resin bed, and draws salt containing solution from the brine tank through the resin. As the salt contacts the resin bed, the process of ion exchange occurs, and the magnesium and calcium (hardness) that was collected in the bed during operation is washed to drain. After a final rinse to remove the excess salt, the resin bed is again ready to provide softened water.That is why you should use best descalers for good and healthy water.

Septic system function is very straightforward. Your homes plumbing is piped into a in-ground storage tank. When wastewater enters this tank, the heavier solids settle to the bottom. Bacteria present in the storage tank digest the solids, breaking it down to a liquid. After this process is complete, relatively clear water is discharged from the primary tank into a second holding tank or distribution box. Water then re-enters the surrounding soil through a drainage field consisting of perforated underground piping. If the septic system is ever clogged a septic tank pumping company needs to be contacted for assistance.

The expats near us were Ok with letting us plug in but said they invested to bring the line where it was so they asked us to chip in with a one time “tip” of $180.

We paid it, and with their blessings we plugged right in with our “T” as you can see in the pic.

No meters yet in this area of town but they will soon be installed so I´m told.

installing-water-to-lot-in-ecuador

So for now the water is free.

In a previous property I owned south of here on the coast I was plugged into the city line and paid around $4 a month. Just one time I had to pay $26 since there was a leak, called the plumbing company to send someone to do the water leak repair and all went back to normal.

Gotta love Ecuador!

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Budget airline arrives in Ecuador, brings lower prices to USA: Get RT Miami-Quito under $400

VivaColombia is a budget airline based out of Colombia that just made getting to the US from Ecuador and vice versa a whole lot cheaper.

And not just once in a blue moon, pretty much anytime you want to go in 2015 you can find a roundtrip flight QUITO to USA (MIAMI) for around $400 with my below method.

I noticed chatting to guests at my hotel near the Quito airport, as of last month, April 2015, VivaColombia has upped its frequency of flights to a few a day (which has lowered the price) from Quito to Bogota.

So first, buy a Quito to Bogota round trip with Viva which is going for around $185 taxes included.

That´s cheap!

Then, use Spirit Air, another personally-preferred budget carrier, to get roundtrip from Bogota to Miami which I´m seeing start around $249 taxes included.

That´s $434 taxes included, roundtrip, everything.

This is currently the cheapest way I´ve seen to get from North America to Ecuador in 2015.

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