Category: Expat Lifestyle

9-1 Pensioners Visa Requirements

Requirements of the Pensioner’s Visa (Visa de Rentista 9-1):

1. Written petition letter in Spanish directed to the Minister of “Relaciones Exteriores”. In Guayaquil, the Minister is Arq. Octavio Villacreses Peña. See example of letter “visa petition letter” contained in this report.

2. Completed visa form as provided in this report. (Solicitud de visa)

3. Completed order form for your Ecuadorian ID card as provided in this report. (Solicitud de orden de cedulacion)

4. Color copy of your passport notarized with a minimum of 6 months validity remaining.

5. Criminal record check from your local county Sheriff’s office. This form should be apostilled in your country of residence or legalized in the Ecuadorian consulate in your country. More on that in a minute.

6. Certificate of Immigration Movements within Ecuador as attained by the immigration authorities in Ecuador. You can get immediately this for $4 once inside the same building where you apply for the visa in Guayaquil, just ask for the CERTIFICADO DE MOVIMIENTOS MIGRATORIOS.

7. In the case of being a refugee, you would need to present your refugee card as attained from the Ministry of Foreign relations in Ecuador (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores)

8. Proof of pension above or equal to $800USD per month apostilled in your country or legally certified by the Ecuadorian consulate of your country plus $100USD extra for each dependent you may have.

9. Document certified by the Ecuadorian consulate proving your pension in the case of not being able to prove your pension through the aforementioned means.

10. All documents stated above should be translated and notarized with signature of translator. Tip: This will take 24 hours ad can be easiest done with the translators near the immigration building in Guayaquil and the notary directly behind the building. When translated abroad, your documents should be legalized and certified by the Ecuadorian consulate or apostilled.

11. When documents are issued by one of the departments of Ecuador they should be legalized by the same, not by Notary publics.

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VISA 12 – IV Refugee Visa Requirements Ecuador

VISA 12 – IV Refugee Visa Requirements Ecuador

VISA 12 – IV Refugee Visa Requirements Ecuador (VISA 12 – IV DE ASILO Y REFUGIO)

This visa is extended to people who can prove unfair persecusion in their home country based on race, wars, politics, religion.

This visa is given exclusively by the MINISTERIODE RELACIONES EXTERIORES.

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12-VIII Volunteer Visa Requirements Ecuador

12-VIII Volunteer Visa Requirements Ecuador

12-VIII Volunteer Visa Requirements Ecuador (12-VIII INTERCAMBIO CULTURAL)

Requirements:
1.- Signed petition letter directed to the head of the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores which states how long youd like to stay in Ecuador and why.

2.- Signed Application Form with passport photo.

3.- Passport with at least 6 months valid remaining with copies of the entry stamp, ID page and current visa.

4. Notarized copy of the exchange agreement.

5. Agreement that the party involved is willing to work for free.

6. Description of the project.

7. Notarized copy of the NOMBRAMIENTO DEL REPRESANTE LEGAL.

8. Notarized copy of the authorization by the Ecuador government that institution has to work under.

9. Notarized copy of the ESTUTOS.

10. Written obligation of entity to handle exit costs of volunteer if need be.

All documents should be translated if in language other than Spanish.

Valid: Maximum 2 years (renewable).

Application fee: $30 USD
Visa fee: $200 USD

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12-VI Work Visa Requirements Ecuador

12-VI Work Visa Requirements Ecuador

12-VI Work Visa Requirements Ecuador (VISA 12-VI TRABAJO)

Requirements:
1.- Signed petition letter directed to the head of the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores which states how long youd like to stay in Ecuador and why.

2.- Signed Application Form with passport photo.

3.- Passport with at least 6 months valid remaining with copies of the entry stamp, ID page and current visa.

4. Copy of Resume.

5. Title of company (Escritura) properly registered in the REGISTRO MERCANTIL.

6. “Certificado actualizado del RUC” of the sopnsor.

7. Certificate from the SUPERENTENCIA DE COMPANIAS that states the capital of the business is over $12,500.

8. “Nombremientos” of the board of directors of the company.

9. Certificate from the IESS Social Security system proving the company has no obligations open with the IESS.

10. Certificate from the CUERPO DE BOMBEROS

11. Certificate PATENTE MUNICIPAL

12. For Spouses, must adjoin marriage certificate legally certified by Ecuadorian Consulate.

13. In the case of Labor contracts, need to present contract as registered in the DIRECCION DE TRABAJO and authorization from the MINISTERIO DE TRABAJO.

All documents should be translated if in language other than Spanish.

Valid: Maximum 2 years (renewable).

Application fee: $30 USD
Visa fee: $200 USD

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Pricing the Lot- Part 9, The Ecuador Property Search Series

land prices ecuador

Salinas, Ecuador

This is part 9 of this not-so-common look inside a real, live property transaction (of my own) in Ecuador.  Follow me as I reveal all the dirt as it happens.

Today I just finalized the process of clearing up the title issues of the lot.

It helped to have a few contacts in the Municipal.

You don’t need contacts to do what I did but it makes the process faster.

So I now have a notarized Escritura (Deed) and its registered in the Registrar proved as such by the Certificate of Registry (Certificado del Registrador de la Propiedad).

The whole process to legalize the communal land… took me about 2 weeks.

Now it can be sold privately without having to go to the local Commun.

The only setback at the end of the process was that the Notary had made errors about my personal information that needed correcting.  Without even asking the folks in the notary mistyped both my gender and marital status and I didn’t catch it at first.

It was a hassle that caused me a few extra trips both to the Notary and Registrar.

Be sure you read carefully, or have someone read the Deed to you while translating, before signing.

Now, the fun part. 

Pricing the lot.

Reasonably priced, front line, oceanfront property in Ecuador is getting harder to find.

Once bought by a foreigner a beachfront property will usually double or triple in price instantly unless its already priced high.

But you can still find deals like the one I found.

Last week, I know of a 1000m2 (10763ft²) beachfront lot in Cadeate (a town near Montanita) asking $35k ($35 per m2) that sold in 3 days!

I’d say the average price I’m seeing in Ecuador for beachfront land is around $35-45 per m2 with prices on the southern coast being a bit higher.

For larger, multi-hectare lots you can still find people selling at $1 per m2, but the investment will still be in the hundreds of thousands.

But the prices are all across the board.

It’s common to also find lots asking in the $60-80 per m2 range all the way up to one development I know in the Olon area that sells smaller beachfront lots, and has sold many, at $200 per m2!

And one block back off the beach it gets a lot cheaper, quick, with lots usually asking around $15-25 per m2.

In the better parts of the cities of Ecuador, like where I’m at in Guayaquil, the land goes anywhere from $300-500 per m2.

So as the coast populates and internationalizes there’s still a lot of room for growth.

I think if you sell in 3 days you priced too low.

But if it takes months or years then you’re either not promoting well or priced too high.

So for my 475m2 beachfront lot in a small fishing area 25 minutes from downtown Salinas, I’m going to start by asking $25k ($52.60 per m2).

That’ll give me a little room to negotiate.

If someone came along and offered me near that price but a few thousand less so the price got into the $40s per m2, I’d probably take it.

It’s a nice lot, raised 15 feet above the ocean with outstanding views, but flat and ready to build, with no road in front, just the ocean while the lot is in an urban area so water and electric are easily hooked up.

So there it is, it’s officially for sale…

Respond to this email if you’d like more info.

Stay tuned!

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