New changes to Ecuador’s Immigration Law as of February 5, 2021

Under the new reform bill holders of Temporary Resident Visas will be allowed to leave the country without travel restrictions during the 2-year temporary residency.

The temporary visa can also be renewed multiple times, as with all types of visas: Retirement, Investment, Professional, Volunteer, Student, and visas for Dependents. The previous law from February 6, 2017, stated that this visa could only be renewed for another temporary visa one time, and only the Investment visa had no travel restrictions.

Permanent Resident Visas Travel restrictions

The permanent resident visas still have the same 180-day travel restrictions per year for the first two years of residency. After two years of being a permanent resident visa holder, you can leave the country for up to 2 years; if you are out of the country for more than 2 years, your visa will be cancelled. The previous law stated that you can be out of the Ecuador for up to 5 years as long as you return even for one day within the five-year period.

Dependent Visas

Dependent visas will not be cancelled if the main visa holder dies, divorces, or applies for citizenship, or any other reason not related to the dependent.

Fines

People who entered the country with a 90-day tourist visa and exceeded the time limit without requesting an extension, or those who requested an extension and have exceeded 180 days, will not be allowed to enter the country for a period of one year starting from the date of departure from Ecuador, unless you pay a fine of $400, which is equivalent to a basic salary, or obtain a visa at an Ecuadorian Consulate. Twelve months after leaving Ecuador the fine will be voided.

Additional regulations about this law are still pending. We will keep you posted when these new regulations are released. In the meantime, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be working to initiate this new law into effect, and some Ministries may implement this law immediately.

If you have any questions, you can contact Maite Duran at Gringo Visas by email maite@gringovisas.com, or phone 1-203-648-4511, EC +593-989-153-622 WhatsApp +593-989-153-622.