Marriage Registration in Ecuador

Did you know that if you were married overseas and become permanent residents of Ecuador, your marriage license may not be recognized as legal in Ecuador? All Ecuadorian citizens AND residents are required by law to register their marriage at the Ecuadorian Civil Registry. This may be information that is not widely known, especially among expats.

For any legal transactions in Ecuador, your marriage needs to be registered, even if your cedula states you are married. All notaries require the marriage license to be registered. When your marriage is registered in Ecuador you will have an Ecuadorian Marriage license showing the date and place where the marriage occurred in your home country, plus an Ecuadorian Seal as proof of registry.

Why You Need To Register Your Marriage License

Dependent upon when you obtained your resident visa, if you were married at that time, chances are your Ecuadorian cedula already shows you as married “CASADO” or “CASADA” with your spouse’s name appearing just below it. Even so, you STILL need to have your marriage license registered for any legal transactions in Ecuador, such as End of Life Planning and an Ecuadorian Will. If your cedula ID shows your status as single “SOLTERA” or “SOLTERO”, and you marry, or were previously married or legally joined overseas, then you also need to register your marriage license in Ecuador. If anything should happen to you or your spouse, in the eyes of the Ecuadorian government you are not legally married in Ecuador, and you are considered single. That means that you will have NO rights to jointly owned property or assets.

First, your marriage license must be legalized in the United States, and dated within the last 6-months in order to have it registered in Ecuador. As part of the growing list of additional services that Gringo Visas offers, we can register your marriage license, and take care of the legalization (apostille and notary) in the US. To get started, all you have to do is say “I DO”–– I do want Gringo Visas to process our Marriage License Registration. Just email me at maite@gringovisas.com

Go to the Expat Visa Experts

Gringo Visas is committed to obtaining your Ecuadorian Residency Visa – fast, easy and affordable by doing what we do best – Visas. As the only visa service provider with offices both in Ecuador (Cuenca, Quito and Guayaquil), and in the United States. Gringo Visas bilingual staff, including legal counsel, is positioned to help you obtain your Visa, and much more.