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Anyone from anywhere can enter Ecuador with a T3 (tourist for three-month) "stamp." This isn't a visa. Your passport is merely stamped when you come into Ecuador and it's good for three months.

In order to stay for longer than three months in any one-year period, you'll need a 12-IX tourist visa, good for up to six months in any one-year period. The following four posts describe the process, step by step, as I experienced it (though Part Three is Members-only for reasons I reveal there). It takes some effort. But depending on how far away from an Ecuadorian Consulado General you live, it's relatively painless.

So now I face the challenge of establishing residency. Read Visa Part Four for a brief description of why that might be a bit dicey for me.

However, I'll be collecting as many residency stories from gringos as I can while I'm down there, so they'll all appear here. 

 

 

Articles

  YOU CAN’T PUT YOUR VISA ON YOUR VISA

First things first: Ecuador takes cash or money orders only. That’s what Sylvia, my contact at the Ecuadorian consulate in San Francisco, made it a point to tell me. No credit or debit cards. No personal checks. She needn’t have bothered; one of my favorite things about Ecuador is how everyone, natives and expats, deal in paper money. And you can take that to the bank.
  THE VISA PART TWO -- COPS AND DOCS
A few days after I spoke to Sylvia at Ecuador’s San Francisco consulate, I made the rounds to collect the paperwork needed for the six-month tourist visa.
  THE VISA PART THREE -- I LEFT MY MONEY IN SAN FRANCISCO
I drove down to San Francisco on Super Bowl Sunday, to visit with and say goodbye to two brothers, one older, the other younger, in the City by the Bay. I mean this in the positive sense: They’re happy to see me go. On Monday I headed downtown to the Consulado General Ecuador de San Francisco to keep my 11 o’clock appointment visa appointment.
  THE VISA PART FOUR -- WHAT NOW?

Up until recently, in order to apply for residency of any kind, you were required to enter Ecuador on a 12-IX tourist visa, the one I arranged in San Francisco. But according to Gary Scott, as of January 2011, that's no longer the policy. Now you can apply for residency after coming in on the T3 three-month tourist stamp
  MY FIRST ECUADORIAN ATTORNEY
I handed over my passport and the two visa documents to Francisco Astudillo el abogado, then watched him frown and shake his head. My heart sunk a little and I thought, already?
  RESIDENCY VISA? WORK VISA? YOU MAKE THE CALL
Visas are a critical piece to the expat puzzle. Blundering through the bureaucratic immigration maze is complicated, expensive, time-consuming, frustrating, often infuriating, and sometimes unsuccessful.
  VISAS AND MORE VISAS
Another week, another several hours spent in the attorneys’ office. The following is what I believe to be factual background on Ecuador’s residency and visa processes. Again, do not take my word for it.
  THE WORK VISA REVISITED
A strong rumor has been swirling since late last week. According to my source, Immigration in Quito “has put a four-month hold on new residency applications, due to a backlog from 2010.” The rumor is that applications will be accepted, but will not go into process.
  DÉJÀ VU (IN SPANISH)

On Monday July 11, I received the following letter from Cate Hart, the gringa paralegal at Coloaustro, my Cuenca law firm.

Dear Deke, The immigration office in Cuenca has stopped accepting all applications, including renewals. This has us worried about your work visa. So we need to get a head start on your documentation. Could you come in about 30 minutes early for your Friday appointment, so we can talk to you?
  DÉJÀ VU (IN SPANISH) PART 3
Before leaving Coloaustro that day, I made an appointment for 10 a.m. the following Monday to meet Francisco, so we could go to the Ministerio and submit the work-visa application. I showed up on Monday at the appointed time and the next thing I knew, Francisco, a twenty-something African from Liberia named Michael, and myself were piling into Francisco’s SUV on an immigration quest.
  DÉJÀ VU (IN SPANISH) PART 4
Dear Deke, Francisco says your visa is ready at the visa office. You are required to go to the Ministerio and have your interview. Once you interview, they will give you your new visa. Can you go today at 3 p.m.? Let me know if you have any questions! Cate
  DÉJÀ VU (IN SPANISH) PART 5
By this time, my wagon was draggin pretty slow. After my Spanish lesson, lunch with Dave, and my interview, the flu was getting the better of me. I’d been speaking Spanish all day. And I still had to go to the bank and deal with whatever awaited me there.