Visas, Embassies
and Consulates
Visa
regulations in
Ecuador can change without notice, so check
with your nearest embassy or consulate and get the information in
writing before you apply for a visa.
Some of the visa
requirements,
such as a police report, may
take up to 6 weeks or so to obtain. The Ecuador
visa
and
consulate information on this page is given in good faith based on
personal experience and does not replace advice from the
consulate.
Visas
are not required
for tourists of most nationalities staying in Ecuador up to 90 days (as
of June 2008),
but it is best to check the latest situation directly.
It used to be possible to extend visas
for a further 90 days, this does not now seem to be allowed.
Note
that guidebooks written before June 2008 are now out of date in
terms of information about visas for Ecuador.
Since 2010, nationals of Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia require a visa to travel to
Ecuador, and Chinese citizens should apparently contact their embassy
before travelling.
For
91-180 days, i.e. 3 to 6 months in Ecuador, a 12-IX (commerce) visa
from your local Ecuadorian
consulate might be your best bet - ask them. It is likely to
cost around $230.
For
a stay of
more
than 180 days, you probably need the cooperation of an
organisation in Ecuador, who will need to guarantee to cover any debts
you run up or any costs involved in your deportation if necessary.
Needless to say, most will not undertake this responsibility
lightly.
For
the latest
information on how to apply for a visa, if you need one, see the government's
Ecuador visa information (in
Spanish) and then contact your
local Ecuador Embassy or Consulate, who may have additional
requirements to those listed by the government site.
The
Embassy of Ecuador in the UK is at 3 Hans Crescent, London
SW1X
0LS, round the back of Harrods. Telephone 0207 7584 1367.
The Consulate
of Ecuador in London is
completely separate from the embassy and is at 1st Floor, Uganda House,
58-59 Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DX. Don't just drop in,
they
prefer you to phone or make an appointment to visit.
Telephone
0207 451
0040 between 3-5pm weekdays - they do not answer the phone
outside
of these times.
For
visas, it is usually
the Consulate that you need and the current visa requirements
are on their website.
For specific
questions, you can telephone. To apply for a visa, you need
to
phone to make an
appointment, which they will not usually arrange for more than a week
after your phonecall or more than a couple of weeks before you travel.
Visa appointments seem to be in the mornings and passports
can
often be collected at 5p.m. the same day. The
consulate usually
want to see your
flight ticket or booking in order to grant the visa. If
you're
not sure you meet the visa requirements (for example, whether your
income
will be considered sufficient for a tourist visa), phone beforehand to
ask, thus avoiding a traumatic day of phoning
Ecuador asking for additional documentation or financial guarantees at
the last minute.
Staff
at the
Ecuadorian Consulate
in London were kind, helpful and proactive about suggesting
alternative visa options or acceptable evidence,
but very strict about documentation. In particular, of the 2
types of "permission to operate" that community enterprises can legally
use, only the "certificado ministerial" was acceptable to the
Consulate for a volunteer visa. The commonly used "escritura
publica" for an "associación de cuentas en
participación"
was rejected. The certificado ministerial can take weeks to
obtain, so your sponsoring organisation must have this before you
apply for your visa.
See
a list of other
Ecuadorian Embassies & Consulates
around the world,
as listed by the government of Ecuador, to apply for a visa to visit
Ecuador from your country.
Visas usually
need to be
registered
with the Extranjería within a month of arrival in
Ecuador. Allow sufficient flexibility in your itinerary as
this might take a few
days. The Extranjeria in Quito is currently (late August
2011) at 6 de
Diciembre N26-05, between Colón and La Niña, and
is open from 8a.m. to 4.45p.m., Monday to Friday.
A fee of $10 is payable, ask at the Extranjeria for the
bank
account number and which bank to pay at. Take the
receipt, copies of the
relevant pages of your passport and the original "certificado de
visación" given to you by the Consulate,
plus a folder and clip (carpeta con bincha) and envelope, to
the Extranjeria along with your passport. You will be told
when to collect your passport, which might take up to 3 or 4
days.
As
of June 2012, it
appears that
the "censo", a type of ID card which used to be obligatory,
has
been abolished. Check
with Migración,
diagonally opposite El Jardin Mall, on Amazonas y
República or phone them on (02) 2257 290 ext. 104.
As a
replacement for the censo, you can take a photocopy of the details page
and visa page of your passport, with $4, to the Ministerio de
Relaciones Exteriores (see below) and ask for an "empadronamiento".
This may perhaps get you discounts in Ecuador, especially on
a
trip to the Galapagos
Islands.
If
you need a new or
different type of
visa once you are in Ecuador, gather all the required paperwork, then
go to the Ministerio de
Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio e Integración at 10 de
Agosto y
Carrión in Quito. Take a book and be prepared to
spend the
best part of several days getting things sorted out, a month before
your existing visa expires. For visas, you usually need to
arrive before around 8am in order get a place in the
line to then be allocated
a number which then permits you to wait much of the morning to hand in
your application (or be told that something is missing from
it).
The queue starts to form around 6a.m., but don't arrive any
earlier than that for safety reasons (it will still be dark,
and cold).
If
you are asked for a
police records
check when you apply for a visa, take your passport and $5 to
the
office at Amazonas y
Roca
- the process is quick and efficient and the staff are helpful.
Visa
services, e.g. using a visa lawyer or agency to apply for your
visa, should
not be necessary and
may be costly. However, if you speak no
Spanish at all, or are very busy and applying for a business visa,
using a visa agent may smooth the process. A visa lawyer is
unlikely to get visas processed any faster, but may be able to do the
tedious waiting around for you (though of course you will be paying for
this). It all depends how valuable your time is to you.
No matter what you are told by people hanging around the
queue outside the office, it is never obligatory to use an agent to
apply for a visa for Ecuador.
Ecuador
Visas, Consulates & Embassies
Contact details for Ecuador Consulate and Embassy in London, Ecuador
visa information, visa registration at the Extranjeria and Censo at
Migración in Quito.
How to apply for a visa for Ecuador. Visa services
are not necessary though a visa lawyer may be able to help with more
complicated situations. Note that no
responsibility can be taken for the content of
external links or for reliance on any of the suggestions or information
on this site.
Visa information can change at short notice and the advice of
the
consulate should always be sought. Note that
guidebooks written before June 2008
have out of date
information about visas for Ecuador.
