Job Discussion Forums

[lagringalindissima]

Please do NOT believe anyone who tells you it's easy to get a visa in Ecuador; that is simply not true, and the process is not just "annoying".. it is total chaos with no guarantee of any visa. Keep in mind in Ecuador you pay airfare-- both there and home-- visa fees and all of your expenses upon arrival (i.e. no one will set you up with "two weeks of free housing" so you can get settled). So if you come and leave over the visa issue you are out a huge amount of money!

You can get a visa if..
1) You really will be a volunteer teacher rather than a paid employee.

2) You really want to live there and you buy a house, get a retirement visa, etc.

3) If you work for a LEGITIMATE cultural exchange program and you'd be part of a cultural exchange.

4) You'll be teaching as part of missionary work..I think anyway, I have never encountered anyone doing that.

5) This is not likely to apply to anyone reading this, but you can get a work visa if you have a specialized skill and can get hired for that skill--i.e. if you are a doctor.


Every school--and many people on this chatboard, including people writing in 2012 or later-- give you different and contradictory information. Having had 2 jobs there I believe the only rational thing we can do is "trust no one".

Examples:
Do you need a bank account with money in it? Votes are 3 yes and 2 no. One "yes" was an institute that hired me and one "no" is a job (at a university, so this was not a bottom of the barrel job!) that never told employees that. The other no was my first job..they said they'd get my visa and never mentioned a bank account.

One yes says you need a local account; the other (from this board) it's says from your country. The amount you need also varies.

Can we do border runs? Votes are numerous no's on this board, 2 schools in Ecuador vote no and one school votes yes. So it seems that no wins, but the but "yes" school had many teachers doing that...although the teachers working there seemed to be getting visas and not just going in lieu of visas--as we did in Peru. (I was and still am very baffled by this!!)

How do we process the visa?
a) Give your employers your passport and their lawyers will take care of it.

b) Get the visa fully set up and legal to use--how exactly you'd do that I don't know, since I never accepted the job claiming this was the process-- and give it to someone (I don't know who) so it can be registered with the government.

c) Drop off your passport at an embassy (I guess?) in a town where the brother of my boss happens to work as is an immigration lawyer..he takes care of it.

d) "I crossed the border within 90 days"..said a teacher from a school that did border runs.

How much does it cost?
a) 230 (a job I had)

b) 80 (a job I was offered)

c) "The visa costs were 230--plus travel expenses--and the school refused to help us pay for it".. quote from an online school review.


My first job was at a K-12 school; they never mentioned a visa when hiring me. Since I'd taught in Peru--where border hopping is what 99.2% of teachers do and do openly-- I came to Ecuador with a flight to Lima within my 90 days and told my boss I was going to visit a friend for my visa run. This school paid an institute to deal with hiring teachers--including the visa. The institute--which I actually had ZERO connection to-- wanted to take my passport from me, take it to another city and leave it there. Then I'd get a visa processed for me. Keep in mind, I assumed I did not need a visa.. so I didn't have official transcripts, passport photos or--that I know of-- any documents requesting the visa. The institute that hired with me informed me that I was to get visa saying I volunteered with them.. because I DID volunteer with them, they insisted; they hired me! I'd get a volunteer visa from them..NOT from the actual K-12 school I worked in. A bit sketchy, anyone?

I did talk to a teacher the institute said could "tell me how easy this process was". She was from central Europe, but that shouldn't have been a huge problem with the visa. The government had sent back her paperwork to be re-done and held her passport for THREE FULL MONTHS. She was "hoping" to have her passport back "in November" (this was mid September) but she was open that was just a hope; she had no idea if she would have it..I think November was just when they estimated it would be done. Do some math..that is well over 90 days in the country! So I quit the job.

3 years later I wanted to return to Loja and I had heard there was a good and refutable English institute. I contacted them and told them I quit a job due to the visa, so I wanted to be sure the visa could work out. Even when I found out my great Republican state does not issue criminal background checks for foreign visas --and yes it says that on my state's website for getting background checks-- but Ecuador needs that, they said it was fine; it wasn't. Now I had to go (alone) to a city 6 hours away that they admitted was dangerous, leave my passport and wait. I needed a bank account but they didn't tell me to bring a grand in cash to create it; they also didn't know if/when I could remove money from it. It needed to be full to prove I had funds "to support myself", but I only had about 1100 dollars with me and I needed my money to live on until my first paycheck. If you are "reading between the lines" you might notice that I had to declare I had my own money to support myself; this was because I was NOT legally allowed to get money from my job; this was a "volunteer visa". There were other confusing details about what I else needed-- that I won't try to get into here-- as well. I told my boss this process it total chaos and it seems like what's going on is every month the law changes; he said unfortunately that is 100% accurate. He was supportive of me quitting.

I just read a reply to my post that said there are several different kinds of visas (true!) and if you get "the right kind of visa" you will be fine here. Do not believe that! The "right kind" of visa to work here legally is (surprise!!) a work visa, but the government does not issue them for ESL teachers; if your school applied for them for you they'd be turned down. I was actually told I could in fact have a work visa--if I chose to do that for legality's sake, but it wasn't required-- but that the process was much more complicated and expensive getting other visas..and see above . There are volunteer visas and cultural exchange visas, but neither one lets you work legally and you can't get either one prior to entering to "hit the ground running" and be in the country for 6 months. The poster who refuted me said you can get one kind of visa with no job and then switch to another.. I don't remember which kind you'd get first, but re-read what I wrote and decide for yourself if that sounds plausible.

I am NOT trying to attack another poster!! What I am saying is that if you go to Ecuador believing you can easily get a visa then you could put yourself in a very bad position. I am not attacking Ecuador, either..I majored in Spanish in college and I loved the people and the country; in fact part of what was tragic in my situation was that I truly wanted to keep both jobs that I had in Ecuador and stay there. If you need to do a border run from another place Ecuador is a great choice and I highly recommend seeing it if you are in the area. But the law makes it impossible for us to work there, even illegally.. the USA is the same way, and that is just the way it is.


"Maybe you are too risk adverse to be an ESL teacher abroad and you should have accepted that things here aren't like your country..", you might say. I have seen that used as a counter to the issues with the visa in Ecuador on this board and that might be true; I am in fact risk adverse. But to me leaving my passport (from the USA) with a third party and assuming I'd get a visa--despite being told numerous confusing and contradictory things about how the visa was processed-- and lying on government documents so I could work illegally seemed like a terrible idea. I border hopped in Peru and had fun doing it, but this is different.

[HLJHLJ]

For anyone who is interested, I will copy my previous post below rather than write it all out again. By your own admission you never understood how the visa system works and still don't. Most of what you are posting is plain wrong, some of it is just woefully out of date.

Over the last few years I have successfully applied for / held 3 different types of Ecuadorian visas, plus renewals, and am currently getting the paperwork together for a 4th. I've made applications in 3 different countries (including getting a cultural exchange visa issued overseas, despite your insistence that it isn't possible). I've switched from one visa to another in-country, and am about to do so again (despite your insistence that it isn't possible). For the most part I've done these applications on my own with only the most basic Spanish. I may use a visa facilitator for my next visa application, just because I am short of time and the process does require a lot of sitting around waiting in immigration.

If you want to do it yourself, it's a slow, bureaucratic, sometimes frustrating process, but it's perfectly manageable. Just because you couldn't do it, doesn't mean it can't be done. However, a lot of people choose to use facilitators to save themselves the hassle, but again, by your own admission, you refused to do that either.

So yes, readers can make their own minds up about who has the most plausible information. We also have a poster on here who also works as a visa facilitator in Guayaquil, and hopefully she will add her input too.

Finally, had you simply posted about the problems you were having at the time instead of waiting until it was too late and then complaining, I, and others here, would have been happy to help talk you through the process. If you do want to return to Ecuador, the offer still stands.

[HLJHLJ]

Copied from the original thread:

"Ecuador isn't for everybody, like most of LatAm you will need to be independent and flexible. If things like short notice schedule changes, especially ones caused by government ordinances, are going to stress you out then you probably won't be happy here. And yes, academic standards are relatively low across the board, it's a developing country, you need to have realistic expectations as to what that will mean. However, despite the lower standards I have generally found that education is valued and there is an enthusiasm for learning. It's down to the individual's outlook as to whether they find these things intolerably chaotic or just a cultural quirk.

Having said that, the experience people have will vary considerably depending on where they are based and the place they will work. If you are in Loja, then yes some Spanish is pretty much essential, it would be a difficult place to live otherwise. However, the OP was looking at Cuenca, which is probably the easiest city in Ecuador to get by in without a word of Spanish.

However, most of the visa information above is simply wrong. There are several routes for visas. If you don't have a job arranged you can apply for a 12-IX before you come. This allows you to work for 6 months, so you can hit the ground running, as it were. Once you find a job you can change visa in-country.

If you do have a job arranged, in most cases you will be on a 12-VIII cultural exchange visa. Again, this can be applied for in your home or resident country before you come. It's perfectly legal to work as an English teacher on a cultural exchange visa, however, it's a non-resident visa tied to a specific school and the 'wage' is a classed as a 'stipend'. This massively reduces the administrative burden on teachers. They pay no tax, so do not have to submit monthly tax returns, and the school is responsible for arranging health insurance, etc. It's all entirely above board and nothing to be concerned about.

However, if you want something more permanent there are other options. The non-resident work visa 12 V-I is largely obsolete now, hard to get and administratively difficult to use if you do get one. Instead, the professional visa 9-V is generally recommended instead. This is a resident visa, and it's personal. That is, you apply for it in your own right and it's your visa, it's not tied to an employer. To be eligible all you need to a bachelor's degree. The process is slow and somewhat bureaucratic, but not particularly complicated. All the information is available online, along with the forms you need to download and complete. There is no requirement to show funds, but in most cases you will be expected to pay for your own visa costs.

You can either do it yourself, which requires you to make several trips to immigration in one of the major cities (including Cuenca), or pay a visa facilitator to do it for you, which requires you to hand your passport over to a third party. If you refuse to do either of those things, there isn't really much a small-town school can do about it, they don't make the immigration rules.

There are many reasons why people might decide that Ecuador isn't for them, but the visa process isn't one of them."

[lagringalindissima]

I am going to post a relevant fact about myself. I live 30 minutes from Mexico (in the USA) and I am bilingual; thus I watch news in Spanish. Americans are killed for their passports, because then drug cartel ring leaders can put a different picture on the passport and use it. That is why I am 101% opposed to leaving a passport from the USA with a third party--yes even giving it to a lawyer or dropping it off in an embassy-- and waiting for a visa.

I would be willing to do that IF there was 100% agreement on the process:
You drop it in x office, pay y amount, your passport goes to x city to get a stamp and it's returned to you in/within x number of days later with a visa stamp that says you have a visa. I'd also be fine with sending my passport to get processed domestically (within the USA) or going to an American embassy to to paperwork before coming to Ecuador..like I did to get a student visa for Spain.

But no one knows what you need for a visa this week, what we need to do to get our passports turned in for processing, the true visa costs, where your passport is going or--the real key here!!-- how long you are expected to be without your passport. If it takes 10 days (and is guaranteed) fine; if after 3 months you don't have your passport and you hear "hopefully your passport can be returned in a month and a half" from the government/your job, that is NOT fine.

Another issue is no one could ever explain what happens if I give up my passport and then my mother dies and I need to leave the country.. and now. The best answer I got was "Well.. umm gee.. then we'd fill out paperwork to cancel the visa request". I am also not convinced that if you had to show id and all you had was a copy of your passport you'd be fine; that is doubly true if the government holds up your visa for over 90 days and thus you have nothing to prove you are legally there...and that has happened! I "get" that if you want to work in Ecuador you must give up your passport for the visa, but for me means you don't work in Ecuador. You can call that "being paranoid" but I that have taught in many countries and traveled to even more, and the number one rule of travel is to NEVER be without your passport--don't even leave it in a locked car at the beach.

[HLJHLJ]

I've never had to leave my passport for more than a few days, always less than a week, for any Ecuadorian visa. That doesn't mean no-one's application ever gets held up, along with their passport, but it's not the norm and it can happen with ANY visa application in ANY country.

I was without my passport for longer when I applied for a Russian tourist visa, it's just part of the process.

In Ecuador I carry a notarised copy of my passport with me, and when I've had to leave my passport with immigration I got a formal receipt confirming that. I have no doubt that those two documents together would be sufficient for any situation in Ecuador that required formal ID (the copy alone has always been accepted when required). Also, if there was some massive hold-up whereby my passport was being held indefinitely and I needed it urgently, I think they would be sufficient to get it back quickly. If not, I would contact my own embassy and ask them to intervene and in the highly unlikely event that they couldn't retrieve it, I would ask them to issue me with emergency travel documents, as I would in any country. A total hassle for sure, but this is a highly unlikely situation and even then, far from insurmountable.

However, it seems that the real issue here is your personal concerns about your passport. There is little Ecuador can do about that, and it's largely irrelevant to the actual topic, which is the Ecuadorian visa process.

[lagringalindissima]

If you want to come to Ecuador--let's assume you don't care where and you are willing to take any job offered to you-- there is a simple way to can find about about the visa process.

Apply for multiple jobs.

Of course doing online research--including reading this forum-- is important, and if you have the funds and think it's helpful by all means find an immigration attorney to talk to.. but do something else, too .. It's something I openly admit I didn't do!

Ask all of the jobs you have applied to to tell you EXACTLY what you need for the visa:

A) What do I need to have?
Do I need a local bank account?
How much has to be in it?

Do I need a bank account from my country? What do I bring to prove I have one?
How much needs to be there?

What else do I need to bring from my country or get upon arrival?

Do my transcripts have to be appositilled?

B) What is the name of the visa I will get?
How long is it valid for?
Can I really work on it? If I "volunteer" for a "living stipend" admit the answer is no, please... I dislike games!


D) Please walk me through what both you and I will do before I get here to get my visa:
What letters do you submit?
What stamp do I need prior to entering the country?
How do I get that?
What else do I need to submit--pictures, transcripts, background check, bank account, etc.?
What do I need to bring to finish the process in Ecuador--more pictures, more transcripts, more copies of my background check, etc.?

E) What do we both do when I get there?
Where does my passport go first, next, later and last before it is returned to me?

Who gets it there?

Who is supposed to take my passport?

What is the longest amount of time getting my passport takes and who do I call if it's been two days over 10 days (or whatever) ad I don't have my passport?

If I leave my passport on July 13th, where is it expected to be on any given day? (Why ask that? If my mother dies on July 17th I want to know where my passport is.)

What do I do if I need my passport now because I must leave the country within 24 hours?

Who helps me if I am stopped by the police and they won't accept a copy of my passport as valid?


F) What is the total cost of the visa?
What is a good estimate for the cost of what I need to get the visa--travel expenses to a city, pictures, having everything appostilled, etc.?

Tell any job that you can't/won't come until you are sure you have all of these questions answered.

If you get solid answers-- that don't largely contradict each other-- from 3 plus schools and you now feel comfortable that the visa process is fine then come..and if you come back here to post that Kelly Horgan is wrong-- as of July 2014 we can get visas; it was totally safe and legal and not even hard-- I will be happy for you! But I do not believe that will happen.

If you want to believe that you can get a visa that's good for 6 months with no job and easily switch it over in Ecuador fine.. this chatboard was created for everyone who feels they have information about Latin America to post and now you have this poster's view. But before trusting the post above me and coming here, I would suggest you to what I suggested here.. ask multiple jobs to tell you how you'll get the visa. I wish I had, because I loved my jobs and I love being in Latin America.. I speak Spanish and I don't want to go to Asia; I would have preferred to accept a job that I could keep.

[HLJHLJ]

Unless you are applying for a cultural exchange or volunteer visa, the other visa options are your problem and not your employer's. Only the cultural exchange and volunteer visas tie you to an employer, you are their responsibility, and they will provide you with (most of) the documentation you need. You will still need to get copies of your personal documents yourself.

If you are applying for any other type of visa, it's a personal visa, you make the application for it. Your actual or potential future employer is under no actual or presumed obligation to help you with the process, they may or may not know how you go about applying for them. They cannot provide you with the documentation you need, they don't have it, you have to get it together yourself.

Most employers will try to support you through it, but they are doing you a favour, it's not your right or their obligation. That support is most likely to come in the form of recommending a visa facilitator. There are a couple of big schools in Quito and Guayaquil who hire a lot of fresh-off-the-boat foreign teachers and are used to having to babysit them through it. If you need that service, stick with those schools.

The bottom line is that the visa application process is not your employer's responsibility, it's yours. This is clearly a major issue for you, but that's the way it is here.

If someone cannot cope with the prospect of dealing with these things independently, and, for whatever reason, refuses to use a facilitator, then it is better they don't come. They probably won't be happy here.

However, if someone does want to come, they can do their own research. Bombarding a potential employer with a barrage of questions will just label you as needy and difficult. No-one is going to employ you if you start with that approach. Especially as very very few jobs in Ecuador recruit from abroad.

Instead, contact your local Ecuadorian consulate and find out what they require from you to apply for for a 180 day 12-IX visa. The exact documents vary by country. You can also find out exactly what it will cost. You can apply before you leave your home or resident country, and you will have a personal visa that allows you to work from the day you arrive, and that can be converted to another visa in-country. You can also confirm with your local consulate that this visa can be converted to another in-country.

If you think you might want Ecuador to be a long term option, decide BEFORE you come which visa you would like to transfer to. The most likely option, if you want a long term resident visa, is the 9-V professional visa, which requires you to have a Bachelors degree. You can check the requirements here http://cancilleria.gob.ec/9-v-professional/?lang=en and then make sure you bring the necessary apostilled documents with you. You will also need to register your degree with SENECYT before making the visa application. It's an easy but slow process, the details are here. http://www.educacionsuperior.gob.ec/reconocimiento-e-inscripcion-de-titulos-expedidos-por-instituciones-de-educacion-superior-extranjeras/


The information is all out there, just do your homework.

[lagringalindissima]

Accepting a job in a foreign country (as in any country where you do not have the legal right to live and work legally) without understanding the visa process--even if (as in Peru) the "visa process" is "you work illegally.. stay away from drugs and you'll be fine"-- is STUPID!! And I did it multiple times.. in other countries I was just luckier.

If a job won't tell you what the visa process is like, then why would you go?
Of course ideally you shouldn't even be asking..they should tell you. But if a job dislikes it when you ask detailed questions about how the visa process works, then they did you a favor by not hiring you.

I believe going to Ecuador in 2014 is a bad idea due to the visa issue.

The visa is going to be done at your cost and be expensive (I actually did have a job that was going to pay for mine.. but most jobs don't), but more importantly:
a) It's unclear what you need.. the problem isn't any one school not telling you/helping you, it's that the law changes constantly.

b) you must leave your passport with a third party with no timetable on when it's to be returned (see a) and no guarantee you'll actually get a visa.

B was not okay with me, and I wish SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME that's what the visa process is like.. so I am telling others..and that's all I am trying to do.

I know of a school that still has their foreign staff do border runs; that is dangerous! I know of a school that--for whatever reason, it likely was NOT the fault of the school-- had a teacher's paperwork for the visa be held up for 3 plus months, meaning she was without her passport that long..and after all of that time she had no idea when she'd get it back. That is dangerous, too. That's why I say don't go. I love the country and I hate saying that.

[lagringalindissima]

Okay sorry: perhaps I over reacted. If you want to live in Ecuador. then of course pursue your visa options online first-- and hire a professional to help you if needbe. (I'd guess professional help you be a great help.) If you want to live there long term, I would agree that getting a visa prior to coming is what you would want to do. (A teacher I worked with actually came just to get a visa "so I can look into retiring here"..he quit when he learned all our school offered was a tourist visa.)

What I am saying is this: if you find a job in Ecuador online (or happen to hear from a friend that "x school in Ecuador is great..apply there!" or "apply to teach somewhere in Cuenca!"), don't accept a job--"just for a year, to see Ecuador"-- and assume the visa process will be fine. Yes there are very very few jobs online or that hire from abroad, and (DUH) that is because most schools now know/admit they can't get teachers visas easily.. and that teachers are likely to either not come if they don't trust the visa process or not stay when they see what it's like. But there are some jobs online. I have seen my former school advertising-- and for multiple teachers.

If you want to live in Ecuador all I can say about the visa process is I am sure it's totally different than the process to get a short term work visa that is tied to a job. If you want to pursue a visa that is personal and lets you live/work in Ecuador apart from a job, then I am not going to say the process is chaotic, you can't get one, etc.. I don't know that. I never claimed to know anything about any visas other than what employers get for you.

I don't disagree that in Ecuador "you are on your own with the work visa"; that is definitely true! (I happen to disagree with and dislike the Ecuadorian attitude "we hired you.. here's the papers you need from us; now the visa is your problem" because that's not a professional way to treat employees.. but I wouldn't deny it's true.) If you want to stay there permanently and you can get a visa to allow you to stay there prior to leaving--at least for 6 months so you can find a good job-- then that is a good option. But if all you want is a one year job to see Ecuador you probably don't want to "go at it alone" (or with an attorney) for the visa. It might be worth it to pay as much as needed to get a visa with the flexibility to do what you want/not be tied to one employer if you are making long term plans to stay in the region, but if your goal was just "spend a year in Latin American and then come home" then you probably don't want to sink more money than needed into a visa..because you'll be getting low wages and paying airfare. Having said that, I have no information on prices of getting a visa alone vs. through a school/being sponsered and if you want a visa so you can job hunt for the best job (rather than accepting a job online) then maybe it's worth it...that's a personal decision, of course.

In summary..if you just want a short term job to see the world, don't look in Ecuador.

[BadBeagleBad]

[lagringalindissima]

Here is a government website with general information. What I was referring to are the unauthorized checkpoints described here; they have targeted Americans for their passports. travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertwarnings/mexico-travel-warnings.html.

Do I think cartels drive around the country in search of anyone speaking English and if they find us start shooting? No, of course not.

My point was just this: I am a naturally cautious person, but it concerns me that to get a visa in Ecuador my passport would be handed over to be processed for an unspecified length of time; this is one reason why. Yes that it how you get a visa in Ecuador, and perhaps it is safe..I am not claiming I ever met anyone who's passport was stolen by the government or anything like that. But since employers can not keep up with the constantly changing laws for me the risk isn't worth it.

[lagringalindissima]

I am assuming the "all you need for a visa is a BA" visa is the 90 day tourist visa. I do NOT doubt that having it in hand helps you get a job in country, but if you are job hunting here I would not recommend getting it. Why?

1) First, I personally wouldn't come here to job hunt; if you want to come, just admit it's for a great vacation and leave it at that ..or of course get a student visa and take Spanish classes. (If you could work out working plus taking classes I am sure you could teach and study Spanish, too.) But if you do come to job hunt, you have 90 days to be here with no visa..no extra cost, no hassles and no problem with your legal status.

2) It's going to be a big hassle to get this visa; I am not going to tell anyone I know the process, but it's a big hassle to get any visa. It was certainly a hassle to try to get the volunteer visa..just trying set up my bank account was a huge hassle. (Of course you might want a bank account anyway, but obviously it's easier to get one once you have a job.. an employer to sign off that you work there and monthly money to put in it.) Maybe the tourist visa doesn't require a bank account, but it must require getting your BA submitted, the tourist photos, etc.

3) If you get this 6 month visa it's not renewable; that means even if you get a 6 month job, if you were in the country for even 1 day before you were hired you'll need another visa--or if you just need "an extra week in the country on my visa" at least to make other arrangements to stay legally.

3) "But the visa is your responsibility, not the employer's".. this is a matter of opinion. Mine is this: we all know teaching in Ecuador isn't about making a good salary! The reality is you'll probably live paycheck to paycheck (or maybe save a small amount), and by the time you pay airfare and visa fees you'll lose money by coming here short term. That isn't to say it's not worth it to come, that's just the reality. I had a good job at a private K-12 school that paid 450/month plus visa fees and another good job that (unusual for Ecuador, but..) paid me more than most of their new hires due to my teaching experience and started me off at 600; all visa expenses were my responsibility. I found that job by contacting them and saying I wanted to live in Loja and had heard they were the best language school to work for. On the low end of salaries, CEDEI in Cuenca pays 25-350 a month--in a city that does NOT have a super low cost of living and visa fees are your responsibility. I would not recommend taking that job, but that's a job I found out there. So.. I don't believe I "owe it to" an employer here to already have a visa so I can get hired more easily, especially given that once I'm hired I'll probably need another one.

4) Personal choice/decision: I wouldn't want to risk starting it and then mis understanding the process and having to extend/delay the time it takes to get it..especially if I was in fact "going at it alone" and didn't even have a job/employer to help me straighten it out. "Just be responsible and don't misunderstand anything.." wouldn't cut it for me, because my employers mis understood the visa process; they didn't know how to get me a bank account pre-job. They hire teachers. So yes I might too..plus it changes constantly.

[lagringalindissima]

Final comment.. working for a "stipend" so that "you don't have to file taxes" isn't legal in Ecuador. And I am done commenting on this thread now, I promise !!

[BadBeagleBad]

[just_a_mirage]

I am a teacher in Ecuador and a visa facilitator. I have been doing both for over ten years. Because there are many types of visas, there are also many requirements that differ from visa to visa.

The 12 series visas are non immigrant visas. These include the extended tourist visa, volunteer visa, cultural exchange visa, work visa (can be hard to get because of a catch 22 in the law), and a few others.

The 9 series visas are resident visas. These include pension visas, investment visas, and one that is of particular interest to many teachers, the 9-V visa. This is the professional visa, and does not require any investment in the country, but does require a bachelor´s degree or higher. It is a bit time consuming, but is nice for someone who wants to live long-term in the country, get a cedula, and not be tied to any specific employer.

I am happy to answer any questions about visas in Ecuador. Rules change often, but if you do your home-work are pretty straight-forward.