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[jml3]

does anybody know what happens if i go somewhere else to work (e.g. colombia) and then want to come back to ecaudor as a tourist after my 12-IX expires? am i okay to come back in the country, or do they get finicky about that kind of thing? it's all hypothetical at this point, but after travelling around ecaudor a bit, i am starting to get curious about colombia.

[HLJHLJ]

Thank you to everyone who gave us so much help with this, we finally got sorted and have our Censos. I know other people are still wading through the paperwork, so I will explain how it worked for us, in case it helps someone else.

We applied for the 12-IX in the UK. You have to go the consulate office in London for it, and they issue the visa there and then. The difficult part was getting an appointment, they like to see you as close as possible to your leaving date, and we had to really barter to get an appointment 5 weeks before we were due to go. Aside from that, it was pretty straightforward. They wanted originals and copies of
bank statements
passport
return flight tickets
travel insurance (ours did not say certificate on it, but it did say policy)

plus 2 passport photos, the visa application form and the fee in cash.

The only other thing they sprang on us was wanting to see our marriage certificate (and a copy!), but luckily I had that, just in case.

The whole process took about 1/2 hour and we left with the visas in our passports and the registration letters.

Fast forward to arriving in Ecuador, my first mistake was not to be more insistent in pointing out the visa in my passport when we arrived. As a result, my arrival stamp is on a different page to my visa, and this continually causes confusion. Make sure the immigration officer knows you have a 12-IX and they will stamp the page next to it.

The next step was registration, we did this in Quito, at Edificio Katrina, which is right on the junction of Av 6 de Diciembre and Av Gaspar de Villaroel. It's open from 8.00-16.30, but at some point roughly between 12.00-2.30 the person you are waiting to see will take lunch that will last from 30 mins to 2 hours. Regardless of how long they will be, you will be told they will be back soon, or in half an hour. Take that with a pinch of salt.

There is an information desk at the main entrance, and a ticket machine nearby. We don't speak much Spanish so we showed the man on the desk our registration letters (the security guard also offered to help us) and he showed us some information on what documents we needed. If you can speak Spanish it should be a lot easier.

First we had to go back out and down to the far end of Av Gaspar de Villaroel and each pay in $10 to a government bank account. The guy on the info desk gave us a pre-printed slip of paper with the account details on, and we just handed this in at the bank with $10 cash. The bank assistant was obviously familiar with it, and gave us the necessary receipt, then we headed back.

Once we had the receipts the info desk man sent us out again to buy folders. I don't know if they have a name, but imagine an oversized piece of A3 cardboard folded in half with flat metal clips inside. They are pretty common office stationery, and there are numerous stationery shops in the area that sell them, and if you go in and ask for a file or folder they will know what you are looking for, they are just a few cents each. While you are in there, get a manilla envelope as well, as you will need it later.

So we went back to the office again, armed with a receipt and folder each, and the info desk man checked we had colour copies of:
passport ID page
visa page
entry stamp page

plus the receipt, folder, passport and registration letter. He then got us the right ticket from the machine and sent us through to the next room.

In the next room and there is a ticker sign which shows which letter and number is next to be dealt with and where they should go. For example, we had a ticket like R 278, and eventually R 278 > 3 came up, so we had to go to desk 3. There were various different letters depending which button you pressed on the machine, for the different services. So make sure you get the right one.

Once we got to see the guy who did the registration he checked our docs and kept everything including our passports, gave us a receipt and said come back tomorrow.

So we went back the next day, got an R ticket from the machine and went straight into the waiting room. When our number came up we went back to see the same guy and swapped our receipts for our passports. We had to sign our registration letters to say we had had them back. The passports now had a new stamp in them.

We then got sent straight to the Censo office, which is in the same room (it was booth 8 this time, but I don't know if it always is). The person who did the Censo was in (police?) uniform, and everyone else was in office dress.

We didn't have all the docs we needed for the Censo so we had to come back the next day. The docs we needed were

Colour copies of each of the following:
passport ID page
visa page
entry stamp page
the new registration stamp page

1 colour passport photo
a manilla envelope
proof of where you are staying
$4 in cash

There are colour copy shops on every block, so the copies of the new stamp were easy enough, and the stationery shops know what sort of envelope you need, so that was easy too. The only difficulty we had was the proof of address.

We were staying in a hotel, otherwise a copy of the lease would have done. The Censo guy showed us an example of what he wanted from a hotel, and it was a certificate (with certifcado across the top) confirming name, passport number and dates of stay.

Our hotel was not keen to provide it, I'm not sure why, but it took us a few attempts to get what was needed. The example we were shown was from The Sheraton and they seem to have a standard certificate for this. So if you have the cash, it might be easier to stay in a business hotel for the first few days as they may be more used to dealing with it.

Anyway, we got the letter/certificate eventually and went back to the office with the docs above. This time we needed an M ticket. The catch here though is that although you still need a numbered ticket, the Censo guy doesn't use the ticker sign in the waiting room. Instead you just have to mill around near his cubicle and compare your ticket number with the people around you. If it is any consolation the Ecuadorians who were also queuing seemed as baffled by the whole procedure as we were.

When it was eventually our turn the Censo guy went through our docs, had us write some info on the envelope; name, nationality, address in Ecuador, phone number in Ecuador, (must be an Ecuadorian number) and stick a photo on the front. The info has to be written the right way though, so if you aren't sure just wait until he tells you what/where to write. All our docs went into the envelope and then he took a digital photo (I wasn't expecting that so on my Censo pic I look like death warmed up, with the combined jet lag and stress of the whole palaver). Then he printed out the Censo card with the digi pic on, had us sign to say we'd had them, and laminated them. We paid the $4 cash each, and left with our cards.

None of the staff spoke much English, and my Spanish is pitiful, but we got by OK. I have to say, all the staff were really helpful, despite the language barrier, and went to a lot of trouble to ensure we understood what was needed. So although it was fairly time consuming, it was reasonably straightforward.

Hope that helps the next person to try it

[latif]

thanks for this - very helpful, i'll print it out and carry it with me (of-course, in the next two or three months the whole procedure might change )

question: "address in Ecuador, phone number in Ecuador"

were these your address and phone number at the hotel you were staying? And they are OK with a hotel address, even if u plan on staying there for just a few days, or are you planning on staying in Quito?

[HLJHLJ]

Hey it might be different tomorrow, who knows what will happen next?! But at least it's a starting point!

The address and phone number in Ecuador were the hotel address and phone number. We are only staying in Quito until tomorrow, and the letter we had off the hotel had that date on it, but it didn't seem to be a problem. There was some discussion over whether my UK cell number would be better than the hotel number, but in the end we were told to put the hotel number down. We will only have stayed in Quito 5 nights altogether.

[naturegirl321]

WHY did they want to see your marriage cert? Are you married to an Ecuadorian?

[HLJHLJ]

They wouldn�t let me apply for my own visa because my husband was going too. They would only let me have a dependent's visa. I argued a little, and they said it didn�t matter because I would have the same rights (i.e. be able to work) as if I had my own visa, and it was 100GBP cheaper. I got the impression that if I had not had a copy of the marriage certificate I would have been refused a visa entirely, or at least until I could produce it.

In the end I didn�t think it was worth making a big scene about, because I didn�t have time to spare to go back and reapply.

[mels88]

Hi everyone, I am coming to Ecuador in September and it seems like I haven't left enough time to get my 12-IX visa registered and get a censo before I head off to the Southern Cross program. Is there any way this can be done in one day in Guayaquil (if luck is on my side)? Does anyone have advice on what I can prepare ahead of time to make this move as quick as possible?

Thanks a lot. I hadn't anticipated this whole registration process so all your advice is a great help :-)

[HLJHLJ]

There's a guy here on the current course in the same situation, he'll be going into Guayaquil in the next week or two to register, I'll let you know how he gets on.

[mels88]

Thanks, it would be great to hear about his experience.

Just to clarify, it seems like this is a 2-step process: getting registered and getting the Censo. Does each process take place in a different building location? If so where, and does anyone recommend a nearby hotel that would make it easy to hop over first thing in the morning?

[HLJHLJ]

In Quito it was in the same room of the same building. I don't know if it is the same in Guayaquil though.

[just_a_mirage]

It is in two separate places in Guayaquil. To register your visa, you go to the Registro Civil downtown, near the Malecon. The office you need is in the basement of the building. Dont be put off by the large crowds that are sometimes outside the building. In the office for extranjeros, the wait isnt usually long. The people you see upstairs are Ecuadorians dealing with cedulas etc. To register the visa, you need your original visa paper. They will take it, so make copies for yourself, copies of your passport picture page and visa entry stamp. Also you need to write a short letter in spanish, asking for your visa to be registered. All of these need to be put into a manila folder with a clip (carpeta con vincha), and then into one of those brownish-gold colored envelopes. The censos is obtained at Migracion on the river across from the bus terminal (Terminal Terrestre) There you will need copies of yor passport picture and visa stamp, as well as copies showing you will be studying (if you are taking the CELTA). Sometimes you can get right in and get your censos. Other times you need an appointment. Its the luck of the draw.

[mels88]

Thank you very much. Knowing this will be a big help.

[whateverlolawants]

[HLJHLJ]

[whateverlolawants]