retire in ecuador

[mglove99]

I stayed in Ecuador 6 months without any special Visa. What I did was leave the country, to Colombia, after 3 months and then got my passport renewed for another 3 months. You can only do this once and I believe you can still do it even with the new constitution. If you want to stay in Mindo, hit me up.

[manuloco78]

What's up mglove99? I was wondering how much it cost to make that "Visa run" to colombia and also how long you have to stay there before you can get your visa renewed for an additional timeframe...say 6 months?
How is the cost of lving in Mindo....Accomodations/food and such?
Thanks

[uzasesoresecuad]

Any question about moving or living in Ecuador; we could help:

[soaware]

You can obtain a 6 month Tourist Visa for Ecuador, or you can also get a 6 month business visa that will cost $125 at last count. I was in Ecuador for 6 months, returned to the U.S. and immediately obtained a 6 month business visa to return through the Ecuadorian consulate in Miami.

If you get a 3 month visa on entry, you must ask for a 6 month visa for potential residency. I did not do this and ended up having to go to the Ministerio del Exterior to go through an extension process. You do NOT want to do this until you have about a week left on your 90 day Visa, because you will loose any days at the point it is extended. I learned this the hard way and lost 30 days on mine. It will take about a week to complete the process if you renew a 90 day visa. It may be better to say you should allow a week! Any less is a gift!

[soaware]

You may want to check out my website at Ecuador for some of your answers.

If you are not of retirement age and cannot show a pension of minimum $800 monthly, then you will have to invest in property or deposit $25,000 with the Central Bank. Either/or. This will then allow you to apply for a resident visa as an investor.

Ecuador has tightened up a great deal on visas in the last year, so there's not much wiggle room!

But if you're willing to live outside the major cities such as Cotacachi, Riobamba, Alchipichi to name a few, and some of the smaller cities, then $600 a month for a single person is more than adequate! At my last visit July 2011, apartments could be found for $150 a month in some of these areas. But you won't find them advertised so it takes time and looking.