Investor visa in Ecuador

• The investor category is for a person with assets and funds of lawful origin who will carry out productive or commercial activities in Ecuador. It also covers legal representatives, attorneys and commercial representatives of Ecuadorian or foreign companies.
• Company officers can qualify without buying anything themselves if the company has a minimum share capital of 100 unified basic salaries. They present their registered appointment or a power of attorney, and the visa is issued for the length of that appointment, from a minimum of 181 days to a maximum of two years.
• The visa has no limit on time spent outside Ecuador and allows multiple entries. It is a temporary residence permit tied to the investment, not a citizenship scheme, and Ecuador's page puts no nationality limit on it.
• It is not for a smaller purchase: the regulation's property, deposit and share options each have a minimum of 100 unified basic salaries.

Sources: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH). Checked 17 October 2026.

• The investment test is not less than 100 unified basic salaries. With the 2026 unified basic salary of US$482, the test comes to about US$48,200. To be safe, have more than US$49,000 to invest.
• A bank option is a term deposit, policy or certificate of at least 730 days, dematerialised, from a lender recognised by the banking or popular-economy regulator. A property option is a registered purchase deed where you are the sole owner, or where your share alone is worth the minimum.
• A company option is shares or participations in an Ecuadorian company registered with the companies regulator. The regulation also accepts an investment contract signed with the State, a delegated-management contract or any administrative contract with the State, if it is current.
• The investment must be kept for the whole life of the visa; failing to keep it is a ground for cancelling the visa. You may replace it with another investment that meets the minimum, and you then get 60 days from the Ministry's authorisation to do so.
• The page also lists proof of lawful means of living under Ministerial Agreement 70 among the mandatory requirements, and the funds must be of lawful origin. The sources do not state a separate income test for the investor.

Sources: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Alongside a recent colour photo (JPG, up to 1 MB, 5 x 5 cm, white background) and a passport valid for at least six months, you need a criminal record certificate from your country of origin or any country you lived in during the last five years, translated and apostilled or legalised, valid 180 days from issue to your last entry. Only people aged 18 or over need one.
• The special document is proof of the investment: the deposit title or certificate, the property deed registered with the property registry, the share document, or the State contract.
• For a property, the visa is issued after you present an updated certificate of liens showing a note that the property cannot be sold while the visa lasts. For shares, the visa is issued with the certificate of registration of the shares with the regulator, which holds them against sale in the same way.

Sources: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Investor applications go through the e-VISAS platform, a zonal office in Ecuador or an Ecuadorian consulate abroad, and the first online fee is not refundable.
• The page gives no processing time, so how long a decision takes is unknown. The Ministry can ask the investment authority, or the State body that signed the contract, to confirm that a State contract is still current.

Sources: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH). Checked 17 October 2026.

• The fee comes in two parts: US$50 with the application and US$270 once the visa is granted, both without VAT.
• People aged 65 or over pay half, and people with a disability of 30% or more are exempt. A spouse or child on a dependant (amparo) visa pays US$50 to apply and US$200 when it is granted.

Sources: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH). Checked 17 October 2026.

• The investor visa is valid for two years, and the Law says temporary residence can be renewed on multiple occasions.
• To renew, the regulation asks only for documents supporting the assets or funds, the passport (original and copy), the renewal request and the visa form. The Ministry verifies the information and may ask you for what it cannot check itself.

Sources: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH). Checked 17 October 2026.

• After 21 continuous months of temporary residence you can apply for permanent residence, which has no end date, before the investor visa ends. You may not be away from Ecuador for more than 90 days in total across the temporary visa.
• When you apply, the Ministry checks that you still hold the fact that led to the visa, which for this route is the investment. The permanent visa costs US$50 to apply and US$225 when granted, and asks for an Ecuadorian criminal record certificate.
• As a permanent resident you would need to stay within the Law's absence limits (180 days a year for the first two years, then no two continuous years away). Naturalisation can be requested after three years of regular domicile with permanent residence.

Sources: Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH). Checked 17 October 2026.

• Ecuadorian tax residence follows the calendar: 183 days or more in a tax year, or in any 12 months across two tax years unless you prove tax residence elsewhere. Residents are taxed on worldwide income, and the tax paid abroad is credited up to the Ecuadorian tax.
• Someone never before an Ecuadorian tax resident can choose a five-year temporary tax residence, taxed only on Ecuadorian-source income. One way in is an investment of about US$150,000 held for five years (to be safe, more than US$160,000), plus 183 days or more in Ecuador in each tax year.
• The 2026 income tax table for individuals runs, in US dollars a year, from 0% up to 12,208 through 5% to 15,549 and 10% to 20,188 to 37% above 109,956.

Sources: Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI). Checked 15 October 2026.

• Digital nomad visa in Ecuador
• Retirement visa in Ecuador
• Work permit in Ecuador
• Family visa in Ecuador

• Visas in Ecuador
• Ecuador

1. List of countries whose nationals need a visa to enter Ecuador, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH), Ecuador. Checked 15 October 2026. Read on 15 October 2026. The page carries a 2020 date in its address but lists China, Chad and other countries added since, so it has been updated; it shows no date of its own. Australia is not on the list.
2. Identity History Summary Checks (FBI criminal record check), Federal Bureau of Investigation; Internet Archive copy. Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 6 October 2026, read on 15 October 2026. Gives the US$18 fee and says the FBI does not forward requests to the State Department for the apostille, so the apostille is a separate step.
3. US citizens and residents abroad: filing requirements, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026.
4. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Checked 15 October 2026.
5. US international Social Security agreements, US Social Security Administration; Internet Archive copy. Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 4 October 2026, read on 15 October 2026. Ecuador is not on the list of agreements in force.
6. United States income tax treaties, A to Z, Internal Revenue Service. Checked 15 October 2026. Read on 15 October 2026; Ecuador is not listed.
7. Criminal record checks: where to go, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Checked 15 October 2026. Date modified 6 August 2024. Certified criminal record check with fingerprints, through a local police service or an RCMP-accredited fingerprinting company.
8. Authentication of documents: frequently asked questions, Global Affairs Canada. Checked 15 October 2026. States that the Apostille Convention entered into force in Canada on 11 January 2024.
9. Authentication of documents: processing time, Global Affairs Canada. Checked 15 October 2026. Read on 15 October 2026: requests received about 25 business days ago, plus 5 to 10 business days of mailing; no expedited service.
10. Tax treaties in force, Department of Finance Canada. Checked 15 October 2026. Date modified 18 December 2024; Ecuador is listed (convention signed 28 June 2001).
11. Republic of Ecuador: Agreement on Social Security, Government of Canada. Checked 15 October 2026. Page details 6 October 2026: the agreement was signed on 24 June 2024 in Quito and will enter into force once both countries have completed their legal procedures.
12. Apply for a National Police Certificate, Australian Federal Police (AFP). Checked 15 October 2026. No date shown; read on 15 October 2026. A$57 online (a digital certificate, with a hard copy on request) or A$114 with fingerprints, which must be posted and take 15 to 30 business days. The certificate lists disclosable court outcomes from all Australian police services, subject to spent-conviction laws.
13. Notarial services and fees (fee schedule from 1 January 2026), Australian Government, DFAT (Smartraveller), Internet Archive copy. Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 7 October 2026, read on 15 October 2026 (the page was updated on 30 September 2026): apostille A$105 per document; payment in Australia by card only.
14. International social security agreements, Australian Government, Department of Social Services, Internet Archive copy. Checked 15 October 2026. Internet Archive capture of 9 September 2026, read on 15 October 2026. Lists agreements with 32 countries (Chile is the only one in South America) and five under negotiation; Ecuador is not listed.
15. Income tax treaties in force, Australian Treasury. Checked 15 October 2026. Table last updated 24 March 2026, read on 15 October 2026; Ecuador is not listed.
16. Get your own criminal record, Ministry of Justice (New Zealand). Checked 15 October 2026. Page last updated 18 December 2025, read on 15 October 2026. It is free to request a copy of your own record; the Ministry aims to answer within 20 working days (around 90% in under a week). If another country asks for it to be authenticated or apostilled, send the record to the Department of Internal Affairs. It does not say whether Ecuador accepts the record as issued.
17. Use your NZ documents overseas: apostille and authentication, Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), on govt.nz. Checked 15 October 2026. Page last updated 15 September 2026, read on 15 October 2026. Apostille NZ$37 a certificate (paper or electronic); processed within 15 working days; urgent service within 5 working days for NZ$120 more, not available if the document needs translating; courier extra (NZ$62 to the rest of the world). Own translations must be notarised by a New Zealand notary public, not a justice of the peace or solicitor. The page does not say whether Ecuador accepts an electronic apostille.
18. Social security agreements, Work and Income (Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand). Checked 15 October 2026. Updated 25 August 2026, read on 15 October 2026. Eleven agreements listed (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Greece, Malta, the Netherlands, South Korea, the United Kingdom); Ecuador is not one of them.
19. Tax treaties: double tax agreements and tax information exchange agreements, Inland Revenue (New Zealand), Tax Policy. Checked 15 October 2026. Read on 15 October 2026; the page shows no update date. 41 double tax agreements in force, plus agreements signed and under negotiation; Ecuador is in none of the lists, nor among the tax information exchange agreements.
20. Temporary residence for investors (inversionista): requirements and fees, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH), on the government procedures portal gob.ec; Internet Archive copy. Checked 17 October 2026. Internet Archive capture, opened 17 October 2026; gob.ec does not connect from our network, so it was not compared with the live page. Capture of 28 January 2026. Investment of at least 100 unified basic salaries as a term deposit of 730 days or more, a property deed, company shares, or a contract with the State; US$50 plus US$270; valid 2 years; the visa has no limit on time spent outside Ecuador and allows multiple entries.
21. Regulation to the Organic Law of Human Mobility (Executive Decree 354, Official Register 3rd Supplement 18, 10 March 2022): articles 61 to 67, 79, 83 to 87, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH), copy of the Official Register text. Checked 17 October 2026. Opened on 17 October 2026; the copy dates from 2022 and may not include later changes. Art. 61: work under an employment relationship; art. 63: rentista and art. 64: remote work (three salaries a month, US$1,446 in 2026, or 36 a year, US$17,352); art. 65: retiree (three salaries); art. 66: investor (100 salaries, US$48,200); art. 79: dependants; arts. 83 to 87: permanent residence.
22. Organic Law of Human Mobility, consolidated text to 14 May 2021: articles 60, 63 to 65, 71 and 73, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH), copy of the Official Register text. Checked 17 October 2026. Opened on 17 October 2026. It predates the October 2025 reform. Art. 60: temporary residence up to two years, renewable on multiple occasions, and its categories; art. 63: permanent residence; art. 65: absences; art. 71 and 73: naturalisation.
23. Ministerial Agreement 70 of 28 June 2024 on lawful means of living for visa applications: articles 16 to 24, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH). Checked 17 October 2026. Opened on 17 October 2026 (a scanned PDF, read with text recognition). Article 19 accepts, for the temporary residence categories and for dependants, a registered employment contract paying at least one unified basic salary (US$482 in 2026), bank statements showing income of at least one salary, or pension and rent documents; article 22 asks for one salary a month over the last three months for permanent residence after 21 months; article 24 on foreign electronic-signed statements.
24. Temporary residence as a dependant (amparo), all categories: requirements and fees, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH), on the government procedures portal gob.ec; Internet Archive copy. Checked 17 October 2026. Internet Archive capture, opened 17 October 2026; gob.ec does not connect from our network, so it was not compared with the live page. The page shows a last update of 31 December 2024. Capture of 28 January 2026. For children, spouse or registered partner of a temporary resident; US$50 plus US$200; valid for as long as the holder's visa has left; US$250 a month more for each adult child covered.
25. Permanent residence after more than 21 months of temporary residence: requirements and fees, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH), on the government procedures portal gob.ec; Internet Archive copy. Checked 17 October 2026. Internet Archive capture, opened 17 October 2026; gob.ec does not connect from our network, so it was not compared with the live page. The page shows a last update of 31 December 2024. Capture of 28 January 2026. Ecuadorian criminal record certificate, proof of 21 continuous months, application before the temporary visa ends; US$50 plus US$225; no end date.
26. Law of the Internal Tax Regime (LRTI), codification with the latest reform of 1 April 2026: articles 2, 4.1, the temporary tax residence article, 8 and 49, Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI), Ecuador tax authority. Checked 15 October 2026. Read on 15 October 2026. Article 2: income earned abroad by individuals domiciled in Ecuador is income. Article 4.1: residence tests. The article added by Law 461 of 20 December 2023: five-year temporary tax residence, taxed only on Ecuadorian-source income, for people never previously resident who invest at least US$150,000 or prove at least US$2,500 a month of non-Ecuadorian-source income and join social security, with the conditions met between day 1 and day 120 after entering. Article 8: income from work done in Ecuador is Ecuadorian-source. Article 49: credit for tax paid abroad.
27. Regulation to the LRTI, latest reform 22 May 2026: temporary tax residence articles, Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI), Ecuador tax authority. Checked 15 October 2026. Read on 15 October 2026. The regime can be used once; you notify the SRI under a procedure to be set by a general resolution (we did not find that resolution); it lasts five consecutive years; you must be in Ecuador 183 days or more in each tax year or it stops applying from that year; the conditions are checked up to 120 days after entry; the monthly income must come from a source outside Ecuador and outside tax havens.
28. Income tax tables for individuals, 2026 (Resolution NAC-DGERCGC25-00000043), Servicio de Rentas Internas (SRI), Ecuador tax authority. Checked 15 October 2026. Read on 15 October 2026. 2026 table in US dollars: 0% up to 12,208; 5% to 15,549; 10% to 20,188; 12% to 26,700; 15% to 35,136; 20% to 46,575; 25% to 62,005; 30% to 82,679; 35% to 109,956; 37% above.