Ecuador digital nomad visa (2026)

Who can apply

• Remote work for your own business or for employers or clients abroad
• Foreign-source income of three basic salaries a month (or 36 a year)
• Clean criminal record
• Health insurance valid in Ecuador

Income requirement

You need to show at least 3 basic salaries – about US$1,446 per month in 2026. Foreign-source income of three Unified Basic Salaries a month over the previous three months, or 36 basic salaries a year; the 2026 basic salary is US$482.

Documents you need

• Valid passport
• International bank statements showing income for the last three months
• Apostilled or legalized criminal record certificate
• Health insurance valid in Ecuador
• Photograph

How to apply, step by step

1. Register on the foreign ministry's online services platform
2. Submit the application and pay the US$50 application fee
3. If approved, pay the visa grant fee

Where and how to apply

The visa is a temporary residence in the 'rentista' category for remote work. It is granted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility (MREMH, Cancillería), not by the interior ministry's migration control. The whole application runs online on the ministry's e-VISAS platform (serviciosdigitales.cancilleria.gob.ec), wherever you are. The visa itself is issued through the ministry's zonal directorates in Ecuador or through embassy consular sections and consulates abroad. Ministerial Agreement 70 of June 2024 centralises the review of files in a digital services unit that works on e-VISAS. Files for children and for adults who cannot act for themselves are sent to a zonal directorate or consulate for interviews before a decision. You can apply from outside Ecuador or from inside it. Applying from inside Ecuador requires regular status, meaning a current tourist stay authorised by the Ministry of the Interior or another valid visa. After the October 2025 reform of the Organic Law on Human Mobility (LOMH), tourists may stay up to 90 days per year, extendable once by 90 days, or 180 days for South American nationals. That stay is the window for filing in-country. Questions go to the ministry's counselling unit (consejeria@cancilleria.gob.ec, 02-3933520), as the procedure page says consultations are handled online.

Timeline

1. Collect and certify documents Criminal record valid 180 days
   The criminal record certificate counts as valid for 180 days from issue to your last entry into Ecuador. It must be national-level, apostilled or legalised and translated. Your passport needs at least six months' validity.
2. Register on e-VISAS and lodge the request Same day as payment
   Create an account, choose 'Nueva Visa', upload the photo (5 x 5 cm JPG, max 1 MB) and supporting files. The procedure page says unpaid requests are deleted at 23:55 Ecuador time that day.
3. Pay the application fee Card by 23:55; bank deposit during Banco del Pacífico hours
   Once the US$50 is paid, the file moves to 'Revisión de Información'. The fee is not refunded if the visa is refused.
4. Correct any gaps 10 working days
   If documents are missing or illegible you are notified and given ten days (término) to fix them. Otherwise the request is treated as withdrawn.
5. Pay the visa and ID-card order Within 2 months of the payment order
   After approval you pay the US$270 visa fee and the cédula order. Missing the two-month window means the file is declared abandoned.
6. Receive the electronic visa After payment is verified
   The visa and the cédula order are sent electronically with a QR code and a barcode.
7. Get the Ecuadorian ID card (cédula) Order valid 30 days
   Use the order at the Civil Registry before it lapses. After 30 days a new order must be bought.
8. Plan the next status After 21 continuous months
   Apply for permanent residence before the current residence expires if you want to stay on.

Proving your income

The special requirement is foreign-source income of at least three Unified Basic Salaries (SBU) a month in each of the three months before the application, or 36 SBU over a year. It is shown with copies of international bank account statements in which the payments appear. Because the threshold is tied to the SBU, it changes every January. You must also show that the income comes from remote work for an employer, client or company domiciled outside Ecuador, for example a contract or employer letter. Alternatively you can show that you own a company registered and domiciled abroad. Ministerial Agreement 70 (28 June 2024) sets how lawful means of living are documented across visa types, and the nomad page refers to it. Article 24 of that agreement says foreign private documents such as bank statements or bank certificates carrying an electronic signature are accepted without apostille or legalisation. Paper documents without an e-signature must be certified by a notary and then apostilled or legalised. Documents not in Spanish must be translated. Keep the three months consistent: one month below the threshold can sink the file, since the rule is stated per month. Each dependant adds US$250 a month to the amount you must prove.

Bringing your family

Article 60(13) of the LOMH lets the holder's children, spouse or legally recognised de facto partner (unión de hecho) obtain a dependant ('amparo') temporary residence. Its validity cannot exceed the main holder's. For the nomad visa, the procedure page requires the holder to prove an extra US$250 of monthly income for each person covered. Applications for children are filed by a parent or legal representative and require an apostilled or legalised birth certificate in place of a criminal record certificate. They are referred to a zonal directorate or consulate for an interview. Article 65.A of the LOMH protects dependants in some situations: they keep their visa if the holder dies, or if a marriage or de facto union ends for reasons attributable to the holder. The official pages reviewed do not say whether dependants may take paid work in Ecuador, or whether each dependant needs a separate insurance policy. More generally, LOMH article 64 requires the applicant's lawful means of living to cover both themselves and their dependent family group.

Health insurance

The procedure page requires public (national) or private health insurance valid for the same period as the visa. If the policy comes from a foreign insurer, the policy or contract must state that it covers you in Ecuador. That wording is the usual reason a travel or international policy gets rejected. The cover therefore has to run from the visa's start for its whole validity, up to two years, and policies with shorter terms risk a refusal or later cancellation. Article 52 of the LOMH also requires every foreign resident to hold public or private insurance as a general rule. No official minimum benefit level, deductible or exclusion rule is published for this visa. Ministerial Agreement 70 does not add any. Once you hold residence and an ID card, you can look into Ecuador's public social security system (IESS), but the official sources reviewed do not say whether IESS affiliation satisfies the visa requirement on its own.

Cost and processing time

The fee is uS$50 application plus US$270 visa grant. Processing takes not stated. Budget extra for translations, certified copies and health insurance.

After you arrive

• Pay the visa fee and the cédula order within two months of the payment order, then get your cédula at the Civil Registry within the order's 30-day validity. Under LOMH article 44, residents are issued an identity card.
• Keep your health insurance in force for the whole visa period, as the visa was granted on that basis.
• Work only within the visa's purpose. Under the 2025 reform, doing activities other than those your visa allows is fined one SBU, and repeat cases lead to cancellation and a two-year bar on a new status.
• Leaving and returning are allowed: under LOMH article 65, temporary residence permits multiple entries and does not limit time abroad, except for refugees.
• Track your days for tax: SRI's published criteria make you a tax resident at 183 days in a fiscal year.
• Mark the 21-month point and lodge any permanent residence request before your temporary visa expires.

Tax

The visa page and the ministerial agreements say nothing about tax, and no nomad tax exemption appears in the official material reviewed. The Internal Revenue Service (SRI) site could not be reached for this update. The tax residence criteria below come from the SRI's own summary of article 4.1 of the Internal Tax Regime Law, published by the OECD. Under that summary, an individual is tax resident for a fiscal year if they spend 183 calendar days or more in Ecuador in that year, consecutive or not, with sporadic absences counted. They are also resident if they spend 183 days within any twelve-month period spanning two fiscal years, unless they prove tax residence elsewhere. Two further tests apply. The main centre of their economic activities or interests may be in Ecuador, either because their largest income in the last twelve months came from Ecuador or because most of their assets are there. Or they may not have spent more than 183 days in any other country and have their closest family ties in Ecuador. Someone who claims residence in a tax haven or low-tax jurisdiction must prove 183 days there. Article 4.1 was later rewritten in November 2021, and its current wording could not be checked on the SRI site. Ecuador's SRI issues certificates of tax residence to individuals.

Does it lead to permanent residence?

Time on this visa counts as temporary residence. Article 63(1) of the LOMH, as rewritten in 2021, grants permanent residence to people who have completed at least 21 continuous months in Ecuador as residents. The request must be filed before the current residence expires. For that application, Ministerial Agreement 70 (article 22) requires lawful means of living of at least one SBU a month for the three months before filing. You can show this with an IESS contribution record, bank statements from an Ecuadorian or foreign bank, or certified proof of income, rents or pensions. Permanent residents face absence limits. During the first two years they may not spend more than 180 days a year abroad, and the 2025 reform fines excess absence at half an SBU. After that they may be away up to two continuous years before losing the status. There is a conflict on renewals. The consolidated LOMH text (2021 reform) says temporary residence lasts up to two years and is renewable multiple times. The ministry's nomad page instead quotes an older version of article 60 saying the stay is renewable once. Treat the number of renewals as something to confirm with the ministry.

Why applications get refused

• Criminal record certificate older than 180 days (counted from issue to your last entry), issued at state or local rather than national level, or missing apostille or translation.
• Income below three SBU in any of the three months, statements that are not from an international account, or no proof that the employer, client or company is domiciled abroad.
• Insurance that does not run for the full visa period or a foreign policy that does not state cover in Ecuador.
• Applying from inside Ecuador without regular status, or with a passport valid for less than six months.
• Missing the payment deadlines or the ten-day correction period, which leads to deletion, withdrawal or abandonment of the file.
• Being considered a risk to public security, or having a final conviction in Ecuador for a crime punishable by imprisonment (the 2025 reform dropped the earlier five-year threshold).

Cost of living in Cuenca

1-bedroom rent

US$450-624 per month in the city centre; US$350-500 outside the centre (Numbeo, 12 Nov 2026)

Coworking desk

No dated price data found

Ecuador uses the US dollar; Numbeo ranges are crowd-sourced and not official statistics.

Good to know

• The income figure changes each year with Ecuador's basic salary

Visiting first? Entry rules for popular passports

152 passports can enter Ecuador visa-free for a short stay, a common way to try the country before applying. Check Ecuador visa requirements for your passport.

Official source

gob.ec – Concesión de visa de residencia temporal rentista para trabajo remoto (Visa Nómada)

Not yet confirmed on an official source: income requirement, fee, length of stay, renewal, documents, processing time. Check these with the consulate before you apply.