Visa Angels of Cuenca: Is This the Expat 'Find of the Year'...

cccmedia Ecuador/Colombia Expert

Member since 13 March 2014

cccmediaEcuador/Colombia Expert30 December 2014 00:58:05

10285

On another thread, Netbean had a brief post about the Visa Angels, which is a non-profit group of volunteer Expats in Cuenca that assists fellow Expats "in need" to succeed in the residency visa process.

The post was brief, but if the group's reviews at GringoTree and GringoPost are representative, these Angels could be the answers to arriving Expats' prayers -- at least in the Cuenca area.

The reviewers tell of receiving excellent assistance that enabled them to get residency visas in three weeks or less after submitting the paperwork. One poster said it cost him only $100 or so for a small donation to the Angels, translations, and notary work. Another poster said the service is "free," so any donation may be voluntary.

According to the reviews, Joe Spotts is the man behind the scenes, and one of Joe's Angels is Jodie Mansfield -- jody47@gmail.com

Another email for the group is visaangels@gmail.com

If any Expat.com users get assistance from the Angels -- either in Cuenca or via messaging -- please tell us about your experience.

cccmedia in Quito

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Ann Arque Member

Member since 19 March 2015

Ann ArqueMember19 March 2015 00:34:49

More like 'Fraud of the Year'

thecuencaillusion.blogspot.com/

gardener1 Serial expat

Member since 08 May 2013

gardener1Serial expat19 March 2015 01:21:16

675

Ann Arque -

Since your link has been removed we have no way to access the message you wanted to convey. Posters on this website with no history of conversation have their links removed on the assumption that it is spam, whether it is or not.

I'd like to read what you were trying to say, if you could paraphrase for us the information in your link. Or even copy and paste the relevant passages from whatever it was you linked.

Thanks, gardener1

yulrun Contributor

Member since 11 March 2014

yulrunContributor19 March 2015 05:55:16

144

Ann Arque seems pretty close to "arnaque" which in French means "scam"... I don't know if it was intended or just a coincidence.

That said the blog post is pretty objective and the sources should be quite easy to verify. Scary.

Ann Arque Member

Member since 19 March 2015

Ann ArqueMember19 March 2015 11:58:08

It's a blog. You can google 'the cuenca illusion' to read it. If a more seasoned member would like to post the link that would be great.

yulrun Contributor

Member since 11 March 2014

yulrunContributor19 March 2015 13:02:54

144

Ann Arque wrote:
It's a blog. You can google 'the cuenca illusion' to read it. If a more seasoned member would like to post the link that would be great.

That link?
thecuencaillusion.blogspot.com/

I do see it and I think it's worth the read. As I said, quite easy to validate the sources...

OrganicMom Active member

Member since 28 March 2015

OrganicMomActive member27 May 2015 03:28:54

Am I missing something? I read the article, but don't see what they're doing that's so wrong. Maybe this Jodie is related to Joe, and it would make sense that she's posting favorable reviews of his service. I don't see what's wrong with her having a visa help service and him having a container shipping service and recommending each other? And, I don't see what's wrong with them saying their service is free, but asking you to pay for translations and other document fees and accepting a donation if you want to give one. I talked to a lawyer, Sara Chaca, who wanted $1500 for me and my son (although she did take all the fees out of that, and offered help finding an apartment etc. too), and she was one of the cheaper ones. My point is that it doesn't seem unreasonable to ask you to pay the fees, when the service is free.