Advice on the Foreign Pension Immigration Visa

Welcome to the Ecuador forum, Jim.

You can contact Gringo Visas, a residency-visa service company that has offices in Quito, Cuenca and the United States.

As such, they can do the ‘workaround’ of the arcane rules so that the visa application can be submitted in Ecuador even though you are still in the U.S.

The company is headed by U.S.-educated Maité Duran (pronounced my-TAY).

They can advise you as to your specific questions in paragraph 3 of your post.

Ask Gringo Visas if you can use your apostilled documents to apply now .. and then register the completed visa in Ecuador when you arrive here.

Contact information is at the gringovisas.com website.

cccmedia in Quito

Jim,
You have gotten some inaccurate advice about not being able to apply for your visa after entering Ecuador on a 90 day tourist visa. I did exactly that. I detailed all the steps I encountered and the time it took in the forum topic "2015 - Anybody in the Ecuador Visa Pipelines". Just enter "Visa Pipeline" in the search box and you will reach that topic.

How long will it be before you arrive in Ecuador? As long as it is at least 50-60 days before your 180 days expires, you should be good, but get to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nearest as soon as you get here. A few companies will process your Visa while you are still in the USA, but it takes time and MONEY! I used EcuadorVisas (attorney Sara Chaca) and was well pleased. Several people have reported less pleasant experiences with GringoVisas. Some other services have been mentioned on the topic I mentioned.

Best luck, it's not as bad as you have been lead to believe!

Dorothy

Hello, cccmedia,

Thank you for the information. I've explored their website and filled out the contact form; so, I will be talking with them in the next couple of days.

I want to avoid using a service like this as they're very expensive. I'll probably have to explore other options, but, I'll at least talk with them.

Again, thanks for the email and information.

Kind regards,
Jim

Hi, Dorothy,

Thanks for your message and information. I will be reading your post as I need all the information I can get.

My original plans were to arrive in Ecuador in early September, but now I think it will probably be delayed 2-3 months. I'll check with EcuadorVisas and GringoVisas and at least talk with them. I want to avoid using any type of service and attorneys because of the ridiculous fees. I'll most likely have to exercise other options and take it from there.

Thanks again, Dorothy

Kind regards,
Jim

Hello Jim,
If you have all the documents ready, I think you have a similar case as mine. I arrived in Ecuador with a tourist visa and I brought all my documents apostilled and legalized. Another expat recommend me to use the services of attorney Pablo Espinoza and his team Helping Expats Group. I had a great experience with them, they take care of filling my visa application forms, the translations and notarizations and then they accompanied me through the process in the Ministry, due I brought all the documents ready from USA, they just charged me $450.
If you want to receive your visa in USA before coming to Ecuador, I know it is also possible if you give a special power of attorney to Pablo or his assistant, so they can submit your visa application to be proceded and once it is approved it will be send to the Ecuadorian Consulate you prefer.

Contact them at: helping-expats-group@hotmail.com

Good Luck!

Hi everyone,

@ James Caj, thank you for sharing. It would be better if you recommend the service of your contact in the business directory. Members will have easy access to his contact details.

All the best,
Bhavna

Hello James,

Thank you for the advice. I'll definitely check into them.

Jim

Hi James,
You're absolutely right, attorney Pablo and his team are great!!!
Cheers for them!!!

Thanks for your advice.