Any advice for taking steps to moving there?

Maximizedmom77 wrote:

Can I bring a vehicle? If so, is it expensive to ship?

What area(a) do you really like? I am wanting away from big city and want lots of Land to grow food, but would still love the beach and getting to interact with people.

Ecuador does not allow Expats to bring in used vehicles.

Unless your vehicle is of the latest-model year, you’re out of luck.

As for a great place to grow food in Ecuador, the soil in Expat-favorite Vilcabamba is widely considered the best for this purpose.

It’s not on the ocean, but you might go for the ‘trade-off’ if you like Vilca.

cccmedia

Bummer! Wonder what their logic is on that one!

And yes I have heard a good bit about vilcambaba. A company called raw food world moved out there from CA and his family loves it!

Hi everyone,

@ Maximizedmom77, just to inform you that this new thread has been created from your posts on the Ecuador forum so that you may get some feedback easily.

All the best,
Bhavna

Maximizedmom77 wrote:

am thinking more and more about moving to Ecuador! ...

Any advice for taking steps to moving there?

Steps to move to Ecuador....

1.  Visit Ecuador.

2.  Decide if you want to move to Ecuador.  Start working on your Spanish if you decide in favor of the move.

3.  Commit to moving to Ecuador.  Decide in which city to live first.  Make sure your passport is in order.

4.  Figure out which visa* is right for you.  Some of the visa rules just changed, but the most popular visas for Expats will likely still be pension, investment and professional visas, in that order. 

5. Make plans to get rid of your stuff.  Don’t expect to manage North American property from Ecuador, so make plans there.  Figure on starting fresh.

6. Keep working on your Spanish.

7.  Buy plane ticket(s).  Make a reservation at a hotel or hostel.  You’ll make longer-term plans on where to live after putting ‘boots on the ground’.

8.  Sell, gift, donate, toss your extra stuff.

9.  Pack your bags.  Make plans for your mail.  Say your good-byes.

10.  Get to the airport with plenty of time.

  -- cccmedia


*Not everybody qualifies for a visa.  If you don’t have a pension .. don’t have a degree from a college or university .. or don’t have $25,000-plus for an EC investment, you could be behind the 8-ball.

Maximizedmom77 wrote:

Hi!

I live in fernandina beach and am thinking more and more about moving to Ecuador!

How do you like it?

Any advice for taking steps to moving there? Can I bring a vehicle? If so, is it expensive to ship?

What area(a) do you really like? I am wanting away from big city and want lots of Land to grow food, but would still love the beach and getting to interact with people.

The best advice I can give is for you to try it out before fully committing to living here. Be wary of Utopian online information, the reality is most people leave after a couple of years. This is attested by information shared by expats, numerous blogs that stop updating, and other indications. When someone states they love it here ask they how long they've been here, and what specifically do the love about living here.

Personally I love the interactions with the people, it's the number one reason why I remain here. I also love the Spanish language and it's a dream of mine to be fluent in it. So everyone is quite different because some expat folk could care less about interacting with locals. The climate of the Andes is a plus and very kind to me.

HI, could you explain the not having a degree part?   And what does ec stand for?

Thanks for all the advice! We have a rental property maintaining one of our properties we moved from, so we will continue doing that. As far as our fernandina house, it actually may make decent income for us since more and more are coming here to vacation.. and if Ecuador is not the place for us, we have a home to come back to:)

Maximizedmom77 wrote:

HI, could you explain the not having a degree part?   And what does ec stand for?

Thanks for all the advice! We have a rental property maintaining one of our properties we moved from, so we will continue doing that. As far as our fernandina house, it actually may make decent income for us since more and more are coming here to vacation.. and if Ecuador is not the place for us, we have a home to come back to:)

ec=Ecuador. Having a degree refers to a university degree (bachelor's, master's, ph.D...etc,), which was a requirement for the 9V professional immigrant visa. This was the easiest way to obtain permanent residency in Ecuador since you didn't need to have a permanent income nor invest $25,000+.

At this time, it is unclear if you will be able to obtain a professional visa on the basis of only a university degree. Details on this should be released in the new few weeks.

Like others have said, the best thing to do is visit for a weeks and see first hand if Ecuador is the right place for you.

Maximizedmom77 wrote:

. As far as our fernandina house, it actually may make decent income for us since more and more are coming here to vacation.. and if Ecuador is not the place for us, we have a home to come back to:)

That works, especially if the property is managed properly in your absence. But from experience and reading these forums some potential expats sell their homes to finance their expat adventures. While that's not how I go about things, it is understandable because for some people holding on to a property is not a possibility.

All the best.