Getting Married in Ecuador and becoming a citizen

Welcome to the Ecuador forum, Karina.

1.  Translations of documents into Spanish should be done in Ecuador. 

2.  Why would you think that planning to get married would be a hindrance to obtaining a visa?  Ecuador's society and institutions are pro-marriage or neutral.

cccmedia

I have read that Ecuador has recently made it much harder to become a resident through marriage. As many US Americans have used it just to eventually obtain Ecuadorian citizenship. This leads me to believe the country may not be fond of US citizens marrying their natives. My fiancé lived here in the US from age 3 until recently, but may be unable to return anytime soon.

What is the best way to apply? Should I apply for the extended stay visa before I leave or while there on a tourist visa?

Until the new visa regs shake out, which could be August or later, you can't rely on a longer-term visa.  By default, that leaves the tourist stamp as the better option for now.

cccmedia

It's been a while since I commented on here as I have been sick with bronchitis.  I know, it's summer, and I'm careful to not get sick, but once I get it, even in the US, it takes months for me to get rid of it. No flu shots here unfortunately. 
My take on this is that Me and my spouse are US citizens.  We were married in Fiji after I moved here.  For personal reasons I didn't want my marriage legal in the states, as I chose to remain single there.  I could have made my marriage legal in ecuador, but to file it here, the attorney wanted over $3k.  Since we are both on the deed to my house, we both currently qualified for the ecuador residency visa, which we have, so to me there's no benefit to being "married" here.  Since I'm female and on both the house and the bank account, laws here entitle me to 50% either way.  I refuse to spend additional funds here if I don't have to.

If you want your marriage to be legal here, I would say get married here.  Makes becoming a legal residence here easier.  My friend who has lived here longer than me, and was scammed by an Ecuadorian attorney into believeing that he paid extra for a visa that allowed him to be out of the country more than the requirements his first two years here, as he was still working, just recently married an Ecuadorian.  Of course, now he qualifies and it will be easier to obtain citizenship, there is still a ton of bullshit hoops he must go through, but he will get it.  To get an Ecuadorian passport, he says is a whole separate bunch of bullshit he will have to go through after this process.

With the new laws, who really knows.  Everything here benefits the govt. and if you get married here you will still have to file with the US consulate to make it a legal US marriage.  I have no idea what those fees are or the process.  I know before the new laws, since your fiancée/future husband would qualify to bring in a container and even a vehicle duty free.  Not sure if that still applies.  If you are only getting married for residency purposes, I would weigh both the pros and cons before making it official.   But as ccc says, this point and with the new laws I'm sure you will have to see what implications they will make.  Consult a reputable attorney before you make the move and decide.

If we are not grandfathered in the new laws as being a resident, I can assure you my house will go on the market and I will leave asap.  It has cost me too much blood sweat and tears to get my current residency to put up with any additional cost and bullshit to obtain a new one.  Just my opinion....take it for what it's worth.

You do not need anybody to do mot things here including getting residency visas, registering your marriage outside of Ecuador, getting a drivers license, etc........all these processes are not difficult as long as you get the required documents.

AMDG - can you tell me more about how I obtain the residency visa once married. Who do I see? What government building. I have read everything about the new regulations so all my paperwork will be in order. I feel like information is my best advocate at this time.

Now as you are aware the regulations have changed and I have not checked the new ones; but 3 years ago my process was to first have our marriage registered in Ecuador (we married in NY) and I also needed a temporary visa.  This was done at the registro civil.
As I recall back then, there was a difference in that as a male, I had to demonstrate sufficient income to live here also., females did not.
The requirements were pretty much the same as other visas though in terms of police reports, etc.
Not sure if it changed, but after being married for 3 years (regardless of time spent in Ecuador with your visa), you could apply for citizenship after obtaining your visa......
They did test my spanish speaking for naturalization and I needed a birth certificate also.
Of course all documents needed to be apostilled. 
If you also become naturalized then you can get a passport without difficulty.

Being married did not really help much with what I needed to do, except allowing me to become naturalized without meeting the time requirements of visas in country.  This was much appreciated as I had already lost a permanent visas due to being our of country too long.  It is nice to be able to come and go as I please.

Thank you so much for all your help. I am very versed on all the new regulation to the point of obsession. My Spanish Is getting better everyday. (Rosetta Stone) 😀.

So my understanding is that Registró civil is where all visas are processed and obtained?

For the sake of my young children my plan is to get residency but not change citizenship. I want my girls to have the opportunities available to them that the US has to offer if they decide they want to go to a US college when older.

Only the marriage need to be registered at the registro civil.
Everything else was done at Ministerio de Relationes Exteriores
(please excuse the spelling).
As for citizenship.......duel.....you need not give up anything.

I will look into duel citizenship but was told that part of the new regs includes surrender of current citizenship to get Ecuadorian citizenship.

Thank you so much for all your help. I was under the impression I would have no choice but to get a fancy expensive lawyer to assist me with this.

You have no idea how much your information has helped me at a time when I was feeling discouraged. Bless you.

If you want your marriage to be legal in the US, and you are not marrying an Ecuadorian citizen, (that is free and clear, there can be problems), do your research.  I am a US citizen, that was legally married in Fiji, and to register my marriage here (after I obtained Ecuadorian residency), it was going to cost me $3,500.  There is no benefit for me to legalize it here or in the US, so I opted not to give this country any additional cent that I didn't have to.  Do your research, get multiple attorney opinions (laws including ethical ones don't apply here), before you take any opinion on this website as the truth.  I have lived it.

My wife and I legalized our US marriage for well under $100.....don't recall exactly but it was only notary and small filing fees......we had friends translate for us.....
You DO NOT need anybody to help you do about everything here from visas to citizenship to cedulas, to naturalization, to drivers license.......it is not tough stuff....
Yes it is true if you do not speak spanish that it will be more difficult and more work, but it is also a great learning experience.

From $3500 to $100 (registering a marriage here)

I'm with AMDG price tag because $3500 contradicts everything about Ecuador.

That is my experience from 3 or 4 years ago.......can't imagine it being much different.
Of course the price of apostilled documents would add to this, but not much and certainly not $3500......
Ecuador is a nice place, good things and bad, but the good far outweigh the bad.
As for a third world country......I would most definitely not agree with that.......in many things, the technology here is better than in the US....

AMDG wrote:

As for a third world country......I would most definitely not agree with that.......in many things, the technology here is better than in the US....

Tech may be tops in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, where AMDG lives.

However, keep in mind that the Big G is not representative of most places in Ecuador.

Quito seems to be well-along in high-tech these days.  Cuenca has made wi-fi advances,  In recent years, fiber optic has spread around that city.

But on the whole I don't buy that EC's tech is superior to that in even medium-sized cities in the U.S.

cccmedia

I am a US citizen. I'm waiting for my divorce papers from NY. My soon to be wife is Ecuador citizen. Once I recieve the final divorce papers from ny is the process of getting married here difficult? Time frame? Requirements? My visa expires in July.

Apostille and check to see what time requirement in country to get married.

Hi. I'm hoping you can help. My visa expires in July. I'm waiting for my divorce papers from NY. My wife to be and I would like to get married right away. Is it a long complicated process? Thank you

Things change quickly in Ecuador........if it was me, I would go to Registro Civil and ask them for the requirements.......and then get them.
Once you get your divorce papers from NY, getting the apostile will not take long.

Thank you so much.

Worldchamp wrote:

I am a US citizen. I'm waiting for my divorce papers from NY. My soon to be wife is Ecuador citizen. Once I recieve the final divorce papers from ny is the process of getting married here difficult? Time frame? Requirements? My visa expires in July.

Here are the requirements in Spanish per the web page of the Registro Civil.

http://www.registrocivil.gob.ec/?p=1663

Ahh gracias to Nards.......from the site:
If you are on a T3 tourist visa, it is a no go.

Si uno de los dos contrayentes es extranjero y posee visado T3 (Turista), no se podrá efectuar el matrimonio.

AMDG wrote:

Ahh gracias to Nards.......from the site:
If you are on a T3 tourist visa, it is a no go.

Si uno de los dos contrayentes es extranjero y posee visado T3 (Turista), no se podrá efectuar el matrimonio.

Yeah, I saw that. But maybe the world champ extended his T3 another 90 days. 

The question I have is if he gets married before his Visa expires can he qualify for some kind of Visa exception.

That's an awesome question!! My t9 expires in July. Waiting on divorce papers. Should be anyday. Literally. Ugh

If it was me, I would be down at Registro Civil and talking to one of the 3 places that can marry foreigners.......the other question is how long before NY issues the divorce paper........

As per the attorney, they should be signed anyday. Once signed they will send to me here for apostile but I'm not sure how long that takes either. Also, does my resident or immigrant status change once we get married here?

You must apply for whatever visa you wish and obtain the necessary documents.
I am not sure about the new visa categories but they are available on the net, or perhaps the Nards will help with this.
Police record (both FBI and state), proof of income, are required among other documents.

I have a question, I live in Ecuador and my fiancée lives in USA. He wants to come to Ecuador for threes weeks to meet my family and get married and after that comeback to USA and start the process for my green card. All I wanna know if he needs a 12-X visa or a 12-IX visa. Which one is the best in this case? And also I read that 12-IX has to be registered between in 30 day he landed to Ecuador

You can get accurate information from the Interior ministry, civil registration, and embassy.

Some countries mandate that foreigners spend a certain time in a country before they are able to register a marriage in the country.


Best of luck.