New Online System to Pick Up Cédulas

Your new cédula cannot be lost or stolen.

Ecuador's government has come up with the

following brainstorm...

The national ID or cédula should be digital ..

and it will be mandatory for every resident

including Expats to obtain a digital cédula.

"This is something you can carry on

your phone that is available for scanning,"

said Ecuador's telecommunications minister,

Vianna Maino.

"[i]t provides a level of security for your identity

not available with the hard copy," she said.

Maino also pointed out that the new

cédulas cannot be lost or stolen, thus

removing the annoyance of replacing

a missing ID.

Expats have long been expected to present

their cédulas when buying 'mercancías'

at a supermarket .. when doing most

bank transactions .. when dealing with

government paperwork .. and when

purchasing medicine, electronics or

other 'cosas sofisticadas'.

Source... www.cuencahighlife.com ...

"Digital cédulas coming soon"

Visas are already digital… 🤷🏼‍♂️

Now I’m REALLY scared to lose my phone lol

My non-digital permanent visa for Ecuador

was honored earlier this month while traveling

from Bucaramanga, Colombia, back to Quito.

---

For years, I have been carrying a copy of my

cédula unless I have business a the bank, the DMV ..

or am traveling.  This has reduced the likelihood of

losing the ID or having it stolen, neither of which

misfortune has occurred.

---

So here are a couple of questions we will need

answers for...

-- Will residents be allowed to keep using existing

non-digital cédulas until expiration?  (My cédula,

issued in 2014, is good for a total of ten years,

so the renewal date is a couple of years away.)

-- Will all cédula owners be required to own a

portable phone?  Apparently so.  Is a flip phone

good enough .. or will even 'campesinos' need

to own a smart phone?

cccmedia in Quito