Ecuador: In-Country Immigration Processes Moved Online, Increasing Processing Times
November 21, 2024
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At a Glance
- Effective immediately, foreign nationals (or authorized third parties) must now use the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility’s electronic visa system (called eVISAS) to file all in-country initial and renewal visa applications. These include Acts of Commerce Visas, Work Contract Visas, Temporary Mercosur Visas, and Permanent Residence applications, among others.
- Previously, in-country initial and renewal visa applications were submitted in person. This process is no longer available.
- Based on experience, it generally takes the government 30 business days to process online applications. In practice, it generally took fewer than 10 calendar days to process in-person applications.
- Employers and foreign nationals applying for initial or renewal visas from within Ecuador should account for increased visa processing times, which may result in delayed work start days.
The situation
Effective immediately, foreign nationals (or authorized third parties) must now use the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility’s electronic visa system (called eVISAS) to file all in-country initial or renewal visa applications. These include Acts of Commerce Visas, Work Contract Visas, Temporary Mercosur Visas, and Permanent Residence applications, among others.
A closer look
- The in-person application option has been removed. Foreign nationals and authorized third parties can no longer submit applications to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in person. Foreign nationals who already filed an application in person are not affected by this change, and the Ministry will continue processing their application. While in-person applications remain available in Guayaquil, it is expected that the Ministry there will transition to online applications soon.
- Unchanged processes. The Ministry has not announced any changes to the documentary requirements for visa applications compared to the previous in-person process.
- Longer processing time. Based on experience, the government generally takes 30 business days to process online applications, while in-person applications were processed in fewer than 10 days in practice.
Impact
Employers and foreign nationals applying for initial or renewal visas from within Ecuador should account for increased visa processing times, which may result in delayed work start days.
Background
In July 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced the eVISAS system for foreign nationals seeking to visit Ecuador for tourism, to invest in the country, or to meet with family. While the Ministry did not publish any law or regulation, it opened the online system for other in-country visa applications. However, in-person applications remained a preferred option despite the system being operational for these services because users were experiencing significant technical issues.
Looking ahead
The government has not published regulations or official communications about online visa processes, and it is not yet clear if it will.
Technical issues and longer processing times are expected to continue for the next few months during these initial stages of online-only applications, after which processing times may normalize.
Fragomen is actively monitoring the system and working with affected clients with case-specific advice. We will report on relevant updates as they occur.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].
