Health Insurance Required for Foreign Nationals and Dependents

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Executive Summary

Effective immediately, foreign nationals and dependents must present proof of valid health insurance when filing several types of immigration applications, including temporary and permanent residence applications, among others. Health insurance will be required for tourists starting February 5, 2018.

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The situation

Effective immediately, foreign nationals and their dependents must provide proof of valid health insurance when submitting the following immigration applications:

• Temporary or permanent residence applications;
• Visa renewals;
• Transferring a visa to a new passport; and
• Local identification card (cedula) applications.

Health insurance will be required for tourists starting February 5, 2018.

Proof of insurance

Foreign nationals and dependents can provide proof of their health insurance coverage in one of three ways:

• Public insurance policy from Ecuadorian Social Security (IESS). Foreign nationals can choose to obtain insurance from the Ecuadorian Social Security agency. Public insurance certificates must also list dependents’ names. Alternatively, dependents must provide proof of their own insurance with their supporting documents.
• Private insurance plan from Ecuadorian company. Employers can choose to cover employees under a private plan.  In this case, the employer must provide a letter signed by a legal representative of the company confirming the total coverage and listing the names of those individuals covered by the policy.
• International insurance. Foreign nationals covered by an international insurance policy must present a valid certificate from tjatheir insurance company confirming international coverage (this was updated in May 2018 to remove the need to validate the certificate at an Ecuadorian consulate, which in practice has been found not be to necessary).
   

Looking ahead

The government is still determining the law’s implementation details. Fragomen will provide updates on the new law.

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].