Ecuador has been valued as one of the best places to live in the South American continent, for its fantastic natural resources, its climatic variety, the dollarization of its economy, and the notable government impact on the business sector.
On one hand, the imperceptible inflation and the notorious stability of its economy stand out.
On the other hand, when mentioning this country, one of the first policies mentioned is the Organic Law of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which aims to establish the regulatory framework that encourages and encourages entrepreneurship, innovation and technological development, promoting culture entrepreneur and implementing new corporate initiatives and financing modalities to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The scope of this law is limited to all activities of a public or private nature, linked to the development of entrepreneurship and innovation, within the framework of the various modalities of a public, private, mixed, popular and solidarity, cooperative, associative, community nature.
With this simple overview, we can already understand the reason why, in recent years, a large number of foreigners have sought to obtain Ecuadorian citizenship.
The advantages of this citizenship?
The acquisition of certain titles destined for the economic exploitation of the lands, nor the concessions in zones of national security shall not be prohibited. This means that you can take full advantage of all the economic opportunities that come your way to promote the growth of your business if you already have one.
Also, thanks to all the international agreements that the Ecuadorian State supports, its citizens can move freely in the countries of South America just by showing their passport, Brazil and French Guiana are not included. Now, considering that this passport is one of the easiest to obtain in all of South America, the question arises of its requirements to obtain it. Then, Ecuadorian nationality can be obtained either by birth or by naturalization, and it will not be lost by marriage or its dissolution, nor by the acquisition of another nationality.
Specifically, the following may apply for Ecuadorian naturalization:
1. Ecuadorian people who have adopted foreign children and adolescents, in their name;
2. Foreigners in a situation of international protection granted by Ecuador and who have resided regularly and continuously for three years in national territory;
3. Those who have rendered relevant services in the country according to their talents and efforts;
4. The inhabitants of foreign border territories who give credit for being part of the Ancestral Peoples of Ecuador;
5. Foreign persons who have resided regularly and continuously in the country for at least three years;
6. Persons recognized as stateless by the Ecuadorian State who have habitually resided and remain for two years in the national territory.
Those people who enter any of the categories of number 5 or 6, may obtain Ecuadorian nationality through an administrative process, that is, through a naturalization letter.
That is, the naturalization letter is addressed to all foreign natural persons with permanent residence for at least three years on the date of entry of the application, or with recognition of at least two years as stateless by the Ecuadorian State.
In this case, the request for the procedure must be initiated by the guidelines of each of the service provider offices in the country.
Here, the mandatory requirements consist of:
• A requested turn for naturalization:
• The application form for Ecuadorian nationality by Naturalization Letter to be filled out in the respective Zonal Coordination of the applicant's place of residence;
• Regular and continuous residence of at least three years in Ecuador at the time of applying;
• Not have been absent from Ecuadorian territory for a maximum period of one hundred and eighty (180) days per year, during the first three (3) years, counted from the issuance of the permanent residence visa;
• Be over 18 years of age on the application date;
• In the case of minors under 18 years of age, the consent of those who have parental authority or legal guardianship is required and the opinion of children and adolescents will be heard by the provisions of the competent law;
• Original of the Birth Certificate / Certificate, duly apostilled or legalized and translated into Spanish if applicable;
• Complementary proof of filiation or birth data only in exceptional cases, determined by the Directorate of Visas and Naturalizations, duly apostilled or legalized and translated into Spanish where appropriate;
• The identity document and passport that proves the residence visa;
• The criminal records of the place of residence for the last five years, duly apostilled or legalized and translated into Spanish if found in another language;
• The migratory movement updated on the date of entry of the application;
• Demonstrate the legal means of life in the country, except in the case of minors under 18 years of age or people with disabilities who are economically dependent on a third party who must prove the legal means of life, by presenting the following documents:
• Certificates of bank accounts in Ecuador for the last six (6) months and that reflect at least a minimum monthly income of an average Unified Basic Salary;
• Credit card certificates for the last six (6) months in which at least a minimum monthly expense of a Unified Basic Salary is reflected;
• The property titles or receipt of the last payment of the Property Tax of movable and immovable property, respectively, in Ecuador;
• The updated vehicle registration certificate, if applicable;
• The employment contract registered with the competent authority or duly legalized appointment;
• The certificate of Affiliation to the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security;
• The copy of the Single Taxpayers Registry, in this case, you must additionally present the last three (3) payments of Value Added Tax and Payment of Income Tax of the last two (2) fiscal years.
Finally, as the last category to be added to the list of persons qualified to obtain Ecuadorian citizenship, some foreigners maintain a marriage or de facto union with an Ecuadorian citizen and who have passed two years since the date of registration of the marriage or union of made with an Ecuadorian person in the General Directorate of Civil Registry, Identification and Identification.
Mandatory requirements:
• A requested turn for naturalization;
• The application form for Ecuadorian nationality by marriage or de facto union that will be filled out in the respective Zonal Coordination of the place of residence of the foreign applicant;
• Original of the Certificate / Birth Certificate of the foreign applicant, duly apostilled or legalized and translated into Spanish if applicable;
• Complementary proof of the filiation or birth data of the foreign applicant, in exceptional cases determined by the Directorate of Visas and Naturalizations, duly apostilled or legalized and translated into Spanish where appropriate;
• Original passport of the foreign applicant and Ecuadorian identity cards of the spouses or partners;
• The current migratory movements of the spouses or partners on the date of entry of the application;
• The criminal records of the foreign applicant's place of residence for the last five years, duly apostilled or legalized and translated into Spanish if found in another language;
• Original of the Marriage Certificate or Registration Act of the de facto Union issued by the General Directorate of Civil Registry, Identification and Cedulation of the Republic of Ecuador;
• Demonstrate the legal means of life in the country, except in the case of minors under 18 years of age or people with disabilities who are economically dependent on a third party who must prove the legal means of life, by presenting the following documents:
• Certificates of bank accounts in Ecuador for the last six (6) months and that reflect at least a minimum monthly income of an average Unified Basic Salary;
• Credit card certificates for the last six (6) months that reflect at least a minimum monthly expense of a Unified Basic Salary;
• The property titles or receipt of the last payment of the Property Tax of movable and immovable property, respectively, in Ecuador;
• The updated vehicle registration certificate, if applicable;
• The employment contract registered with the competent authority or duly legalized appointment;
• The certificate of Affiliation to the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security;
• The copy of the Single Taxpayers Registry, in this case you must additionally present the last three (3) payments of Value Added Tax and Payment of Income Tax of the last two (2) fiscal years.
The documentation seems to be really extensive, but we assure that due to the years of experience in this type of procedure, with the corresponding support, it turns out to be one of the easiest citizenships to obtain.