Would a Thai Girl Enjoy Living in Ecuador?

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Lots of visa options and great surfing. Would my Girl survive, flourish, or want to go home?

There are six types of permanent residency visas in Ecuador.

1. Pensioner Visa 9-I

The first one is the pensioner visa. In order to apply for a pensioner visa you have to show that you have income from a stable source. At the moment, from Social Security. The minimum that is required is $800 plus $100 per dependent. This has been the rule for the past 10 years, since I have been practicing immigration law. Of course, this minimum might change in the future.

There is also the possibility to use a trust that provides monthly income. But this needs to be approved by the admission of the immigration office. This isn’t very common to use this type of certificate to show their income. They usually use social security to show their income. This is the most common basis for a pensioners visa.

2. Investor Visa 9-II

The second type of residency visa is the investors visa. You can invest either in property or you can invest in certificate of deposits or government bonds.

You have to prove the investment with the title of ownership and a certificate that the title is clean of any liens. You have to keep the property untouched. You are not to lien it at any time of the process or during the time that you need this property as the basis for the residency visa.

The same applies to the investment. They way it’s done, is that the applicant goes to the bank that he chooses, and decides to make the investment. Then that money needs to be kept in that bank for as long as the applicant needs that residency visa. He will be able to withdraw the interest but not the capital. The CD (certificate of deposit) will be kept under the custody of the Central Bank. That is how the government makes sure that the funds are kept untouched.

3. Industrial Investor Visa 9-III

The third type of residency visa that is available in Ecuador is the visa 9-III, it’s the Industrial Investor Visa. That is for industrial, agricultural, livestock or international trade investors who wish to export. The investment will be in business, or individual owned companies. The amount that they have to invest will be higher than the second type of visa that I just mentioned (Investor Visa 9-II) and that is why the majority of clients don’t prefer this type of investment, but the investment in CD’s or mortgage funds that allow them to be safer by using banks instead of using of private companies.

4. Agent Visa 9-IV

The fourth type of visa is the agents visa, is a permanent visa also. It is for permanent agents also. It is for authorized agents of a company legally established in Ecuador. A permanent worker who does technical or specialized tasks for a company who also has good standing in Ecuador, or foreign press correspondents established in this country. As well as members of religious organizations that are recognized by the Ecuadorian government and accepted.

5. Professional Visa 9-V

The professional visa 9-V is for professionals with a university degree recognized by a national university. The professional needs to bring his title, his credentials and have them re-validated by an Ecuadorian university. They require the transcripts of your studies and they also have to be apostilled, which is legalized by the Secretary of State in the United States in the case of an American citizen.

This type of professional visa has been made a little easier at the moment. The entity that controls universities, which is called SNIESE (Sistema Nacional de Información de la Educación Superior del Ecuador), has published a list of universities that are automatically understood as good universities and approved by the Ecuadorian government. Therefore the professional that graduated from such universities, if they provided the apostilled paperwork, they have the possibility to have their degrees automatically renewed and then present that together with the rest of the requirement to apply for a professionals visa to live in Ecuador permanently.

6. Dependent Visa 9-VI

The sixth type of permanent visa for Ecuador is the dependent visa. This is for blood related relatives of a person who is either a resident of Ecuador or a citizen. They will have to provide the paperwork that shows the relation with the main applicant.

These are the six types of visas available to stay in Ecuador permanently.

[Jingthing]

I reckon it depends on the Thai girl.

She would need to learn Spanish and learn to live without Thai food.

On the real estate investment option, be careful.

The visa is based on the value of the property on the tax books which is often wildly LOWER than the price actually paid. Scam of course but widespread.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

I reckon it depends on the Thai girl.

She would need to learn Spanish and learn to live without Thai food.

On the real estate investment option, be careful.

The visa is based on the value of the property on the tax books which is often wildly LOWER than the price actually paid. Scam of course but widespread.

The 25K investment visa can be for investment in securities also. Ecuador has a stockmarket. That would be a much better option than property purchase for your intial visa, as if you don't like it after a year or two you could pull the plug rather painlessly and not waiting around for a property to sell. Thailand should have the same...but they are toooooo stupid. I have had millions of baht invested in the Thai Set for over 5 years now...but it doesn't mean squat when applying for one of their stone age visas.

I also notice that Ecuador has a visa for those who have nothing more than a degree. Guess they are trying to encourage educated expats to settle for the benefit of their society. Again, in stark contrast to Thailands recent efforts to send the English teachers packing.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

The Huff Post reports that those on a retirement visa there also get a whole host of freebies:

Within 90 days of obtaining your visa, for instance, you can ship your household goods duty-free. And if you're 65 or older, you are entitled to all sorts of special treatment -- half-price bus transportation anywhere in the country, half-price tickets to movies, plus sporting and cultural events, discounted airfare, a free land-line telephone, and refund of your 12 percent IVA (value-added) tax.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/internationallivingcom/three-easy-ways-to-get-yo_b_3927122.html

[Jingthing]

It can actually just be money in a bank account which is in dollars.

However, there is talk that Ecuador is considering moving away from the dollar eventually.

Also note that the last I heard U.S. citizens are having a very hard time opening bank accounts in Ecuador. Much more severe problem than in Thailand. This is a very recent negative development due to the Ecuadorian response to the infamous U.S. international banking regulations.

Also for those living in Thailand you need a fairly fresh apostled police record report from Thailand to apply. They are very fussy about paperwork there. Worse than Thailand.

[surangw]

putting distance between a thai and their family is a tough obstacle to overcome

[Bulldozer Dawn]

putting distance between a thai and their family is a tough obstacle to overcome

Nothing Facebook doesn't already fix. For my girl anyway.

[Guest]

It's been 15 years since I visited Ecuador. At the time, it was nowhere close to the neighbouring countries, Peru and Colombia, when it came to how pleasant the country was and how nice people were.

While Ecuador might give a good incentives to move there, and it might have changed a lot during couple of decades, I would still wary before moving there.

If I'd have to move there, then Banos was quite nice little location, while Quito was cold (it's always 7-21 C up in the mountains) and Guayaquil was simply a horrid costal city with a lot of crime.

[Sawan Chan 7]

Ditch her, girls there are pretty hot!

[steelepulse]

I have a friend there now with his TW in tow doing a surfing trip. Will hear about it in a month or so.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

I have a friend there now with his TW in tow doing a surfing trip. Will hear about it in a month or so.

Would luuuv to hear his feedback.

[SoiBiker]

Does an Englishman like soup? Would a French woman enjoy watching tennis?

ThaiVisa - home of the sweeping generalisation.

[pgrahmm]

Without family - Thai food & a local temple with a robust Thai community my guess is she'd wither away and be back in LOS within a year - eighteen months if she is strong....

There is nothing there that matches up to here....

[NeverSure]

Ecuador has tightened up with these visas and there are long wait times. Real estate and rentals have gotten expensive and too expensive for many locals. This is a concern to the government as expats influence this market. Ecuador hasn't had the new construction boom that Thailand has and there really is a shortage. These things might surprise those who are used to picking and choosing among many reasonable vacancies in Thailand.

HERE is Numbeo's cost of living comparison which shows Quito to be a lot more expensive than Chiang Mai. I think it costs more to live in Quito than in small town USA. Rents are less but almost everything else is more.

The people in Ecuador are very nice and their culture is more like the West in some ways. They are predominately Catholic and are very peaceful and hard working. I mean they have a strong work ethic. I would contrast this positively against Thais.

Spanish is a ton easier to learn than is Thai for a NES. It isn't tonal and shares a lot of words as similarities. Casa means house in Spanish which comes from the same derivative as castle. Sentence structure is similar and the alphabet is the same.

Last but not least, the women typically have er, uh, well, uh, you know, uh, chests. 555.

Cheers.

[AZBill]

The big issue would be lack of access to Thai food. That may be a deal killer. Also she's not likely to find too many friends. Not much of an Asian population there. I'd say the odds are against you.

[Aussieroaming]

My wife and I are currently in Peru, where we have spent about 5 months here out of the last 8 months. She rates food fine, dealing with Spanish speakers as fine and shopping as good.

As a Thai she enjoys the different food choices, we still eat asian food when we want but we adapted to the different taste. I know it's Peru and not Ecuador but it will give some idea.

She hasn't found any issues with being asian over here, but Peru has a lot of Asians in Lima so she doesn't stand out.

She was a bit nervous about what to expect the first time and couldn't wait to get back for the second trip.

We are both happy to stay here for another year if needed.

[redandyellow]

Does the Cartel operate in Ecuador or just Meheeco - Mexico?

If no then yes she would.

If yes than no she would not. Chainsaw beheadings - with the next victim left to watch ain't my thing - or hers I would suspect.

I can't put in any simpler.

Bottom Line - I sincerely hope it all works out if you love her.

[SoiBiker]

Does the Cartel operate in Ecuador or just Meheeco - Mexico?

If no then yes she would.

If yes than no she would not. Chainsaw beheadings - with the next victim left to watch ain't my thing - or hers I would suspect.

I can't put in any simpler.

Bottom Line - I sincerely hope it all works out if you love her.

You know Ecuador is about 2500 miles from Mexico, right?

[slipperylobster]

I considered going...last year. My Thai lady was not against it..but not really excited. She would miss her relatives, and is too much in love with Thailand.

Ecuador would be perfect for me...however, I started reading where it was getting much more expensive, and not quite the bargain. There are cheaper places in South America... I even read something about Nicaragua (central america) being the up and coming (still affordable) destination for retirees. Columbia is improving..but I don't think either Nicaragua or Columbia are "safer"...

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Lots of Thai restaurants in Ecuador, do a Google for: ecuador thai restaurants

Mac

[Bulldozer Dawn]

Ecuador has tightened up with these visas and there are long wait times. Real estate and rentals have gotten expensive and too expensive for many locals. This is a concern to the government as expats influence this market. Ecuador hasn't had the new construction boom that Thailand has and there really is a shortage. These things might surprise those who are used to picking and choosing among many reasonable vacancies in Thailand.

HERE is Numbeo's cost of living comparison which shows Quito to be a lot more expensive than Chiang Mai. I think it costs more to live in Quito than in small town USA. Rents are less but almost everything else is more.

The people in Ecuador are very nice and their culture is more like the West in some ways. They are predominately Catholic and are very peaceful and hard working. I mean they have a strong work ethic. I would contrast this positively against Thais.

Spanish is a ton easier to learn than is Thai for a NES. It isn't tonal and shares a lot of words as similarities. Casa means house in Spanish which comes from the same derivative as castle. Sentence structure is similar and the alphabet is the same.

Last but not least, the women typically have er, uh, well, uh, you know, uh, chests. 555.

Cheers.

That may be the case but there are also 6 month tourist visas to fill in the gaps while you are waiting. Apparently South American girls are good lovers, I can't comment personally, but, they would have to be outstanding to be better than my TGF. She just smashed me to bits...again...

[SoiBiker]

How gentlemanly of you to come and tell a load of complete strangers about your most intimate moments with her.

[Bulldozer Dawn]

How gentlemanly of you to come and tell a load of complete strangers about your most intimate moments with her.

It wasn't intimate at all. It was actually in our outdoor thai style kitchen at the back of our house. Hope the neighbours didn't hear, they are less they 1km away. Lunch got burnt to a cinder in the fry pan too.

[Jingthing]

Lots of Thai restaurants in Ecuador, do a Google for: ecuador thai restaurants

Mac

That's very misleading.

There aren't many Thais in Ecuador.

Locating authentic Thai food (and at a price you could eat regularly) would be questionable.

Calling it a "Thai" restaurant doesn't make it really a "Thai" restaurant.

It's like saying there are "Mexican" restaurants in Pattaya that would be acceptable to Mexicans. But there aren't.

There are many "Chinese" restaurants in Latin America that are tailored to local tastes except in cases where there is a large Chinese community, but even then they have often largely localized.

Exceptions of course are for Japanese food in San Paolo with a huge Japanese community.

[spidermike007]

The Huff Post reports that those on a retirement visa there also get a whole host of freebies:

Within 90 days of obtaining your visa, for instance, you can ship your household goods duty-free. And if you're 65 or older, you are entitled to all sorts of special treatment -- half-price bus transportation anywhere in the country, half-price tickets to movies, plus sporting and cultural events, discounted airfare, a free land-line telephone, and refund of your 12 percent IVA (value-added) tax.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/internationallivingcom/three-easy-ways-to-get-yo_b_3927122.html

It is what they call an incentive program. Something Thailand may have in 40-50 years, after they decline from the 27th largest economy in the world today, to about 70th, or 80th place. At that point some politician with vision may come into office, take a look around, and say, Malaysia does, it, Indonesia does it, Vietnam does it, Singapore does it, even Ecuador does it. Why don't we? Why haven't we ever even thought about it? Why wouldn't we want prosperous foreigners living here, and why wouldn't we do everything in our power to attract them, make it easy for them, and keep them? Wow. The old immigration model was really dumb. How did we get away with it for so long? Oh, that's right, most of the foreigners left a long time ago, when we became expensive, combined with relatively unexceptional infrastructure, difficult visa policy, no law and order, no traffic safety, and no awareness of the need to fix these systemic problems. Wow. We really need to get our act together, and improve our policies. Guess the humility that came with the shrinking economy, our tourist arrivals falling below two million per year, and the virtually non existent expat population, is allowing us to take a clear look at ourselves, and make improvements.

[SoiBiker]

Must we even bash Thailand in threads about countries?

[steelepulse]

Must we even bash Thailand in threads about countries?

How is telling it as it as bashing? I personally don't see it as bashing, but rather telling it like it is for this particular circumstance.

[SoiBiker]

Must we even bash Thailand in threads about countries?

How is telling it as it as bashing? I personally don't see it as bashing, but rather telling it like it is for this particular circumstance.

It's off-topic either way.

[watcharacters]

It can actually just be money in a bank account which is in dollars.

However, there is talk that Ecuador is considering moving away from the dollar eventually.

Also note that the last I heard U.S. citizens are having a very hard time opening bank accounts in Ecuador. Much more severe problem than in Thailand. This is a very recent negative development due to the Ecuadorian response to the infamous U.S. international banking regulations.

Also for those living in Thailand you need a fairly fresh apostled police record report from Thailand to apply. They are very fussy about paperwork there. Worse than Thailand.

And

Please let us know from where you "heard" that?

[steelepulse]

Must we even bash Thailand in threads about countries?

How is telling it as it as bashing? I personally don't see it as bashing, but rather telling it like it is for this particular circumstance.

It's off-topic either way.

Just like 99% of all threads, there's always a tangent, but in this case it was on topic as it was comparing the location to be looked at to the location the OP is currently residing in.