Thanks much for the link to that info.

And the thing i wonder about in there, is the part requiring all who enter as tourist ,to have public or private health insurance for the duration of the stay.

Post a Reply

00abuse

Choosing an expat health insurance provider is an important decision. Get a quote from our trusted expat health insurance partner, CIGNA. With Cigna Global Health Options, you can create an international health insurance plan that's perfectly tailored for the needs of you and your family.

Learn More Get a Quote

A little-noted aspect of the new law is this:

Expats may retain visa rights after Year 2 even if they leave Ecuador for as much as five years.

Previously, after Year 2, a total of only 18 months were permissible in the ensuing five years. Exceed that and you were in technical violation of your visa.

cccmedia from Medellín, Colombia

Post a Reply

00abuse

I just remembered the border crossing expereince i had in Peru/Ecuador at Huaquilles.
I was told i could get my passport stamped at the crossing there, so i hopped a bus there and it dropped me off alongside the road leading to the border crossing.
I asked for the direction to the border crossing and was told straight ahead along the same road the bus dropped me off on.
The road started to narrow or get more congested with street vendors as i walked and i was expecting to run into an immigration and customs checkpoint along the way.
The road just got more congested until it was all foot traffic packed shoulder to shoulder in a wild open air market scene.

Eventually i came out on the other side in to Huaquilles town with hotels, town hall/square and more. I wallked all over and saw no immigration or customs office or checkpoint, I saw local police stationed around but nothing to do with immigration or customs. Also saw a petty theft and chase scene play out with a small mob nabbing the guy and police brought in. I knew i was in the wrong part of the border freezone.
I was never stopped or questioned and was in Ecuador after crossing from Peru.
There were buses and taxis to take me anywhere else in Ecuador, I just got a hotel in Huaquilles and stayed the night before setting out the next day to find where to get my passport stamped. I was told to ask a taxi to drive me there. It is on a new highway complex that skirts around the town quite a ways out. Very modern and spacious ammenities. I waited in line and got my Ecuador entry stamp, which i needed to get my Peru Entry stamp upon exiting Ecuador, I paid some $ and was done.
Ended up having to find the Peruvian Immigration office elsewhere to get my reentry stamp to Peru for another 90 days. The Peruvian office was still an old relic from the 1980s or so.

All was sorted out and i was free to go in any direction i wanted. I could get stamped out of Ecuador and stamped into Peru and just walk right back into Ecuador and catch a bus farther into Ecuador, Or go back into Peru as i actually did. Nothing at the freezone pedestrian crossing stopping it, Not sure about checkpoints inland.

In my case, i need to get my passport stamps in order for my final exit at the airport. But it is really easy to get stamped out of Ecuador after 30 days staying, then stamp into Peru and then just walk right back into Ecuador and stay 90 days in Ecuador before coming back to get stamped out of Peru and into Ecuador for another 60 days.
I don't know what its like farther in Ecuador without tourist documentation or visa, but at the border town, they aren't looking out for people and their document status.
My experience was 2013/2014 Christmas/New year at the border town for 5 days. Not sure if they have tightened it up these days, but it seems the congested market area is a freezone of some sort that is used mostly by the regional citizens who don't have to have documentation to prove for a hassle free exit at an international airport.

Except for the international airport immigration and customs screening, documentation is no big deal for people who live the local lifestyle and blend in well.

I enter via the Airport and that automatically sets me up for needing to follow up with proper exit and reentry stamps or visa extensions. Even if i did stay in Ecuador while stamped out of Ecuador and into Peru, i would eventually have to get the proper stamps back into Ecuador just to make the international airport return trip without hassle or fines.

Post a Reply

00abuse