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Ecuador Jubilado Retirement Visa: Requirements, Cost, and Timeline

Ecuador's jubilado visa requires a foreign pension of at least USD 1,446 a month in 2026, not USD 800. This guide covers the document list, the USD 320 fee, consulate versus in-country filing, and each step from application to cedula.

Domes of the New Cathedral in Cuenca, Ecuador.
Photo by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Published: 2026-10-16 · Last verified: 2026-10-16 · Numbers apply to US passport holders

Rules change. Confirm the current rules with the official sources linked below before you apply, pay a fee, or book travel around a date in this guide.

The pension floor is USD 1,446 a month, not USD 800

The jubilado visa is a 2 year temporary residence visa. It is for foreigners whose income is a retirement pension paid by a public or private institution abroad. The income floor is 3 times Ecuador's unified basic salary (SBU). At the 2026 SBU of USD 482, that comes to USD 1,446 per month. Older guides still quote a fixed USD 800 a month. That figure does not appear in the current official requirements for this category. Because the floor is set in SBU, the dollar amount changes whenever the SBU changes.

The foreign institution that pays the pension must certify it in a document that is apostilled or legalized. You must also prove lawful means of subsistence under Ministerial Agreement 70 of June 28, 2024. Health insurance valid for the whole visa period is required.

Mandatory documents

Watch the criminal record date closely. The certificate is valid for 180 days, counted from its issue date to your last entry into Ecuador. Example: a certificate issued on March 1 works only if your last entry is on or before August 28. If you leave and re-enter Ecuador after that date, the certificate is out of date for this purpose.

Cost

These are government fees only. The official guide does not price apostilles, translations, or insurance premiums.

Consulate or in-country application

According to the official gob.ec page for this category, the visa is issued by the Zonal Directorates inside Ecuador and by Ecuadorian embassies (consular sections) and consulates abroad. Applications are filed online in the MREMH e-VISAS platform. The requirements and fees are the same wherever you file.

Timeline from application to cedula

No official source publishes a total time from filing to cedula, so budget time without relying on a fixed number of weeks.

After the visa: absences, permanent residence, tax

A temporary resident may spend at most 90 cumulative days outside Ecuador in each year of the visa. Going over is a migration offense fined at 3 SBU, USD 1,446 in 2026. That means at least 365 - 90 = 275 days in Ecuador per visa year.

Tax residence depends on presence and ties, not on your visa. Under Article 4.1 of the Ley de Regimen Tributario Interno, 183 or more days in Ecuador in one fiscal year makes you a tax resident. So does 183 or more days within any 12 month period spanning two fiscal years, unless you prove tax residence in another country. At 275 days a year, a jubilado holder will cross that line in practice. A partial first calendar year can fall short, because visa years and fiscal years do not line up. A new arrival can elect temporary tax residence and be taxed only on Ecuadorian source income for up to 5 years.

Every residence route, with its fees and clocks, is on the Ecuador country page.

Before you apply

The threshold, fees, and document rules above come from official sources as of October 16, 2026. Before you file, confirm all of them on the gob.ec page for the jubilado visa or with the Ecuadorian consulate handling your case. Check the current SBU value too, because the pension floor, the fines, and the extension fee are all set in multiples of it.

Country pages

Official sources

Facts in this guide last verified against the sources: 2026-10-16