Ecuador investor visa by bank deposit: the deposit must still be in place when you apply for permanent residence

The deposit shown above must be in a certificate with a term of at least 730 days, bought before you apply, and the regulation makes not keeping the investment for as long as the visa is valid a ground for cancelling it. When you apply for permanent residence, the ministry checks you still hold it, so a certificate cashed in or left to lapse first ends the route.

The order of the steps decides whether the deposit still counts when you need it. The certificate is bought first and filed with the application, so its 730 days start running before the visa exists. Permanent residence can be requested after at least 21 months of continuous residence, which the regulation breaks if you are out of the country for more than 90 days while the visa runs, and the request must be made before the temporary visa runs out. At that point the ministry checks that you still hold what earned the visa. A certificate bought months before the visa can mature right around then, so plan its renewal from the start.

What the regulation accepts

The regulation asks for a dematerialised certificate, policy or title of deposit with a term of at least 730 days. The lender must be recognised by the banking superintendency or by the superintendency for the popular and solidarity economy, and must have an agreement with the Central Bank on dematerialised securities. The amount must be at least 100 times the general basic monthly wage. That wage is reset every January, so the figure above, worked out on the 2026 wage, moves from year to year.

A registered property deed or shares in an Ecuadorian company at the same multiple are the other common ways in. For those, the ministry has the registry note that they cannot be sold while the visa runs.

Getting the money out

You may also swap the deposit for another qualifying investment: once the ministry approves the swap, you have 60 working days to complete it. Withdraw the deposit without the ministry's approval and the regulation treats it as grounds to cancel the visa.

If a firm offers to hold the deposit on your behalf, pause and ask whose name the certificate will carry. The visa rests on that one document.

Government charges and firm charges

The fee shown above goes to the foreign ministry for the visa itself. A lawyer's or agency's fee for preparing the file, translations, legalisations and any bank charges are paid to others,.

Ask the lawyer or agency:

1. Which bank will issue the certificate, and does it meet the regulation's conditions on the lender?
2. Is the term at least 730 days, and when will it be renewed so it outlasts your permanent residence request?
3. Does the amount use this year's basic wage?
4. Which lines of the quote are the government fee, and which are the firm's?

Answer yes at the top of the box if a lawyer or an agency has quoted for this visa, and the quote is compared with the published rules and the prices firms on file publish for this route. No quote yet? Answer no and enter the deposit you plan to place. The check compares a document or a figure with the published rules, and does not look at your application or advise on it; for advice on your own case, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer.

General information, not legal advice.