Ecuador, at your own pace.
Ecuador's residence options split into a retirement route built around a foreign pension and a set of investment routes that share the same qualifying threshold but differ in where the money goes — a bank deposit, shares in a company, or real estate.
When rules change mid-way, the date your application is filed is what often decides which rules apply to you. Where are you right now?
Pick by how you live
4 routes, grouped by what Ecuador's system asks of you day to day — not by which visa is most talked about. Every figure below is what Immimaps has verified against Ecuador's official programme rules.
A pension or other steady income from outside the country, and no plan to take a local job.
Most of these sums are shown, not spent.
On most remote-work and retirement routes, the figure is proof of means — it sits in your own account until it's checked, and nothing is transferred. Routes where money genuinely moves are marked below.
route asks you to show a balance or income — once it's checked, it stays yours.
routes place capital that is exposed until the hold period or conditions are met.
What keeping the visa actually asks of you
Counted from each route's own rules. Some routes lead to permanent residence or citizenship and some don't; the route cards below say which.
Pick a route, see the real commitment
Every official figure below is what Immimaps has verified for that route against Ecuador's official programme rules — not a marketing minimum. Service fees are what independent firms publish for the route, shown only once five or more are on file.
The most liquid of the three investment options — a fixed-term deposit at a regulated bank, refundable once permanent residence is granted.
Built around a pension paid from abroad rather than an investment — the qualifying step is proving that income, not placing capital.
Ties residence to an ownership stake in an Ecuadorian company rather than a deposit or a property.
Ties residence to real estate registered in the applicant's own name — a fit for people already planning a property purchase.
What each route costs, stage by stage
Added up from the official figures on file for each route — split into money spent for good, money locked and returned later, and money shown but never transferred. Not a modelled estimate.
Bank Deposit▾
At application
- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $185 – $320, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$48,200 placed as capital, returned after 2 years.
When the hold ends
Hold — reported: 2 years.- Locked$48,200 returned after 2 years.
Ecuador's Retirement (Jubilado) Visa Program▾
At application
- Spent for goodGovernment fees on file: $185 – $320, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Shown, never leaves you$1,446 shown as proof of means every month — nothing is transferred.
Investor Visa Company Shares▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $185 – $320, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$48,200 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
Investor Visa Real Estate▾
At application
Decision — reported: 3 months.- Spent for goodOfficial fees: $185 – $320, paid to the government for the initial application.
- Locked$48,200 placed as capital — recoverable in principle, exposed in practice.
The order Ecuador's Retirement (Jubilado) Visa Program follows
No confirmed rule change has been flagged for Ecuador since it was last checked against the official gob.ec portal on 2026-08-29. Immimaps keeps watching official immigration sources and will list dated changes here as soon as one is confirmed.
Check the gob.ec portal directly →The cost calculator separates money spent for good from money that's only shown or locked up.
Open the cost calculatorUpload it and Immimaps checks it against what Ecuador's official programme actually requires, and reads the contract clause by clause. Free, no account.
Check my documentEvery official figure on this page is checked against Ecuador's official immigration sources. Service fees are what independent firms publish for a route — not an official figure, and never any one firm's price. Immimaps does not publish success rates, approval odds or any probability score — here or anywhere else.
Don’t take a life-changing move on someone else’s word.
Immimaps is not an agency and takes no placement fees. We show the real figures on every route, show the working, and tell you what it actually costs.
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