Hello all, buckle up and sit back for a good laugh and then pass on some advice to this silver haired lobo.
My name is Kim, a Canadian boy, who left Canada almost 2 years ago after finding out he was very sick and not supposed to live. I found health moving South to Colombia first for 10 months and now 13 plus months in Venezuela. While I found health, I lost out on money and love, so the last 13 months have been very difficult. BUT THEN..... From across the ocean back in my old neighbor county the old US of A, comes love in the form of a family. I am totally smitten and ready for this, cough cough. No seriously I am ready.
BUT! I have had a taste of South America and the thoughts of moving to the USA, well, not my cup of tea. Back to Canada are even further from my mind, but Ecuador, well now you have my attention!
So, here we go, we are planning to have our first official meeting of the lovebirds and family in Ecuador and to spend the Christmas of 2012 there together. WITH the hopes and dreams of moving there, as soon as possible. Initially we were looking at Quito with the dream of living in Cotacachi, but our dream has shifted South to the city of Cuenca. With two young girls aged 10 and 12 we felt the culture of the city would be a blessing to not only their education, but to our education together as a family.
Since I am in Venezuela, I am looking at travelling by bus to Ecuador and arriving mid October first of November 2012 and looking for a place to spend 3 weeks with my new family, for their arrival in December.
Okay here is the list of questions, are you ready? I hope so.
1. Looking for a place to rent while we explore the country and have fun as a new family. Two bedrooms with a couch for me would be fine for now.
2. Residency, the $25,000 is an option for investment in property or in a bank. how long does it take and does it need to be completed before we move there.
3. Is the ruling on 90 days in 365 days as a tourist still the rule and is there any way around that. Colombia and Venezuela have very different rules on that. With timing I can arrange to stay in either country for a year working on a 90 tourist visa/passport stamp. So, it would be good to know my options here.
4. Bringing a new car over to Ecuador, what are the implications and costs? It is a brand new Kia Sorento.
5. And this in reality is number 1, schools for the girls, i am sending them a course to learn Spanish, but the reality is that until you are there and are using it, Spanish via any course is just that, Spanish via a course.
6. Recommendations as to what to bring, we heard that technology is not up to speed and yet we see computer stores with prices online for the same and less than in the USA. So we are confused by this. Do I sell my PC here and buy new in Ecuador or do I import toilet paper as a better choice. Inside joke, toilet paper here is 45Bsf for 4 rolls or just over $10.00US, but gas is only $0.19 a gallon. Instead of how many dollars a gallon it is how many gallons per dollar. jajaja
7. We will be bringing an Internet business with us as well as I have been teaching English here and so we have several sources of income. I am assuming to get a bank account you need to have a cedula, or can you open a savings account without one. This is very possible in Colombia, but in Venezuela it is getting hard to even buy toilet paper without a cedula, so a bank account is out of the question here.
8. Lastly, we need to get married. If we marry in the USA my good looking bride will loose over 50% of her pension. Thoughts on this one as well.
Well, that is it for now. Keep smiling and any help would be a blessing.
Moving to Ecuador
Hello,
Quite a history!! And now you have the chance to start a new life in Cuenca.
I will try to help you with your questions.
1- Do you want your apartment furnished or unfurnished? The difference between them is like $200. Are you interested in a particular area of the city?
2,3- If you have all your documentation for the Visa tramit is takes like 5 months to have it. But you can move before that, you can move to Ecuador with your Tourist Visa and then apply for the Investment Visa, once your file is in process you can stay in the country for as long as it takes to get the Visa.
An you can travel in and out of the country if you want.
4- Foreigners can't bring a car to Ecuador, sorry.
5- I already help other expats with information about the schools. Is difficult to say with one is better or good for you, every family is looking for different things. There's no info about schools in the Internet and few schools here have a web page, so the only way to find the right one is by coming here and visit them, there's some private schools that have subjects in English and Spanish.
Notice schools begin classes in September, if your family is coming in December they will miss like a full quarter and sometimes is difficult to get a place on them.
6- Computers, laptops, cell phones, tabs or any kind of technology equipment is more expensive here than in the States.
Apliances too, but the shipment is expensive too. Towels and bedding are expensive and have bad quality.
7- You can open a saving account in some banks here with your passport, also some ecuadorian banks have offices in the US so you can open an account there and use the money here.
8- About the marriage, I don't know. If you want to marry here is OK, no problem but I think it won't be valid in the States if you don't registered in the Embassy.
Good luck and let me know if you need more help.
Vinny
Vinny,
Thank you so much for all your excellent answers. We would be initially looking for a furnished place, and then once we start to become comfortable we would start looking for a place to furnish ourselves.
Very sad to hear about the car though. Kathi will be very disappointed to hear that one. It may be good for me though as I feel she may love the car more than me, so it will be our first test, jajajaja Is this true love or not? jajajaja
Is there a site we can go to to find out what documentation we need to have for the visa?
Other than that, you have been awesome in your quick response. Blessings!
kim
Hey... I resemble that remark... of course I will choose you over the car, mi amor.
Changes:
Initially i had thought about a little town called Cotacachi, near Ibarra. It had all I was looking for, but I allowed myself to be swayed into thinking other things, but late last night in talking to my honey, We came to the conclusion that the goal of Cotacachi is still where we would prefer to be. So, help for Cotacachi for a place to stay, arriving end of September to mid November 2012 and staying until the end of the year and then coming back in June of 2013, family in tow.
Hello,
Sorry but I can't help you with Cotacachi. Too far away from Cuenca and I don't have any contacts there.
Good luck and if you need other kind of info/help, let me know.
Vinny
I have seen that you can bring in a 40 foot container duty free. Does it have to be a 40 foot container? I have a lot less to move and could probably move it in a couple of large wood crates.
Does it have to be over water shipment?
There is also a 20 foot container, or, you can ship pallets. I think a pallet is basically like a loading pallet size, but it's a shipping box, the size of a pallet.
As far as duty free? I think that only applies to locals or persons with Visas already. I could be wrong, and I'm sure someone will read this and correct me if so.
Good Luck in your travels.
Stay Well,
Neil
Ps. I'm from the Lake Nokomis area.
I was planning on working on visa's in possibly 16 months for residence. Just trying to cover my bases. But through work I could probably still get a reasonable price on shipping.
I got my visa and cedula both in under a month. We are lucky to have an Ecuadorian Consulate right in Minneapolis. I could get to the office in about 20 minutes. Very handy. Some folks have to travel halfway across the country to get to one.
Good Luck
Neil
Oh really? Do you happen to have a list of all the required documents?
Well,
This seems to change fairly frequently, and differs from Cuenca to Quito. What is suggested when I went through the process was:
State Police report: < BCA in St. Paul >
Birth Certificate < I've heard no longer required >
Marriage Certificate < I've heard no longer required >
Proof of Income if Retirement Visa sought.
Divorce decree if you have been divorced.
Proof of High School or higher education if you want a drivers license.
On the 2 items I noted as no longer required: They were NOT required in Quito at the time I applied. I brought them anyway to cover my bases. They were required in Cuenca. I have heard that since I went through the process, Cuenca has loosened up.
My feeling is, be over prepared vs. not having something they require.
Actually, it's a very easy process if you have all your documents in order.
Good Luck,
Neil
The wife and I will be visiting Guayaquil and Cuenca for a week each in November. Looking forward on deciding if this is the place.
Recommend any hotels on the beach? Cuenca?
If so then only need to decide on when to move
I'm at a loss on GYE. as I just am in and out of there. Just make sure you visit The Malecon while there. Here in Cuenca I stayed at a great place, but a tad spendy. Casa San Raphael. It's a beautiful old home with courtyard that has been converted. Family run, English speaking. Fantastic location at about 6 blocks from the Parque Calderon and New Cathedral area. Basically right in the center of El Centro, where you can jump on the tour bus for like 5 bucks each. Great restaurants close by, the flower market and a great little outdoor vendors market with all things Ecuador.
I would say it's not too early to start setting up your flight and accommodations. The flights and hotels fill well in advance.
I flew American into Florida, then onto Quito or GYE. The only connecting flight from MSP. Left at 6:30 am from MSP and arrived in Ecuador at 6:00 pm. Pretty easy flight day. About 4 hour layover in Fl.
Any other questions, I'll p.m. my email addy.
Stay Well,
Neil
Ps. While watching the Vikes get their A---- handed to them yesterday, I met a couple at the bar from no more than a mile from my home in Mpls. Small world indeed.
I have the flights done for November. We will be there for 2 weeks and now getting the hotels setup.
Articles to help you in your expat project in Cuenca
THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER DOCUMENT IN SOUTH AMERICA
For the past decade or so, Ecuador has moved between the number one and number two spots in polls that rank ...
Ecuador is famous as a retirement haven. But you might not want to wait until retirement age to move there and ...
What kind of food will you find in restaurants, cafes, and private homes in Ecuador? Many restaurants in Ecuador ...
Family is everything to an Ecuadorian. The extended family unit is the most important aspect of life in Ecuador ...
Ecuador, as a fast-developing nation, has laws that are constantly evolving, but one thing is certain: the ongoing ...
