New rules require Ecuador expats to be ‘proficient' in Spanish; requirement affects current residents as well as new ones
Published on March 28, 2015 by: CuencaHighLife |Comment
In a dramatic policy change, Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Relations is instituting a rule that requires foreign expats to pass Spanish proficiency tests to maintain residency status. The change affects holders of all permanent-residency visas, including investor, professional and retiree.
chl exterior min logoThe Foreign Ministry, which oversees immigration affairs in Ecuador, says that the rule change is the result of concerns that North American and some European residents are not assimilating into local communities and, in some cases, are adversely affecting local populations.
In a prepared statement being distributed to overseas embassies and consulates, as well as to immigration offices in Ecuador, the Exterior Ministry says: “We recognize that Spanish-language proficiency is a major predictor of the ability to adapt to the local community and culture. We have become increasingly concerned that language problems are causing clashes between foreign residents and citizens due to cultural differences and misunderstandings. We are also concerned on behalf of our foreign guests that they may no longer be welcome here due to these misunderstandings.”
The ministry statement continued, “It is our belief that those wishing to become residents of Ecuador should assume the responsibility of learning the country's official language. We believe that most current residents and those applying for residency will understand and support this position.”
The new rules require that all residency visas be renewed on an annual or bi-annual basis, on a schedule to be determined, with renewal contingent on successful performance on a Spanish-proficiency test. Temporary visas, such as those for students, temporary workers, and religious representatives, will not be subject to the language test. Language requirements for citizenship applications will not change.
According the Ministry, the level of Spanish-language proficiency required for visa renewal will rise according to the length of time a resident is in Ecuador. The tests will be given at one-, three-, and five-year intervals, at the time of visa renewal, with each test being progressively more difficult. At five years, the ministry says, it expects the visa holder to be fluent enough to be fully functional in the Spanish-speaking community.
Foreign residents who do not pass the proficiency test can retake the exam twice. Those who don't pass and don't leave the country voluntarily will be deported at their own expense, the Ministry said.
Lee Dubs, owner of Cuenca's Carolina Bookstore and a Spanish-language instructor, advised the ministry in developing the new rule. “This is badly needed and I'm proud to part of helping out with the new rules,” he said. “I've been watching more and more folks arrive in Cuenca who seem to have no interest in learning the language or participating in the culture. Frankly, I think there's a lot of gringo dead wood here.”
Dubs, who was a Spanish professor at a North Carolina college before relocating to Cuenca, admits he flunked the sample five-year test. “I'm going to have to hit the books myself,” he said. “I guess I need to practice what I preach.”
According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Alfredo Maldonado, his office has been particularly concerned about the impact English-speaking expats are having in smaller communities, such as Vilcabamba, Cotacachi, Salinas, and Olón. “The lack of assimilation by foreigners in small towns has led to increasing discord, sometimes leading to legal disputes and violence, that we think is the result of foreigners' ignorance of the language,” he said. “We've also been concerned about the large foreign population in Cuenca, which we understand is about eight thousand. There are neighborhoods in Cuenca that are called ‘gringolandia,' and this obviously is not a sign of assimilation.”
The foreign ministry says it is working out visa-renewal schedules and language-test details and will contact the English-speaking expat community explaining the new procedures, through websites such as this one, by the end of April.
Graciela Corral, assistant director of the Cuenca immigration office on Av. Manuel Calle, said she's expecting a deluge of inquiries. “We expect a lot more than usual since April 1 is coming up soon,” she said.
This will weed out a ton of malcontents who refuse to learn spanish. I for one will be happy about that! I took time to learn spanish, Now am real glad I did.
Gringos go home!!! No spanish, no stay!!! This will weed out.
Read the last line of the original article.
It looks like an April fool's day joke to me.
If it is not are you ready to take a spanish test?? I am not aware that "Cuenca High Life" posts April fools jokes. Any thing is possible I suppose but reference to Lee Dubs leads me to beleive it is not a joke. He is a well respected business owner here in Cuenca. He also is aware of much "dead wood" gringos here. He was the author of "the ugly american" I am in full agreement with his thoughts on this.
Cuenca boy:
I don't care for tests, but if required I believe I could pass. That being said, you might be correct. Living on the coast in a small indigenous community, I do not know the author or publication. Perhaps it would be best for you to contact the Cuenca immigration office after the first of April and report back to the rest of us your findings.
This was a hoax and in very bad taste.
If it were April 1st you could call it an April Fools joke, but it was published on March 28th.
There is no truth to this article.
Could you imagine if the US did the same thing to our immigrants? especially the illegals? I understand that there are several 100 thousand Ecuadorian's working and living in the USA that don't speak English because they do not have to.
kindheart1956 wrote:I understand that there are several 100 thousand Ecuadorian's working and living in the USA that don't speak English because they do not have to.
Expect to be challenged when you make such a statement.
What is your source?
cccmedia in Quito
Cuenca boy wrote:reference to Lee Dubs leads me to believe it is not a joke. He is a well respected business owner here in Cuenca. He also is aware of much "dead wood" gringos here. He was the author of "the ugly american" I am in full agreement with his thoughts on this.
Dr. Dubs previously published a serious essay via Cuenca HighLife under the title "The Ugly American Revisited: arrogance plus ignorance is a recipe for trouble as more N. Americans move to Ecuador."
From its prologue:
"In their blockbuster and highly influential 1958 book 'The Ugly American,' Eugene Burdick and William Lederer identified an attitude of Americans abroad which they saw as harming the U.S. in its struggle to win the hearts and minds of Third World peoples in the cold war against Communism. In the book, a Burmese journalist says, 'A serious change seems to come over Americans when they come to a foreign land. They isolate themselves socially. They live pretentiously.' "
It remains to be discovered whether Dr. Dubs was playing along with Cuenca HighLife's editors in the questionable pre-April "joke" on Expat retirees.
cccmedia in Quito
I live next to several and they gave me that number. They are pickers in the fields across the street, oh and many attend the same church I do, but they attend the Spanish service. So either the Ecuadorian's that work in our town picking are just making things up.
Here is the quintessential citation from Dr. Dubs' "Revisited" essay that may give insight into the thinking that brought us the March fools "joke":
"Who are today's Ugly Americans? They are those who live in a country and a culture which they believe to be inferior to the country from which they migrated, and who let others know it. We know that all their lives they ingested the belief in America's universal superiority and blessings from God. What is the fault of Ugly Americans abroad is that they make those feelings and beliefs obvious.
"They offend the local population and infuriate other American expats. When people from the U.S. who live in Ecuador scream in bank lines and restaurants, make accusatory generalizations on blogs, accuse taxi drivers of being thieves, and speak of taking charge and improving the culture, the Ugly Americans are evident.
"They are the bad apples who risk spoiling the entire barrel and turning the locals against all gringo immigrants. They do not care, obviously, but the majority of the gringo community does care, and that majority is becoming agitated, asking each other, 'Who are these people?' "
.
kindheart1956 wrote:I live next to several and they gave me that number. They are pickers in the fields across the street.
Kind Heart,
Although I don't consider 'pickers' in Nikiski, Alaska, to be a reliable source of national statistics, I thank you for providing us your source.
cccmedia in Quito
cccmedia wrote:kindheart1956 wrote:I live next to several and they gave me that number. They are pickers in the fields across the street.
Kind Heart,
Although I don't consider 'pickers' in Nikiski, Alaska, to be a reliable source of national statistics, I thank you for providing us your source.
cccmedia in Quito
Actually, other estimates place the number much higher at 170,000.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_im … ted_States
The Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics estimated 180,000 illegal Ecuadorians in the U.S. as of 2010.
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Ecuador . . . . . . . . . . . . 150,000 160,000 170,000 170,000 180,000
Could be over 230,000 now at growth rate of 10,000 per year?
"This will weed out a ton of malcontents who refuse to learn spanish. I for one will be happy about that! I took time to learn spanish, Now am real glad I did."
Cuenca Boy, I don't understand this statement... I am a malcontent but I am learning spanish, and I know a lot of people who are not malcontents who are having a huge challenge learning the language. Maybe I am misunderstanding.
I know people who speak little to no Spanish. They seem happy here, obey the laws and pay their bills. The only person's Spanish I worry about is my own.
ecuadorgeorge wrote:I am a malcontent but I am learning spanish, and I know a lot of people who are not malcontents who are having a huge challenge learning the language.
Malcontent: "a person who is dissatisfied and rebellious."
-- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
I had no idea that Ecuador George (ecuadorgeorge.com) fit this description.
cccmedia in Quito
I am from Florida I only moved here a year ago.
kindheart1956 wrote:I am from Florida I only moved here a year ago.
Florida...then a year in Nikiski, Alaska...now moving to Ecuador.
Nobody here has seen this itinerary before 
.
ecuadorgeorge wrote:This was a hoax and in very bad taste.
If it were April 1st you could call it an April Fools joke, but it was published on March 28th.
The reaction among Expats on various blogs ranged from stunned about the supposed language requirement...to stunned about how gullible some Expats and serial Expats seem to be.
On one blog (not this one), a poster said Expats will gain a new reality about things when they confront a real problem some day. Like if Ecuador and the United States declare war on each other...what would Expats in EC do if they faced the possibility of internment in POW camps....
That's an absurd example IMO, but it got me to thinking about something that had never crossed my mind.
In that unlikely scenario, it seems to me that such a confrontation would be of short duration.
I recalled an old TV sketch in which the late songwriter-entertainer Steve Allen was imagining a nuclear-era war and how the war songs of the era might go.
He set it up by saying, "Near the end of the war, the President gathered all the American people...
all 600 of us...in the nation's capital...Fargo,
North Dakota...."
Allen's song* ended like this...
"So remember, Mommy...I'm off to get a Commie...
So send me a salami somehow...
And I'll come home to you...when the war is over (Pause)...
An hour-and-a-half from now!"
*As performed by entertainment legend Steve Allen on SNL-predecessor That Was The Week That Was, an ensemble-cast program in the 1960's.
TW3, the original.
with manana and all that I would think the April Fools jokes in Ecuador would start coming in today.
mugtech wrote:with mañana and all that I would think the April Fools jokes in Ecuador would start coming in today (April 3rd).
Not exactly.
Ecuadorians are focused on the start of Semana Santa (Holy Week), the biggest festival time of the year in
La República.
Quito hosts the largest celebration of all with up to a quarter of a million people participating in the
Jesús de Gran Poder (great power) procession and the
witnessing -- here in Centro Histórico -- of an image of Jesus being brought to the Church of San Francisco by hundreds of believers in purple robes.
In the parish of Alangasi outside the capital, two dozen painted and costumed diablos (devils) are publicly driven from the parish church, later to re-assemble at a village residence to eat, drink and be ritually cleansed.
And those are just two of the hundreds of Pascua traditions being observed around Ecuador during this week of the year.
cccmedia in Quito
Source for Alangasi material was the Real World Holidays website.
What happened to Cuenca boy?
It was an April Fool's joke posted by Lee Dubs and Cuenca High Life. There is not a word of truth in the entire piece.
George, and (dfcorderro, I am back) I subscribe to and read your blog faithfully and you are not even close to "malcontent"! We do know now that it was a sick try at an April Fools joke by the Cuenca High Life staff. But had it been true I would have been happy with it. I was talking about the malcontents who come here and expect the locals to change for them. I dont know if you read Lee's "The ugly American" but he explained it very well about gringos that come here and make it bad for all of us that conform and learn because of their being malcontent and disrespecting the locals, of their customs and their language. Then they argue with other gringos who do know some things about living here.
We have been here 4 years now and have traveled Ecuador extensively (we have a car) We love the variety of different mini cultures we run into in different provinces. It is a joy to show acceptance and be excepted by locals. This make our life so full and enjoyable. My blood pressure has decline quite a bit here due to acceptance and going with the flow!! Those gringos who fight the flow will have health problems and mental insufficiency. My presidents name is Correa not "Obama!!!
We have about 30 close friends including some Cuencanos. My wife teaches English (for gratis) to a group of elderly Cuencanos who do want to learn English. Our gringo friends are all easy to get along with and comply to learning local ways. I often say now that the more gringos I meet the less I like because of "bad attitudes" and then you have the "know it alls" I try to keep up with the changes to help other people but you have seen that when a question is asked on GT or GP you will see 10 different answers (guesses) and they all believe they are correct and will write nasty comments to another who may have a different idea! Makes me angry but I finally decided just to let them simmer in their ignorance. You can not really advise someone who does not want or appreciate it. Or,, knows it all!! I have much better things to do with my time.
Am waiting for your next informative blog. I do like your sense of humor and detailed blogs! You are truly a creature of cultural change and acceptance. Bravo!!
I am fortunate that I have a Colombian wife and learning Spanish comes easier for me. However if a gringo truly wants to learn Spanish to get by there are many schools and many private teachers to help them accomplish this feat. Most however want Ecuador to change for them!! This of course will not happen so I hope they will go back to wherever they came from. This is "not" meant for those of you who wish to conform to this beautiful land we have chosen to spend the rest of our lives in! I wish you much luck and happiness.
Cuenca alone, was founded 558 years ago. That is more than double the age of the USA. Culture here has been rooted for so many more years and is primarily latinos. The USA is of course a melting pot for the world. So you do get a big variety of mixed gringos with many different ideas how to run a country. Those ideas are better left at the boarding gate of wherever they came from!! I for one will continue with my "contentness" way of living here and someday, I hope not to soon I will die here.
Saludos
Cuenca boy wrote:We love the variety of different mini cultures we run into in different provinces. It is a joy to show acceptance and be accepted by locals. This make our life so full and enjoyable. My blood pressure has decline quite a bit here due to acceptance and going with the flow!! Those gringos who fight the flow will have health problems and mental insufficiency....
We have about 30 close friends including some Cuencanos.
That's a great and positive formula you and your wife have embraced, Cuenca Boy -- mixing with local groups, having close friends, going with the flow and experiencing better health.
Thank for sharing it with us. 
cccmedia in Quito
Cuenca boy, you must be living outside of Ecuador, as your post is old news and was intended to be a 4/1 joke. Lee knew nothing about it.
Thank you ccc. Our enjoyment of Ecuador by learning and excepting to be part of the culture as oppose to trying to change it like so many gringo want to do has been a great way to continue our "retired" lives here.
ginarnold1957. if you read I have been living in Cuenca for 4 years now. I was not writing to you but another who replied to me and I have not been on this site for a while.My original post was on 4/2 ! By the way Lee did get many gringos in his bookstore asking if it upset him. Sorry you have nothing better to do with your time than criticize!! This is a forum for information not a slapping post!! Cheers!
ginarnold1957. if you read I have been living in Cuenca for 4 years now. I was not writing to you but another who replied to me and I have not been on this site for a while.My original post was on 4/2 ! By the way Lee did get many gringos in his bookstore asking if it upset him. Sorry you have nothing better to do with your time than criticize!! This is a forum for information not a slapping post!! Cheers!
this article was published as an April fools joke. Don't take it seriously.
For expats is the language requirement and test to maintain resident status a joke or real???
Bruce
Fred we know that it was an April fools. The issue is attempted gringo superiority nothing else. Thanks.
This was on Gringo tree 28th April 2015. It was an April Fools joke gone wrong!!!!. Do not set people off again!!!
This mean spirited article has been outed as an April First Joke.
This was reminiscent of Orison Wells "war of the worlds". He was never allowed on the radio again after the scares he caused. So maybe the person who posted it should be banned from this blog for life? Just a thought about Justice!
Too bad we don't have this in the U.S. This is pretty cool requirement. Guess I better start taking more Spanish!!
It was a bad April fools joke!! You should learn Spanish but not to take a test! YES it should be required in the USA.
I am a Canadian. Now 68, I came to Quito when 63,.
When a young man, I had a test administered by a psychologist who determined that I did not have the aptitude to learn another language.
On arriving in Quito, I decided not to hang out with English speakers and now live in Spanish, with only one English speaking friend. I joined the Rotary club and have integrated.
When people arrive in my country, Canada, I strongly believe that they should learn one of our official languages, English or French.
Believing that immigrants to my country should learn my country's languages; how could I possibly say that the same rule not apply here in Ecuador??
Here are the top ten reasons why Expats will not be subjected to a language 'litmus test' in Ecuador....
Such a test would reduce Expats' interest in moving to La República...and would incentivize español-challenged Expat residents to leave. Therefore:
#10...It would hurt the tourism business inside Ecuador.
#9...It would hurt Ecuador's airline business.
#8...It would hurt the restaurant business.
#7...It would hurt the Gringo-friendly supermercados.
#6...It would reduce residency-visa income.
#5...It would hurt the immigration attorneys.
#4...It would hurt the construction industry.
#3...It would hurt the home-rental businesses.
#2...It would hurt the hotels at the beach and in the highlands.
And the #1 reason why Expats won't be subjected to a language 'litmus test':
#1...Debido a las razones que ya mencioné, perjudicaría al Supremo...politicamente.
cccmedia in Quito
Some countries do require foreign immigrants to pass a language literacy test in order to qualify for work and/or residency permits.
Those countries do not need:
-Foreign workers to fill employment/technical gaps
-Foreign hard currencies
Ecuador does. No language qualification will be installed as long those needs exist.
And P.S.
Cuenca boy, will you please stop yelling at us forgodsake. That's really annoying. We get that you're better and smarter than everyone else, ok? Just stop yelling. 
geez....
I did not yell at you or anyone else. Nothing I have written is in caps!! If someone criticizes me I will answer back. Ecuador does have freedom of speech! If it really annoys you then I would suggest you dont read it. I do know that many gringos have nothing better to do that sit and read blogs all day. We travel and I can answer this on my phone. Have a good day. 
Come on guys, please remember we're here to help each other. This is the sole reason I've created Expat.com 10 years ago.
Thanks for your attention.
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