The Ministry of the Interior is currently applying fines and penalties to foreign tourists who have lost their “Regular” status because they have overstayed in Ecuador. As it is unclear how the Ministry of Interior proceeds when a person is irregular, here are the fines and penalties that are applied to tourists:
- As is of general knowledge, in most cases, a foreigner who has entered Ecuador with a tourist visa has 90 days; However, in case you need to extend you stay in Ecuador, you can request 90 extra days, for which you must go to the Migration Offices before the expiration of the first 90 days and pay the fee for the extension of tourism visa. Under the aforementioned case, in the case in which the foreigner did not request his extension prior to the completion of the first 90 days, he/she may do so until the 120th day without paying any fine; in that case you must approach the migration office before the 120th day, request the extension and pay the government rate of the extension, the Ministry of the Interior will grant an extension for the remaining time until completing the 180 days of total stay.
- If the foreigner with a tourist visa, has passed the 120 days but still does not meet the 180 days of his stay without having obtained an extension, he must pay a fine of $ 772.00 USD (TWO BASIC SALARIES) to obtain the extension. The time granted will be the remaining number of days to complete the 180 days of total stay.
- If the foreigner with a tourist visa has passed the 180 days without having obtained the extension, the sanction is more severe: he/she must pay a fine of $ 772.00 USD and he must leave Ecuador. In order to return to Ecuador you must obtain a consular visa at one of the Ecuadorian consulates located abroad. The sanctioned tourist will not be granted a tourist visa for two years.
Lina Ulloa and Steve Stroud.
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