Ecuador

Ecuador's residence routes depend on where the money comes from.

• Remote workers: the Ecuador digital nomad visa covers people who work for employers or clients abroad, or run a company registered abroad, and earn at least $1,446 a month.
• Retirees: the pensioner visa suits people with a pension paid from abroad of the same amount. It used to be called the 9-I.
• Passive income and investors: Ecuador also has a rentista visa for income from rents or investments and an investor visa. This site has no pages for them yet.

Both visas with pages here grant temporary residence. Temporary residence lasts two years and can be renewed once. Next step: Permanent residence after at least 21 continuous months as a resident, applied for before the current residence expires. Income thresholds are multiples of the unified basic salary, which is reset every January.

Short stays: Ecuadorian law gives tourists up to 90 days in a year counted from the first entry, extendable once by up to 90 more days on request and payment of the fee (Organic Law on Human Mobility). Nationals of countries that need a visa must get one before they travel.

Prices are in US dollars, Ecuador's currency. These figures come from Numbeo's crowd-sourced data, updated between February and September 2026 as noted; treat them as rough guides.

• Quito: a one-bedroom apartment runs about $459 a month in the center and $294 outside it, and a single person's other costs about $577 (Numbeo, June 2026). A central setup comes to about $1,035; taking the midpoint of the two rents, about $953.
• Guayaquil: about $450 for a central one-bedroom and $623 in other costs, roughly $1,073 (Numbeo, June 2026).
• Cuenca: about $500 for a central one-bedroom and $492 in other costs, roughly $992 (Numbeo, September 2026).
• Manta: about $463 for a central one-bedroom and $300 outside the center (Numbeo, February 2026); Numbeo gives no monthly cost estimate for Manta.

Rents are close across the big cities; other costs make most of the difference. Short furnished lets usually cost more than these long-term averages.

• Quito: the capital, high in the Andes, with the most coworking spaces, services and flight connections.
• Cuenca: a colonial highland city with a long-standing foreign community and the lowest monthly costs of the big three in Numbeo's data.
• Guayaquil: the hot, busy commercial port, for people who want a big coastal city and business contacts.
• Manta: a Pacific port city, for people who want the coast with city services.
• Baños de Agua Santa: a small mountain town for outdoor sports and slower living, better for short stays than for heavy video-call schedules.

Security differs a lot between and within cities, so check current travel advice for each place before choosing a base.

The Speedtest Global Index put Ecuador's median fixed broadband speed at 218.81 Mbps and median mobile speed at 64.26 Mbps in August 2026. Fixed lines in the cities handle video calls easily; mobile data is slower and patchier outside urban areas, so a backup plan helps in small towns.

Quito has the widest choice of coworking spaces, with smaller scenes in Cuenca and Guayaquil. Beach towns and mountain villages rely more on cafes and home connections, so it's worth asking hosts for a speed test before booking.

Under Article 4.1 of the Internal Tax Regime Law, a person is tax resident in Ecuador for a fiscal year in any of these cases (SRI):

• 183 days or more in the country in that fiscal year, consecutive or not, counting sporadic absences.
• 183 days or more in a 12-month span across two fiscal years, unless the person proves tax residence elsewhere for that period.
• The main core of their activities or economic interests is in Ecuador.
• They spent no more than 183 days in any other country that year and keep their closest family ties in Ecuador.

No official source grants digital nomad visa holders an income tax exemption, and there's no special regime for newcomers. A remote worker who passes the day limit is resident like anyone else and should check with the SRI how foreign earnings are treated and whether a tax treaty with the home country applies.

The visa's income threshold is an immigration test, not a tax one: the digital nomad visa asks for $1,446 a month in foreign income (gob.ec).

• Money: Ecuador uses the US dollar, so there's no currency to exchange for travelers paid in dollars.
• SIM cards: prepaid SIMs are sold at operator stores and at airports; a passport is needed to register a line. eSIMs are an option for phones that support them.
• Altitude: Quito and Cuenca sit high in the Andes, so plan an easy first few days.
• Health: both residence visas require health insurance valid in Ecuador for the whole visa period; short-term visitors should carry travel insurance.
• Staying legal: tourists who pass their permitted stay without an extension face penalties under the Organic Law on Human Mobility, so track the 90-day count (LOMH).
• Safety: check the home government's travel advice before arrival, use app-based taxis at night and avoid areas locals warn against.