Ecuador Retirement Visa 2026: Jubilado and Rentista

The Ecuador retirement visa is residence by financial means. Nothing is invested, donated or spent: you show that a pension or a lawful income reaches you every month, and it stays yours, which is why Mirabello Consultancy treats it as a retirement route. Ecuador uses the US dollar, so every amount here is in US dollars.

What is Ecuador's Jubilado and Rentista visa?

The Jubilado and Rentista visa is Ecuador's temporary residence visa for pensioners (Jubilado) and rentiers (Rentista). In Spanish legal usage renta means income, so the Rentista category covers lawful income in general, not only rent from a lease. Both sit in article 60 of the Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana (LOMH, Registro Oficial Suplemento 938 of 6 February 2017, article 60 as replaced by R.O. 386-3S of 5 February 2021; read 11 October 2026): number 3 for the Jubilado, number 2 for the Rentista. The Reglamento a la LOMH, Decreto Ejecutivo 354 (last reformed by R.O. 6S No. 278 of 28 March 2023; read 11 October 2026), sets the detail in article 65 (Jubilado) and article 63 (Rentista).

The Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (MREMH) decides applications; the requirements are on its procedure page Concesión de visa de residencia temporal jubilado (updated 31 December 2024; read 11 October 2026). The separate remote-work Rentista variant (Reglamento article 64) is not covered here. The visa gives residence, not nationality: see residency versus citizenship.

Who qualifies, and how much income do you need?

The test is a monthly income of three times the unified basic salary (salario básico unificado, SBU). With the SBU at US$482 for 2026 (Acuerdo MDT-2025-195, quoted in a Ministerio de Desarrollo Humano resolution, read 11 October 2026), the floor is US$1,446 a month in 2026. The SBU is reset each January, so the floor re-prices and we confirm the figure in force when you file.

• Jubilado: a retirement pension of at least US$1,446 a month, certified by an apostilled or legalised document from the competent institution abroad (Reglamento article 65).
• Rentista: lawful monthly income of the same amount, documented by its source, such as leases or securities, in Ecuador or abroad (article 63).
• US$250 a month more for each person covered: a spouse or recognised partner and children (LOMH article 60, number 13).
• Health insurance valid for the whole visa period, with cover in Ecuador.
• A clean record: criminal-record certificates, as detailed in the documents list below.
• No investment, deposit or savings alternative: the route turns on monthly income. No minimum age or excluded nationality appears on the official procedure page.

Acuerdo Ministerial 0000070 of 28 June 2024 (read 11 October 2026), article 19, separately accepts a fixed-term deposit paying monthly interest of at least one SBU as proof of lawful means of living. We read it as an addition to the three-SBU test, not an alternative; that is not yet officially confirmed.

The route fits less well if you want a foreign pension outside the tax base while living in Ecuador, hope to qualify on savings alone, rely on a private annuity (acceptance not yet officially confirmed) or plan to work locally (work rights are not stated).

Is Ecuador's retirement visa a golden retirement visa?

Not fully: it is rated Partial, 52.5 out of 100, with confidence grade B, in the Mirabello Golden Retirement Index, scored on 11 October 2026 under methodology 1.1. Partial means the route meets most of the standard, with one gap. The gap the Index states is tax: a foreign pension is taxed once you are tax-resident. Golden needs at least 70 out of 100, confidence grade A or B and no fail on tax of foreign income, physical presence or renewal. Processing and durability also cost points, because no official decision time is published and the first permit lasts two years. Its strongest pillar is physical presence, with full marks: the temporary permit has no minimum stay and no absence limit. Its renewal category is "none: permanent residence at first expiry". The standard is Mirabello's own and is scored from official sources; under it, a golden retirement visa is a residence permit, not citizenship, with no investment required.

Do you have to live in Ecuador?

No. Ecuador sets no minimum stay and no limit on time abroad during temporary residence (LOMH article 65). Absence matters if you want permanent residence: to convert after 21 continuous months, your absences may not exceed 90 days over the visa's validity (Reglamento article 84). A permanent resident may then spend no more than 180 days a year abroad in the first two years, and afterwards up to two continuous years abroad before losing the status (LOMH article 65).

Tax residence is a separate test: 183 days or more in one fiscal (calendar) year; or 183 days or more within any 12 months across two fiscal years, unless you prove tax residence in another country; or your main economic interests are in Ecuador; or you have not spent 183 days in any other country (Ley de Régimen Tributario Interno, LRTI, article 4.1, SRI consolidation to 25 March 2024, read 11 October 2026). You can stay below that line on the temporary visa, but the 90-day rule for permanent residence means spending most of the 21 months in Ecuador, which will usually make you tax-resident. For routes with light presence rules, see residency without relocating.

Does Ecuador tax a foreign pension?

Yes. Ecuador taxes a tax resident on worldwide income, so once you are tax-resident your foreign pension and investment income are taxed there (LRTI article 2, number 2). The pension exemption in article 9, number 7, covers only Ecuadorian pensions (IESS, ISSFA, ISSPOL, the State and Labour-Code employers). Rates are progressive from 0% to 37% in the SRI table we read, with a credit for foreign tax paid (article 49); the 2026 bands are not yet officially confirmed.

A separate 5-year election, the residencia fiscal temporal, taxes only Ecuadorian-source income. It is not part of the visa and is open only to first-time tax residents who, between day 1 and day 120 after entry, invest at least US$150,000 in Ecuador or prove a monthly non-Ecuadorian income, with social-security affiliation. That income amount differs between official copies of the law, and whether a pension counts is not yet officially confirmed.

Money sent out of Ecuador can attract the currency outflow tax (Impuesto a la Salida de Divisas, ISD), whose general rate for 2026 is 5% above exemption thresholds, according to the SRI (read 11 October 2026).

Tax follows tax residence, not the permit. The paying country may still tax your pension under the relevant double tax treaty; a free SRI tax residence certificate helps with such claims. This is general information, not tax advice. See also countries that don't tax foreign pensions.

How long does it take, what does it cost, and what documents do you need?

No decision deadline is published on the MREMH procedure page, in the LOMH or in the Reglamento, so we confirm the timeline for your case. You apply online through e-VISAS, paying immediately, from abroad or in Ecuador.

The official fees are US$50 for the application and US$270 for the visa grant, with no VAT; applicants aged 65 or over have a 50% exemption, and those with a disability of 30% or more a 100% exemption (MREMH procedure page, updated 31 December 2024). The documents are:

• the pension or income document, apostilled or legalised;
• a criminal-record certificate for your country of origin and the countries you lived in during the last five years, translated, apostilled and issued within 180 days before your last entry (adults only);
• a migratory-registry certificate, added by the Ley Orgánica Reformatoria a la LOMH (R.O. 7S No. 151 of 24 October 2025, article 17; read 11 October 2026), which leaves articles 60, 63 and 65 unchanged;
• a passport valid for six months or more;
• health insurance valid for the visa period, with cover in Ecuador.

Renewal, permanent residence and citizenship

The temporary visa lasts two years and can be renewed more than once (LOMH article 60; Reglamento article 106), with the form, a passport valid for at least six months, a migratory-movement check, the fee and fresh proof of lawful means of living (article 107).

If you meet the presence condition, no renewal is needed: you can request permanent residence before expiry after 21 continuous months as a resident (LOMH article 63, number 1; Reglamento articles 83 and 84), with no more than 90 days abroad. Hence the Index renewal category "none: permanent residence at first expiry".

Ordinary naturalisation (LOMH articles 71 and 72) then requires permanent residence plus three years of regular domicile. Whether time on the temporary visa counts, and whether dual nationality is allowed, are not yet officially confirmed.

What the market gets wrong

• Some guides say Ecuador taxes only local income. The LRTI taxes a tax resident on income obtained abroad (article 2, number 2), foreign pensions included. Only the separate, conditional residencia fiscal temporal limits the base to Ecuadorian-source income, for 5 years.
• Some guides quote a lower income figure. The bar is three times the SBU: US$1,446 a month in 2026, and it moves every January.
• Some guides call the Jubilado visa permanent. It is temporary residence for two years; permanent residence comes only on application after 21 continuous months.

Ecuador Jubilado or another route?

The visa suits people with a steady, documented income who want modest fees, no capital commitment and a short path to permanent residence; the trade-offs are a floor that re-prices every January and worldwide taxation once you are tax-resident.

• The Peru Rentista visa, next door, is Golden in the Index, with residence of indefinite term from the grant; pensions originating in work are outside Peru's income tax, though coverage of a pension paid from abroad is not yet officially confirmed.
• The Chile retirement visa for jubilados and rentistas has the same temporary-then-definitive shape, but no fixed income amount, and foreign pensions stay outside Chilean tax.
• Mexico permanent residency is Partial for the same tax reason as Ecuador, but permanent from the grant.

Compare the region in Latin American pensionado and rentista visas compared, every scored route in the Golden Retirement Index and our retirement and passive-income residency guide.

What is not yet officially confirmed

• Processing time in practice.
• Whether the one-SBU test of Acuerdo Ministerial 0000070 applies on top of the three-SBU test.
• Whether a private annuity or non-institutional pension qualifies for the Jubilado, and whether it must be lifelong.
• The income amount of the residencia fiscal temporal, whether a pension counts, and how the election is made.
• The 2026 income-tax bands, capital-gains rules, the absence of a wealth tax and inheritance-tax detail.
• Work rights and access to public healthcare.
• Whether temporary-visa time counts towards naturalisation, and whether dual nationality is allowed.

Ask Mira, by Mirabello

For a first answer at any hour, ask Mira, by Mirabello, the AI advisor of Mirabello Immigration Intelligence. It reads the same verified programme data as this page and can compare this visa with other routes in the Mirabello Golden Retirement Index. A specialist then checks the details that decide your case.

How Mirabello Consultancy helps

Mirabello Consultancy checks that your pension or income documents meet three times the SBU in force when you file, prepares the apostilled and translated file, files it through e-VISAS and plans your time around the 21-month step to permanent residence and the tax-residence line. To find out whether your income qualifies, book a free, confidential consultation.

Information only, not legal or tax advice. Requirements were read from the official sources linked above on 11 October 2026 and can change; we confirm them for your case.