Means of Livelihood

Overview

Every temporary or permanent residence visa requires you to prove a means of livelihood — a steady monthly income that meets the minimum threshold for your visa category. The documents you provide and how you present them can make the difference between approval and denial.

Cover Page

Always include a cover page explaining your income, especially if your bank statement is in a different language or the currency is not clearly US dollars. The cover page should state in plain terms how much the monthly income is in USD, even if you think the numbers are obvious. This helps the Ministry officer reviewing your application understand your financial situation at a glance.

Foreign Bank Statements

Bank statements from outside Ecuador (for example, from a US bank) require several steps to be accepted:

1. Notarized in the state where they were issued.
2. Apostilled in that same state.
3. Certified translated into Spanish by a translator licensed by Ecuador's judiciary — for example, EcuadorTranslations.com.
4. Notarized translation — the certified translation itself must also be notarized by an Ecuadorian notary.

This process is time-consuming and expensive. A certified translation company like EcuadorTranslations.com can handle the entire process digitally — you send a PDF and they return the finished document — so you never need to mail physical documents to Ecuador.

Ecuadorian Bank Statements

A much simpler alternative is to use bank statements from an Ecuadorian bank. You can open a savings account as a tourist — no cédula required — if you are from the US or many other countries. After three months of deposits, you have statements that are already in Spanish and in US dollars, with no notarization, apostille, or translation needed.

This is one of the most practical hacks for getting an Ecuador visa:

• Enter Ecuador on a tourist visa.
• Open a savings account at a local bank (e.g., Banco del Pacífico / JEP).
• Deposit the required monthly amount for three months.
• Use those bank statements as your means of livelihood proof.

Pension Visas

For pension (Jubilado) visas, separate bank statements are not typically required. You can submit the pension letter twice — once in the pension letter upload box and once in the means of livelihood upload box. However, make sure to modify the file slightly (rename or re-save it) between uploads. The eVISA portal's document management system may reject exact duplicate filenames.

Staleness & Subsanación

Ecuador can take three months or longer to respond to your application. By the time they review your case, the bank statements you submitted may be months old. If the Ministry requests updated documents during the 10-day subsanación period, obtaining fresh notarized and apostilled statements from a foreign bank, plus a certified translation, is extremely difficult to do on short notice.

This is another reason Ecuadorian bank statements are ideal — you can walk into a local branch, get a current statement printed and stamped the same day, and upload it immediately.

Income Requirements by Visa Type

The monthly income requirement depends on your visa type. All amounts are based on the Salario Básico Unificado (SBU), which in 2026 is approximately $482 per month.

• Profesional visa — 1 SBU ($482/month)
• Other temporary residence categories — up to 3 SBU ($1,446/month)

Check the specific visa type page for the exact requirement.

Dependents

When applying for a dependent visa, the sponsor's income plus an additional $250 per month per dependent must be shown. However, there is an important practical consideration:

Put bank statements in the dependent's name. We have seen an application denied where the husband's bank statements were used to prove the wife's means of livelihood — the Ministry rejected it because the account was not in the wife's name, regardless of the law or the additional $250/month requirement. To avoid this, use a joint account in both names, or open a separate account in the dependent's name and attach that statement in the same file.