Ecuador Visa and Entry Requirements

Ecuador is straightforward to enter by air and has one genuinely unusual condition on entering overland. Both are worth knowing before the itinerary is fixed, because the second one can be arranged only at home.

The overland rule, which is the one nobody expects

To enter Ecuador across a land or river border from Peru or Colombia, the cited source records that you must present a criminal record certificate from the country you have lived in for the last five years. It must be legalized with the Hague Apostille and, if it was issued in another language, translated into Spanish. The requirement was announced in January 2024 for immediate effect.

There is an alternative. If you do not have the certificate, you can ask the Ecuadorean immigration authorities at the border to run a check on their own system instead, which flags travel prohibitions and international alerts. Holders of a valid Ecuadorean visa, holders of diplomatic passports, and anyone under eighteen are exempt.

⚠ It is an overland rule and only an overland rule. The same source says plainly that there are no restrictions in place for anyone flying into Ecuador. If you are arriving at an airport, none of the above applies to you.

Passport validity

Your passport must have an expiry date at least six months after the date you arrive. A passport that has been reported lost or stolen will be refused at the border even if you are holding it.

How long you can stay

The cited source records ninety days without a visa in any twelve month period. It is worth reading that as written: the allowance is counted across the year rather than per visit, so two long trips in the same twelve months draw on the same ninety days. An extension of a further ninety days can be paid for from inside the country, and it must be applied for before the first period ends. Overstaying attracts a fine, and the fine has to be paid before you will be allowed back into the country on a later trip.

⚠ Whose rule is this

The source this cluster cites is a national travel advisory written for its own citizens, and the ninety day allowance above belongs to them. What a United States passport holder must hold in order to enter Ecuador for tourism is deliberately absent from this page, because no reachable official source states it in a form that could be quoted honestly. Confirm it with the Ecuadorean consulate responsible for your state, close to travel, and confirm it again if your itinerary includes an overland crossing.

That is the standard this cluster works to throughout: name the authority, state the rule with the nationality it belongs to attached, and publish nothing that cannot be cited.

Before you go

• Check the live advisory for your own nationality within a week of travel. Ecuador's advisory has changed more than once in the past year.
• If any part of the trip is overland from Peru or Colombia, start the certificate and the apostille early. It is a weeks-long process in most countries, not a days-long one.
• Carry a printed onward or return itinerary. It is not always asked for and it is quick to produce when it is.

For what is in force on the ground once you are through, see the travel safety guide.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Ecuador travel advice: the standing warning that the FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of Ecuador, the Coastal Region province list, the twenty kilometer strip along the Colombian border, and the state of emergency declared on 15 September 2026 for sixty days in eight provinces including Pichincha. Accessed 17 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Ecuador entry requirements: the criminal record certificate required to enter by land or river from Peru or Colombia, legalized with the Hague Apostille and translated into Spanish, the SIMIEC check offered in its place, the statement that there are no restrictions in place for anyone flying into Ecuador, a passport valid at least six months beyond arrival, and ninety days without a visa in any twelve month period. Accessed 17 September 2026.