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      Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

      • Spain
      • Portugal
      • Panama
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      • Browse All Countries

      Best For:

      • The Best Places To Retire
      • Health Care Abroad
      • Cost Of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Establishing Residency
      • Gun Laws In The World
      • English-Speaking Countries
      • Safest Places For Retirement
      • Best Places In Latin America
    • Budgets

      How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

      The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

      Super Cheap

      • Chitré, Panama
      • Santa Marta, Colombia
      • Phuket, Thailand
      • Dumaguete, The Philippines

      Cheap

      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Kyrenia, Cyprus
      • Hua Hin, Thailand
      • The Algarve, Portugal

      Affordable

      • Valencia, Spain
      • Cascais, Portugal
      • Las Terrenas, The DR
      • Pisa, Italy
      • La Rochelle, France
      • Mazatlán, Mexico

      Luxury

      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Kotor, Montenegro
      • The Panama City Beaches
      • Paris, France
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      • Home
      • Countries

        Top Destinations:

        Whether you’re looking for fun and sun, a peaceful retirement, or the chance to earn some extra income, you’ve got a real world of opportunity open to you… In short, we’ve done our best to narrow down your best options, but only you can decide the right country for you.

        • Spain
        • Portugal
        • Panama
        • Belize
        • Colombia
        • Cyprus
        • Mexico
        • France
        • Montenegro
        • Browse All Countries

        Best For:

        • The Best Places To Retire
        • Health Care Abroad
        • Cost Of Living
        • Investing in Real Estate
        • Establishing Residency
        • Gun Laws In The World
        • English-Speaking Countries
        • Safest Places For Retirement
        • Best Places In Latin America
      • Budgets

        How Much Will It Cost You To Live Overseas?

        The only honest answer is, we have no idea. And neither does anyone else. The only one who can answer that question is you. Here’s the most important thing to understand about budgeting your new life overseas…

        Super Cheap

        • Chitré, Panama
        • Santa Marta, Colombia
        • Phuket, Thailand
        • Dumaguete, The Philippines

        Cheap

        • Medellin, Colombia
        • Boquete, Panama
        • Kyrenia, Cyprus
        • Hua Hin, Thailand
        • The Algarve, Portugal

        Affordable

        • Valencia, Spain
        • Cascais, Portugal
        • Las Terrenas, The DR
        • Pisa, Italy
        • La Rochelle, France
        • Mazatlán, Mexico

        Luxury

        • Ambergris Caye, Belize
        • Kotor, Montenegro
        • The Panama City Beaches
        • Paris, France
      • Resources

        Global Living

        • Living & Retiring Overseas
        • Raising A Family Abroad
        • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
        • Offshore & Diversification

        Making Money

        • International Real Estate
        • Banking
        • Employment
        • Investing

        Follow Us:

        • Meet Our Experts
      • Real Estate

        Join our Weekly Newsletter
        Overseas Property Alert

        Sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive expert insights on the best international real estate investment opportunities.






          We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.

          Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

          • Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

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          International Property Summit

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          Live and Invest In Spain Conference

          PANAMA CITY, PANAMA

          June 18-20, 2025

          VIRTUAL

          July 17-19, 2025

          Valencia, Spain

          Sep. 17-19, 2025

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          overseas living letter offers affordable retirement guidance
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          Home Countries Ecuador

          How And Why To Obtain Ecuadorean Citizenship

          The World’s Cheapest And Easiest Residency

          by Lief Simon
          Dec 03, 2021
          in Ecuador, Offshore
          0 0
          Cuenca, Ecuador

          Adobe Stock/mehdi33300

          Other than for random, one-off real estate investment opportunities, Ecuador has never been high on my list of top offshore destinations.

          This country is top budget lifestyle choice, no question… but it’s never been a place to think about planting an offshore flag… with one important and notable exception.

          Obtaining Ecuadorean citizenship is surprisingly easy… as long as you can meet the residency requirement, which, again, is about as straightforward as it gets.

          Ecuador offers several residency options, including one for pensioners and another for investors.

          Qualifying For Residency In Ecuador As A Pensioner

          To qualify as a pensioner (that is, for the pensionado visa), all you need to do is prove a minimum monthly income of US$400. That’s the lowest minimum income requirement offered by any country in the world… making Ecuador the most affordable place in the world to establish residency.

          All you need is proof of the US$400 per month income… plus a clean police report, copies of your passport, two photos, a birth certificate, and, if relevant, a marriage certificate… and you’re set.

          Qualifying For Residency In Ecuador As An Investor

          The financial requirement to qualify for residency as an investor is similarly appealingly low. You need to invest only US$40,000 in a two-year CD at an Ecuadorian financial institution or in real estate in the country.

          The investment (in a CD or real estate) must be maintained for as long as you hold your temporary residency permit. This means that, if you invest in real estate, you can’t sell the property without disrupting your residency status.

          Start Your New Life Today, Overseas






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            Other Ways Of Qualifying For Residency In Ecuador

            If you’re not certain you want to own real estate in Ecuador indefinitely and aren’t ready to park a large sum in a CD in an Ecuador bank, you can apply for permanent residency after 21 months of temporary residency.

            While Ecuador has eliminated in-country time requirements for temporary residency permits, they still place restrictions on how long a permanent resident can be out of the country.

            Specifically, during your first two years as a permanent resident in Ecuador, you can’t be out of the country for more than 180 days during either of those years.

            Once you’ve been a permanent resident for three years, you’re eligible for naturalization.

            Like the financial requirements to qualify for residency, this one for citizenship is very competitive. Most countries require five years of legal or permanent residency, depending on the country, before you’re able to apply to become a citizen.

            The even better news is that you can expect to be approved for citizenship in less than a year… and without taking a test. Most countries require, at a minimum, that you pass an exam on the country’s history, geography, politics, etc., in the local language.

            Again, that’s not the case in Ecuador.

            As a travel document, an Ecuadorean passport isn’t a top choice. With your Ecuadorean passport, you’d be able to travel to fewer than 90 countries visa-free, including most of Latin America, some of Africa and Asia, and only a couple of countries in Europe.

            However, Ecuador allows dual citizenship for citizens of many countries, including the United States and Canada.

            You could use your Ecuadorean passport when traveling in Latin America and your current passport when traveling to Europe.

            Lief Simon
            Editor, Offshore Living Letter

            Tags: 'Cuenca''Ecuador''pensionado visa''residency'ecuador citizenshipecuador residencyinvestor visaLive abroadlive overseas
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            Lief Simon

            Lief Simon

            Lief Simon has lived and worked in 7 countries on 5 continents and traveled to more than 75 countries. His real estate investment career began with a $5,000 down payment on a three-flat building in Chicago. Less than three years later, Lief sold the building for a leveraged return of 3,000%—$150,000 in profit after closing costs and commissions.

            From there, he turned his attention overseas and has bought property in 24 countries including France, Croatia, Portugal, Ireland, Belize, Spain, Argentina, Cyprus, Romania, and beyond. Thanks to his decades-long career as a global property investor, Lief has built a multi-million-dollar portfolio that includes rental properties, significant land holdings, and 7 personal residences.

            Lief has established residency in 3 countries and acquired a second passport from Ireland.

            In 2008 Lief and wife Kathleen Peddicord made the most important investment of their lives—a 215-acre oceanside finca, known as Los Islotes. There, on Panama’s largely undiscovered Veraguas coast, they’ve installed underground electricity, water, and internet and built a forever family home that sits at the heart of their ultimate vision: a gold standard private residential community for those in search of a true safe haven escape.

            Lief’s latest book, “Cowboy Millionaire—The New American Pioneer,” collects all the wisdom he has learned in three decades of living and investing outside America.

            He offers advice on international diversification in his twice-weekly Offshore Living Letter and monthly Simon Letter dispatches. For real estate investment opportunities, check out his monthly Global Property Advisor service.

            If you’d like to meet Lief in person, join him for one of our upcoming in-country conferences. You’ll find further details here.

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                  We Value Your Privacy! We will not share your email address with anyone else, period.
                  HOME

                  Top Countries

                  • Spain
                  • Portugal
                  • Panama
                  • Belize
                  • Colombia
                  • Cyprus
                  • Mexico
                  • France
                  • Montenegro

                  Best For:

                  • Health Care Abroad
                  • Retirement Living
                  • Cost Of Living
                  • Investing in Real Estate
                  • Establishing Residency
                  • Gun Ownership
                  • English Speakers
                  • Safety
                  BROWSE ALL COUNTRIES

                  Budgets

                  How Much Will It Cost
                  To Live Overseas?

                  Super Cheap

                  • Chitré, Panama
                  • Santa Marta, Colombia
                  • Phuket, Thailand
                  • Dumaguete, The Philippines

                  Cheap

                  • Medellin, Colombia
                  • Boquete, Panama
                  • Kyrenia, Cyprus
                  • Hua Hin, Thailand
                  • The Algarve, Portugal

                  Affordable

                  • Valencia, Spain
                  • Cascais, Portugal
                  • Las Terrenas, The DR
                  • Pisa, Italy
                  • La Rochelle, France
                  • Mazatlán, Mexico

                  Luxury

                  • Ambergris Caye, Belize
                  • Kotor, Montenegro
                  • The Panama City Beaches
                  • Paris, France

                  Resources

                  Global Living

                  • Living & Retiring Overseas
                  • Raising A Family Abroad
                  • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
                  • Offshore & Diversification

                  Making Money

                  • International Real Estate
                  • Banking
                  • Employment
                  • Investing
                  Meet Our Experts

                  Real Estate

                  Overseas Property Alert 

                   

                  How To Become Independently Wealthy And Fund The Lifestyle Of Your Dreams

                  VISIT SITE

                  Buying Real Estate For Cashflow

                   

                  Discover tips and strategies used by global property investing veterans

                  READ MORE

                  Explore Our Latest Posts

                   

                  Learn how to invest and purchase property abroad…

                  EXPLORE

                  Conferences

                  INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY SUMMIT

                  PANAMA CITY, PANAMA June 18-20, 2025
                  LEARN MORE

                  CARIBBEAN VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

                  VIRTUAL July 17-19, 2025
                  LEARN MORE
                  PRE-REGISTER

                  Live and Invest In Spain Conference

                  Valencia, Spain Sep. 17-19, 2025
                  LEARN MORE
                  PRE-REGISTER
                  MORE EVENTS

                  Contact Our Events Team:

                  Toll-Free U.S. and Canada:
                  1 (888) 627 8834

                  From Outside North America:
                  1 (443) 599 1221

                  Working Hours
                  Monday – Friday 08:00 am – 17:00 pm EST.

                  Reach us with your questions by email at: events@liveandinvestoverseas.com

                  Store

                  Overseas Havens Reports

                  • Expats' comprehensive destination guides

                  Conference Kits

                  • Hours of coverage  from our latests conferences

                  Lahardan Books

                  • Titles on living and investing around the world

                  Services

                  • Overseas Living Letter: Affordable Retirement Guidance
                  • The Simon Letter: Wealth Protection Insights
                  • Global Property Advisor: Global Investment Opportunitites
                  VISIT OUR STORE

                  Free Report

                  THE 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE IN 2025

                  FREE REPORT: The 10 Best Places To retire in 2025

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