°µÍø½ûÇø

Dear Neanderthal,

There are experts in Ecuador to assist you,

namely immigration attorneys and visa specialists.

Check out any relevant classified ads on this

site .. or Google what you need .. or use the search

function at the Ecuador forum welcome page.

I recommend the professionals mentioned above

because we laypersons who populate this forum

do not handle the ins and outs of a situation

such as yours on a regular basis, nor do we

generally have juice with government insiders

who can sometimes facilitate a successful result.

cccmedia in Quito, Ecuador

@Neanderthal, what I recently (last month, in March) found out, after submitting all required documentation for naturalization citizenship, when my husband and I went to see an employee in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in Quito, Ecuador, is that I am NOT "qualified" to become a naturalized citizen of Ecuador is because my use of the Spanish language is NOT "good enough." You have to be fluent in Spanish at the high school level, or higher. Reading through what you posted, I did NOT see this fluency in Spanish requirement. If you are NOT fluent in Spanish, don't even go any further. You'll be wasting your time and your money.

@Coxhere1 Thanks for sharing your experience, but are you going to learn Spanish? What are your future plans? Speaking Spanish is one of the requirements. I am married to a Ecuadorian and so understand Spanish well. However I am not fluent, but I could be in a short time, it's just a matter of sitting with books and practicing with my wife.

I speak 4 languages as mothertongue, because of my mixed background. And learned English as well, so I am quite confident that I can learn Spanish.

I am adamant on getting the citizenship, a language won't hold me back !

I hope to hear other peoples experiences as well, so that we all can learn from it and prepare ourselves better.

@cccmedia hello! Thanks for your message.I once contacted a ecuadorian immigration lawyer, and she told me that I need to live in Ecuador in order to obtain my Ecuadorian citizenship. However I don't want to move to Ecuador, I am still in my twenties and might want to move when I am sixty. But I'd like to obtain the citizenship now to prevent hassle when in old age. So after her answer, I started reading what the law itself stated, and that is how I found the above mentioned section of the law. See website below; was hoping to found anybody who obtained the citizenship through marriage abroad (outside of Ecuador). That could help me a lot.Not even lawyers know everything I guess...

@Neanderthal, thanks for your response to my saying one has to learn and speak Spanish fluently in order to be qualified to take the Ecuadorian written exam and the oral exam, both in Spanish.  I had studied and could pass the written exam. However, I am 78 years old and I have bilateral hearing loss such that I have difficulties understanding my primary language, English, let alone Spanish when it is spoken.  I wear hearing aids but aids are an aid only.  Hearing aids do not give me "normal" hearing.  I studied two years of Spanish in the university, made A's, and my professor told me that I would be fluent in three months if I were to immerse myself in a Spanish-speaking country.  But I was in my early 20s at the time and I did not need hearing aids at that point in my life.  I lost my hearing when I was in the army during the Vietnam War Era.  We soldiers were not given ear plugs back then.  I also have PTSD from the army, so my memory and my concentration are not very good either.  My husband was born and grew up here in Quito, Ecuador.  However, he speaks very, VERY rapidly and slurs his Spanish words such that I cannot learn any Spanish from him.  He told me that he was not going to slow down and that I should learn Spanish at the "regular" rate of speed and also without having individual Spanish words distinctly enunciated.  I live next door to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law.  They speak little to no English, so we speak Spanish.  They teach me Spanish words but I cannot remember them because of my memory difficulties.  If the words are written down, I am able to memorize them;  I am a visual learner because of my hearing deficit.  Anyway, this explains to you my situation.  I explained my hearing deficit to the employee at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but he was abrupt to the point of being rude.  I did not think about it at the time but later I thought that I should have asked for his supervisor and told the supervisor that he was disrespectful and down-right rude. I could have asked the supervisor if all of his subordinates are like this man with whom I had to discuss my situation.  So, I will have to be okay with my Ecuadorian, permanent residency visa.  Good luck becoming fluent in Spanish; you will become fluent in no time at all.  You will be able to pass the Ecuadorian examinations with flying colors.

Not sure if things are different for nationality through spouse or what nationalisation process coxhere1 was going for, but I didn't need any language test to get my citizenship, although it was 10+ years ago so things maybe have changed.

From what I recall it wasn't very complicated, but it was very "ecuadorian" the process. It wouldn't have been possible to do from abroad. Think signature from one office needed ontop of another signature from another office, then back to the first office for another signature etc

@Coxhere1 I feel for you, I hope you can cope with the hearing loss. War destroys on both sides.I am really appalled to hear that these officials are so rude. Maybe you got the person with bad manners and mentality. If I were you, I'd just try again and again until they give in. And if I am correct, senior citizens (and people married to Ecuadorian citizens) don't have to do the citizenship test. You do need to learn stuff about the flag, symbols and the national anthem...Click the link below for more information:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in7X1ZLl3oc&ab_channel=Mr.SecondPassportAnyway, thanks for sharing your story.Me thinking out loud:I will be trying to get the citizenship without migrating to Ecuador. Maybe first getting the parmanent residency, and then directly applying for the citizenship. Hoping they process fast enough, so that I don't have to actually live in Ecuador. Because those who are married to an Ecuadorian citizen are allowed to apply for citizenship after 2 years being registered in the "Registro Civil".

@Neanderthal, Good luck with however you go about obtaining your naturalization citizenship! yes I know about the two year instead of the three years of permanent residency visa requirement if you are married to an Ecuadorian. Antonio and I knew and used the two year span of time before applying for my naturalization. One thing to remember is that you can only be out of the country for 180 days out of a year or you can lose your Ecuadorian permanent residency visa (three years if you're not married to an Ecuadorian). Antonio told me that I could have paid a "fine" if I were out of the country for more than the 180 day per year limit, but I didn't want to chance this. So, I don't think you would have enough time to move from your permanent residency visa to naturalization in the 180-day time limit per year. An exception is if you wanted to wait until after your second year of Ecuadorian Permanent Residency Visa, after which time you have up to five years being out of Ecuador.  I bought the 200-question, pre-examination concerning Ecuador's geography, culture, and history,.  After studying the questions and answers, I took the pre-examination test and "passed it."  I had also listened to and could then sing the national anthem along with the audio recording.  Singing the Ecuadorian national anthem is fun!  I had also studied the Ecuadorian flag and could answer the flag-related questions.  The only "catch" is that I cannot pass the oral examination because I cannot hear very well. . . .