Ecuador Rental Income Visa 2026: Requirements, Costs, and How to Qualify

Ecuador's rentista visa is the residency path for people who earn passive income - rental payments, dividends, interest, royalties, or trust distributions - but don't have a lifetime pension and don't want to tie up $48,200 in an investment.

The official name is the Visa de Residencia Temporal de Rentista. It falls under Article 60 of the Ley Organica de Movilidad Humana (LOMH), which defines temporary residency categories for foreign nationals in Ecuador. For 2026, you need to show at least $1,446 per month in qualifying passive income - that's three times the Salario Basico Unificado (SBU) of $482.

We handle rentista visa applications from our office in Cuenca. This post covers the full legal basis, income requirements, document checklist, government fees, and the step-by-step process as of February 2026.

Legal Basis

The rentista visa is grounded in three layers of Ecuadorian law:

Ley Organica de Movilidad Humana (LOMH) - Article 60. This article defines residencia temporal (temporary residency) as a migratory condition authorizing a stay of up to two years, renewable, for foreign persons who enter Ecuador under specific categories. The rentista category covers those who "count with their own resources brought from abroad, from the income these produce, or from any other lawful income from external sources, or who count with resources from Ecuadorian sources."

LOMH - Article 61. Sets the general requirements for all temporary residency applicants, including criminal background checks from your country of origin or countries of residence during the prior five years.

LOMH - Health insurance requirement. The law requires that temporary residents affiliate with Ecuador's social security system (IESS) or demonstrate valid private health insurance with coverage in Ecuador. This obligation is reinforced in the Reglamento and in the visa application requirements listed on the official government tramite page.

Reglamento a la LOMH. The implementing regulations specify that rentista applicants must present documents certifying monthly lawful income equal to or greater than three SBUs. This is codified in the official government tramite listing for the visa.

Acuerdo Ministerial 85 (Protocolo de Medios de Vida). The Ministry's protocol for verifying means of life establishes how income sources are evaluated and what documentation satisfies each category.

Who Qualifies

The rentista visa accepts a broader range of income sources than the pensionado (retiree) visa. You qualify if your income comes from any of the following:

• Rental income from property abroad (this is the most common source for our clients)
• Rental income from property within Ecuador
• Investment dividends from stocks, funds, or partnerships
• Interest income from savings accounts, bonds, or certificates of deposit held outside Ecuador
• Trust distributions from irrevocable or revocable trusts
• Royalties from intellectual property, licensing agreements, or mineral rights
• Annuity payments from insurance products (as long as they are not classified as a lifetime pension)

The key distinction: the income does not need to be guaranteed for life. That is what separates this visa from the pensionado visa, which requires a pension from social security, a private pension fund, or a life insurance annuity that pays until death. If your income is passive but not a lifetime pension - rental checks from a duplex in Minneapolis, dividends from a brokerage account, distributions from a family trust - the rentista visa is your path.

The income must be regular and recurring. A one-time capital gain or lump sum does not qualify. Immigration authorities want to see consistent monthly deposits over a sustained period.

Income Threshold for 2026

The minimum monthly income requirement is tied to the SBU by regulation. For 2026:

• Primary applicant: 3 x $482 = $1,446/month
• Each dependent (spouse or child): Add $250/month per person

So a married couple would need $1,696/month. A family of four (two adults, two children) would need $2,196/month.

For context, the 2025 SBU was $470, making the 2025 threshold $1,410. The increase for 2026 is modest - $36 more per month for the primary applicant.

The SBU is set annually by Ministerial Agreement. The 2026 figure of $482 was established by Acuerdo Ministerial MDT-2025-195 following a rare tripartite consensus between government, employers, and workers.

Document Checklist

These are the documents required for a 2026 rentista visa application through the E-Visa system:

1. Valid passport - minimum 6 months validity remaining at time of application
2. Criminal background check - from your country of origin or any country where you have resided during the past 5 years. Must be apostilled (for Hague Convention countries, including the US) or legalized. For US applicants, the FBI background check must now be apostilled through the US Department of State, not individual states.
3. Proof of income - documents certifying monthly lawful passive income equal to or greater than $1,446/month. This includes:
   • Lease agreements or rental contracts (for rental income)
   • Investment account statements showing dividend or interest payments
   • Trust distribution letters
   • Royalty statements
   • Any similar documentation of recurring passive income
4. Six months of bank statements - showing the income being deposited regularly into your account
5. Health insurance - a valid policy, national or foreign, covering the full duration of the visa. If the insurer is foreign, the policy must explicitly state coverage in Ecuador.
6. Passport-sized photograph - digital format for E-Visa upload
7. Visa application form - completed through Ecuador's E-Visa portal

All foreign documents must be:

• Apostilled (for Hague Convention member countries) or legalized (for non-member countries)
• Translated into Spanish by a certified translator
• Current - most documents must be issued within the past 6 months

For dependents, you will also need marriage certificates and/or birth certificates, apostilled and translated.

Government Fees

These are government fees only. They do not include document preparation costs (apostilles, translations, notarizations) or legal fees.

If you apply for permanent residency later, the fees are $50 (application) + $400 (issuance) = $450.

Step-by-Step Process

As of 2026, all visa applications must be submitted online through Ecuador's E-Visa system. In-person submission is no longer accepted.

Step 1: Gather and prepare documents. Obtain your criminal background check, get it apostilled, have all documents translated into Spanish by a certified translator, and collect six months of bank statements plus income source documentation. This preparation phase typically takes 4-6 weeks, especially for US applicants waiting on FBI background checks and State Department apostilles.

Step 2: Create an account on the E-Visa portal. Go to Ecuador's electronic visa system and register. You will need your passport information and a valid email address.

Step 3: Complete the online application. Fill in your personal information, travel details, and select the visa category - Residencia Temporal Rentista. Upload all required documents in the correct format. The system is strict about file formats, sizes, and labeling.

Step 4: Pay the $50 application fee. This is non-refundable. If you select the wrong visa category or upload incorrect documents, you will need to start over and pay again.

Step 5: Wait for document review. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility (MREMH) reviews your submission. They may request additional documents or clarifications. Respond promptly - delays at this stage are the most common reason applications stall.

Step 6: Receive approval and pay the $270 visa grant fee. Once approved, you pay the remaining fee online.

Step 7: Travel to Ecuador (if not already there) and attend your in-person appointment. Despite the online application, residency visas still require at least one in-person appointment in Ecuador to finalize the process.

Step 8: Register your visa and apply for your cedula. You must register your visa with the civil registry and apply for your cedula (national ID card) within 15 days of visa approval. The cedula is essential - you need it to open bank accounts, sign contracts, enroll in IESS, and function in daily life.

Timeline

Realistic processing times in 2026:

Delays are common. The E-Visa system has reduced some bureaucratic friction, but document review backlogs and requests for additional information can push timelines past 60 days. Applications with errors or incomplete documentation take longer. We have seen straightforward applications close in 8 weeks and complicated ones stretch to 4+ months.

How It Compares to Other Visa Types

This is the question we get most often: should I apply for the rentista visa, the pensionado visa, or the investment visa?

Rentista vs Pensionado: The income threshold is the same. The difference is source. Social Security benefits, pension fund payments, and lifetime annuities qualify for the pensionado visa. Rental income, dividends, and trust distributions do not - those require the rentista visa. If you have Social Security plus rental income, you may qualify for either, but we generally recommend the pensionado path if your pension alone meets the threshold, because the documentation is simpler.

Rentista vs Inversionista: The investment visa requires a one-time capital commitment of $48,200 (in real estate, a bank CD, or business shares) instead of monthly income documentation. If you have the capital and plan to buy property anyway, the investment visa may be more straightforward. If you would rather keep your capital liquid and qualify on cash flow, the rentista visa is the better fit.

Rights of Visa Holders

A temporary residency visa under the rentista category gives you:

• Legal right to live in Ecuador for the full two-year visa period
• Cedula de identidad - Ecuador's national ID card, required for banking, contracts, and daily life
• Right to work - temporary residents can work in Ecuador, though most rentista visa holders are not seeking employment
• Access to IESS - you can enroll in Ecuador's public social security and healthcare system
• Senior citizen benefits (age 65+) - discounts on utilities, transportation, entertainment, and tax exemptions
• Right to bring dependents - spouse and children can be included in your application
• Path to permanent residency and citizenship - detailed below

You are also required to:

• Maintain valid health insurance at all times
• Not be absent from Ecuador for more than 90 consecutive days per year during the temporary residency period (if you intend to apply for permanent residency)
• Renew or upgrade your visa before it expires

Path to Permanent Residency and Citizenship

The rentista visa is a stepping stone, not a final destination. Here is the full progression:

Temporary Residency (2 years). Your rentista visa grants two years of temporary residency. It can be renewed once for another two years if needed, but most clients aim to upgrade to permanent residency as soon as they are eligible.

Permanent Residency (after 21 months). After holding temporary residency for at least 21 months, you can apply for permanent residency. Requirements include:

• No absence from Ecuador exceeding 90 days in any single year during your temporary residency
• Clean criminal record
• Valid health insurance
• Basic knowledge of Ecuadorian culture, geography, and law
• Government fee: $50 application + $400 issuance = $450

Citizenship by Naturalization (after 3 years of permanent residency). Once you have held permanent residency for three continuous years, you can apply for Ecuadorian citizenship. Ecuador recognizes dual citizenship - you do not need to renounce your US or other nationality.

Total timeline: Approximately 5 years from first temporary residency visa to citizenship eligibility (2 years temporary + 3 years permanent).

During permanent residency, the absence rules change: you may not be absent for more than 180 days per year during the first two years. After that, the October 2025 LOMH reform sets a strict limit - if you remain outside Ecuador for two or more continuous years, your permanent residency is automatically revoked with no appeal process.

Common Mistakes

These are the errors we see most frequently in rentista visa applications:

• Income documentation that doesn't match bank statements. If your lease says $2,000/month but your bank statements show irregular deposits of varying amounts, immigration will question it. The numbers need to align.
• Relying on income that is not truly passive. Active business income - consulting fees, freelance work, 1099 contractor payments - does not qualify for the rentista visa. That income requires a work visa or the digital nomad visa. The distinction matters.
• Expired apostilles or background checks. These documents have a shelf life. If your FBI background check is six months old by the time you submit, it may be rejected. Time your document preparation carefully.
• Health insurance gaps. Your policy must cover the full visa period and explicitly state coverage in Ecuador. A US-only policy does not count, even if you are a US citizen.
• E-Visa upload errors. The E-Visa system rejects documents with incorrect file formats, low resolution, or wrong labeling. Once submitted with errors, you cannot simply edit - you may need to start a new application and pay another $50.
• Not accounting for dependents. If you are applying with a spouse and children, you need to prove the additional income for each dependent. An application showing $1,446/month for a family of three will be denied.
• Confusing the rentista visa with the pensionado visa. If you submit rental income documentation under the pensionado category, the application will be rejected. These are separate categories under Article 60 of the LOMH.

Why Work With Us

Grace and Nelson Attorneys at Law has been handling Ecuador immigration from our office in Cuenca for over 25 years. We are licensed Ecuadorian attorneys - not visa facilitators or relocation consultants.

For rentista visa clients, we review income documentation for compliance before submission, prepare and translate all required documents, handle the E-Visa submission, manage any requests for additional information from the Ministry, and coordinate your in-person appointment and cedula registration.

We know what immigration officers look for, and we structure applications to avoid the delays that come from incomplete or inconsistent documentation.

Keep reading:

• Investor Visa vs Pensioner Visa: Which Path Is Right?
• Ecuador Visa Requirements 2026
• Ecuador Investment Visa 2026

Have passive income and want to live in Ecuador? Contact us or call 651-621-3652.