Andrea, here is the response I received from Santiago. Feel free to email him directly at santiago1397@gmail.com. Not his last comment — he works the Quito immigration office…

I feel ridiculous asking this question (because it’s probably been gone over a bazillion times) but I am still unclear. Birth and death certificates do not need to be within the 90-day time frame, right?

Correct, beacuse those documents will never change the info that they contain. They can’t be altered or changed. Correct.

But marriage, divorce and background check documents do need to be within the 90-day framework? SIx months old, no 90 ddays. S

ince I am female, I’ve had name changes and probably need to provide every single document along the way, in order to track me as an indiviudal with my various name changes – is this true?

TO obtain the cedula, yes, that was the route, but not anymore. Now it is back to the Affidavit only, where the Client just decares under oath that the information containning the cedula card is accurate and true.

I get different info from various people who have done it themselves, a lawyer in Cuenca, website forums, and the Ecuadorian ‘official’ website. So now, I’m turning to you to see what your take is.
Here’s my (document) bio:
1. birth
2. married
3. divorced
4. married
5. husband died
6. married
7. background check

1 and 5 I can get and have apostilled any time/2, 3, 4, 6, 7 need to be obtained and apostilled within 90 days of applying for visa – IS THIS CORRECT TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE?

And is the background check the only thing that needs to be notarized (the others are to be ‘certified’) before being apostilled?

THANK YOU!

Suzan, to get the visa, the so many documents this reader describes are not required anynore, at leat in Quito, dont know about the Cuenda branch. They have never been requeired to obtain a visa but the cedula, which of course expats tend to confuse.