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Country Expert Jim Santos
ParticipantHi Alan,
Things have not really changed much on the costs of IESS coverage – only that expats are now required to provide proof of income to set their fee. The rates for IESS coverage are based on the income claimed. The primary enrollee (and it can be either spouse) will pay a monthly fee equal to 17.6% of their income. A spouse and other family members may be added for an additional 3.41% per month. So if you have a pensioner’s visa for the minimum amount ($800 + $100 for dependents), your monthly fee as a couple would be $168.08.
Keep in mind two things: first, it can be based on either spouse’s income. So in the example above, if you get your pensioners visa based on your $900/month social security, and your wife gets only $600/month, you could use her income as the base. Secondly, you do need to show all of your income if you have money coming from more than one source. It just has to be a steady monthly amount that you can document.
The coverage is for 100% (no co-pay) of your medical, dental, and eye care needs. This includes all visits, procedures, and medication prescribed by your IESS doctor. The down side is that if you are in an area with few IESS facilities, you may have to wait for an appointment.
Hope that helps, you could also check out https://members.internationalliving.com/country_clubs/ecuador/health-care/ for more information.
-jim
Salinas, EcuadorParticipantHi lawrence,
I’ve rented a car from the Manta airport before, and I remember GPS was an option. We didn’t get it, because we use an app on our phone. When you make the reservation, be sure and choose the GPS option, and if there is a note field, put English as your preferred language. If not, just ask them at the desk to configure it for English.
If you have access to a smartphone with service in Ecuador (SIM cards are available everywhere with cheap 1-month plans – but your phone needs to be “unlocked” to use one), there are good apps like Waze that work very well in other countries.
One other thing – note that the rental company will likely want to put a hold for $5000 on your credit card to hold against accidents or tickets.
By the way, if you change your mind about Cuenca and Cotacachi, check into CuencaCarShare, who have rentals in Cuenca and Quito. They can also provide you with English GPS, and their price includes insurance.
More info about driving and renting in Ecuador on my blog at https://jimsantosblog.com/2016/05/17/tips-for-driving-in-ecuador/
-jim
ParticipantHi Larry,
Not being a golfer myself, this is not something I’ve paid a lot of attention to in Ecuador. The resort in Jama you mention is at http://costajama.com/ , but I have not visited myself. Similarly, there is a community in development just north of San Jacinto/San Clemente called Las Olas ( http://lasolasecuador.com/ ), but I do not know how developed it is at the moment. I plan on making my way up there in January or February to check it out. There are also allegedly plans to improve the golf course in Salinas, but I can see it from our living room window, and there does not seem to be anything going on yet. In short, so far I have been aware of a lot of talk about golf communities, but not much action.
The Al you mention still maintains a website called https://mantaexpatsonline.com/ , and it looks like the Events page is current. However, I’m not sure if he still lives in Manta. The site says they are currently visiting in North Carolina.
Hope that helps, if you cannot reach him through the website, let me know and I will find you another Manta contact.
-jim
ParticipantHi Louise – Facebook is a good place to find expats in those locations. Usually just searching “expat” and the name of the city will get you there. Here’s a few to get you started:
Quito – https://www.facebook.com/groups/258345077546215/
Cuenca – https://www.facebook.com/groups/159151017786307/
Loja – https://www.facebook.com/groups/518403111555291/
Ecuador in General – https://www.facebook.com/groups/EcuadorExpats/
Cotacachi – https://www.facebook.com/groups/cotacachiexpats/about/
Hope that helps!
-jim
ParticipantRandall,
I heard back from one of my friends up north – seems I overestimated the price of bus tickets:”Buses from Quito to Otavalo leave about every 10 or 15 minutes from the Carcelen bus station on the north side of Quito. Last I knew it cost $2.50 per adult one way. Buses run from Otavalo to Cotacachi every ten minutes until 7 pm. Cost is 35 cents one way.”
ParticipantGood day Randall,
While my wife and I live on the coast, we have visited Quito and Cotacachi several times. Unfortunately, we usually rent a car at the Quito airport and drive. I’m checking with some folks I know that live in Cotacachi, but until then, I can give you some general info. Regional buses usually average about $2/hour of travel – so the bus to Cotacachi would be around $4-5. However, if you are over 65, you pay half-fare. Tickets are so cheap, some prefer to get an extra seat for their luggage, rather than store it under the bus.
As for frequency of buses, that is not a problem, they will leave throughout the day. You would go to the closest Terminal Terreste in Quito, and look for the bus line that goes north on 35. For example, here’s the schedule leaving from Terminal Terreste Carcelén : https://www.ecuador-turistico.com/2013/11/terminal-terrestre-de-carcelen.html (you would want the line to Ibarra in this example).
If you are leaving from the airport, there is a stand there to help visitors find the right buses/connections.
I will update you when I hear back from my Cotacachi friends.
-jim
ParticipantCount on there not being bathrooms. One in a blue moon there might be, but most likely not. The direct route from Olón to Guayaquil takes a bit more than two hours, or you can go to Santa Eelana’s bus station first (about an hour) for a break, then to Guayaquil – but it is still two hours from Santa Elena to GYE.
ParticipantHi Doug,
Both Manta and Salinas have a lot of hotels and hostals listed in sites like expedia.com and booking.com . Either of those locations offer ocean beaches and good wifi and other infrastructure, and really, most of the coast between the two has at least decent internet. It all comes down to what type of things are important to you. Manta is a working city that has beaches, while Salinas is a beach resort town. In between you will find villages from 100 to 14,000 people, so there is a lot of variety.
ParticipantI just took a look on Expedia, and it looks like you can no longer get direct flights. Tame, Latam, and Avianca fly there, but they all stop in Quito first.
-jim
ParticipantHi Doug –
I live in Salinas on the coast, and I would be happy to answer any questions you have. You can reach me directly at salinas@internationalliving.com . I’ve also traveled around the country a fair amount – in fact, we are taking family on a tour of the Andes starting this weekend, they’re arriving in GYE a day behind you – so I can answer general questions as well.
I have not been to the Galapagos yet, I will probably be going either this December or next May. But there are a lot of tips and suggestions at https://members.internationalliving.com/country_clubs/ecuador/travellers-ecuador/ . The site covers several possible tours, you’ll have to scroll down a bit for the Galapagos section.
For the best Cuenca information, email cuenca@internationalliving.com to reach Cuenca resident Donna.
Let me say first of all that exploring Guayaquil, Galapagos, the coast, Salinas, and Cuenca all in one week is a pretty ambitious goal. For example, if you are driving, Cuenca is about 4 hours away from GYE, and the coast begins about 2 hours away from GYE in the opposite direction. To drive the coast from say Salinas north to Manta or Crucita is about 4 hours. A trip to the Galapagos normally is 3-4 days, unless you want to just fly out and see one or two islands and fly back. It is possible to fly between GYE and Cuenca, about a 45 minute flight.
So, to really enjoy the visit and not just be on the move every day, you may want to consider trimming the itinerary a bit, depending on what interests you the most on this visit. A trip to Galapagos for you would begin and end in GYE, so you could do that either at the start or end of your visit, then choose either the coast or Cuenca for your second goal, for example.
Hope I haven’t just confused you more! Feel free to email me or respond here with any other questions.
-jim
ParticipantCarey & Karen,
Hello, and congratulations on your upcoming adventure! As for mail scanning services, like yourself, I have found them to be lacking. When Rita and I were first planning to move here 5 years ago, I tried three different services. In test mailings, I found that there was still at least a week’s delay in receiving notification that a letter was present, then another few days after requesting the scanned contents. Also, all services charged a fee for check deposits.
We have found the best strategy is before you leave, switch over as much as you can to electronic correspondence. It is easier than ever to make that change for bank statements, utility bills, investment account statements, etc. Most expats find it useful to keep an American mailing address, and end up using family or friends. There are also mailbox services like Mailbox Etc. that will give you an address, but they do not check the mail for you – you would still need someone to pick it up for you periodically, or check it on return visits.
Having your mail sent to Ecuador is not a good option either. We’ve had letters take 3-4 weeks to show up here, and one never arrived at all.
On the other hand, it is easy to SEND mail online. There are services like MailaLetter that will let you compose mail or upload pdfs, which are then send through the US mail.
Sorry to not have a cut-and-dried solution for you. Dealing with mail is tricky in most countries outside the US.
-jim
ParticipantHi Ray,
As someone who has lived in Ecuador for over 4 years now, I’m also keeping a close eye on the items you mentioned. A good rule of thumb is to ignore 80% of what you hear from expat chatter on social media – much of it is pure speculation, rumors, or inferences made from garbled translations. Your best sources of information remain the attorneys listed in our Rolodex ( https://members.internationalliving.com/country_clubs/ecuador/rolodex/ ) or the websites and office of the Ecuadorian Consulate in your area.
I maintain contact with an Ecuadorian attorney who operates in Quito and in in the related Ministerios almost daily, as he deals mostly with immigration and real estate closings for expats. I spoke to him about many of these issues just yesterday. For the first point, he is aware of no laws being discussed that would require expats to disclose their assets outside of Ecuador, and certainly no plans to try and tax them. His best guess on where that rumor may have originated, is that if you sign up for IESS (state health insurance), you are required to show proof of your income, including foreign income. Your IESS payment is then a percentage of that amount. Some may have construed that as a “tax on your assets”.
Speaking of health insurance, that still remains unsettled. A law was passed in February of 2017 mandating health insurance for all residents and tourists.However, according to the Ecuadorian Constitution, all residents 65 and over (including expats) are entitled to free health care at government facilities. So several local civic groups have filed a suit saying the law is unconstitutional. Likewise, although the current plan is that as of May 4 all tourist entering must have insurance, there is no agreement on how that will be verified or enforced. This is the third “deadline” declared, it keeps getting moved back. Lastly, there is still disagreement over whether all current residents are excluded from the requirement. For now, they are just requiring that new applications for residency include documents on how you will be insured.
So the health care remains in flux, which is why I have not written anything definitive yet for the magazine or web sites. Like I said, I am monitoring this, but rather than report every rumor, I’m waiting for official word from the Ministerios.
As for the last point, other than confusion over the immigration and health care issue, neither I nor my attorney are aware of any pending policies that target expats. Quite the contrary, the Moreno government seems to be aware of the value of the expat and tourist commerce, and seems to be making moves to make it more attractive rather than less – which is why some of us feel the insurance deadline keeps getting delayed. But again, let me stress nothing is official yet.
Please let us know if you have any other questions, and I will report any news as it develops online and in IL publications.
-jim
ParticipantMr. Birch,
Sorry about your difficulties. You will find in our Rolodex a list of some attorneys in several cities in Ecuador. It would be best to talk to one of them about your legal options.
https://members.internationalliving.com/country_clubs/ecuador/rolodex/
-jim
ParticipantHello Scott and Melinda
As the International Living Correspondent for Chiriqui I have seen that people who come for a short period of time do one of two things. Either they rent a car or take public transportation.
Public transportation is easy in Panama and inexpensive. The buses take you to most every destination and are easy to access. Once you get to a particular city you can take taxi’s around the area usually for less than $3 a cab fare. This works great if you don’t want to explore outside of towns and cities. You can always find an English speaking driver who for under $100, will be your driver for the day to explore areas you want to see.
If however you want to just see the sights and travel some backroads on your own, a rental car would fit your needs better. Rental cars can be expensive though. More importantly you will have to get used to Panama drivers and the way they drive here. You will also need to be aware of the lack of street signs,lack of posted stop signs and know the rules of the road.
That said, I haven’t had any problems driving here over the last 4 years. I prefer owning a car to taking taxis because I like the flexibility having a car provides me.
It all depends on what you want to see and where while you are here and your budget. Hope this helps out.
ParticipantThank you for the information, but I can only report to readers what comes directly from the Ecuador Consulate office and licensed attorneys. Living here I have seen “experts” be wrong many times on issues of immigration and health insurance in particular. This situation is evolving, and I hope to be able to report agreed upon official guidelines soon.
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