Country-wide policy
The Five-Year Temporary Fiscal Residence Regime
Since December 2023 a newcomer who has never been an Ecuadorian tax resident can elect a regime that taxes only Ecuadorian-source income for five years, and the same law attaches a five-year temporary residence visa to it instead of the ordinary two. The entry ticket is either USD 150,000 invested in Ecuadorian property or productive activity, held for five years, or proven non-Ecuadorian income of USD 2,500 a month together with enrolment in Ecuadorian social security for the whole stay. Both have to be in place within 120 days of first entering the country, which makes this a decision to take before arriving rather than after settling in.
Topics it changes
- When you become a tax resident
- Residency on passive income
- Residency through investment
- Access to healthcare
What it requires
- Never to have acquired Ecuadorian tax residence, and not to have held it at any time before the law came into force
- Either an investment of at least USD 150,000 in Ecuadorian real estate or productive activities, kept in Ecuador for at least five years
- Or proven monthly income of at least USD 2,500 that is not of Ecuadorian source, plus enrolment in social security for as long as you remain in the country
- The conditions met between day one and day 120 counted from entering Ecuadorian territory
At a glance
- Duration
- 5 years from the tax year in which the conditions are met
- What is taxed
- Ecuadorian-source income only
- Investment route
- USD 150,000, held in Ecuador for at least 5 years
- Income route
- USD 2,500 a month of non-Ecuadorian source income
- Income route condition
- Enrolment in Ecuadorian social security throughout the stay
- Deadline
- Day 1 to day 120 from entering Ecuador
The unnumbered article added to the Ley de Régimen Tributario Interno after article 4.1 by article 3 of the Ley Orgánica de Eficiencia Económica y Generación de Empleo. The clock runs from entry into Ecuador, so the investment or the income has to be in place within four months of arriving.
- Immigration effect
- Temporary residence for five years instead of two
- Who is excluded
- Anyone who has ever been an Ecuadorian tax resident
Two doors, and the cheaper one has a string attached
USD 2,500 a month of foreign income is a low bar next to USD 150,000 of capital, and it is the route most people will look at. The condition that goes with it is easy to miss: enrolment in Ecuadorian social security for as long as you stay. That is not a formality - it is a monthly contribution to the IESS, and the statute makes it a condition of the regime rather than a consequence of it.
The 120-day clock is the real constraint
Both routes have to be completed between the first day and the 120th day after entering Ecuador. Buying property, or opening and funding an investment, or completing an IESS registration, inside four months of arriving is a schedule that has to be planned before the plane. Someone who spends their first year on a tourist stay and then decides they like Ecuador has missed it.
What the law says
«Residencia fiscal temporal.- Las personas naturales que no hayan adquirido la condición de residentes fiscales ecuatorianos y que no hayan mantenido dicha residencia en ningún momento anterior a la entrada en vigencia de esta ley, podrán acogerse a la residencia fiscal temporal, la cual tendrá una duración de 5 años contados a partir del ejercicio en el que cumplan las condiciones.»Our translation - not official
Temporary fiscal residence. Natural persons who have not acquired the status of Ecuadorian tax residents and who have not held that residence at any time before this law entered into force may opt for temporary fiscal residence, which shall last 5 years counted from the tax year in which they meet the conditions.
About this source
The state's regulations registry. Hosts consolidated texts of laws, decrees and ministerial agreements, each PDF carrying a 'Normativa: Vigente' marker and an 'Última Reforma' line, with amendments attributed article by article.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for currency. The landing pages carry the state's own warning that the information is referencial and may be out of date, and the consolidations are produced by a commercial legal publisher under state hosting rather than by the gazette. A consolidation appears months after the reform it folds in: the July 2025 LOMH reform surfaced in a September 2025 file. For the date and issue number of an instrument, the Registro Oficial is the authority, not this.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Las personas naturales sujetas al régimen de residencia fiscal pagarán el impuesto a la renta únicamente sobre los ingresos de fuente ecuatoriana. La condición para acceder a este régimen es realizar una inversión en inmuebles o en actividades productivas en el Ecuador de mínimo USD 150.000 o contar con ingresos mensuales probados que no sean de fuente ecuatoriana de mínimo USD 2.500. En el primer caso, la inversión deberá permanecer en el Ecuador por un período de al menos 5 años y en el segundo caso la persona natural deberá afiliarse a la seguridad social durante el tiempo que permanezca en el país.»Our translation - not official
Natural persons subject to the fiscal residence regime shall pay income tax only on Ecuadorian-source income. The condition for accessing this regime is to make an investment in real estate or in productive activities in Ecuador of at least USD 150,000, or to have proven monthly income not of Ecuadorian source of at least USD 2,500. In the first case the investment must remain in Ecuador for a period of at least 5 years, and in the second case the natural person must enrol in social security for as long as they remain in the country.
About this source
The state's regulations registry. Hosts consolidated texts of laws, decrees and ministerial agreements, each PDF carrying a 'Normativa: Vigente' marker and an 'Última Reforma' line, with amendments attributed article by article.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for currency. The landing pages carry the state's own warning that the information is referencial and may be out of date, and the consolidations are produced by a commercial legal publisher under state hosting rather than by the gazette. A consolidation appears months after the reform it folds in: the July 2025 LOMH reform surfaced in a September 2025 file. For the date and issue number of an instrument, the Registro Oficial is the authority, not this.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Las personas naturales que cumplan con las condiciones establecidas en la Ley de Régimen Tributario sobre el régimen de residencia fiscal temporal, se les concederá una residencia temporal por cinco años.»Our translation - not official
Natural persons who meet the conditions established in the Tax Regime Law on the temporary fiscal residence regime shall be granted temporary residence for five years.
The same statute that created the tax regime amended the migration law to attach an immigration status to it, which is why this is recorded as a country-wide policy rather than as a feature of one visa.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The state's regulations registry. Hosts consolidated texts of laws, decrees and ministerial agreements, each PDF carrying a 'Normativa: Vigente' marker and an 'Última Reforma' line, with amendments attributed article by article.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for currency. The landing pages carry the state's own warning that the information is referencial and may be out of date, and the consolidations are produced by a commercial legal publisher under state hosting rather than by the gazette. A consolidation appears months after the reform it folds in: the July 2025 LOMH reform surfaced in a September 2025 file. For the date and issue number of an instrument, the Registro Oficial is the authority, not this.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«Las condiciones deberán cumplirse en un plazo comprendido entre el primer día y el día 120, contados a partir de la fecha en que la persona natural ingrese al territorio ecuatoriano.»Our translation - not official
The conditions must be met within a period running from the first day to day 120, counted from the date on which the natural person enters Ecuadorian territory.
About this source
The state's regulations registry. Hosts consolidated texts of laws, decrees and ministerial agreements, each PDF carrying a 'Normativa: Vigente' marker and an 'Última Reforma' line, with amendments attributed article by article.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for currency. The landing pages carry the state's own warning that the information is referencial and may be out of date, and the consolidations are produced by a commercial legal publisher under state hosting rather than by the gazette. A consolidation appears months after the reform it folds in: the July 2025 LOMH reform surfaced in a September 2025 file. For the date and issue number of an instrument, the Registro Oficial is the authority, not this.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The regime is quoted here from the amending law as published in the state regulations register, because the consolidated Ley de Régimen Tributario Interno that the SRI publishes is the version of 20 June 2023 and predates it.
We did not find an SRI page, form or resolution describing how the election is made, what evidence is filed, or what happens at the end of the five years. The rule is stated; the procedure is not, because we did not read one.
Nothing in what we read says the immigration status and the tax regime are applied for together, or which comes first.