The Investor Visa: One Hundred Minimum Wages
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Paraguay on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Paraguay to Ecuador · Residency through investment
Ecuador's investor visa is priced at 100 minimum wages - USD 48,200 in 2026 - and takes several shapes: a two-year term deposit, a property purchase, shares in an Ecuadorian company, or a contract signed with the State. Whatever the form, the asset is locked while the visa runs: a property is annotated at the land registry so it cannot be sold, shares are flagged with the companies regulator, and letting the investment go is grounds for cancellation. The same category quietly covers legal representatives and commercial agents of companies with at least 100 minimum wages of share capital, a route that asks for an appointment rather than money of one's own.
At a glance
- Investment threshold
- 100 minimum wages - USD 48,200 in 2026CALC (calculated by us, not published)as of 2026-01-01
Derived: the instrument states the threshold in Salarios Básicos Unificados. The SBU for 2026 is USD 482, fixed by Acuerdo Ministerial MDT-2025-195, which is cited as a source on this fact. Ecuador uses the US dollar, so the figure moves only when the wage is reset each January, not with an exchange rate.
- Term deposit
- At least 730 days, dematerialised
Article 66, literal a) of the Reglamento a la Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana states the term in days - setecientos treinta (730) - not in years, and requires the certificate to be dematerialised and issued by an entity supervised by the Superintendencia de Bancos or the Superintendencia de Economía Popular y Solidaria.
- Property
- Sole ownership, or a share worth at least 100 minimum wages
- Company share capital route
- At least 100 minimum wages of share capitalCALC (calculated by us, not published)as of 2026-01-01
Derived: the instrument states the threshold in Salarios Básicos Unificados. The SBU for 2026 is USD 482, fixed by Acuerdo Ministerial MDT-2025-195, which is cited as a source on this fact. Ecuador uses the US dollar, so the figure moves only when the wage is reset each January, not with an exchange rate.
- Representative's visa length
- Minimum 181 days, maximum 2 years, matching the appointment
Article 69 of the Reglamento a la Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana, which ties the visa to the term of the appointment, contract or power of attorney and then bounds it at ciento ochenta y un (181) días and dos (2) años.
- Substituting the investment
- 60 days from the authorising letter
- Losing the investment
- Grounds for cancellation of the visa
Figures marked CALC are our arithmetic, not a figure in any instrument. Where the law states a threshold as a multiple of something else, the amount shown is that multiple applied - and it moves when the underlying figure does.
Requirements
- One of: a dematerialised term deposit of at least 730 days for no less than 100 minimum wages; a deed of sale for Ecuadorian property of no less than 100 minimum wages registered in your sole name; shares or participations in an Ecuadorian company of no less than 100 minimum wages registered with the companies regulator; an investment contract, a delegated management contract or any administrative contract signed with the State
- Where the investment is property or shares, acceptance of the annotation or registration that blocks disposal for the life of the visa
- For legal representatives, attorneys and commercial agents: an appointment registered in the mercantile register, or a power of attorney, in a company with share capital of at least 100 minimum wages
- The general residence requirements: valid passport, clean criminal record, lawful means of support, no security objection, and the fee
- Maintaining the investment for the life of the visa
In detail
The asset is frozen, not merely shown
Ecuador does not accept a snapshot of wealth. A property bought to support an investor visa is annotated at the canton's land registry as the fact that justified the visa and may not be sold while the visa runs; shares are registered with the Superintendencia de Compañías in the same way; a term deposit has to be at least 730 days. Substituting one investment for another is possible, but it is a formal process with a 60-day deadline from the ministry's authorising letter, and the replacement must meet the same minimum.
The corporate officer route is the quiet one
Article 69 folds legal representatives, general and special attorneys and commercial representatives into the investor category, provided the company has share capital of at least 100 minimum wages. Nothing is asked of the applicant's own money: what is presented is the appointment registered in the mercantile register, or the power of attorney. The visa then runs for the length of the appointment, between 181 days and two years.
Country-level policy
Ecuador does not put dollar figures in its immigration rules. It writes them as multiples of the Salario Básico Unificado, the monthly minimum wage, which the Ministerio del Trabajo fixes by ministerial agreement each December for the year ahead. The rentista and pension thresholds are three wages, the investor threshold is a hundred, the customs ceiling on work equipment is a hundred and sixty, the tourist extension fee is a third of one, and the overstay penalty is one. For 2026 the wage is USD 482, twelve dollars above 2025. Because Ecuador uses the US dollar, none of these figures drifts between settlements - which is the opposite of the position in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru or Uruguay, where a dollar-denominated threshold moves with the exchange rate every day.
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.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Paraguay
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Inversionista: para la persona que cuenta con bienes y recursos económicos de origen lícito para realizar actividades productivas o comerciales en el Ecuador. Dentro de esta categoría se reconocen a los representantes legales, apoderados, representantes comerciales o cargos similares, de empresas nacionales o extranjeras, y, en general, quienes ingresen al país para realizar actividades comerciales, productivas o desarrollar negocios en el Ecuador;»Our translation - not official
Investor: for a person who has assets and economic resources of lawful origin to carry out productive or commercial activities in Ecuador. This category includes legal representatives, attorneys, commercial representatives or similar positions of national or foreign companies, and in general those who enter the country to carry out commercial or productive activities or develop businesses in Ecuador;
The category is wider than its name. A salaried country manager with a registered appointment is an 'inversionista' for visa purposes.
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
«a) Título, póliza o certificado de depósito a un plazo mínimo de setecientos treinta (730) días, desmaterializado, emitido por una entidad crediticia reconocida por la Superintendencia de Bancos o Superintendencia de Economía Popular y Solidaria que mantenga convenio sobre desmaterialización de valores con el Banco Central del Ecuador, por un monto no menor a cien (100) Salarios Básicos Unificados del trabajador en general;»Our translation - not official
a) A security, policy or deposit certificate for a minimum term of seven hundred and thirty (730) days, dematerialised, issued by a credit institution recognised by the Superintendencia de Bancos or the Superintendencia de Economía Popular y Solidaria that holds an agreement on dematerialisation of securities with the Banco Central del Ecuador, for an amount of no less than one hundred (100) Salarios Básicos Unificados of the worker in general;
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
«b) Escritura de compraventa de un inmueble ubicado en territorio nacional, en la cual conste como único propietario del bien, inscrita en el Registro de la Propiedad del respectivo cantón, cuya cuantía sea no menor a cien (100) Salarios Básicos Unificados . Si en la escritura constan varios propietarios, la parte correspondiente al solicitante del visado, expresada en derechos y acciones, alícuotas o en otras formas, deberá tener un valor no menor a cien (100) Salarios Básicos Unificados del trabajador en general.»Our translation - not official
b) A deed of sale of a property located in national territory, in which the applicant appears as sole owner of the asset, registered at the Land Registry of the relevant canton, whose value is no less than one hundred (100) Salarios Básicos Unificados. If several owners appear in the deed, the part corresponding to the visa applicant, expressed in rights and shares, aliquots or other forms, must have a value of no less than one hundred (100) Salarios Básicos Unificados of the worker in general.
The publisher's text carries a stray space before the full stop in 'Salarios Básicos Unificados .' and it is kept as printed.
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
«Una vez aprobada la visa se entregará a la persona extranjera el oficio con la instrucción de marginación para el Registrador de la Propiedad del cantón en donde esté ubicado el bien inmueble, en el que se señale que éste constituye el hecho que justificó la emisión de la visa del propietario y por lo tanto no podrá enajenarse por el tiempo de vigencia del visado. La visa se emitirá luego de la presentación del certificado de gravámenes actualizado, con la marginación respectiva;»Our translation - not official
Once the visa is approved, the foreign person shall be given the official letter with the annotation instruction for the Land Registrar of the canton where the property is located, stating that this constitutes the fact that justified the issue of the owner's visa and that it therefore may not be disposed of for the duration of the visa. The visa shall be issued after the presentation of an updated encumbrance certificate with the corresponding annotation.
The property is not merely evidence, it is encumbered. The visa is issued only once the registrar's annotation is proved.
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
«Se entenderán comprendidas dentro de la categoría de inversionista, a todas aquellas personas extranjeras que ejerzan cargos de representación legal, comercial u otros similares, en sociedades y/o compañías nacionales o extranjeras, que cuenten con un capital social mínimo de 100 Salarios Básicos Unificados (SBU), para lo cual se deberán presentar, además de los requisitos contemplados en la Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana, los siguientes requisitos:»Our translation - not official
There shall be understood to be included within the investor category all those foreign persons who hold positions of legal, commercial or other similar representation in national or foreign companies or firms with a minimum share capital of 100 Salarios Básicos Unificados (SBU), for which the following requirements must be presented in addition to those set out in the Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana:
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
«La visa se emitirá por el mismo periodo del nombramiento, contrato o poder del representante legal, apoderado general o especial o representante comercial, respectivamente, y tendrá una vigencia mínima de ciento ochenta y un (181) días y una máxima de dos (2) años.»Our translation - not official
The visa shall be issued for the same period as the appointment, contract or power of attorney of the legal representative, general or special attorney, or commercial representative respectively, and shall have a minimum validity of one hundred and eighty-one (181) days and a maximum of two (2) years.
181 days is the floor. It is also the threshold above which the transit agency will exchange a foreign driving licence, which makes it the shortest residence that behaves like residence.
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
«El Salario Básico Unificado del trabajador en general, incluidos los trabajadores de la pequeña industria, trabajadores agrícolas, trabajadores de maquila, trabajadores remunerados del hogar, operarios de artesanías y colaboradores de la microempresa, se fija en cuatrocientos ochenta y dos dólares de los Estados Unidos de América (US$ 482,00), a partir del 01 de enero de 2026.»Our translation - not official
The Salario Básico Unificado of the worker in general is set at four hundred and eighty-two United States dollars (US$ 482.00), from 1 January 2026.
The input behind the USD 48,200 figure.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Fixes the Salario Básico Unificado by ministerial agreement each December for the following year. That figure is the input behind every immigration threshold in Ecuador, none of which is written in dollars.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for immigration rules, nor for sectoral minimum wages beyond the general SBU. It publishes its agreements as signed PDFs rather than consolidations, so it is not the source for the current text of one that has been amended. Practically, its acuerdos index refuses to load through extraction; the download endpoint works.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source
«Art. 68.- De la sustitución de la inversión.- La persona extranjera podrá solicitar la sustitución de la inversión que inicialmente respaldó su visa, en tanto la inversión sustitutiva cumpla con el monto mínimo establecido para la emisión del visado. Para sustituir la inversión, se concederá a la persona extranjera el término de sesenta (60) días, contados a partir de la fecha en que el órgano administrativo competente del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana emita el oficio en el que se autorice la sustitución.»Our translation - not official
Art. 68. Substitution of the investment. The foreign person may apply to substitute the investment that originally supported their visa, provided the substitute investment meets the minimum amount set for the issue of the visa. To substitute the investment, the foreign person is granted a term of sixty (60) days, counted from the date on which the competent administrative body of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility issues the letter authorising the substitution.
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
Because the threshold is expressed in minimum wages, the January wage settlement moves the entry price of the investor visa every year. In 2026 the rise from USD 470 to USD 482 lifted the minimum investment by USD 1,200.
The State-contract routes - an investment contract, a delegated management contract or any administrative contract with the State - carry no stated monetary minimum in the regulation. The ministry may ask the investment authority or the contracting entity to confirm the contract is in force.
We did not read anything that lets a single investment support more than one principal applicant's visa.
- consolidatesLey Orgánica de Movilidad Humana - texto vigente con la última reforma de 14-VII-2025
Registro de regulaciones del Estado ecuatoriano (gob.ec)
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
- consolidatesReglamento a la Ley Orgánica de Movilidad Humana - texto vigente con la última reforma de 18-XI-2025
Registro de regulaciones del Estado ecuatoriano (gob.ec)
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
- administersConcesión de visa de residencia temporal inversionista
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana (catálogo de trámites, gob.ec)
About this source
One page per visa procedure, with requirements, fees, validity and a legal basis panel. Pages carry a last-updated date and monthly usage statistics.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for what the law says. Its legal basis panels demonstrably quote superseded statutory text - the tourist pages still carry the pre-July-2025 wording of LOMH art. 56, and the Mercosur page quotes an art. 60 renumbered in 2021. Cite it for fees, forms, channels and processing, and read the statute for the rule.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
- issuesAcuerdo Ministerial Nro. MDT-2025-195 - Salario Básico Unificado para el año 2026
Ministerio del Trabajo
About this source
Fixes the Salario Básico Unificado by ministerial agreement each December for the following year. That figure is the input behind every immigration threshold in Ecuador, none of which is written in dollars.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Cannot be cited for immigration rules, nor for sectoral minimum wages beyond the general SBU. It publishes its agreements as signed PDFs rather than consolidations, so it is not the source for the current text of one that has been amended. Practically, its acuerdos index refuses to load through extraction; the download endpoint works.
We re-read it every 30 days. More about this source