Moving To Ecuador

One big advantage of residency in Ecuador is that you can import your household effects, duty-free.

There is a limit per-person of 200kg (440 lbs.) for clothing, shoes, and other personal items; an attempt to slow down Ecuador’s booming grey market for clothing. But otherwise, most reasonable household items won’t be a problem.

The requirements for importing a car have changed over the years, and the rules applied “at the dockside” can be different from what’s in the law.

According to the rules issued in September 2011, the ability to import a car is limited to returning Ecuadorians.

In any case, bringing a car is always a hassle and almost never cost effective.

For example, it’s almost impossible to find a mechanic to work on an American emissions system, and parts may be hard to find.