Because Visa, Part 1

In Which, We Gain the Ability to Stay Here Legally

Which is always a good thing, no?

So these past two weeks have truly been a blur. It's been travel, LOTS of work, more travel, planning our trip back home for Will and Amanda's wedding, more work and finally - attaining our visas.

I wish I had taken more pictures along the way, but I guess you'll have to live with what I've got.

So everybody who enters Ecuador gets a free, 90-day tourist visa called the T-3. It stops when you leave and starts again whenever you re-enter the country, and you're allowed one per year.

T-3 Visa (it's just a stamp, really)

Since we want to stay here in Ecaudor for at least a year, figuring out which visa to get was a pretty big deal. I've written about it in a couple other posts (here and here) so I won't bore you with the backstory.

We decided to get the student visa, which is called the 12-5, and it is in the non-immigrant class of visas. We decided on the student visa for a few reasons. 1) It's one of the cheapest ones out there; 2) It's renewable, which means that in six months, we can apply to renew it for another six months, and we can do this for up to two years; 3) John was wanting to take Spanish classes anyway, so this was the perfect two-birds-one-stone strategy.

John's motto these days

Our T-3 visa was set to expire on June 8, so we decided to get the student visa process rolling in the middle of May or so. I had found a school in Quito that does distance lessons via Skype that would be able to sponsor us for the visa.

Now, many people have asked why we didn't find a program here in Ambato. The answer - we tried. There are several universities here and I inquired at all of them, but none of them had a Spanish program. We heard that the government has recently been making changes in the requirements for university programs, so a lot of language programs actually lost their ability to sponsor students, hence our reason for going to Quito.

John is learning through Simon Bolivar Spanish School. They're really wonderful to deal with and, so far, he has really enjoyed his lessons. We both would have preferred him to be in a classroom setting so he could learn alongside other people, but I think this is a great alternative.

So on Monday, May 25, we hopped on the bus to Quito. It's about a 3 hour trip from Terminal Terrestre in Ambato to Terminal Quitumbe in Quito. It should only be about 2-2.5 hours with the new direct-link highway, but the buses still go through Latacunga and Salcedo, towns just off the highway, to pick up and drop people off. So 3 hours it is.

At least the views are typically amazing...

We had an appointment with an advisor at Simon Bolivar, German, at 3pm. We decided to get to Quito in the morning to hand in all of our paperwork so that everything would be ready to go at 3.

Breakfast while we were waiting
for the 3pm meeting

What paperwork, you ask? Well. Yet another benefit of the student visa is the relative ease of getting the paperwork required. We had to have a certified copy of our marriage certificate, and it had to be apostilled, and it had to be within 6 months of applying for the visa. Just in case you were wondering, an apostille is like a notarization for your notarized papers. You have to get it from the secretary of state, which means we had to make the drive to Columbia. Thankfully, that process was much easier than, say, getting Jethro's papers certified by the USDA.

The other thing we had to have was a translated and notarized copy of our bank statements for the past three months, and it had to show that we had at least $1500 in the bank. Thanks to our good friend Beth, who is a certified translator, we had that taken care of quite easily.

We also had to have our passports, passport-size photos, and we also had to fill out the visa application which had to be PERFECT. No mistakes. John and I both messed up and had to re-do them.

The visa application!

Once we got through all of that, the school put together the folder with the documents that were required from them. The next step was to actually apply.

This is where things got a little sticky. Our appointment with German was at 3, and when we spoke with him he told us that the ministry only takes applications in the morning. Which meant we either needed to stay overnight or plan on coming back another day. Since we hadn't made any plans for Jethro beyond that day, we decided to come back on Wednesday, two days later. German told us that we needed to be at the ministry building as early as possible, definitely no later than 8am. This meant an early wake-up call for us, since it's a 2-hour drive via car to get to Quito from Ambato.

Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
y Movilidad Humana - they LOVE long titles

After our meeting at Simon Bolivar, we spent the next few hours exploring Quito. We had made an appointment to drive back with a private car service and meeting up with them at the correct time is a story in and of itself, but that's for another day. Suffice it to say, we made it back to Ambato around 10pm and immediately passed out.

In between all of this, I had a pretty steady level of work to try and get out at the appropriate time. I don't need internet to do my work, but I do need a connection in order to DELIVER my work. So when I have a due time of 5pm and I'm not sure if I'm going to be on a bus then or somewhere else without Wi-Fi, I've got to make sure to send it out beforehand, which meant a lot of doubling-up at night and trying to read while on the bus. The latter was highly unsuccessful, as my sisters would have no doubt told me beforehand. I've never had any luck with being able to read in vehicles, I don't know why I thought a bus would be different.

Anyway. Wednesday's return was uneventful, other than the 4:30am wake-up call we had to catch our 5:30am ride. We used the private car service again, and made it to our destination by 7:30, which is quite a feat. For those who don't know, Quito has over 2.5 million people living in it. It's roughly 18 miles long (30km) but only around 2 miles (3-4km) wide. Needless to say, getting in and around this place smack dab in the middle of rush hour is a feat in and of itself, and getting to where you need to be (in the center of the city, no less) in good time in nigh on a miracle.

Upon arrival, we realized German was already there and waiting for us, saving us a spot in line. The office actually opens at 8:30, but people line up quite a bit before then.

After some waiting, we were directed to the second floor, where we waited for about an hour and half before being seen by the visa advisor. He was very nice, checked all our papers, asked a few questions, then accepted our applications and instructed us on what to do next.

We had to go downstairs, pay for the visa applications with the slips of paper he was giving us, and then, when we received the receipts, we were to bring them back up to him. No fuss, no muss.

So we went and did that, and then he told us that we would receive an email in roughly a week to tell us when the visas would be ready.

At that point, we were basically done. We said thank you and goodbye to German, then we took off in search of some breakfast.

We found this on the way..

No filter...seriously

Not sure of its name, but it was beautiful, and the sun was hitting it at just the right angle for some great pictures.

So we found breakfast and finally ate. We had a minor payment snafu which required us to briefly go back to the ministry, but we cleared that up very quickly, and from there, we headed to the local transport of choice (Ecovia) to take us to the bus terminal to catch a bus back to Ambato. We made it home right at 3pm and, again, utterly crashed. Public transportation can be exhausting and draining, especially when you're working on very few hours of sleep, which I was, due to work.

One of the Ecovia stops

Either way, we spent the rest of the day just relaxing and getting back into the regular groove of things. John's birthday was the next day, and he wanted to just chill all day, so that's what we did. We got a late breakfast, took the dog on a walk, spent the day watching movies, ordered pizza for dinner, and spent the rest of the evening just chilling. All in all, we were both happy to spend the day doing next to nothing, and it was a great way to recharge our batteries.

John enjoying his birthday cigar!

So stay tuned for our third (and FINAL) trip to Quito to receive our visas. Another 4:30am wake-up call and more waiting, hurrah! All's well that ends well though. Now you know the ending of the next post, but I still expect you to read it ;)

The Visa Black Hole - pt. 2

***So just the other day, I posted about our original plan regarding visas. Due to some delay on my part, the post didn't go live until just the other day, but that was our plan back in the beginning of January. There have been several changes in Ecuadorian immigration policy since then, so we've had to change a couple of things around.***

                                                      

                                         In which, we Change Our Minds

So here's the dealio - we've been working with Sara Chacas at Ecuador Visas in regards to any and all things visa related. She's a lawyer based in Cuenca and she has been invaluable to us. Seriously, she answers all of my questions in a very timely manner, and she's been very upfront about timelines, costs and the expected 'hassle' factor of things. She also gives me several options for every choice, which I really, really like. Options make me happy.

Sara sent me an email at the end of January with some interesting info that had just been handed down from the Immigration Ministry, which basically said that effective immediately, the Ministry was eliminating one of the tourist visas, the 12-X visa. This was the 90-day visa we were planning on applying for to finish out a full year in Ecuador. 

After much hurly-burly and hullabaloo, the Ministry actually rescinded that ban on the 12-X visa the very next day. However, the restrictions have been tightened immensely, which effectively still keeps it out of reach for us.

This caused some concern on our part - how were we going to ensure we could stay for a full year? There was always the option of just staying after our last visa ran out, and then, upon leaving the country, taking whatever consequence was handed out (typically a ban on travelling back to Ecuador for a certain period of time). That was do-able, but we want to go by the book as much as possible. Plus, we wanted to keep our options (see?) open if we decide we want to stay longer or return after our initial 1 year adventure.

Enter a 3rd option (remember how I said how I love options?) and that is the 12-V visa, aka, the Student visa. 

This visa actually has several benefits. 1) It's cheaper. BY FAR. And, we only have to pay the full visa cost for 1 person (John) and I can come in as his dependent. 2) It would actually allow us to stay in the country for up to 2 years if we wanted, which takes a lot of the short-term visa hassle out of the equation. 3) It means John actually has to take Spanish courses, which is what he was planning on doing anyway, so it's like killing 2 birds with 1 stone. 

I'm not entirely sure why we didn't consider this option before, but sometimes you have to be hit over the head with the obvious before it become...well, obvious. At least, that's the case for me. 

So now the plan is to enter on our T-3 visa (the one everyone gets for free whenever you come to the country) and then find an approved school we can take courses at, apply, and then complete the visa process within the balance of our allotted time on the T-3 (roughly 10 weeks). Fingers crossed it turns out well. I've already asked several of our friends in Ambato if they can recommend a particular program or course of study to us, so hopefully that will be the easiest part of what seems to be a relatively easy process. I'm kind of waiting for life to turn around and punch me in the teeth and then kick me on the ground and I'll realize that it was NOT an easy process. 

Here's hoping I can manage to keep my teeth cause I don't feel like dealing with dental issues in a foreign country.

Inaugural post and keeping everyone up-to-date

Well, this is it. I've been keeping this under wraps for a while now, but it's come out in bits and pieces over the past few weeks, so I figured it was time to go ahead and flesh things out.

John and I are planning to move to Ecuador in February of 2015. To that end, we're taking a 2-week trip in November to hopefully find an area we like and a home to settle into.

Now, to the most important part : WHY?

The easy answer: BECAUSE WE CAN.

The longer answer: As time goes on, we find it harder and harder to balance our work/life situation. Neither of us enjoy spending 8-10 hours of our day at jobs that, while enjoyable, do very little to enrich our lives. At the end of the day, it boils down to the fact that we're working to make money so we can live a certain lifestyle in our little corner of the world. There's nothing wrong with that, but we've decided that we want more.

We want more than nine to five, we want more than what our culture says we should want. We want to spend more time together without having to worry about bills. We want to labor together at any time of the day for the kingdom of God. We want to learn to work with our hands, to create something and see the fruit of our labor that isn't necessarily money.

Can we do all of this in our cozy little corner? Well sure. Do we sound a little bit like spoiled brats who want to have fun without any hard work? Well I hope not.

We want something different, like a lot of people. We just happen to be picking up and moving south of the Equator to make it happen.

On to the next important question : WHAT WILL WE DO THERE? WHAT KIND OF JOBS WILL WE HAVE?

See the previous answer.

I kid, I kid. That is actually the case, but I'll go ahead an fill you in on a little bit more. John left his job in September due to a lot of factors, but mainly due to the whole work/life balance I mentioned. It was impacting us in not-a-very-good way. He was the main bread-winner and bill-payer so it was a bit scary, but we have been saving HARD for the past two years for a longer term trip so money wasn't an immediate concern.

Since leaving his job, the Lord has been incredibly faithful to provide for all our needs. I'm still working and my job covers most of our bills. John does work for friends and family and makes enough to cover the rest of the bills and our living expenses. It's different, but it's also fun! Yes, we've had to tighten a few belts and we'll probably tighten a few more, but it has truly been a blessing to see how the Lord provides for us in this time.

Which brings me to the actual answer of the question I posed - what kind of jobs will we have? Well, the cost of living is much lower in Ecuador, so we're anticipating being able to live off what we've saved for a good period of time. We're also anticipating renting our home out while we're gone, so that would supplement our living expenses as well.

I have picked up a little side job doing legal proofreading, which is basically paying for my groceries right now (score!). It's strictly a remote job, so I anticipate being able to bring that along with me to Ecuador, thus further supplementing our savings and rental income. John plans to make himself available much as he is now - for handy-man services and just generally helping people out. We're going to Ecuador for two weeks in November and we anticipate getting a better idea of specific jobs he could be on the lookout for when we get there full-time.

We do also hope to partner with a local ministry there and volunteer our time. This is probably one of the biggest things we're looking forward to - being able to minister to people around us without having the huge pressure of having to take care of our own lives.

Lastly : WHY ECUADOR?

Honestly, there's not one huge reason why. We had talked about travelling in Europe for a while, so when the idea of actually moving came up, that was the first place we looked. We realized very quickly that Europe is extremely expensive and we actually shelved the idea for a while. John had mentioned South America before, but I was adamant that I never wanted to go there, much less LIVE there. Thankfully, I've changed my mind.

Neither of us could quit thinking about moving abroad, so South America necessarily came up again. When we looked further into it, we realized that neither of us knew anything at all about Ecuador. Commence my favorite thing : research.

Basically, Ecuador is a developing third-world country. They're still very much an agrarian and traditional society, although business in the three largest cities (Quito, Cuenca, Guayaquil) is very quickly growing.

There are four predominant regions in Ecuador : the Andean Highlands, the Coastal region, the Amazonian Basin and the Galapagos Islands (who remembered their geography and knew that the Galapagos' were in Ecuador?!). We will primarily be considering the Andean Highland area to live.

Best of all, Ecuador still has a very low cost of living. Their currency is the US dollar, and it still goes a significant way there. So at the end of the day, we get to experience a beautiful place with a very laid back culture for a fraction of what it would cost elsewhere.

This is the longest post in the world. Seriously. If you have any burning questions there are a myriad of ways you can contact me - email, comments, FB, phone...whatever works for you. I wanted to put it all out there at once so everyone has the same information.

We do plan on keeping up with this blog during our two-week trip and while we live over there, so this will be the best way to keep up with our goings-on once we leave the US. Hopefully we'll figure out this technology thing and there will be pictures!

Finally finished,
V