Ecuador President Daniel Noboa’s government Ecuador now requires Venezuelans — along with citizens of more than 40 other countries — to obtain a temporary transit visa, ending a simplified procedure. Photo by Gaston Britos/EPA
The government of President Daniel Noboa has terminated a migration statute that had made it easier for Venezuelan citizens in Ecuador to obtain visas and residency, closing a bilateral agreement that had been in place for 15 years.
The government cited “suspensions and cuts” in funding for the programs that allowed Ecuador to provide migration benefits. It also pointed to security concerns and the need to strengthen border controls.
The statute had been in effect since 2011, during the government of Rafael Correa, and established a simplified procedure for Venezuelans to obtain visas and residency.
The formal request to end the statute was issued by the presidency in March and approved by the National Assembly in late August, based on the analysis and report prepared by the Commission on International Relations and Human Mobility.
The commission’s president, Lucía Jaramillo, said the decision does not mean shutting the door to Venezuelan migrants, but rather ensuring due process in obtaining legal status.
“No one is losing rights, but Ecuador is regaining control of its borders and protecting the lives of its citizens,” she said.
Beginning Sept. 1, Ecuador has required Venezuelans — along with citizens of more than 40 other countries — to obtain a temporary transit visa, ending the simplified procedure provided under the statute and shifting to the general immigration system.
The measure was adopted less than a month before the end of a migration amnesty for Venezuelans in Ecuador whose residency certificates had expired and who were waiting to renew them to apply for a temporary residency visa.
“As of today, the option to apply for a temporary visa is no longer available. It does not appear in the Foreign Ministry’s visa catalog,” political scientist Betzabeth Jaramillo, president of the Yo te Apoyo foundation, sadi in an interview with Ecuadorian outlet Primicias. She said this means migrants without legal status also cannot leave the country.
According to data from the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V), as of April, 440,450 Venezuelans were in Ecuador, including both migrants and those with refugee status.
According to R4V, nearly 7.9 million people had left Venezuela as of May 2025. Of those, approximately 6.7 million are in countries across Latin America and the Caribbean. Colombia and Peru have received the largest share of this migration — 2.8 million and 1.7 million, respectively. Another 770,000 lived in the United States as of September 2023.
