Ecuador visa for Bissau-Guinean passport holders

Yes. Guinea-Bissau appears on Ecuador’s Régimen Especial list of 45 nationalities that must obtain a visa before departure, so a Bissau-Guinean passport is not one of the many Ecuador admits at the arrival desk. The visa to apply for is the temporary visitor tourist visa for 90 days, lodged online through the foreign ministry’s e-VISAS platform, and the requirement that decides your timeline is a criminal-record certificate that has to be translated into Spanish and legalised before Ecuador will act on it.

Quick facts

Visa required

Visa required: Yes, before travel
Why: Guinea-Bissau is one of 45 countries on Ecuador’s Régimen Especial list
Visa to apply for: Temporary visitor tourist visa, 90 days
Where: Online, on the foreign ministry’s e-VISAS platform
The hard requirement: Registo criminal, Spanish translation and legalised
Passport validity: At least six months

Entry requirements

A Bissau-Guinean passport valid for at least six months.
An original criminal-record certificate (certificado de registo criminal), and an equivalent from anywhere else you have lived in the last five years, translated into Spanish and legalised. Ecuador counts it as valid for 180 days from the date of issue to your last entry, and asks for it only from applicants over 18.
Proof of lawful means of support under Ministerial Agreement No. 70 of 28 June 2024, with a travel itinerary and return tickets.
A colour photograph to specification: JPG, no more than one megabyte, 5 by 5 centimetres, white background, neutral expression or a natural smile, both eyes open.

On the list, and the record certificate leads the timeline

Ecuador’s foreign ministry publishes the list of nationalities that need a visa before arriving, and its services portal carries the same 45 names as the Régimen Especial. Guinea-Bissau is on both, so the visa is a firm requirement rather than a formality to arrange on landing in Quito.

The visa to apply for is the temporary visitor tourist visa for 90 days. The portal frames it as an authorisation for tourism and states that holders may not work. The application is made only online through the ministry’s e-VISAS platform, and the visa is issued through an Ecuadorian mission abroad, so the process starts on the internet and finishes at a consulate.

The document that governs your timeline is the certificado de registo criminal, obtained from the Bissau-Guinean authorities. Ecuador wants it translated into Spanish and legalised, and that pairing of translation and legalisation is the slow step, so start it before the rest of the file.

Good to know

Guinea-Bissau is Lusophone, so the record certificate comes in Portuguese and Ecuador reads Spanish, which makes the translation a real step rather than a formality. Ecuador requires the criminal-record certificate translated into Spanish, and expects a certified translation the Ecuadorian mission will accept, not an informal one. Line up the translation and the legalisation in order, because the translated document is usually the one that gets legalised, and a translation the mission rejects resets the clock.
The certificate takes the consular-legalisation route rather than an apostille, so it is authenticated the long way. Ecuador accepts a criminal-record certificate that is apostilled or consular-legalised, and a Bissau-Guinean document is legalised through the country’s own authorities and then the Ecuadorian mission accredited to it. There is no resident Ecuadorian embassy in Bissau, so reckon on that being done at a distance and measured in weeks.
The certificate is counted valid to your arrival, not your application, which is the trap that wastes one. Ecuador treats it as valid for 180 days from issue to your last entry into the country, so a certificate obtained early and paired with slow legalisation and a later trip can expire against the journey. Count the dates backwards from when you plan to land.
This is a tourism visa in the strict sense and the portal states as much, describing the permission as being for tourism and prohibiting holders from carrying out work activities. A trip that includes anything resembling work, even short unpaid but organised engagements, needs a separate application, and the distinction is written into the description of the visa itself.

Frequently asked questions

Do Bissau-Guinean citizens need a visa for Ecuador?

Yes. Ecuador publishes a list of 45 nationalities that must obtain a visa before arriving, its Régimen Especial, and Guinea-Bissau is on it. Most other nationalities are admitted without one.

Which visa should Bissau-Guineans apply for?

The temporary visitor tourist visa for 90 days, applied for online through the foreign ministry’s e-VISAS platform.

Do Bissau-Guineans need a criminal-record certificate for an Ecuador visa?

Yes, if you are over 18. Ecuador asks for an original certificado de registo criminal, translated into Spanish and legalised, plus an equivalent from anywhere you have lived in the last five years.

Does the Guinea-Bissau record certificate need translating?

Yes. It is issued in Portuguese, and Ecuador requires a certified Spanish translation that the Ecuadorian mission will accept, done alongside the legalisation.

Can Bissau-Guineans work in Ecuador on this visa?

No. The government portal describes the permission as being for tourism and states that holders are prohibited from carrying out work activities.

How long can Bissau-Guineans stay in Ecuador on this visa?

Up to 90 days. The visa is the temporary visitor tourist visa for 90 days, and it does not permit work.

Related pages

Other passports for Ecuador

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 4 September 2026.

Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana del Ecuador, "Lista de países que deben presentar visa al ingresar al Ecuador": 45 nationalities are named as requiring a visa to enter Ecuador, and Guinea-Bissau (Guinea Bissau) is among them. Read 2026-09-04. https://www.cancilleria.gob.ec/2020/06/30/lista-de-paises-que-deben-presentar-visa-al-ingresar-al-ecuador/
Gobierno del Ecuador, gob.ec, "Concesión de visa de visitante temporal turista 90 días", MREMH: the 45 Régimen Especial countries include Guinea-Bissau; the visa authorises tourism and prohibits work; the application is made only online through the e-VISAS platform and the visa is issued through Ecuadorian missions abroad; requirements include a passport valid at least six months, a colour photograph to specification, an original criminal-record certificate from the country of origin or residence over the last five years translated and apostilled or legalised and valid 180 days from issue to last entry and required only of those over 18, proof of lawful means of support under Acuerdo Ministerial No. 70 of 28 June 2024, and a travel itinerary with return tickets. Read 2026-09-04. https://www.gob.ec/mremh/tramites/concesion-visa-visitante-temporal-turista-90-dias
HCCH, Apostille Section, status table: Guinea-Bissau is not listed as a Contracting Party to the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, so Bissau-Guinean public documents are authenticated by consular legalisation. Read 2026-09-04.
República da Guiné-Bissau: the certificado de registo criminal is the national criminal-record certificate, issued in Portuguese. Read 2026-09-04.

Entry rules change without notice and the official source is always the authority. Confirm with the embassy or immigration portal before you book.

Do Bissau-Guinean passport holders need a visa for Ecuador?