Ecuador visa for Mauritanian passport holders

Yes. Mauritania is one of the 45 nationalities on Ecuador’s Régimen Especial list, so a Mauritanian passport does not get the on-arrival admission Ecuador gives most travellers and the visa has to be secured before departure. The visa to apply for is the temporary visitor tourist visa for 90 days, filed online through the foreign ministry’s e-VISAS platform, and the requirement that decides your timeline is a criminal-record extract that has to be translated into Spanish and legalised first.

Quick facts

Visa required

Visa required: Yes, before travel
Why: Mauritania 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: Casier judiciaire, Spanish translation and legalised
Passport validity: At least six months

Entry requirements

A Mauritanian passport valid for at least six months.
An original criminal-record extract (casier judiciaire), 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 extract runs the timeline

Ecuador’s foreign ministry publishes the list of nationalities that need a visa before arriving, and its services portal repeats the same 45 names as the Régimen Especial. Mauritania is on both, so the visa is a firm requirement rather than something a Mauritanian traveller can settle after landing in Quito.

The visa to apply for is the temporary visitor tourist visa for 90 days. The portal describes 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 you begin on the website and finish through a consulate.

The document that governs your timeline is the casier judiciaire, obtained from the Mauritanian courts. Ecuador wants it translated into Spanish and legalised, and because Mauritania issues no apostille that legalisation is the slow step, so it belongs at the front of the file.

Good to know

Mauritanian records come in Arabic and often French, and Ecuador works in Spanish, so the translation is a genuine step rather than a rubber stamp. Ecuador requires the criminal-record extract translated into Spanish by a translator whose work its mission will accept, and it is usually the translated document that then gets legalised. Sequence the translation and the legalisation deliberately, because a translation the mission will not take sends the whole thing back to the beginning.
Mauritania is outside the Apostille Convention, so the extract is authenticated the long way rather than with a single stamp. Ecuador will accept a criminal-record certificate that is apostilled or consular-legalised, and for a Mauritanian document only the second path exists: legalisation through Mauritania’s own authorities and then an Ecuadorian mission, which are weeks of processing across more than one office.
What Ecuador measures is the gap from the extract’s issue date to the day you enter, not to the day you apply, and that catches people out. The extract is treated as valid for 180 days from issue to your last entry, so pulling it well ahead of a trip and then waiting on a slow legalisation can leave it expired at the border. Set the issue date by counting back from your intended arrival.
The visa is for tourism only, and the portal leaves no room to read it otherwise, calling the permission an authorisation for tourism and prohibiting holders from carrying out work activities. A Mauritanian travelling for a posting, a contract or an organised task, even an unpaid one, needs a different visa, and that limit is stated in the visa description itself.

Frequently asked questions

Do Mauritanian 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 Mauritania is on it. Most other nationalities are admitted without one.

Which visa should Mauritanians apply for?

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

Do Mauritanians need a criminal-record extract for an Ecuador visa?

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

Can a Mauritanian casier judiciaire be apostilled?

No. Mauritania is not a member of the Apostille Convention, so the extract is consular-legalised through Mauritania’s authorities and an Ecuadorian mission instead.

Can Mauritanians 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 Mauritanians 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 Mauritania 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 Mauritania; 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: Mauritania is not a Contracting Party to the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, so Mauritanian public documents are authenticated by consular legalisation rather than apostille. Read 2026-09-04.
République Islamique de Mauritanie: the casier judiciaire is the national criminal-record extract, issued in Arabic and French. 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 Mauritanian passport holders need a visa for Ecuador?