Do Nepali passport holders need a visa for Ecuador?

By Prajjwal Kohli · Travel Content Writer, Tripmojo · Updated September 1, 2026 · Reviewed by Simran Raheja

Yes. Nepal is one of the 45 nationalities on Ecuador’s Régimen Especial list, so a visa is arranged before travelling. The requirement that decides how long that takes is a police certificate, and the rule is conditional rather than fixed: Ecuador asks for one from your country of origin and from every country you have lived in during the last five years. If Nepal is the only country you have lived in, that is one document. If you have lived or worked abroad in that period, it is one for each place, each translated and apostilled or legalised.

Quick facts

Visa required

Visa required: Yes, before travel
Police certificate: From origin and every country lived in for five years
Each one: Translated, and apostilled or legalised
Validity counted: 180 days from issue to your last entry
Under 18s: Exempt from the certificate requirement
Applied for: Online, on the e-VISAS platform

Entry requirements

A Nepali passport valid for at least six months.
An original criminal record certificate from Nepal, and from each country you have resided in over the last five years, translated and apostilled or legalised.
Proof that you can support yourself lawfully during the trip. The procedure page requires this and names Ministerial Agreement No. 70 of 28 June 2024 as the instrument that sets what counts, so the threshold and the accepted evidence are defined there rather than on the application page.
A travel itinerary with outbound and return tickets, and a colour photograph to specification.
The fee set by Ecuador’s human mobility authority, and any further documents the authority asks for in a particular case.

One certificate per country you have lived in, not one per person

Ecuador publishes the requirement in a single sentence that repays reading closely. It asks for an original criminal record certificate "del país de origen o en los que hubiese residido durante los últimos cinco años", from the country of origin or those in which the applicant has resided during the last five years, translated and apostilled or legalised.

Read as a condition rather than a choice, that produces different answers for different applicants. Someone who has only ever lived in Nepal needs one certificate. Someone who spent three years working abroad and then returned home is being asked for a Nepali certificate and one from that country too, each obtained under a different system, each translated, each apostilled or legalised by whichever authority applies where it was issued. The documents do not run in parallel by themselves; you have to start them in parallel.

The clock is the second half of the problem. Ecuador counts 180 days of validity from the date a certificate was issued until your last entry into the country, not until the date you apply. So the certificate that arrives first is the one most at risk, and a trip planned for late in the year should not be supported by a certificate obtained early in it.

Good to know

The five-year residence clause is what turns a simple application into a long one, and it is easy to read past. The requirement names the country of origin or the countries of residence, so the number of certificates depends on where you have lived rather than on who you are, and nothing in the wording caps it. Work out how many your own five years require before you start, because discovering a second one is needed halfway through is what costs a travel date.
Federal certificates are accepted, on a condition worth checking before you pay for one. Ecuador states that certificates issued by federal governments are valid so long as they cover criminal records at a national level. That matters for anyone whose years abroad were spent in a country that issues records at state or provincial level, where the cheap local certificate may not be the one that qualifies. Ask for the national-level document rather than the one the local office offers first.
Under-18s are exempt from the certificate entirely, which changes the shape of a family application. Ecuador says the document is required only of people over 18. Everything else still applies to a child’s file, the passport validity, the photograph, the itinerary, but the slowest and most expensive item is not one you have to obtain for them. Plan the adults’ certificates as the critical path and the children’s paperwork around it.
The application is made online and the visa is issued elsewhere, and the government page says both. It states that the application is carried out only virtually, through the foreign ministry’s e-VISAS platform, and separately that this visa is issued through Ecuador’s diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad. Begin on the platform rather than by looking for an appointment, and expect a mission to be involved at the issuing end.

Frequently asked questions

Do Nepali citizens need a visa for Ecuador?

Yes. Nepal is one of 45 nationalities on Ecuador’s Régimen Especial list, whose nationals must obtain a visa before arriving.

How many police certificates do I need?

One from Nepal, and one from each country you have lived in during the last five years. Ecuador words the requirement around countries of residence rather than a single certificate.

Does the certificate need to be apostilled?

Yes. Ecuador asks for the original certificate translated, and apostilled or legalised, depending on which applies in the country that issued it.

How long does a certificate stay valid?

Ecuador counts 180 days from the date of issue until your last entry into the country, so plan backwards from your arrival rather than your application.

Do my children need one?

No. Ecuador requires the certificate only from applicants over 18, although the rest of the requirements still apply to a child’s application.

Where do I apply?

Online, through the foreign ministry’s e-VISAS platform. The same page notes the visa is issued through Ecuador’s diplomatic missions and consular offices abroad.

Other passports for Ecuador

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 1 September 2026.

Gobierno del Ecuador, gob.ec, "Concesión de visa de visitante temporal turista 90 días", provided by the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana. Requirement, verbatim: "Certificado original de antecedentes penales del país de origen o en los que hubiese residido durante los últimos cinco años, traducido, apostillado o legalizado. Se tomarán en cuenta ciento ochenta (180) días de vigencia, contados desde la fecha de emisión del certificado hasta el último ingreso del interesado al país. Los certificados emitidos por Gobiernos federales, serán válidos en tanto comprendan los antecedentes penales a nivel nacional. Documento requerido únicamente para personas mayores de 18 años." Read 2026-09-01. https://www.gob.ec/mremh/tramites/concesion-visa-visitante-temporal-turista-90-dias
Same page: Nepal is named among the "Países de Régimen Especial" whose nationals require a visa before entering Ecuador. Other mandatory requirements are a passport valid at least six months, a colour photograph in JPG of at most one megabyte at 5 by 5 cm on a white background, payment of the fee set by the human mobility authority, proof of lawful means of support under Acuerdo Ministerial No. 70 of 28 June 2024, and a travel itinerary with outbound and return tickets. Read 2026-09-01.
Same page, procedure: "El trámite de solicitud de visa se realiza únicamente de manera virtual, a través de la plataforma oficial del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana denominada e-VISAS", while the same page describes the visa as issued "a través de las Misiones Diplomáticas u Oficinas Consulares del Ecuador en el exterior". Read 2026-09-01.
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana del Ecuador, "Lista de países que deben presentar visa al ingresar al Ecuador": the same 45 countries, including Nepal. Signed by the Dirección de Visados y Naturalización and reviewed by the Subsecretaría de Servicios Migratorios y Consulares; no revision date appears in the body. Read 2026-09-01. https://www.cancilleria.gob.ec/2020/06/30/lista-de-paises-que-deben-presentar-visa-al-ingresar-al-ecuador/
Scope note: the procedure page names Acuerdo Ministerial No. 70 of 28 June 2024 as the instrument governing proof of lawful means of support, so that agreement rather than the application page defines the threshold and the acceptable evidence. Its published PDF is a scanned image whose text could not be read, so this page states what the requirement is for and where it is defined, and does not put a figure on it.

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

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