✅ If your application for refugee status was admitted, the State will grant you a humanitarian visa with which you can legally work in Ecuador.
✅ If you are a person recognized as a refugee, you can also work legally in Ecuador.
? Remember that if you are a refugee and have an international protection visa, it is important that, with the identification order provided by the Ministerio de Relaciones Internacionales y Mobilidad Humana (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility), you obtain your identity card at the Registro Civil (Civil Registry) offices in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca.
? Without your ID card, you may find complications in accessing work and social security, as well as complications in accessing financial services.
Other visas that allow you to work in Ecuador are Mercosur, VERHU or work visa. These visas can be temporary or permanent. Temporary visas are valid for 2 years and once they expire, you must renew them.
If you entered Ecuador with a tourism visa ?️ you cannot work. However, if you have that type of visa, you can start processing ?the migration and labor regularization processes necessary to switch to a visa that allows you to work.
⚠️ If you have been a victim of exploitation or harassment at work or have suffered any kind of discrimination, go to the Ministerio del Trabajo (Ministry of Labor) and file a complaint before a Labor Inspector.
You can also request free legal assistance from the Defensoría Pública (Public Defender’s Office) by writing to this email or by contacting UNHCR offices.