U.S. embassy and consulate resume visa application process and U.S. citizen services

The United States Embassy has resumed its visa process for both immigrant and non-immigrant applications in Ecuador. Both the embassy in Quito and the consulate in Guayaquil announced Tuesday that interviews and file reviews have restarted after an 18-month suspension of services due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The embassy said that it has also fully restored all services for U.S. citizens visiting and living in Ecuador.

“The embassy and consulate are once again taking applications and conducting interviews for for all categories of visas,” the embassy said in a statement. “We will continue to prioritize the health and well-being of our staff and the public as the pandemic continues but believe we can safely resume most visa application consideration at this time.”

It continued: “We will also service all requests for U.S. citizens traveling or living in Ecuador.”

Among the embassy’s new health requirements is that everyone entering the Quito or Guayaquil facilities must present proof of vaccination or a health exemption statement.

The consul general’s office said that due to high demand, the visa application process could take as long as a year to complete. “The demand of Ecuadorians for visas to the U.S. is extremely high, which extends the time of our review process,” the office said. “The number of applications we receive here is higher than in any other country in the world.”

The embassy said that it continued to process emergency visa applications since May 2020, when many services for suspended. It said that 150,000 applications were considered during the period, most of them for humanitarian and family reasons.

For more information about embassy and consulate services, go to the U.S. State Deparment website.