- Ways to apply
- Citizen by birth to the third degree (Art. 7(2))
- Dual citizenship
- Kept, however you apply
Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.
On this page›
- 01Who qualifies
- 02Dates that matter
- 03Through your mother
- 04Keeping your citizenship
- 05Ways to apply
- 06The documents
- 07What it takes
- 08Where the records live
- 09Law changes
- 10Other options
- 11Sources
Who qualifies, generation by generation
LIKELY
Can you claim Ecuadorian citizenship through a parent?
Citizen by birth (Art. 7(2))
With a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador, you are Ecuadorian by birth and register at the Civil Registry or a consulate.
- Persons born abroad to a mother or father born in Ecuador, and their descendants to the third degree of consanguinity, are Ecuadorians by birth. Constitution of Ecuador 2008, Art. 7(2): persons born abroad to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador (third degree of consanguinity), and Art. 6 (dual nationality), Art. 7(2) ↗
- Ecuadorian nationality is not lost by acquiring another. Constitution of Ecuador 2008, Art. 7(2): persons born abroad to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador (third degree of consanguinity), and Art. 6 (dual nationality), Art. 6 ↗
LIKELY
Can you claim Ecuadorian citizenship through a grandparent?
Citizen by birth (Art. 7(2))
With a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador, you are Ecuadorian by birth and register at the Civil Registry or a consulate.
- Persons born abroad to a mother or father born in Ecuador, and their descendants to the third degree of consanguinity, are Ecuadorians by birth. Constitution of Ecuador 2008, Art. 7(2): persons born abroad to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador (third degree of consanguinity), and Art. 6 (dual nationality), Art. 7(2) ↗
- Ecuadorian nationality is not lost by acquiring another. Constitution of Ecuador 2008, Art. 7(2): persons born abroad to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador (third degree of consanguinity), and Art. 6 (dual nationality), Art. 6 ↗
LIKELY
Can you claim Ecuadorian citizenship through a great-grandparent?
Citizen by birth (Art. 7(2))
With a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador, you are Ecuadorian by birth and register at the Civil Registry or a consulate.
- Persons born abroad to a mother or father born in Ecuador, and their descendants to the third degree of consanguinity, are Ecuadorians by birth. Constitution of Ecuador 2008, Art. 7(2): persons born abroad to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador (third degree of consanguinity), and Art. 6 (dual nationality), Art. 7(2) ↗
- Ecuadorian nationality is not lost by acquiring another. Constitution of Ecuador 2008, Art. 7(2): persons born abroad to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador (third degree of consanguinity), and Art. 6 (dual nationality), Art. 6 ↗
The dates that matter
No date named in Ecuador’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.
Claiming through your mother or grandmother
Ecuador’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father. Where its reasons speak of mothers or fathers, they say:
Dual citizenship with your home country
You keep your citizenship.
On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.
Every way to apply, and the law behind it
The law
- Persons born abroad to a mother or father born in Ecuador, and their descendants to the third degree of consanguinity, are Ecuadorians by birth. Constitution of Ecuador 2008, Art. 7(2): persons born abroad to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador (third degree of consanguinity), and Art. 6 (dual nationality), Art. 7(2) ↗
- Ecuadorian nationality is not lost by acquiring another. Constitution of Ecuador 2008, Art. 7(2): persons born abroad to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador (third degree of consanguinity), and Art. 6 (dual nationality), Art. 6 ↗
The documents, as the rule lists them
Citizen by birth (Art. 7(2))
Through a parent or grandparent or great-grandparent
- Your Ecuador-born ancestor’s birth certificate
- Birth and marriage records for each generation to you, apostilled and translated
Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.
What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides
Citizen by birth (Art. 7(2))
- Time
- A few weeks to a few months at the consulate or Registro Civil, once the ancestor’s birth record is in hand.
- Cost
- About $150–400: registration fees, apostilles and certified translations.
- The hard part
- Finding the ancestor’s original Ecuadorian birth registration, especially for a great-grandparent, and lining up the birth and marriage record for every generation in between.
- Who decides
- The Ecuadorian consulate for your address, or the Registro Civil directly if filing in Ecuador.
- The first record
- Your Ecuador-born ancestor’s birth certificate, from The Registro Civil, Identificación y Cedulación. Search or request the certificate online with the name and canton of birth; older records may need a written request to the local Registro Civil office. registrocivil.gob.ec ↗
How it’s filed
- Where
- The Ecuadorian consulate for the applicant’s residence, in person. New York: 800 Second Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10017. Newark: NJ, PA. New Haven: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT. Atlanta: AL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN. Chicago: IL, IN, KY, MI, MO, OH, WI. Minneapolis: IA, MN, ND, NE, SD. Houston: AR, KS, LA, OK, TX. Phoenix: AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, UT, WY. Los Angeles: CA, NV, OR, WA, AK, HI. Miami: FL. Washington: 2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009. The same registration is made in person at the Registro Civil in Quito, Cuenca or Guayaquil for USD 50. office list ↗
- How
- In person; you appear in person
- Fee
- About $55
- Decision
- 1–13 weeks
What goes in the file (6)›
- The applicant’s foreign birth certificate, apostilled, with an apostilled Spanish translation
- A certified copy of the foreign birth inscription (the long form), apostilled and translated
- The applicant’s valid passport or ID (adults)
- The Ecuadorian parent’s cédula or passport (physical or digital); for a grandchild or great-grandchild, the Ecuador-born ancestor’s Ecuadorian birth entry and the birth records of every generation in between, apostilled and translated, to show the line
- A special power of attorney if a third party files
- Payment receipt: USD 50 registration + USD 5 DIGERCIC fee
What goes wrong (6)›
- The consul registers the birth directly into the Registro Civil system; after that the person can get a cédula and passport.
- Art. 7(2) reaches descendants to the third degree of an Ecuador-born person: child, grandchild and great-grandchild, directly. No intermediate generation needs to register first, but every link must be documented.
- The ancestor must have been born in Ecuador; a naturalized Ecuadorian ancestor does not count for this route.
- Ecuadorians by birth keep their nationality when acquiring another (Art. 6), so a naturalization abroad in the line does not matter.
- A grandchild adds the parent’s certified foreign birth record; a great-grandchild adds the parent’s and the grandparent’s. Each is apostilled and translated, and the Ecuadorian ancestor who passes on nationality shows a cédula or passport.
- From CA, GB, AU, NZ, ZA, BR, AR: the same registration at the Ecuadorian consulate or embassy for your residence; Argentine Spanish records need only the apostille.
source ↗
Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.
Where each record lives, and how to ask for it
birth
Dirección General de Registro Civil, Identificación y Cedulación (DIGERCIC)
Found by the person’s cédula number, or by name, date and canton of birth. Order the copia íntegra del acta registral (the full entry), which shows the place of birth, since Art. 7(2) needs the ancestor to have been born in Ecuador.
- Fee
- 6 USD
- Takes
- 1–4 weeks
Good to know (3)›
- USD 6 per copy, plus USD 2 when the requester is a third party (e.g. a grandchild asking for a grandparent’s record). Paid online with an international card; ready within 72 hours as an electronic document. Consulates also deliver copies abroad.
- An entry the online service cannot issue is requested in person at a Registro Civil agency, or through a consulate; allow the long end of the range.
- Civil registration began with the Registro Civil law published on 29 October 1900; earlier births are in Catholic parish registers.
source ↗
marriage
DIGERCIC (marriages celebrated in Ecuador)
- Fee
- 6 USD
- Takes
- 1–4 weeks
source ↗
Translations
- Into
- Spanish
- Who may translate
- Any certified translator; the translation itself is legalized
- About
- $25–$80 a page
The foreign birth record must be apostilled and translated into Spanish. A translation made abroad must itself be apostilled; a translation made in Ecuador must be notarized.
source ↗
The passport
- Where
- The Ecuadorian consulate, by appointment (Registro Civil or Cancillería booking), with the new cédula or the registration. Delivery time depends on whether the post prints passports or only captures data.
- Fee
- About $90
- Time
- 1–9 weeks
source ↗
Recent and pending changes
We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Ecuador.
We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.
If descent doesn’t reach you
4 residence programs lead to Ecuador without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.
Every source on this page
1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.
- LawConstitution of Ecuador 2008, Art. 7(2): persons born abroad to a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent born in Ecuador (third degree of consanguinity), and Art. 6 (dual nationality) · Art. 7(2); Art. 6
- RecordsThe Registro Civil, Identificación y Cedulación: Your Ecuador-born ancestor’s birth certificate
- RecordsHow to file: Citizen by birth (Art. 7(2))
- RecordsCancillería online appointments (citas.cancilleria.gob.ec: choose the consulate, then the service), or a turn requested from the consulate
- RecordsBirth records: Dirección General de Registro Civil, Identificación y Cedulación
- RecordsRegistro Civil en Línea (portal ciudadano)
- RecordsThe passport: where, the fee and the wait
Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.