Apostille Ecuadorian documents from the US: USD 30, online

Ecuadorian public documents that will be presented in another country — for example, in the United States — are apostilled by Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility (the Cancillería). There are two channels: the online portal serviciosdigitales.cancilleria.gob.ec, for public documents generated online with an electronic signature, and in-person service at the ministry’s Zonal Offices in Ecuador and at Ecuadorian consular offices abroad. An apostille costs USD 30.00 and a legalization USD 25.00 (fees published in the gob.ec Official Procedures Guide, checked October 3, 2026), and the apostille arrives by email.

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Key facts

ItemDetail (checked October 3, 2026)
Who apostillesMinistry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility (MREMH)
Onlineserviciosdigitales.cancilleria.gob.ec
In personZonal Offices in Ecuador and Ecuadorian consular offices abroad
ApostilleUSD 30.00, VAT-exempt
LegalizationUSD 25.00, VAT-exempt
Seniors50% reduction
Disability of 30% or more100% reduction
Online paymentCredit or debit card, domestic or international
DeliveryElectronic apostille to your registered email
Validity“De acuerdo a vigencia del documento original” (follows the original document)
Delivery timeNot published

Source: the gob.ec page “Apostilla y legalización de documentos”, updated September 16, 2025.

Ecuador and the Hague Convention

The page’s legal basis quotes the accession decree: “Adhiera el Ecuador a la ‘Convención para Suprimir la Legalización de los Documentos Públicos Extranjeros’, (Convención de la Haya sobre la Apostilla).” The ministry notes that a document already apostilled can also be legalized (USD 25.00) when it must be presented in a country that is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention.

Which documents the online portal accepts

The ministry says the portal serves public documents “que se generan en línea y cuenten con firma electrónica” (generated online and bearing an electronic signature). The gob.ec page lists, among others:

  • Civil Registry (Dirección General de Registro Civil, Identificación y Cedulación): marriage registration, birth registration, de facto union registration, identity and civil-status certificate, marriage certificate, birth certificate, de facto union certificate and death certificate.
  • Interior Ministry: criminal-record certificate and migratory-movement certificate.
  • SENESCYT: degree-registration certificate and degree bearing SENESCYT’s legalization signature.
  • Guayaquil Civil Registry Corporation: marriage and birth certificates, and certified copies of death, marriage and birth records.
  • Labor Ministry, the National Intellectual Rights Service and the Agency for Quality Assurance of Health Services and Prepaid Medicine: certain certificates and certified copies.

If you don’t have the document yet, see Ecuadorian civil-registry certificates from the US and Ecuador criminal-record certificate.

Step by step on the portal

According to gob.ec, the online channel works like this:

  1. Go to the portal serviciosdigitales.cancilleria.gob.ec.
  2. Create your user.
  3. Select the apostille or legalization service.
  4. Enter the information and upload the document to be apostilled.
  5. Pay online by credit or debit card, domestic or international.
  6. Receive the apostille at your email address.

The page sums it up: “tu apostilla y legalización te llega a tu correo electrónico y es un documento seguro y verificable a nivel mundial” (your apostille and legalization arrive by email and are a secure document verifiable worldwide).

Paper documents: prior certification

For in-person service, the ministry warns in capital letters that public documents must be certified by the institution that issued them before legalization or apostille. What it requires by document type:

DocumentPrior certification the ministry requires
University degrees, transcripts or study certificates of graduatesSENESCYT certification, whether the university is public or private
Transcripts of non-graduates, public universityCertification by the institution’s general secretary
Transcripts of non-graduates, private universityTrue copy of the original made before a notary
Primary or secondary diplomas and transcriptsCertification by the Ministry of Education’s zonal district
Civil Registry documents (paper and electronic)None: “pueden ser apostillados directamente” (can be apostilled directly)
Medical or vaccination certificatesMust be issued by the Ministry of Health
Company incorporation certificatesSignature of the Superintendency of Companies, Securities and Insurance

If the issuing institution was abolished or merged, the successor institution certifies the documents.

From the US, in person: gob.ec says “Comunícate con la oficina consular más cercana” (contact the nearest consular office), and that at consular offices payment is made after each document is physically reviewed and validated. The mandatory requirements are an identity document, the original document and payment of the fee. The same page lists hours for consular offices abroad of Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 14:00; it links the appointment system citas.cancilleria.gob.ec in its section on the Zonal Offices in Ecuador. To find your consulate, see the directory of Ecuadorian consulates.

Fees and exemptions

  • Apostille: USD 30.00, VAT-exempt.
  • Legalization: USD 25.00, VAT-exempt.
  • Seniors (tercera edad): 50% reduction of the total.
  • Disability of 30% or more: 100% reduction.
  • The exemptions apply only to the document holder: if you apostille someone else’s document, the reduction depends on that person, not on you.

Fees from the gob.ec page (legal basis: Arancel Consular y Diplomático 2023, item 10), checked October 3, 2026.

Validity

The ministry says “como regla general la apostilla no caduca” (as a general rule the apostille does not expire), so a document already apostilled does not need a new apostille. The exception is documents with their own expiration date: then you obtain a new document and apostille it. The page summarizes validity as “De acuerdo a vigencia del documento original.”

The other direction: US documents for an Ecuadorian procedure

This apostille is for Ecuadorian documents. Documents issued in the United States are apostilled in the US; see how to apostille a US document. The Ecuadorian Consulate in New York’s page (undated) says US-issued documents presented for a consular procedure “deberán estar traducidos al Español, notarizados y apostillados” (must be translated into Spanish, notarized and apostilled), and that “la apostilla deberá realizarse tanto en el documento original como en la traducción notarizada” (the apostille must be placed on both the original and the notarized translation).

What the sources do not publish

The gob.ec page does not publish a delivery time for the online apostille, and the portal is a login-only application that could not be read on October 3, 2026. For questions, the page lists the ministry’s Counseling Unit email: consejeria@cancilleria.gob.ec.

Your US immigration status

The requirements gob.ec publishes are an identity document, the original document and payment; they do not ask for US immigration documents. The Official Procedures Guide summarizes Article 16 of the Regulation to Ecuador’s Organic Law on Human Mobility this way: Ecuadorian and foreign nationals can access consular services “sin importar su condición migratoria” (regardless of their migration status).

Official sources

Last verified: 2026-10-03. General procedural information for educational purposes. Apostille fees and requirements change. Verify directly with Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility and with the institution that issued your document. Not legal advice.