The Castle

No, there are not any palaces in Quito. Last week I finally got my visa and the whole situation can only be described as Kafkaesque.

It took about two and a half months for me to receive the work visa. When we first talked with our lawyer she assured us that we only need a few documents and a little money and we wouldn't have any problems. However, that was not the case. After submitting all the required paperwork, the lawyer would call us up two or three times a week saying that we were missing one document or another. Of course, she had never asked for these documents in the first place.

When we met with the lawyers on one trip to Quito, one actually had the balls to say to me, "Things are not done here like they are in the States. You have to know people." To which I replied, "That's why I'm paying you, to know people." By the way, the company which claims to be a non-profit, is 1700 Migrante. I do not recommend that anyone ever use them.

I couldn't get my the visa last week when Carlos and I went to Quito for the sole purpose of receiving the visa. That was because the guy who had to sign my visa was not in and would not be in for two more days. Apparently, there is one single guy in the whole entire country who could sign my visa. And he doesn't have an underling who can do it for him when he's sick. So we had to return to Quito the following week. Fortunately, Carlos was already going there for a conference and I just tagged along. And we finally got the visa.

At the end of the procedure, the lawyer asked us for more money than we had agreed to pay, saying things like, "Well, for your case we had to do extra work." When I asked for specifics, as in, "How is my case different from the other cases? What exactly did you need to do for me that was atypical?" he would reply by saying, "Well, I was not the one doing the work, but the lawyer assured me that your case was special and he needed to do more than was normally necessary." Again I would say, "Can you give me an example?" to which he would respond, "Well, I don't know exactly, but your case was different." Arrrrgh.

Of course, the system in Ecuador is made so that you need a lawyer or an expediter or someone who knows people in the system to get things done. And everybody takes a few dollars here and there to help you out. There were only two people who were actually helpful. After I got my visa I needed to get a copy of it notarized. The notary was a very kind lady. Even nicer was was the gentleman at the Ministry of Work. I did not need to go to Quito for the whole visa process. However, after receiving the visa it was necessary to get a work ID, thus go to Quito for the sole purpose of having a (digital) photo taken. And this is only possible on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. The gentleman there was so nice and helpful, Carlos and I had met him the previous week and Carlos explained that my Spanish was not the best and that I would be returning on my own and the guy explained the whole procedure very patiently and when I returned it took less than 10 minutes.

If anyone would like me to explain the process for getting a work visa, I cannot, I have no idea how I actually got the visa.

But I learned my lesson. Just get married. It's cheaper and easier.