Countries › Ecuador

Using a U.S. document in Ecuador

Step by step

1. Get a certified copy of the document from the issuing office.
2. Get an apostille from the competent authority of the U.S. state where the document was issued (generally the Secretary of State); federal documents (e.g., FBI background check) are apostilled by the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications.
3. Translate it into Spanish if needed: a translation made outside Ecuador must itself be apostilled or legalized; a translation made in Ecuador must have the translator's signature recognized before a Notario Público.
4. Present it to the Ecuadorian authority or, for civil registration (e.g., a marriage), to the Ecuadorian consulate in the U.S.

Translation

Ecuador's civil registry (DIGERCIC) page for registering a marriage celebrated abroad requires the foreign certificate 'duly apostilled or legalized and translated into Spanish where applicable'. If the translation is done abroad it must be apostilled or legalized; if it is done in Ecuador it must have the signature recognized before a Notario Público.

Sources