Ecuador entry requirement - Criminal Record Certificate

[andysaxim]

I’m a UK citizen planning a road trip through South America next year. The FCDO (UK Foreign Office/State Department) travel advice says:

If you wish to enter Ecuador via a land or river border from Peru or Colombia, you must present a criminal record certificate from the country where you lived for the last 5 years. The certificate must be legalised with the Hague Apostille and translated into Spanish if issued in another language. This mandatory requirement was announced on 11 January 2024 for implementation with immediate effect.

Alternatively, if you do not have a legalised criminal record certificate, you can ask the Ecuadorean immigration authorities at the border to carry out a check on their ’SIMIEC’ Ecuadorean Immigration System (which flags any travel prohibitions or INTERPOL alerts).

Any one have experience of this and the realities of crossing asking for a SIMIEC check?

[manzini]

The FCDO (UK Foreign Office/State Department) travel advice says:
they are very outdated
that was about year and a half ago.
no worries no control.
i drove in and out several times end of last year til early march this year and will do from november this year

[maria41]

Thanks. Got me worried for a moment. We are landing in Bogota in 8 weeks with our bikes, so that would have been a big scramble or complete change of itinerary at the last minute!

[jim de vilca]

That was only for about three months ago. That requirement has long expired

Good luck