Social connections making migration affordable and worthwhile.
The Indian restaurant, down the street from Quito’s Spanish Consulate and a private visa assistance company, is huge. It is two stories tall, adorned with flashing lights around the outside, and filled with statues and art from across India. Inside, the tables are nicely set with triangular orange napkins and bronze utensils. There are two muted TVs on either side of the restaurant—one playing a dramatic Bollywood dance film and the other blasting reggaeton music videos. The menu is in English and Spanish and includes item descriptions with cultural clues (a samosa is described as “like a little empanada”). The waiters, one Indian and one Ecuadorian, were dressed in blue button-down shirts with black vests—matching the logo of the restaurant.
“English or Spanish?” asked our waiter, Rahul, in a thick Hindi accent as we sat down for dinner. As our meal came to a close, we asked Rahul if he would be willing to take a few minutes to speak with us about his life in Quito. He enthusiastically agreed and ran to grab a pad of paper and a pen. He told us that he “did the same interview last year with an American girl named Catalina.”
“I came to Ecuador in August 2017 from the village of Jogiha in the Tehri Garhwal district of the Uttarkhand state of India. It is about 400km from New Delhi. In India, I worked in the five-star hotel industry for twelve years in locations across the country, from North to South. This is impressive because each state has a different language.
“It was not my life plan to move to Ecuador. In my village, I own a very big house, a large farm with mangoes, two cows, and two goats, all now cared for by my mother and brothers. A few years ago, my friend Aadi moved to Quito to work in a restaurant and told me stories about how it was affordable and offered good economic opportunities to send money home to his family. At first, I had to search Ecuador on Google to find out where in the world it was. But then Aadi suggested that I pack up and migrate to Ecuador to work with him.”
Rahul leaned forward in his seat and spoke enthusiastically with his hands. “Aadi had told me that if I came to Quito, he would be able to get me a job at the same Indian restaurant where he worked because his brother was the boss. I was confident that I could have economic success in this new country, so this was when I began to plan my move.
“I had to leave my wife and three-year-old daughter at home in India, but I was confident that coming to Ecuador would be a good choice because I was expecting a big salary here. But at first, it was expensive. I bought flights with the KLM airline, and they cost me $2,200. But it was okay because I knew I would have little to no living costs to pay: the restaurant in Quito would provide my insurance, two meals a day, and housing accommodations. This means that my only expense is my breakfast in the morning, which I make in my room.
“In reality, my salary is lower than I expected. I earn $700 to $800 a month. But this is quite a good salary on Ecuadorian standards. I work seven days a week, but I like my coworkers and my boss. They provide me with community. When I arrived at the Quito airport in August 2017, I was greeted by my boss. I felt welcome right away upon arrival.
“When I got to Quito, I opened a bank account at Produbanco. I live for my family, so I send back $600 to $700 a month to them.”
If it is true that Rahul earns $800 per month and sends about $700 home every month, he only keeps about $100 for himself. When we expressed our shock at how much of his salary he sends home, Rahul smirked and leaned back in his chair. “Indian people only live for the family. In the Latin American countries, they’re focused on themselves,” he said.
“Western Union is the easiest way for me to send money to my family. But Western Union is playing the devil. They make it so costly and so inconvenient for me to send money. The normal conversion from US dollars to rupees is $1 to 71 rupees, but Western Union has an initial $60 charge, plus another 5% charge, plus a 12% IVA (a state tax). For example, there is a $60 charge to send $500. It is very hard.
“There isn’t really another option for me to send money. If I try to do a direct transfer through my bank, there will be an automatic $80 charge. It is frustrating, but I am committed to my family. What I really want is an ‘NRI account’. I think it stands for ‘Non-Reliable Indian.’”
NRI actually stands for “Non-Resident Indian.” But Rahul’s verbal slip connotes how he thinks others perceive him. NRI accounts are available in areas with many Indian immigrants and allow them to submit money through certain banks (like Citibank) which allow direct conversion of dollars to rupees. There are no fees to make transfers and NRI accounts serve as a type of savings account: you can’t withdraw money from these accounts except when in India (which would be perfect for Rahul’s remittances). However, there are no NRI accounts at any bank in Ecuador, a major disadvantage to the Indian community in Ecuador.
“There are probably less than 100 Indians living in Quito,” Rahul said. “If you meet an Indian, they most likely work at an Indian restaurant or at Tata Consulting Services in information technology consulting for Banco Pichincha (one of Ecuador’s international banks). There are probably 20 to 30 Indians living with their families in Quito, and the rest are bachelors. Most of the Indian community here is men. Many of them live in the Quevedo sector of the city, about a 30-minute drive from where I work in the restaurant.
“It’s getting harder and harder for Indians to come to Ecuador. For me, it was very easy getting legal papers and documentation to live here. But this is changing. Before August 2019, Indians didn’t need visas to come to Ecuador. But after August 2019, people from India now need visas to come here. When I entered the country, I had a 90-day tourist visa and then I changed this to a work visa once it expired. All I needed to do was to show my work contract and proof of insurance, and the restaurant had provided me with both. At first, they just gave me a one-year visa. But now, I have a two-year visa to work in Ecuador. It can be expensive, though. The closest Indian consulates are in Colombia and Peru, so each time I renew my visa, I have to pay a $100 DHL fee to ship my documents to Bogotá to get them approved. I don’t plan to move back to India any time soon, so my next step is to get my permanent residency.
“I miss my wife and my daughter, and the rest of my family. They’re all in India, but we stay in close touch. I haven’t seen my daughter since she was less than one year old, but I make WhatsApp video calls to them every day for 30 to 60 minutes. I don’t plan to bring my family to Ecuador, but I would consider it if I were able to open my own restaurant someday.
“My big dream is to move to Germany. I have some friends there and they tell me there is great public healthcare. In Germany, I would want to be an Indian chef. But to be an Indian chef in Germany I need to take a cooking exam to get a certificate to prove that I have skills. But these certificates are only offered in New Delhi. So, this July and August, I will go back to India for a while—for the first time since I came to Ecuador! I will attend an important wedding and see my family, and when I’m home, I’ll also take this big cooking exam. Once I get the certificate, I will bring it to the German embassy in Quito and will then wait to hopefully receive a four-year work visa in Germany.”
“You know, my biggest frustration in Quito is the healthcare system, mostly the public insurance. The restaurant has to pay $85 to $90 a month [for] my public insurance, but since I don’t feel like it provides me with enough services...I pay another additional $40 a month for my own private insurance on top of that. This means I pay about $130 a month for health insurance.”
“Let me tell you a story. It is about my eyes. I have a problem with my eyes, so I scheduled a normal doctor’s appointment. This took one week. Then, the doctor referred me to an ENT, which was scheduled in another month. At this appointment, I was referred to a surgeon, which took another month. This was already two months since my first appointment, and my eyes still bothered me. When I finally got to my surgery appointment, they told me they wouldn’t be able to do my surgery and sent me to a private clinic a month from that day. Then, my appointment at the private clinic was scheduled for 9:30 am, but they told me they would be delayed until 2:00 pm. I could not take the day off of work and because of the office delays I had to reschedule this appointment for another month from then. I then finally scheduled an appointment for December 12th, 2019 and requested a week’s vacation from my boss in advance so that I could recover. But the surgeon’s office called and canceled the appointment and rescheduled it for another month. So now, I need to wait for my boss to return from his holiday vacation in order to get permission, meaning still, I haven’t had my appointment.”
“I am so frustrated, so much that I will quit my public insurance next month and just pay for my own private insurance. I could not quit the public insurance earlier because I can only get my visa if I pay all the right taxes. But once I get my permanent residency it won’t matter anymore and the restaurant will be able to save the money from paying for my public insurance.”
“All of this trouble with my eyes and the insurance made me want to move to Germany even more. My friends there are happy and successful. One of them was very ill with cancer, and he received excellent care and fully recovered. He now lives a life of charity, giving and giving to others because he is so grateful for his treatment from the German government healthcare.”