How to get Permanent Residence in Uruguay I am living in Dubai

You can buy property without being a resident. You will need to pay cash and expect to add about 10% for closing costs.

Residency is taking about two years at present. You need to show  " sufficient income to support your lifestyle"  Your escribano - someone who will prepare your income statement  - will advise you on the type of income and the amount to show.  We were asked to show $1500 per month. We were told pensions and other government sources are preferred. They want to see the amount actually coming into Uruguay. Out of country income can be acceptable if it is permanent and regular such as rental income from buildings you own.

You can apply for residency and then look for work here to try to satisfy the income requirement.  You will probably need fluent Spanish. Wages here are low and costs are high.  We are spending about $2000 US a month with a fairly simple life for two. We own our home so this does not include rent.

janway wrote:

You can buy property without being a resident. You will need to pay cash and expect to add about 10% for closing costs.

Residency is taking about two years at present. You need to show  " sufficient income to support your lifestyle"  Your escribano - someone who will prepare your income statement  - will advise you on the type of income and the amount to show.  We were asked to show $1500 per month. We were told pensions and other government sources are preferred. They want to see the amount actually coming into Uruguay. Out of country income can be acceptable if it is permanent and regular such as rental income from buildings you own.

You can apply for residency and then look for work here to try to satisfy the income requirement.  You will probably need fluent Spanish. Wages here are low and costs are high.  We are spending about $2000 US a month with a fairly simple life for two. We own our home so this does not include rent.

Thanks Janway,

SO your mean i can buy property even on tourist visa?? I have savings but not any fixed amount coming from anywhere i asked someone that i can show my job outside uraguay but i have been advised that in case of job showing as a permenent amount coming your job should be inside uraguay not outside.. outside country you can show ur fixed income coming from real estate or other...

Now my questionn is if a tourist can buy a property there.. on the basis of that property can we get residency? it can be temporary residency i that case?? What i get from your above mentions statements is that i can live on residence visa after i purchase a property there and then for a citizenship i must get some fixed amount coming from different sources inside uraguay.. As I am in my late 30's so i have 2 do some jobs there... But yes Spanish is the hardle at the moment... If wages are low there and living is expensive Ecuador also as living is so cheap there like one can live in $600 there as rents are 300$ for 1 bedroom as we are a couple and u can easily manage the living but salaries over there are also low... but i have no idea what is salary range in Uraguay??

Thanks for ur input

Waiting reply

You need to contact someone with more knowledge than me. I am only going on what I have been told.  It seems that everyone gets different information depending on who you ask.

Owning property has nothing to do with residency.  We bought our house while visiting for three months, we did not apply for residency until the next year.  You can always simply leave the country every six months with a visit to Argentina or Brazil and stay as a tourist for years.

Citizenship is entirely different and has different requirements and you have to have lived here for  I believe 5 years.

Salaries average from around $500 US to  $1000 per month. For example  - cleaning ladies usually charge $5.00 US per hour. We have paid electricians and plumbers  less than $10 US  per hour.

Uruguay is very different to Ecuador so it really depends on what you want.

janway wrote:

You need to contact someone with more knowledge than me. I am only going on what I have been told.  It seems that everyone gets different information depending on who you ask.

Owning property has nothing to do with residency.  We bought our house while visiting for three months, we did not apply for residency until the next year.  You can always simply leave the country every six months with a visit to Argentina or Brazil and stay as a tourist for years.

Citizenship is entirely different and has different requirements and you have to have lived here for  I believe 5 years.

Salaries average from around $500 US to  $1000 per month. For example  - cleaning ladies usually charge $5.00 US per hour. We have paid electricians and plumbers  less than $10 US  per hour.

Uruguay is very different to Ecuador so it really depends on what you want.

Salaries are very less.. while living in dubai I am earning more then $3500 I am a designer... and $1000 is a very low salary.... and as u told living is expensive

one can visit 6 months a year to Uruguay? suppose if we exit to Brazil? we must need to have Brazil or Argentina visa? is it easy practice?? May be being American for you its easier??

Best Regards

Actually I am  British.

You would need to check if your country need a visa to Argentina or Brazil. The Brazil one is more complicated I think.  Most countries do not need a visa but some have a reciprocity fee because those countries charge a fee in reverse.

When you enter  Uruguay - again you may or may not need a visa to come here - you are given a three month visitor stamp. This can be renewed in MVD for a further three months.  Then you have to leave and start again.

Look on numbeo.com and compare Montevideo with where you are now. Go to Cost of living and look for Cost of living comparison.

I used a lawyer for my residency-in-process. I think the Escribano may be the better choice, one less layer of bureaucracy. If I were to do it again I might just go to a university and hire a student to help with the process.

I took an every three month trip to Argentina to renew my visa when I arrived. No problem -- fun adventures. But I understand Argentina is now like Brazil, since the USA charges their citizens to enter I'll now have to pay for a visa to visit, dine, and go shopping.

Buying property is an open affair, but there is no real control of agents and they seem to negotiate a net price with the seller and then sell at whatever price they think will make them the most. Again hiring a university student looking for and calling sellers directly may be best. I've found a good realtor in Punte to handle my renting, but most agents I've talked with made me uncomfortable. I spent years in real estate sales management in California, and I believe my rule of thumb there applies as well here. 80% are incompetent or lazy, and of the 20% that know their stuff and work hard, at least half may be honest.

A good escribana can handle most legal issues for you. I had one handle the paperwork and escrow the funds when I bought my used car. That way I was confident full title was properly transfered.

Uruguay is a fine country. Wild and sophisticated in places during the January summer, but usually quiet and somewhat boring. I like it here. Read the free "look inside" first chapter of my book Uruguayo Shade on Amazon -- it gives my first overview of the country, as seen by the hero.

UY can be expensive. Punte in January is very expensive.

I would be careful about starting a business here. For now I think the competition from Argentinos trying to develop dollar based businesses outside their country, with money they are losing to inflation and taxes if it stays at home, presents a daunting challenge. I don't know about professional services, entering the market properly is probably very important, would need research.

Productive land for farming, on your own or having a management company handle it, looks interesting. Good water here, nice land; labor and unions are reported as a big problem -- get mechanized.

Your mileage may very.

Do you have your permanent cedula?  How long did it take?

I have a cedula, but it reads "cedula provisora." My lawyer kept missing appointments, angered some bureaucrats, etc and it took maybe 6+ months to get this far. hopefully within a year of its issue I'll have the permanent one.

Your arrival date in the year your application is accepted is when the clock starts running toward citizenship. That as I understand it is currently 3 years for couples, 5 years for a single.

Well, we have been here more than two years and still only have a temporary cedula. I do not know anyone who arrived when we did or there about who has got their permanent cedula.

Apparently our application is at the final department so hopefully it will not take more than two or three months more.

The citizenship requirements recently tightened up considerably. From what I have heard from someone who got citizenship recently, you now need to take a test in Spanish about Uruguay, laws, constitution etc. and you need a lot of paperwork as well as Uruguayan citizens to go to the court to speak on your behalf. They expect you to be integrated into the community by being able to show membership in local clubs and organizations as well as volunteer activities. You also need to show permanent residency here for the whole time such as dentist visits, doctor's appointments etc. so if that is something you are thinking of, you better start keeping the receipts.

It is now five years for citizenship unless you have a close family relative such as parent or such that is a Uruguayan citizen.

Thanks for the updated info.

I don't know if citizenship will be a viable option in three or four years. The world is changing so fast. I will save my receipts, slowly learn Spanish, and I'll see how to play the ball once I walk closer. For now I'm just an interested observer.

I like South America and Punte Del Este Uruguay in particular, but five years ago I liked living in California. We'll see.

One word about the difference between an escribano and a lawyer.  I think the set up here is more like England where you have solicitors and barristers. Both do slightly different work usually in the same office. Solicitors are not licensed to represent you in court, you need a barrister for that and your case goes between both depending on the actual legal requirements.  We also used a lawyer  for residency but only worked with the escribanos in the same office.  The price for the service was fixed when we started so it really makes no difference who does the work.

I definitely would not use an unqualified student for anything like that, the rules have changed several times since we applied and our file is about two inches thick now at Immigration - I have no idea what all the papers are for. The people we are using are at Immigration every day and have a close working relationship with the staff there. I believe this helps all their clients.

I do know fluent Spanish speakers who are doing it themselves but they have made many visits in to MVD to get papers translated, filed in different offices, copies made, etc etc and if you live a way from there it is time consuming and expensive.

Thanks for the fair warning.

As of this year I no longer had to go to MVD for my residency, the paperwork was all done in Maldonado. They still sent it to MVD after it was done, but the two times I've had to go to MVD were to meet the Lawyer's staff, who forgot both confirmed appointments. The second trip was to meet people I was to meet on the first trip; after months of interm, law office dilly-daly of incompetence delay.

I had title for a used car I bought handled by an escribana, it took a lot of time but not her fault, that was the legal process. The mound of paperwork was cleanly done, she was professional, there was no run around. She escrowed the deposit and later the full purchase price. Title was properly transfered. Very satisfactory. Worth every peso.

If an escribano can legally do a job, I'd be inclined to let them.

Hello

I am also thinking of Migrating to Uruguay with my family. Have you started the application process?

Do you know of any agent /Lawyer in Dubai who is dealing in such cases?