Obtaining residence in Uruguay

Hi vanja46fan, welcome on Expat-blog!

I wish you good luck,

All the best,
Christine

have you tried to ask for a political asylum? it may make wonders... who knows... the other option would be find a lawyer that knows about immigration, like a university professor specialized in that subject. i agree that the birth certificate NEEDS to be done and legalized as they want. Maybe the UN office in montevideo may help you.
i wonder if you can opt for have a baby here, what would happen. all questions that a good lawyer will be able to answer . be creative.
as example: the canadians (organized better than the bosnian of course) accept all the documentation delivered by post.

you need to get in touch with the foreign affair ministry of your country and try that they fix the problem without you need to move from uruguay. once you get out from here, you will have a huge problem to come in again.

don't be worried about being illegal.this is uruguay, not Texas/USA (illegal hunting). Then open a business here (on the paper)and get your BPS number . try to make a lil business where you will pay lil amount of monthy money , the minimum. once you have it , you go to the immigration office and ask for a renovation of the 'tourist' visa. you need to be informed about the different options that you have, so make your work. but you will need a translator. i agree that your husband should escort you. 
in my case i was having hard times - when my father died- getting all those stamp they require.

now that i am thinking on it... you can try to inscribe your birth certificate (properly translated) at the registro civil at the uruguay street ( MAIN REGISTRO CIVIL OFFICE). there is a special office for foreigners. once its inscribed you ask for a copy and that copy would be 'legal' for immigration . my german sister was doing that many (45)years ago. maybe the conditions have changed since then.

good luck

wow thanks for the answer but I am glad to report that this Friday I will get my Uruguayan ID. luckily I did not have to have unwanted child or open some business, but the last option u mentioned worked for me. it took some time and money but I finally have my birth certificate legalized and the copy is now in ``registro civil``
I know my battle is not done but as u said at least I am not in Texas (everything is more relaxed in Uruguay)

thats good news. a cedula, even if not permanent will make you free for travel outside Uruguay. make sure you get a new one once the present one is expired.

Hi everyone,
In reading these posts, I often come across the term "cedula".  I am thinking it means place of residence, but just want to make sure...thank you.

celula is ID card

ah ha!  Thanks very much for clearing that up.

Hello, just a few words about immigration process.
First of all in Uruguay we have three different "cedulas" - first you get when you just applied for permanent residence, it is usually for one year and called "cedula en tramite", that means that you are in the process of getting your permanent residence. Aproximately in one year you get your second cedula - cedula legal. Actually it can lasts forever untill you want to use it, just need to renew every 3 years, but it is simple process. And the final one, if you decided to receive citienship of Uruguay, you apply for citizenship and get you cedula cuidadania. It means you are citizen of Uruguay and can also receive passport for traveling abroad. The main advantage of getting citizenship of Uruguay is possibility to live anywhere in Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay), work and do any business you want.

The second important point I would like to underline it is your papers that you have to bring with you, if you are going to apply for permanent residence. Birth certificate, police certificate, marriage certificate and all documents connected with changing your name, if you did. All these documents should be legalized in Embassy of Uruguay of you country of nature. If there are no Embassy of Uruguay in your country, you need to find the nearest one to your country.

Hi and welcome on board Akasha77!

Thanks for your help

Armand

This is really interesting.  Are there any other requirements?  What is the time frame on this?

Interesting topic.

I have read that one can obtain residency there by lodging birth certificate, marriage cert and proof of income ($6000/year - min.). If that is correct (I hope it is...), I still don't really understand the "proof of income" bit?? Practically, how does one prove it? What type of proof will be deemed acceptable? Let's take as an example that you earn $700/month in rentals abroad and want to use that as proof. Will they accept just the renatl agreement? Do you need to provide bank statements corroborating the rental? And if so, how far back???? There are lots of questions I have around this. Anyone? Please?

if u r married to Uruguayan then u dont need rental certificate. otherwise i guess some bank statements can serve the purpose.

vanja46fan wrote:

if u r married to Uruguayan then u dont need rental certificate. otherwise i guess some bank statements can serve the purpose.

Point taken. However, I am not married to Uruguay citizen and also, I still don't understand what type of "proof of income" the Uruguayan authorities will accept. If they will accept bank statements, for example, how many months worth of statements will suffice as proof? The whole thing is a bit vague to me.

I dont know how long back they they require the bank statements to be. it is the first time I hear that they require that, maybe u can ask at Uruguayan consulate! send them an email or call, i am sure they will tell u what u need to present!

Hi, Everyone Just thought I would let you know that I've just got married in Uruguay , the Husband is from Uruguay but we both live in Tenerife , we deiced in Jan to get married and went on a months holiday in April , we were married 7th May can't believe how easy it was and we didn't need half of the paperwork that was said on the internet , we are back in Tenerife now but hope to move over in the next year or 2 .... more paper work to do lol I hope the process will be as easy as the marriage process

I can see that many have a doubt relating to PROOF OF INCOME, what migration authorities in Uruguay are requiring in order to grant a residence permit.

I will try to explain as much briefly as possible, and as much clear as possible. I beg your pardon if my english is not so good enough.

First of all, mention that for the Uruguayan Government, a certified amount of USD 650 per month is enough proof of income to grant a residence permit. Nonetheless, it is desireble to certify a mínimum income of USD 1.000.-

For retired citizens of other countries, their foreign pension would serve as proof of income, it should be certified by a notary and legalized, and it is no necessary that the pension has to be collected in Uruguay.

For other foreigners, not retired, with any kind of proven regular income, for instance the renting of a property, certified by a notary and dully legalized, this would be their proof of income.

For the rest of foreigners, not retired and without any regular income, they must demonstrate they have or that would have an income providing from a job or a commercial activity or business.

For instance, any foreigner, even without a residence permit may start a business in Uruguay (with very paricular excemptions). If the business, even without any employee is having sales, and therefore, providing an income to their owners, any local notary may certify it as proof of income.

Another way would be a promise letter from any company that you will be contracted in the future, and in that letter it has to be specified which salary you will earn. Many times, migration authorities do not make any inspection to certify that you will really work in that company, but in many other cases, migration authorities may send an inspector to the company.

Regardless all mentioned above, actually —only in the capital of Uruguay (Montevideo)— you can initiate the process of obtaining the residence permit, only presenting 2 photographs, copy of passport, and a simple proof of domicile (very easy to obtain at any police station with two witnesses, or with a receipt or contract of any government service, such as telephone, electricity or water).

With that simple step, you can obtain a temporary "Cédula de Identidad" or uruguayan ID card, and you will have a period of about 6 months to present all the required documents, like proof of income.

The Uruguayan ID card is what is needed to legally obtain any job.

On the other hand, if you are just initiating a business, you will have about 6 months to have some income, so any local notary  will be able to certify it.

I hope all doubts has been clarified, please do not hesitate to make any other question or raise any concern you may have.

Best regards.

Daniel Mascort

I've been in Uruguay from the States for more than 4 years now and have constant dealings with immigrants to Uruguay.  It may be that for some, the process is as easy as Daniel describes.  For me it was not, though I finally managed to get through it.  The information you receive from escribanos, abogados, and different funcionarios (clerks) at the ministries give inconsistent and often conflicting information.  I found, and this was in 2009, that it was impossible to find out in one sitting, everything that would be needed, and oftentimes documents that they claimed were needed I would not be told about beforehand, thereby requiring me to make another trip to Montevideo. I have since heard many stories from ex pats who have provided escribano backed documentation of more than enough income, who are denied, and denied repeatedly.  The explanation I hear repeatedly is that the doors are closing.  And they may be closing in both directions. It's getting more difficult than it was in 2009 and maybe Uruguay doesn't really want a flood of unhealthy, older immigrants from the You Ess to burden their excellent medical system which appears to be currently actuarially sound.   My sense that the ideal time to come here has long past but that it is still possible, but you have to be realistic about the difficulties if you have waited so long.

hi gringa girl

you might have right in your comments.... no state want to support people from other countries at the country's bill....

But to be fair, in Uruguay no one will kick you (deport) to be in the country coming in and out as many times you want or even being illegal, unless you break the law or not follow the immigration procedures. they love bureaucracy so be patient and go as many times you need to, this is much more easy than the immigration barriers from other countries.

So my advice is that you keep on trying and showing the papers they want, and meanwhile getting visa extensions. By starting a business here (real or not real) and contribute to the BPS (social security) would be the best way to prove you are here to stay.

I am doing this for my thai girlfriend.

patience and good luck

Hi everyone.
I intend to travel to Uruguay to obtain permanent residency there, is there anyone who can help me to find current requirements and criteria.

We are 4 friends who are coming together, we all are married. Currently is there any improvement in their immigration system or they still take long

Hi MEMON.mu,

Please note that this thread is a bit old 2011

Feel free to start a new topic with all your questions on the Uruguay Forum pls

Still you can find some useful information on the previous posts here on this discussion, so please go through them

Thank you

Maximilien
Expat-blog Team

You may consult and download a file (in spanish) which pretends to be a general guide, indicating main requirements and steps to follow in order to obtain residence permit in uruguay.

Link to the file: http://www.scribd.com/doc/145003862/URU … NCIA-LEGAL

Hope you undersand spanish, best regards

Daniel Mascort

Hello there,

I am planning on getting married to a Uruguayan citizen in December 2014. I am currently in Uruguay as a tourist, but will be returning to the US at the end of February to work for a few months before returning to Uruguay in the end of July. I will be applying for residency and a cedula in order to start working when I get back to Uruguay. I will be looking for a job when I get back and after I get a temporary cedula. Then we will be getting married in December. Will my getting married affect my residency process? Also, I am planning on trying to enroll in la Universidad de la Republica for the academic year of 2015. Do you have any advice for me?

your marriage would only go in favor towards the residency. u will probably only need to present marriage certificate after.
If you are american citizen u have embassy in Montevideo and they can do some stuff for u probably to make it easier.

When do you arrived ?

I am already here- and have been here since September but only as a tourist. I will be leaving to return to the US at the end of February and will remain there for 5 months to work and save up money for our expenses. I will be returning to Uruguay at the end of July. I will need to get a temporary cedula to be able to get a job. However, we will be getting married in December (in UY by civil and church and then in US by church), so I will need to get permission to exit the country to go see my family in the US. I am just not sure about the order in which to go about things considering I will be getting married in the middle of it all. I don't know if that complicates the process, especially since I have to exit the country before I will have my residency interview.

Ok .now i understand you .well .if you need something write me .very luck .sorry for mi inglish . do you facebook? Teresah fontanone .

Why do you live here? Im think your country more oportunity . Hear is too hard. im works independiente  job . But is very spencil to live hear .

u can get the permission to return any time u want... u just go and pay for one it is around 50$.... i would advise u get it once u have cedula and sometime before u leave the country because the permission is valid only for one year