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Uruguayan Permanent Residency

Posted on April 28, 2007
Filed Under Expat Tips, Immigration | 6 Comments

If you are considering residency in Uruguay and are frustrated by the lack of information available from the Uruguayan consulate, you are not alone. Most of the information on the web on this subject is vague, incomplete or contradictory. So it is not surprising that many Uruguayan expats recommend hiring an immigration consultant (gestor) to facilitate the process. This may be tempting because the process is rather complicated. But keep in mind that a gestor will cost you around 400 dollars per person and will NOT increase the likelihood of being accepted. Actually, it may delay the process because if you wait to assemble the required documents only AFTER the gestor tells you to, you’ll lose precious time, maybe several months. Either way, it is always a good idea to understand the process. And if you are like me, you will want to prepare the necessary papers and documents, well BEFORE heading to Uruguay.

Not being one to give up easily, I’ve spent many hours searching for information about the Uruguayan immigration process on Google and other search engines. By luck, I stumbled upon two authoritative sources of information (the DNM and the Cepre) while searching for an unrelated subject. In the next few posts, I will organize this information and divide it into manageable installments. Please keep in mind that this info is NOT based on my first hand experience and therefore will likely contain some inaccuracies. I hope expats who have gone through the process will write in with details, corrections or missing information.

WARNING: If you are not fluent in Spanish and do not have a local friend willing to help, you will probably find the Permanent Residency process hard to do on your own.

Do I qualify for permanent residency in Uruguay?

Probably yes. The requirements for permanent residency are relatively easy to meet, provided you have a modest sized nest egg and no criminal background. There are several categories under which you can apply for permanent residency, among them: investor, worker with job offer in Uruguay, landowner and retiree. Click here to see a translation of the requirements sheet obtained at the DNM.

Do I need to apply at the Uruguayan Consulate in my own country or in Uruguay?

Unlike many countries, Uruguay requires you to enter the country as tourist (or other temporary visas) and then start the paperwork to apply for permanent residency within 180 days of entering Uruguay.

What steps are needed before I go?

Before you leave your home country, you need to obtain

A certificate of good conduct from the places you lived in the last 5 years and from the country you are a citizen of. If you are American, an FBI report will do. Alternatively, local police stations can issue a good conduct report. This is required for every family member that is fifteen or older. You can request an FBI record check by sending two sets of fingerprints, an $18 money order, your full name, date and place of birth, social security number and letter of request explaining purpose for clearance to: FBI ID Division, Room 10104, Washington, DC 20537-9700. In your request, ask for a “letter of procedure” to be mailed along with your results. You can get a fingerprint sheet at your local police station for a fee between 10 and 50 dollars, depending on your state. If you have no record, you’ll get your finger print card back with a stamp to that effect. This process takes 8 to 10 (now the site says 14-16) weeks. If you want to be super safe, send your FBI report to the State Department Authentication Office, they will authenticate the results in 3 days and the fee is $7. Alternatively, you can get the entire thing done in Montevideo by going to the Uruguayan Interpol office, Maldonado 1109, and requesting an FBI clearance for the purposes of permanent residency. They will fingerprint you and give you an envelope containing your fingerprint card and the request. You have to mail this envelope to the FBI. The advantage of this approach is threefold: it is free (although you still need bring an 18 dollar US check in the name of Treasury of the USA to cover the FBI fee); you can start the permanent residency application by just presenting the Interpol envelope (although you may need to have it legalized first); you do not need to have it certified by the consulate or anyone else, since the results are sent back to Uruguayan immigration electronically. However the process takes the same amount of time as direct submittal. The advantage of doing it beforehand is that you will be eligible for a cédula temporaria much sooner since you only become eligible to apply for it after the certificates of good conducts have cleared.

Two original certified copies of the birth certificate of all family members applying for residency. The birth certificates must include the name of the parents, the state and country you were born (some counties forget to mention what country they are in). Make sure you order several copies of all documents since Uruguayan immigration will retain the documents submitted.

Two copies of the marriage certificate, if you are bringing your wife and family. According to the UY Embassy, documents issued by a State/Municipal authority that lies within the consulate’s jurisdiction, such as birth and marriage certificates, do not need to be notarized beforehand. If the woman changed names multiple times due to marriage, bring all documents (marriage licenses and divorce decrees) necessary to tie the name on the birth certificate, to her name on the current marriage certificate. These documents need to be legalized by the appropriate consulate according to the same rules.

If you have children age five or older, you should bring your children’s student records. The records should include course names and grades. If your child attends a private school, make sure you collect all the basic information about the school, e.g. address, type of school, number of students, grading methodology etc. You will need all that information for the permanent residency process and for transferring into a Uruguayan school. These documents must be legalized by the appropriate Uruguayan consulate. In Uruguay, they’ll need to be translated into Spanish by an licensed Public Translator. The student will be tested by the school in order to determine the appropriate grade level for the student in Uruguay.

An inventory of the household goods that you will be bringing with you. Bring as many receipts as you can for these items, because the Uruguayan customs will otherwise estimate the value of your inventory. You will need to deposit money into an escrow account in a Uruguayan bank to cover the duty taxes on the estimated value of your household goods should your residency be denied.

Before you go, two copies of each document (except the receipts) needs to be notarized, authenticated and then sent to the Uruguayan consulate responsible for the area where the document was issued requesting that they be verified and certified as legitimate ($112 per document). This means you may need to send documents to several consulates. Check with each consulate in advance to confirm the requirements (they seem to vary somewhat from one consulate to another) and to determine specifics about fees, format and return postage, etc. This step should not be done too far in advance, because the consulate certification is valid only for 90 days. Probably it would be a good idea to start the process of getting the FBI reports about two and a half months before the departure date. Once in Uruguay these documents will need to be translated to Spanish by a Public Translator and certified at the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores in Montevideo, Colonia 1206. Before translating the documents, you should go the MRE in person and ask which documents need translating and by whom.

If you have been vaccinated recently for tetanus, make sure you obtain a vaccination record from your doctor. Otherwise you’ll need to be vaccinated again during the medical examination required for the permanent residency. If you are currently undergoing medical treatment, you’ll want to bring a note from your doctor stating your medical situation. It may be required during the medical examination.

There are a few other documents that you will want to bring along in order to be able to open a bank account. Please read this post for more details.

You will also need to make arrangements for money to be wired monthly, USD 500 (or USD 1,500 if you wish to take advantage the Ley 16.340 which confers Uruguayan passports without the 3-5 year waiting period) to the bank account you will open in Uruguay after you arrive. To save in wire transfer fees, you can optionally transfer the amount times four quarterly. You will need a statement showing the recurring nature of your transfers.

Continued …

Other posts in Expat Tips

• Pros and Cons of Shipping Furniture Abroad
• Should I Bring My Electrical Aplliances to Uruguay?
• Usufruct and Inheritance Issues
• Tipping Custom in Uruguay
• American Income Tax While Living Abroad
• Visa Requirements to Travel to Brazil
• Inheritance Laws in Uruguay
• Uruguayan Spanish Conjugation
• Obtaining the Uruguayan National ID
• Steps To Obtain Permanent Residency in Uruguay

Other posts in Immigration

• Pros and Cons of Shipping Furniture Abroad
• Should I Bring My Electrical Aplliances to Uruguay?
• Pros and Cons of Retiring in Uruguay
• Uruguayan Immigration Update
• Visa Requirements to Travel to Brazil
• Obtaining the Uruguayan National ID
• Steps To Obtain Permanent Residency in Uruguay
• Rules for Obtaining Uruguayan Citizenship
• Uruguayan Links

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