Uruguay
is an open country to foreign citizens. Not only to those doing
business or buying property, but also to those seeking legal residency.
Any foreign citizen that meets certain
basic requirements may apply for residency. And, if one wishes to,
one can subsequently apply for citizenship, and a second passport.
Filing For Residency
The
residency application is done before the Direccion Nacional de Migracion
(DNM), Uruguay’s immigration authority. The key, when applying, is
to make sure that the required documents are presented in due form (with
the required stampings and wording) so it is recommended that one seek
the assistance of an immigration lawyer in order to avoid delays and unnecessary
costs.
The process starts with the request
for an appointment at the DNM. The request should be made a month
ahead of the intended travel date, since slots must usually be reserved
with one month’s notice. The request is done through a letter to
the DNM, usually prepared by an attorney and signed by the applicant, and
a copy of the person’s passport.
The next step is to gather the documents
that are required for the filing. The documents one submits at the
DNM must be previously stamped at the Uruguayan consulate in the country
where they were issued. This stamping procedure is called “legalization”,
and all Uruguayan consulates are familiar with it. (Note: “legalization”
is not synonymous with “Apostille”. Apostilled documents won’t be accepted;
they need the consulate’s stamp.) In those countries where there
are no Uruguayan consulates, the rule that governs is that of “indirect
legalization”: legalization through a third country’s consulate or in a
Uruguayan consulate in a neighboring country.
The easiest way to proceed is to
check where the closest Uruguayan consulate is (for a list of Uruguayan
consulates, please check the following link, and click on your country
in the drop down menu:
Uruguayan
Consulates - Call the consulate, explain to them that you will
be sending documents for legalization, and they’ll ask you to send the
documents, a check for the legalization fee, and a self-addressed stamped
envelope for the return of the legalized documents to you. Some Uruguayan
consulates waive the legalization fee if the applicant has a lawyer or
agent in Uruguay fax a letter to the consulate stating that the legalization
is intended for residency purposes.
The Proof of Income requirement
is fulfilled by proving that the person has a steady stream of income of
at least USD 6,000 per year (or USD 500 per month). If the applicants
are a married couple, only one of the spouses needs to prove an income
source.
Income can be proven in a number
of ways: a pension, a mutual fund, lease income from a property inside
or outside Uruguay, dividends of any nature, salary, or a work contract
with a company in Uruguay, to name common examples.
One
has to prove that the income is actually received in Uruguay, so it is
important to open a bank account in the country, which is easy, and can
be done in a day at some banks.
Uruguay’s immigration authorities
scrutinize this requirement thoroughly, so the key is to prove it correctly,
leaving no doubt of the authenticity and permanent or semi-permanent nature
of the income source. The actual document that the applicant will
submit is a sworn statement by a Uruguayan notary/lawyer, with an authenticated
copy of the relevant documents.
It’s important to notice that Uruguay
does not require that you own property or have investments in the country
in order to grant residency. On the other hand, owning property does
not eliminate the income requirement.
Entering Uruguay
Once
the person has collected all the relevant documents, and verified with
an immigration lawyer that they are correct, he or she will enter the country.
Uruguay does not require an entry
visa for citizens of any OECD country (the U.S., Canada, Japan, Europe,
Australia and New Zealand) or from a South American country.
Upon entering Uruguay, the person
will be granted a tourist permit, to stay for 90 days (this period can
be extended for another 90 days through a written request to the immigration
authority).
Before that period expires, the person
will formally file the request for residency at the DNM, on the pre-arranged
date. From the moment a person applies for residency, he or she may
stay in Uruguay indefinitely, and even request a temporary national identification
(“cedula de identidad”).
Besides the four documents that one
must bring from abroad (three, in the case of U.S. citizens, who obtain
their criminal record at the Interpol office in Uruguay), one has other
requirements to meet, inside Uruguay:
1. The Health Certificate: This is
a health certificate issued by the Uruguayan Health Ministry or one of
a few authorized private clinics. A basic medical test must be completed,
and an immigration lawyer will set up the appointment for the applicant.
The applicant must bring his or her record of the last tetanus vaccine
(if impossible, the clinic will simply give the applicant a tetanus shot)
2. The Interpol record (for U.S.
citizens). The immigration lawyer assisting the applicant will help
request this.
3. Original passport.
4. The entry card obtained upon entering
Uruguay.
5. Four passport-size pictures.
Obtaining residency
After filing for residency, the applicant
does not need to stay in Uruguay, but should enter the country once, before
the granting of the residency, or at least once a year.
The DNM may, at some point in the
process, request that the applicant update the income proof information.
They’ll notify the applicant at his or her registered address in the filing
(usually the lawyer’s offices).
On average, six to twelve months
after the initial filing, residency is granted.
Resident status will be lost if,
after obtaining it, one does not enter the country at all for three years.
National Identification
Once residency is granted, the applicant
receives the definitive national identification (“cedula de identidad”).
During the process, the applicant may get a temporary one.
Bringing one´s personal
belongings
One of the benefits of filing for
residency is that it authorizes the applicant to bring one’s household
goods and personal belongings into the country, duty free. Household
goods do not include a car.
The application can be done in
two instances:
This first option is as soon as the
person files for residency. In this case, one doesn’t have to wait until
residency is granted. One files for residency, posts a bond with
the Uruguayan customs authority (the bond can be obtained at a bank or
insurance company in Uruguay), and the ships can then be shipped.
After the residency is obtained, the bond is cancelled.
The alternative path is to enter
the goods after residency has been granted. This is possible, but
requires extra documentation, and is not recommendable.
To proceed with the shipping of goods,
it’s key to have your shipping agent contact your Uruguayan immigration
lawyer, who will verify that the list of assets is duly stamped by the
Uruguayan consulate from the country of shipment, and that the list includes
items that are reasonably understood as being household goods.
After Residency: Citizenship
After five years of having filed
for residency (three in the case of families) one can apply for citizenship.
This is done at Uruguay’s “Electoral Court”, and the requirement is that
one have Uruguayan residency. To obtain citizenship there is no specific
time requirement, although it is recommended to have had a permanent connection
with the country (a domicile, a property, activity, etc.) and no absence
for more than six straight months, for three/five years (this is proven
with documents and witnesses). The citizenship application process
is brief.
Uruguay allows multiple citizenships,
and the key benefit of citizenship is a Uruguayan passport, which allows
for visa-free travel to all of Latin America and several European countries.
Prepared by: Juan Federico Fischer,
Attorney at Law.
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| Juan
Federico Fischer |
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Juan Federico Fischer is a partner
at LVM Abogados & Consultores (LVM), one of Uruguay’s leading law firms.
Both a lawyer and an M.B.A., he manages the firm’s foreign investment consulting
unit, advising both multinationals and individual investors in privatizations,
real estate developments and acquisition of local companies.
In his 13 years as a corporate attorney,
Juan has worked in some of Uruguay’s main privatizations (Punta del Este
Airport, 1994, Montevideo port, 1995 and 2000); in major local corporate
debt restructurings; in international debt restructurings (regional debt-equity
swap of Italy’s Parmalat, 2004), in mergers and acquisitions (AstraZeneca
spin-off of Avecia, 2000, Katoen Natie’s acquisition of the Montevideo
port, 2006, Sherwin Williams’s acquisition of Pinturas Industriales, 2007).
He has advised and is counsel to dozens of multinationals such as Computer
Associates, Bechtel Corp., UBS Warburg, Cable & Wireless, HSBC, and
Globo of Brazil, and to multilateral institutions such as the World Bank
Group.
Currently, Juan specializes in major
real estate developments, including both commercial developments such as
some of Uruguay’s main malls and transportation hubs, and residential developments
throughout the main cities on Uruguay’s coastline. Juan’s firm, LVM,
is the local advisor to First American Corp., the world’s largest title
insurer. LVM is also a leading advisor to individuals seeking to buy properties
and to obtain residency in Uruguay.
Juan graduated from Uruguay’s Catholic
University’s School of Law in 1994, and in 2002, he obtained an M.B.A.
degree from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where
he majored in strategy and finance. Juan was born in France and besides
Uruguay, has lived in Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, London, and Central
America. His international work experience includes transactions in the
United States, most of South America, Mexico, Britain, Spain, Italy, and
Romania. Juan is fluent in Spanish, English, and French.
