Uruguay Residence

What Is Uruguay Residence?

Uruguay's Dirección Nacional de Migración (DNM) grants several residence categories: permanente (for anyone with a genuine intent to reside in the country permanently), permanente Mercosur and permanente por vínculo uruguayo (for Mercosur nationals and people with a family tie to a Uruguayan), and temporaria (from six months to two years, renewable, for work, study or other grounds) and temporaria Mercosur (up to two years, renewable).

None of these categories is investment-based. Permanent residence turns on genuine intent to live in Uruguay together with proof of means of living, a clean criminal record, a health card and a vaccination record. Uruguay does have a separate DGI 'causales de residencia fiscal' test, with its own Unidad Indexada (UI) thresholds for real estate value or company activity — that test decides Uruguayan tax residence, not immigration residence. Separately, Ley N° 20.446 changed the optional tax regime available to people who become Uruguayan tax residents from 1 January 2026 (how their foreign-source investment income can be taxed); it did not create an immigration route.

Uruguay's Residence Categories

What Permanent Residence Requires

To obtain permanent residence, the DNM asks applicants to:

• Show a genuine intent to reside in Uruguay permanently.
• Prove means of living — for example employment or self-employment income, business income, or income from investments or a pension received from abroad, certified by a Uruguayan notary.
• Provide a certificate confirming no disqualifying criminal record.
• Hold a current health card and vaccination record.

How to Apply

1. Gather the required documents: proof of means of living, criminal-record certificates, a health card and a vaccination record.
2. Start the application online through your gub.uy account on the 'Residencia legal' service, attach the documents and pay the fee.
3. Once the Dirección Nacional de Migración accepts the online filing, book an in-person appointment at the DNM office of your choice (Montevideo or another DNM office).
4. Attend the appointment on time with your original documents and a passport photo; the residence process formally begins there.
5. Receive your residence once DNM approves the application.

DNM charges a fee for this process, set in Unidades Indexadas (UI) and published on gub.uy; Trem Global does not convert it to a currency amount here — contact us for the current fee.

Official source: Dirección Nacional de Migración (DNM) — Residencia legal

This page follows the Dirección Nacional de Migración's (DNM) 'Residencia legal' and 'Residencia legal permanente' pages (gub.uy, updated 29 July 2026 and 19 February 2026), the Dirección General Impositiva's (DGI) causales de residencia fiscal page, and Ley N° 20.446 (IMPO) — all checked on 24 September 2026. Uruguay's residence and tax-residence requirements are set by its authorities and can change.