If you are thinking about applying for Uruguayan residency then make sure to come prepared with lots of patience and an ability to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all! I started my residency "process" - if you want to call it that - back in Ireland. You first have to get a certified copy of your birth certificate from the relevant body in your country of birth. You also have to get a police certificate of good conduct saying you've been a good boy or girl. Depending on what country you're in the police may take their time running this check, especially if you have lived at multiple addresses, so don't leave it too late to ask for it!
When you have both of these documents they must be "certified" ie. stamped (they love stamps!) by the Embassy of Uruguay in your country. This "certification" cost me €121, I also had to pay for all the documents to be translated in to Spanish which cost €30 per page. (If you need a translator once here I recommend Maria Rincon - maria.rincon@gmail.com - she is lovely and speaks perfect English, she may also have other contacts such as escribanos if you need them). If there is no embassy in your country there should be a consulate office. If not you should contact the country you are closest to that has an embassy and they will direct you to the appropriate person (if you're lucky! The staff at the embassy in London we awful to me over the phone). Here is a list of all the Uruguayan Embassies worldwide.
So, here was me arriving in Uruguay with all my prepared documents thinking I was great...I was wrong! These documents must also be "legalized" here, you know what that means - MORE STAMPS! I can't remember how much each of these legalizations cost, I just remember 50 pesos here, 80 pesos there, 65 pesos for something else...it feels never ending and you lose track after a while (because keeping track may easily cause you to lose heart!). Here is some extra info about legalizing documents here in Uruguay. It is written as "American specific" but it applies to everyone looking to legalize documents here.
Once all that is done you have to prove your income. This is all fine n dandy if you fit into the little pidgeon hole they have - ie. you have a Uruguayan job in a cookie cutter Uruguayan company. If you are self-employed, work online, live on a rental income, make money from stocks, whatever it is, you have to go about proving that income. For this you must find an escribano (notary public), I highly recommend you make it your priority to find a FRIENDLY one because otherwise they can really make you jump through hoops.
The one I used was nice enough (though I wouldn't go screaming from the hilltops about him or anything). His name is Fernando Alvarez Turpia, his email is feralva2004@hotmail.com and his numbers are 00598 99 180 919 (cell) and 005982 6141652 (fixed line). He doesn't speak any English but his daughter Alejandra does and she can translate if you need that. If you email him I recommend an attempt at Spanish. However there really is no shortage of escribanos here so don't feel that you are limited, this just happened to be who I ended up using.
Everyone applying for residency must have a full health check here in Uruguay. There are a few different companies who provide this service. I had mine done at UCM and paid about 1200 pesos (about $50-$60) but you can do it for cheaper (I found this out afterwards of course!). They will weigh you, measure you, look at your teeth, take a small blood sample, and you must also have a tetanus shot if you cannot provide documentation that you have recently had one. You must also undergo a sexual health examination (I don't know if thats just for women, I assume its for everyone). If you provide recent documentation from your own doctor that you have had a sexual health exam in your home country then you may be able to avoid this. Once you have been poked and prodded to their hearts content they will give you the Carne De Salud (basically a health card which must be presented later with all your other papers).
One you have your assortment of documents (it starts to look like your life's memoirs after a while!) then you get to enjoy my FAVOURITE part - the immigration office! This office is just unbelievable. You have to take a numbered ticket, wait in line, have them stamp one piece of paper, go to the caja (a separate cash desk) to pay for anything, then take another ticket, wait in another line, then go to the desk with the computer, have them re-type all the information on the paper in to their computer, sign this, they stamp it and send you back to where you started! This process feels like groundhog day! The staff go well out of their way to avoid anything resembling work and you will find that bureaucracy and rubber stamping are very much alive and well in this building!
You must first go to Immigration (on Missiones 1513 in Ciudad Vieja) to request a date to present all your papers (in order to request this date you must of course wait in line for an hour!). You will return on this given date and time with your multi-stamped, certified and legalized police certificate, your passport and a photocopy of your passport, your health check card, your letter from the escribano regarding your income and the accompanying documentation (mine was a work contract but other items may also be used). They will cover your fingers in lovely sticky tar paint and take all your fingerprints the old fashioned Sherlock Holmes way...they then give you pathetic made-in-china wetwipes to try and remove it, basically you'll be smudging the stuff everywhere for a whole day after! Oh, and of course you have to pay for this, 872 pesos when I did it.
Once you go through all of this you have to go to the OTHER office to request ANOTHER date upon which you can return to have your picture taken. Oh yes, they like to make sure everyone is employed by the state here in Uruguay, and each employee is armed with their own rubber stamp! So I went to the other office on Rincón, presented my multi-stamped birth certificate (which I had to get stamped and signed one more time upstairs in this building before I was allowed to present it- I kid you not!). Then I paid again, just for requesting a date!
I returned a week later, stood in line once more, got my picture taken, and although Uruguayans are allowed collect their card that same day, I was told to return 3 days later to collect mine....but alas, I had the card!
The final stage? (oh, thats right, its not over!) This cedula is "en tramite", in order to get my proper one that lasts 3 years I had to take my birth certificate to the "Registro de Estado Civil" on Uruguay 933 in Ciudad Vieja to have it filed and be given a Uruguayan birth certificate (if you're married you must also do this with your marriage certificate). When I went to do this the woman started yelling incoherently at me, saying I was missing some vital part and I had to go to the Ministry of Exterior Affairs...I went there, waited, took a number etc etc, and they couldn't decide what it was that wasn't quite right about my birth cert. In the end they seemed to decide that they wanted the individual who signed and authorised my birth certificate on the day I was born to sign the legalisation they had done (I kid you not!).
That was the point where I gave up. I was still riding on a relative high after getting my temporary cedula, I knew I had to sort my birth certificate before I could get my permanent one a year later, but I just didn't have the energy for anymore...maybe SOME day I'll get around to finishing the job.
I write this post NOT to put anyone off coming to Uruguay - usually the people who find themselves in this little hidden gem of a country do so for a pretty specific reason - however if you are toying with the idea of getting residency "just for fun", DON'T! It is not a process to be entered in to lightly as you may just lose your sanity somewhere along the way! Have a good reason for wanting it.
Here is a discussion thread I found of 2 expats who also applied for the residency here in Uruguay. You'll also find plenty more information about the residency proces in the free ebook at Total Uruguay.
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Hey
ReplyDeleteBeing Irish and living in Montevideo I was interested in reading about your experiences trying to attain a residency visa. For the last five months I´ve had no problem working on an extended tourist visa but was half-thinking about applying for residency. Had already heard on the grapevine about the usual Latin American red tape involved but your account nailed the coffin shut on that idea. Will just extend the tourist visa until I jump or they push me out of the boat.
Well-informed blog, by the way.
Suerte
Phil
Hey Phil,
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed an "experiment"...a test of both my patience and sanity! But it was surprisingly gratifying in the end to get my cedula.
Apart from the pure satisfaction of having it, it was also necessary. Yes you can just pop out of the country every 3 months and that works fine, but when you're working you can't just pick up and leave on mini-breaks whenever you feel like it. Also if you plan to work here and live as Uruguayans live then the Uruguayan wage just doesn't allow for holidays in Brazil or Argentina every 3 months.
Having the cedula (when it is complete) allows you to travel freely in Mercosur without paying for any visas. It is also useful for life in Uruguay (you get discounts on certain things if you have a cedula) and it is necessary as a form of ID for a lot of things.
I haven't heard of ANY other Irish people living down here, in fact on Paddy's Day I was the only real Irish person at their very big party on Bartolome Mitre! What are you up to down here? Feel free to get in touch: elaine.herbert@gmail.com
I have been here off-and-on for 17 years (expat from USA). I have been in the immigration office on Missiones many times (was there this week and they have re-organized the process to be much more humane). I have continued to be here only with my 90-day visas.
ReplyDeleteNote: You can renew your visa one time for an additional 90 days. It now costs 360 pesos (about 15-16 dollars) for this renewal.
Also: If your 2nd visa expires, you cannot renew again. The only difficulty with this is that you have to go back to the Immigration office within a week of your exit and show them your travel ticket, so they can process an Exit Card for you. This costs you about 25-30 dollars.
Being a Uruguayan myself and having always lived here, I half laugh half frown at how annoying procedures can be in my country.
ReplyDeleteAs a Public Translator I have witnessed how some of my clients have deeply suffered from the total or semi-total ignorance of state officials when submitting documents issued abroad.
I'm sorry about such inconveniences. I do hope, however, that foreign settlers will have time (and energy left) to enjoy some of the good things this country has to offer (there are some, don't despair!)
Buena suerte!
thats uruguay for you friends, but its very surprising things for Uruguay as old as they are, well, i dont blame them, they dont even travel out of the country, so how will they know how to treat foreigners or handle things to satisfaction of foreigners. i know what i went through even after confirmation of all my birth and police certificate. its a good experience..
ReplyDeleteI just finished the process of immigration and got the residency certificate. Yes, is long and byzantine, but I have to say that all people I got involved with has been helpful, as much as their procedures allowed them. You are right: patience is the main thing, but the rest of your advice is fundamental: a friendly escribano, have all your documents duly stamped before you leave your country, and again, patience.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing regarding income: if you don't fall into any of the "easy" categories it is useful to establish yourself as an individual company (as soon as you get the temporary cedula): then when you are asked for clarification about your income any escribano or accountant can produce a legal document stating your average monthly income and usually that's the end of it.
You recommend establishing yourself as an individual company (they call that "unipersonal"), this seems to be what they are pushing on the majority of foreigners who are applying for residency these days because they don't know how else to deal with all these "online workers". The only thing about this is I believe it can turn out to be a rather expensive thing to set up, and then you are also required to pay Uruguayan income tax. Did you get around either of those things?
ReplyDeleteReally, it's not really expensive. With this form of company you pay a fixed tax a month, this year is 1840 pesos end you pay also roughly another 2000 for retirement and medical insurance: that is less than 200 dollars a month for the period you need it. There is a maximum of money you can invoice each year, that is around 580,000 pesos (~2,500 dollars) per month, which is more than what you are required to get the residency. Once you get it just close the company and that's it. Of course, as you are invoicing abroad, you can invoice whomever you want. The cost of setting it up is negligible.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing: the accountant (or escribano) who makes the certificate has to state ONLY the required facts and nothing else: name and kind of company, when the company was started and and average monthly income (don't specify length of time, expiry of the company or anything else otherwise you have to do it all over again.
I did it and worked pretty well.
I was interested to read this blog as I'm smack in the middle of the process myself having recently arrived. I'm in Salto at the moment and was told at the police station as I am married to Uruguayan there is a "fast-track" to the cedula. I'll report back when I am completed. Indeed the date stamp will dictate the validity of the fast track. BTW - before heading to the Uruguayan Embassy in London with my papers, we had to first have these legalised by the UK Foreign Office in Milton Keynes.
ReplyDeleteBoy, aren't you all fortunate to be supplied with money, business acumen, or wives to get you through the residency process. Almost as painful and invasive as applying "to live" in the first world, it seems.
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting me off the idea of permanently relocating to Uruguay. I shall now go sulk in my little corner of the great existential coffin that is American citizenship.
The facts are that after a lot of expense, travelling back and forth to various departments I presented my details ready to begin the process to obtain the Cedula. I too have been told there is a problem with the documentation issued from the Civil Registry in Montevideo. Our marriage certificate does not include my wife's birthplace. We have been advised to have another issued. Trying not to be cynical, but there's a fat chance of that happening. Just can't see that occuring and I am gritting my teeth for the next suggestion which will know doubt be for me to return to the UK, go the register, get another issued with my wife's birthplace included, have it legalised by the FO office there, have it legalised by the Uruguayan embassy there, return to Montevideo and have translated back into Spanish, then process it again through the Civil Registy, once that is done present it back to the authorities. Hope it won't come to that, but we'll see.
ReplyDeleteFor us, still not quite finished yet. In April I will have to return to Salto (in theory) to pick up a bit of paper (it can't be issued in MVD as Salto is where the original application was filed), which (in theory) allows me get my 'temp' cedula for one year. Then the process begins all over again.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the kids, on ...Thursday we are crossing the border to 'reset' their passports as tourists so that we do not pick up any fines for overstaying.
Despite, as requested by the authorities, the required documentation at the embassy in London is different from the required documentation here, so at their error and our expense we are having to translate and gain approval for further docs in order to process the kids cedulas - again lasting just one year. The issue sited is that UK birth certificates do not verify the mother's name and birthplace. This is a requirement to proceed, so watchout if you have British kids with a Uruguayan mother. They don't tell you this at the Uruguayan embassy (only that you need a birth certificate), which they then go ahead and legalise.
AND finally if we get the cedulas children under 5 require a renewal every year. that will be fun. So the process begins all over again. Groundhog day!!
I was wondering what all was involved with the women's sexual health exam. I had heard a mammogram...is that true?
ReplyDeleteAnd what are they looking for with the teeth? Just wondering, as mine are not the best in the world.
August 2011...it isn't any easier (or less bureaucratic). That said, I haven't had to do the full medical exam (though I did end up in hospital after twisting my ankle).
ReplyDeleteI am in second marriage. do i have to legalize my first marriage certificate and court divorce order?
ReplyDeletethanks
Yoy have the complete official guide to all tramitations in Uruguay (spanish) at
ReplyDeletetramites.gub.uy
Hope this helps!!!
WE are going on 2 years of waiting and trying to work thru this maze, even with attorneys! It is NOT simple and easy as so many internet sites and atty offices say (mine included). I dont know if we will ever make it thru! If Uy is for learning a virtue, it would be patience...or perseverance....altho I am still not certain even with the 1st we will attain the 2nd!
ReplyDeleteHola a todos. I was born and raised in Uruguay. I know what you mean about the paperwork but it's something we inherited from the
ReplyDeleteItalians and Spaniards. The system is actually more efficient than it used to be. LOL Whenever you go through a citizenship application, you have to expect a lot of red tape.I had to deal with it in the US and had to wait for several years before getting the citizenship, even though my father was born here. That's another long story. Yes, in Uruguay we like stamping...LOL but take you're in a different country, different customs, different everything... Enjoy the uniqueness of it all. It's a beautiful country and at one time it used to be called the little Switzerland of South America; it's not what it used to be in some respects but we keep a lot of our old traditions. Enjoy it and try to look beyond the piles of paper and red tape. ;-) I am a blogger too and you can find me under http://writingwithinmyheart.blogspot.com/
Virginia
The issue is not just with permanent citizenship. Even if we are here with temporary work and we will be going back in two years also we need to undergo many process. especially when you are with kids. Just with re-nrty pass and cedulla with en tranmiste state, we can not take kids out of contry.
ReplyDelete