The first weeks in Uruguay: first the residence application, then the identity card, then the rest
You enter Uruguay as a visitor, with 90 days you can extend once. In that time you start your residence application online, get the medical check and the vaccination certificate, and have your birth certificate registered. Then comes the identity card, and with that card the bank, healthcare, the driving licence and school. Your household goods may arrive up to six months after you.
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The first weeks in Uruguay revolve around one order: first the residence application, then the identity card, then the rest. You enter as a visitor, with 90 days that you can have extended once by 90 days. In that time you start your application for the residencia at the Dirección Nacional de Migración. If an application for the residencia permanente is running, you can already get your identity card from the DNIC, and with that card you arrange the bank, healthcare, the driving licence and school.
| What | Period | More |
|---|---|---|
| Declaring cash | on arrival, above 10,000 dollars | bank and payments |
| Pet as cargo | notify the MGAP 72 working hours before arrival | pets to Uruguay |
| Stay as a visitor | 90 days, extendable once by 90 | the residence routes |
| Medical check and vaccination certificate | in Uruguay, for the residence application | healthcare in Uruguay |
| Registering your birth certificate | for the identity card, 1,436 pesos | registration and numbers |
| Identity card | 456 pesos, collect from 5 working days | registration and numbers |
| Household goods | between 3 months before and 6 months after your arrival | household goods to Uruguay |
| Tax resident of Uruguay | after more than 183 days in a calendar year | AOW, pension and tax |
| Voluntary AOW insurance | within one year of no longer being insured | SVB |
What do you do on arrival?
With a Dutch passport you need no visa. If you bring more than 10,000 dollars in cash, or the equivalent, you declare it at customs; otherwise you risk a fine of 30 % of the excess. If your dog or cat comes as cargo, the arrival must be notified to the MGAP 72 working hours in advance. If your animal travels with you, no prior permission is needed.
What do you arrange in the first weeks?
The medical check and the vaccination certificate. The migration service wants a carné de salud from a recognised care provider and proof that you follow the Uruguayan vaccination schedule, issued in Uruguay. At ASSE the check is free for members and otherwise costs 0.4 UR.
The residence application. Online on gub.uy, with your documents from the Netherlands: criminal record certificate with apostille and translation, and proof of your income. If the migration service approves your online application, you make an appointment at the counter. Be on time: anyone more than ten minutes late loses the fee.
The birth certificate. For the identity card with a permanent application, you have your Dutch birth certificate registered at the Registro de Estado Civil in Montevideo. The Registro keeps the original.
If you leave the country during your residence application, you pay a permiso de reingreso of 225.60 UI each time. A short visit to the Netherlands in your first months therefore costs money and paperwork. Plan it for after the permit is granted, if you can.
And once the application is running?
The identity card. With the certificate from the migration service and the registered certificate, you apply at the DNIC for the Documento Nacional de Identidad, for 456 pesos. From age ten you collect the card from five working days later.
Your address. At the police station of your area you get a free constancia de domicilio, within a day. It helps at the bank while you do not yet have a bill in your name.
The bank. The state bank BROU asks for two documents with a photo, proof of address and proof of income.
Healthcare. If you do not work, you join ASSE or a private mutualista. If you do work, your employer registers you for FONASA.
Which other clocks are running?
Household goods. Your shipment must come in between three months before and six months after your arrival. For release you need proof of your residence application, and as long as you are not permanent, a guarantee worth the value of your goods.
Tax. After more than 183 days in Uruguay in a calendar year you are a tax resident. If you become one from 2026, and were not one in the two years before, you can opt once for the scheme for newcomers.
The driving licence. You have your Dutch licence converted at the Intendencia once you have a Uruguayan identity card; see car and driving licence.
School. For secondary school you enrol from December to February, after a recognition that takes 15 working days; see school in Uruguay.
AOW accrual. If you have not reached AOW age, you have one year from no longer being insured to insure yourself voluntarily with the SVB; see AOW on emigration.
What you arrange yourself for renting or buying is in renting in Uruguay and buying a house in Uruguay. Working after arrival is covered in working in Uruguay. The order of all these steps, with the deadlines monitored, is in the route to Uruguay.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.7: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Uruguay or go straight to step 2.7 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Decreto 394/009, article 13 — visitors 90 days, extendable by 90 (IMPO) — impo.com.uy
- Dirección Nacional de Migración — the residencia permanente, the medical check, the vaccination certificate and the permiso de reingreso — gub.uy
- DNIC — the Documento Nacional de Identidad for foreigners, 456 pesos — gub.uy
- Registro de Estado Civil — registering foreign certificates, 1,436 pesos — gub.uy
- Dirección Nacional de Aduanas — household goods of a foreigner settling, between three months before and six months after arrival — aduanas.gub.uy
- Ley 19.574, article 29 — declaring cash above 10,000 dollars at the border (IMPO) — impo.com.uy
- MGAP — notifying a pet travelling as cargo 72 working hours in advance — gub.uy
- DGI — tax resident after more than 183 days in a calendar year — gub.uy
- SVB — voluntary AOW insurance, to be applied for within a year — svb.nl
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