Hiring foreign workers in Uruguay: residency, documents and employer obligations

Hiring foreign workers in Uruguay is possible and relatively straightforward, but it requires coordinating three fronts: the employee’s immigration status, employment and social security registration, and tax treatment. This guide explains what a company needs to do it properly, which documents it is expected to provide and which obligations it takes on from the first day. For the employee’s own perspective, see requirements to work in Uruguay as a foreigner.

Main guide: how to obtain legal residency in Uruguay, covering every residency category and its requirements.

Is a work permit required to hire a foreign national?

No. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MTSS) states that Uruguayan authorities do not issue any document called a “work permit”: it is resident status that allows a foreign national to work as an employee or on a self-employed basis.

Uruguay’s Migration Law 18.250 sets the basic rules for employers:

• A permanent resident may work as an employee or self-employed, and a temporary resident may do so for the period granted for that residency.
• A non-resident (for example, someone who entered as a tourist) may not carry out work outside the activities proper to their category.
• Companies employing foreigners must comply with labour law in the same way as for national workers, and migrants are entitled to equal treatment in employment and social security.
• No employer may hire foreign nationals whose status is irregular.

Immigration routes by case

Employee’s situation	Usual route	Company’s role
National of a Mercosur or associated country	Mercosur residency (temporary or permanent)	No employment contract needed for the residency; hires with the residency-in-process certificate
Foreign national of any other origin with a fixed-term contract	Temporary residency as a worker (6 months to 2 years, renewable)	Issues the hiring letter and proves the company’s existence
Foreign national settling permanently	Permanent residency (can be requested directly if requirements are met)	Hires with the residency-in-process certificate
Spouse or close relative of a Uruguayan	Permanent residency by family tie	Hires with the residency-in-process certificate
One-off assignment of up to 180 days	Provisional identity sheet	Issues the institution’s letter with notarial certification

For nationals of Mercosur and associated countries, residency is processed before the National Migration Directorate (DNM) without the need for a contract; details are in Mercosur residency in Uruguay. For short stays, the provisional identity sheet allows the holder to work in the country for up to 180 days, renewable for another 180 under Decree 238/022.

Documents the company provides

For temporary residency based on employment, the DNM asks the employee for a letter from the employer on letterhead stating:

• the activity the employee will carry out;
• the term of employment;
• the monthly pay, which must be equal to or higher than the national minimum wage.

The letter must be accompanied by one of these two proofs:

• a notarial certificate attesting the company’s details (existence, representation, registrations), or
• the nominal employment record (historia laboral nominada) issued by the BPS.

If the company has just been incorporated or is the branch of a foreign group, it is advisable to have the notarial certificate ready before the first hire. For the preliminary steps to start operating, see setting up a foreign company in Uruguay.

The rest of the paperwork is personal to the employee: passport (and a visa, if their nationality needs one to enter), criminal record certificates from the country of origin and from any country where they lived for more than six months in the last five years, and a health card and vaccination certificate issued in Uruguay. Foreign documents generally need to be apostilled or legalized and translated by a Uruguayan public translator when they are not in Spanish.

The process step by step

1. Choose the immigration route based on nationality, contract term and whether the person intends to settle.
2. Sign the offer or employment contract and issue the letterhead letter with role, term and pay.
3. Gather the employee’s personal documents, apostilled and translated where required.
4. File the residency application online with the DNM (tramites.gub.uy), attach the documents and pay the fee. Once the application is reviewed, an in-person appointment is scheduled to present the originals.
5. Obtain the residency-in-process certificate and, with the migration certificate, apply for the Uruguayan identity card (cédula).
6. Register the employee with the BPS and the BSE and add them to payroll.
7. Track deadlines: temporary residency is renewed within the 90 days before it expires, and while the application is pending each departure from the country requires a re-entry permit.

BPS and BSE registration from day one

According to the MTSS, a company may hire a foreign employee who does not yet hold a Uruguayan cédula if the employee proves they are applying for temporary or permanent residency, through the DNM certificate (or one issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a consulate), which is valid for six months from issuance. The obligations are the same as for a national employee:

• BPS: register the employee with their cédula or, if residency is pending, with their passport or foreign ID, and keep a copy of the valid certificate. Once the cédula is issued, the record is updated with that document.
• BSE: insure the employee against workplace accidents and occupational diseases.
• Employment terms: wage council minimums, working hours, aguinaldo (13th-month pay), annual leave and holiday bonus, as for the rest of the staff.

The foreign employee contributes to the BPS and is covered by FONASA from registration. Contributions, withholdings and monthly payroll filing are covered in our guide to payroll in Uruguay.

IRPF or IRNR: how the foreign employee is taxed

The tax that applies to salary depends on tax residency, which is different from immigration residency. Among other grounds, a person is a tax resident in Uruguay if they stay more than 183 days in the calendar year in the country, or if the main core of their activities or of their economic or vital interests is located here (for example, if their spouse and minor children live here). Residency is determined as of 31 December each year.

• Tax resident: pays IRPF on employment income, and the company acts as monthly withholding agent.
• Non-resident: pays IRNR on Uruguayan-source income, including work performed in the country; the general rate for this income is 12%.

Law 20.446 (articles 190 to 192) created the Programme to Attract Qualified Talent. People who relocate to fulfil an employment contract with science and technology companies or institutions, companies linked to innovation or technological development, or companies providing global services, may elect to pay IRNR instead of IRPF on that income, and may also waive in writing their contributions to the Uruguayan social security system. The conditions must all be met:

• not having been a tax resident in the five tax years before relocating;
• effective physical presence in the country for at least two-thirds of the days of the calendar year (or of the contract period);
• earning all employment income in Uruguay, exclusively as an employee.

The election is made only once, at the start of the first employment relationship under the regime, and applies to that calendar year and the four following years. The specific terms depend on regulations issued by the Executive Branch, so each case should be reviewed before the contract is signed.

Directors and executives coming from abroad

When headquarters sends a general manager or a director to live and work in Uruguay, the immigration logic is the same: they need a residency that allows them to work. The DNM’s temporary residency covers both workers and business people, with the company letter specifying the activity and term.

Two situations should be distinguished:

• A director living abroad who takes part in the board remotely, without working in the country: for social security purposes, Decree 113/996 exempts from contributions the directors, administrators and statutory auditors of corporations (sociedades anónimas) who are based abroad, a fact proven by notarial certificate.
• An executive who relocates and works in the country: needs residency, BPS registration if employed (or the contribution regime applicable to their position) and a review of their tax residency, which is often triggered in the first year.

If the executive moves with family, residency for the spouse and children can be processed in parallel; see family residency in Uruguay.

Staff seconded by a foreign group

An international group can move staff to Uruguay in two main ways:

• Local hiring: the Uruguayan subsidiary or branch hires the employee, who joins local payroll with all the obligations described above.
• Temporary secondment while keeping the contract with the foreign company. The employee still needs immigration documents. If the foreign company has no establishment in the country, the BPS provides a specific procedure to register its employees, which must be completed within the month in which the activity begins.

Uruguay has social security agreements with several countries, including the Mercosur Multilateral Social Security Agreement and the Ibero-American Multilateral Convention, as well as bilateral agreements. Some of these agreements allow a temporarily seconded employee to keep contributing in their home country through a certificate of coverage (certificado de desplazamiento), with timeframes and forms specific to each agreement.

Regulated professions and foreign degrees

For most positions, a foreign degree is assessed like any other professional credential and requires no formal procedure. To practise a regulated profession (for example in healthcare, law or certain fields of engineering), the degree must be revalidated or recognised in Uruguay by the competent institution, and some professions also require registration to practise.

Frequently asked questions

Hiring foreign workers with GlobalTax

At GlobalTax we coordinate residency for employees and their families, the documents the company must provide, BPS registration and the tax analysis of each case, so that onboarding is compliant from day one. Learn more in our guide on how to obtain legal residency in Uruguay.