Uruguay Family Residency: Spouses, Partners and Children

Moving to Uruguay is rarely an individual decision. This guide explains how spouses, children and other relatives get residency in Uruguay, depending on whether the link is with a Uruguayan or with a foreign resident, which documents are required and which shortcuts exist. For the general process, see legal residency in Uruguay.

The right to family reunification in Uruguay

Article 10 of Migration Law 18.250 guarantees migrants’ right to family reunification with parents, spouses, partners and unmarried minor children, or adult children with disabilities. Article 34 also lets the spouse, minor children and parents of a temporary resident join them in the same category.

If your relative is Uruguayan: family-link permanent residency

Spouses, partners, children, parents and siblings of Uruguayans can apply for permanent residency through the family link:

• No proof of income: proving the relationship is enough.
• Proof: birth or marriage certificate issued within the last year, or a registered cohabitation ruling.
• Other requirements: valid ID, criminal records, health card and vaccinations.
• Fee: 557.30 UI (Brazilian and Paraguayan nationals are exempt).
• Extra protection: parents, spouses and partners of Uruguayans do not lose residency through long absences (Article 48).

For citizenship, see Uruguay citizenship by marriage. If your parent or grandparent is Uruguayan, you may not need residency at all: see Uruguay citizenship by descent.

If your relative is a foreign resident

When the main applicant is a foreigner, each family member applies for their own residency, usually under the same route:

• General route (permanent): the main applicant’s notarial income certificate can show support for the household; ask the notary to state it explicitly.
• Mercosur: family members with a Mercosur nationality each apply for Mercosur residency with no income proof.
• Temporary residency: the spouse, minor children and parents of a temporary worker can join in the same category.

File all applications together so they move forward in parallel.

Spouse or unmarried partner

	Spouse	Unmarried partner
Proof	Marriage certificate issued within the last year, apostilled and translated if foreign	Cohabitation ruling registered in Uruguay (Law 18.246)
Prerequisite	Marriage in Uruguay or abroad	Five years of uninterrupted cohabitation, proven before a Uruguayan judge

If you are an unmarried couple who don’t yet meet the cohabitation requirements, each partner applies separately. Sometimes the quickest route is to marry before applying.

Minor children

• Birth certificate, apostilled and translated, submitted before the appointment.
• Consent from both parents, or a notarized power of attorney (valid 180 days if granted abroad) when one parent isn’t present.
• School enrolment certificate from age 4.
• No criminal record certificate.
• On the general route, the parents’ means of support.

Each child then gets a Uruguayan ID card, mandatory from 45 days old.

Children born in Uruguay

A child born in Uruguay is a natural Uruguayan citizen, whatever the parents’ nationality. That allows the foreign parents to apply for family-link permanent residency as parents of a Uruguayan, with no income requirement.

FAQ

Moving as a family?

At GlobalTax we coordinate residency for the whole family in parallel, with certificates, apostilles and minors’ consents in order from the start, in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Contact us.