Mercosur Residency in Uruguay
This replaces the general rule for you
Mercosur Temporary Residency - Every Full Member, Venezuela Included
Uruguay's migration directorate publishes the nationalities this route reaches and every full member of Mercosur is among them, Venezuela included, despite its bloc membership being suspended. Argentina's directorate names Venezuela too, which settles a question this site previously left open. There is no income requirement; Uruguay asks for identity, a clean record and health instead, including a vaccination certificate that has to be issued inside Uruguay. Two conditions matter for planning. A naturalised citizen qualifies only once the naturalisation is five years old. And the deadlines run backwards from expiry: renewal in the 90 days before the permit runs out, conversion to permanent residence in the same 90 days under the agreement, and no treaty footing at all for anyone who lets it lapse.
By default this route does not exist for a given applicant: it is open only to nationals of Mercosur member and associated states, as listed by Uruguay's own migration directorate. See the origin-specific entry below for what applies if you qualify.
What applies to you
Mercosur Temporary Residency - Every Full Member, Venezuela Included
Uruguay's migration directorate publishes the nationalities this route reaches and every full member of Mercosur is among them, Venezuela included, despite its bloc membership being suspended. Argentina's directorate names Venezuela too, which settles a question this site previously left open. There is no income requirement; Uruguay asks for identity, a clean record and health instead, including a vaccination certificate that has to be issued inside Uruguay. Two conditions matter for planning. A naturalised citizen qualifies only once the naturalisation is five years old. And the deadlines run backwards from expiry: renewal in the 90 days before the permit runs out, conversion to permanent residence in the same 90 days under the agreement, and no treaty footing at all for anyone who lets it lapse.
- Nationality of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay or Venezuela - the full members Uruguay's migration directorate names
- A naturalisation certificate is accepted in place of a birth certificate only if the naturalisation is five years old or more
- Passport photo and a valid identity document
- Criminal record certificate from every country you lived in over the last five years for more than six months
- A valid vaccination certificate issued by a vaccination centre in Uruguay, confirming you meet the Uruguayan schedule (Decreto 136/2018)
- A valid carne de salud laboral, issued by a health provider authorised by the Ministry of Public Health
- Foreign documents apostilled or legalised and translated by a Uruguayan public translator, except documents issued by Brazil
- Electronically issued documents that can be verified need neither apostille nor legalisation
- If you do not speak Spanish you must bring an interpreter to the appointment
- administersResidencia Legal - Temporaria Mercosur
Dirección Nacional de Migración, Ministerio del Interior (Uruguay)
About this source
Uruguay's migration directorate, within the interior ministry. Publishes the requirement list for each residency category on gub.uy, including the Mercosur routes and the means-of-support categories.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Like its Argentine counterpart this is the administering agency's own description rather than the law. Uruguay's statute deliberately leaves periods and procedures to regulation, so these pages can change without Ley 18.250 moving at all. The pages do carry their own última actualización date, which is more than most agencies offer.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source