Countries › Uruguay › Guide › 8. Immigration › Uruguayan citizenship for foreign residents and descendants: legal citizenship after three or five years, natural citizenship for children and grandchildren of Uruguayans, and the Corte Electoral procedure

Uruguayan citizenship for foreign residents and descendants: legal citizenship after three or five years, natural citizenship for children and grandchildren of Uruguayans, and the Corte Electoral procedure

Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Foreign residents of good conduct who have capital or property in Uruguay or practise a science, art or trade can obtain legal citizenship after three years of habitual residence if they have a family in Uruguay, or five years without one; the application to the Corte Electoral is free, needs proof of residence, means of living and witnesses, and requires understanding Spanish. Citizenship rights such as voting can be exercised only three years after the citizenship letter is issued, absences of more than six months in a row restart the residence count, and legal citizenship is lost by a later naturalization elsewhere. Children of Uruguayans born abroad and, under Ley 16.021 as reworded in 2015, grandchildren of Uruguayans born in Uruguay are natural citizens by settling in Uruguay and registering in the Civic Register, proving at least two acts of settlement such as more than three months of presence, renting or buying a home, or opening a business.

USD figures use UYU 40.210 per US dollar (BCU, DLS. USA BILLETE, 27 October 2026) and UI amounts use UYU 6.6792 per Unidad Indexada (BCU, 27 October 2026), both from the BCU quotations service; UR amounts use UYU 1,940.77 (IMPO value table, September 2026, latest published). Conversions are for orientation only; DNM fees are set in UI and move with the index.

Key facts

Residence years for legal citizenship with family in Uruguay	3 yearsConstitución art. 75 A, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Residence years for legal citizenship without family in Uruguay	5 yearsConstitución art. 75 B, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Wait after the citizenship letter before exercising citizenship rights	3 yearsConstitución art. 75, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Continuous absence that restarts the residence count	6 monthsCorte Electoral procedure sheet, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Legal citizenship letter fee	0 UYUCorte Electoral procedure sheet, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Natural citizenship by descent reaches	Children and grandchildren of Uruguayans textLey Nº 16.021 art. 3 (Ley Nº 19.362), as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Settlement acts to prove for registration by descent	2 countLey Nº 16.021 art. 5 (Ley Nº 19.362), as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Uruguayan citizens are natural or legal. Natural citizens are all people born in Uruguay and the children of an Uruguayan father or mother born anywhere, by settling in the country and registering in the Civic Register.Constitution of the Republic, Art. 73 and 74, 1967-02-02 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Legal citizenship is available to: (A) foreigners of good conduct with a family established in Uruguay who have capital in business or property in the country, or practise a science, art or industry, after three years of habitual residence; (B) the same without a family in Uruguay after five years; and (C) those granted special grace by the General Assembly for notable services or merits. Residence must be proved by public or private documents of verified date. Holders under A and B may exercise citizenship rights only three years after the citizenship letter is granted, and any ground for suspension of citizenship under art. 80 bars the letter.
Cost to do it: The Corte Electoral states the citizenship letter procedure has no cost; notarial verification of private documents and apostilles are extra.
Example: A Venezuelan engineer married in Montevideo, resident since March 2023 and employed with BPS history, can apply in March 2026; a single applicant would wait until five years of habitual residence. / No government fee; budget notarial certifications for private employer or medical records.Constitution of the Republic, Art. 75, 1967-02-02 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. The Corte Electoral requires: proof of nationality (birth or marriage certificate, child's Uruguayan birth record, or passport, apostilled where foreign); proof of age (18, or turning 18 by the next departmental election); a DNM certificate of residence and migration movements, with habitual residence and no absence over six months in a row (a longer absence restarts the 3 or 5 year count); proof of means of living for the whole 3 or 5 years (BPS activity and work history certificates, pension certificates, single person firm records, professional fund certificates, or a home title only if it produces rental income; spouses supported by the applicant can rely on the applicant's means); and witnesses over 25 who are not relatives, employees, employers, military, active police or electoral staff and who have known the applicant for the required period. Applicants whose language is not Spanish must understand and express themselves in Spanish. The Corte Electoral obtains police records directly. In Montevideo the procedure is in person at the Legal Citizenship section with web appointments released on business Mondays.Corte Electoral procedure sheet Carta de ciudadanía (ciudadanía legal uruguaya), Requirements and other data, 2026-05-27 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Nationality is not lost by naturalizing elsewhere, and a natural citizen recovers citizenship rights by settling in Uruguay and registering in the Civic Register. Legal citizenship, however, is lost by any later naturalization.Constitution of the Republic, Art. 81, 1967-02-02 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. Children born abroad of the people who are nationals under Ley 16.021 art. 2 (children of Uruguayans born in Uruguay, wherever born) are natural citizens; this covers grandchildren of Uruguayans. Settlement (avecinamiento) under Constitution art. 74 means acts showing an unequivocal will to settle, such as staying more than three months, renting, promising to buy or buying a home to live in, setting up a business or industry, taking a public or private job, or enrolling and attending an educational centre for at least two months; the Corte Electoral registers the person once at least two are proved.
Cost to do it: The Corte Electoral settlement certificate has no cost (sheet updated 6 August 2026).Ley Nº 16.021, art. 3 and 5 as worded by Ley Nº 19.362 and art. 4 as worded by Ley Nº 18.858, Art. 2, 3, 4 and 5, 2015-12-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Ley Nº 19.362 of 31 December 2015 (published 12 January 2016) gave art. 3 its current wording (children born abroad of the persons in art. 2 are natural citizens) and art. 5 its current wording (registration once at least two settlement acts are proved).

6. The Corte Electoral settlement certificate is issued to children of a Uruguayan parent, grandchildren of a Uruguayan grandparent and people adopted by a Uruguayan, aged 18 or turning 18 by the next departmental and municipal election (second Sunday of May 2030), on proof of identity, the birth records linking them to the Uruguayan ancestor and documents issued within the three months before filing that prove at least two settlement acts. It is valid for the registration period in which it is issued.Corte Electoral procedure sheet Certificado de Avecinamiento, Requirements and other data, 2026-08-06 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Route	Who	Time	Key proof	Norm
Legal citizenship, with family	Resident foreigners with capital, property or a trade and a family in Uruguay	3 years habitual residence	DNM residence and movements certificate, means of living, witnesses	Constitution art. 75 A
Legal citizenship, without family	Same, no family in Uruguay	5 years habitual residence	Same	Constitution art. 75 B
Special grace	Notable services or merits	General Assembly decision	n/a	Constitution art. 75 C
Natural citizenship by descent	Children of Uruguayans; grandchildren of Uruguayans born in Uruguay	On settling and registering	Two settlement acts, birth records	Constitution art. 74; Ley 16.021 art. 3 to 5

Routes to Uruguayan citizenship

Worked example

A Spanish investor who moved to Montevideo in July 2022 with spouse and children, runs a company and has BPS history can file for legal citizenship from July 2025 with the DNM residence and movements certificate, BPS certificates and two qualifying witnesses. A 7 month stay in Madrid in 2024 would restart the three year count. The procedure is free; voting rights start three years after the letter. If later naturalized in a third country, the investor would lose Uruguayan legal citizenship (Constitution art. 81).
An Argentine whose grandmother was born in Uruguay can rent a flat in Montevideo and stay over three months, obtain a free settlement certificate from the Corte Electoral and register in the Civic Register as a natural citizen. For Argentine side consequences see The Argentine Thread guide.

Step by step

1. Keep a continuous residence record: avoid absences over six months in a row and request the DNM residence and migration movements certificate.
2. Build means of living evidence covering the full 3 or 5 years (BPS work history, pension or company records).
3. Identify two witnesses over 25 who are not relatives, employees, employers or officials and have known you for the full period.
4. Book a Corte Electoral appointment (Montevideo slots open on business Mondays around 10:00) or go to the departmental electoral office.
5. Attend the witness hearing on the date fixed; after the letter is granted, wait three years to obtain the civic credential and vote.
6. Descendants: gather the ancestor's Uruguayan birth record and your own apostilled records, prove two settlement acts and request the free settlement certificate.

Common traps

Residence for citizenship is counted from habitual residence proved with dated documents, and the Corte Electoral restarts the count after an absence over six months in a row.
A home title proves means of living only if it produces rental income.
Witnesses who are relatives, employers or employees are not accepted.
Legal citizens lose that status by a later naturalization elsewhere; natural citizens do not lose nationality (Constitution art. 81).
Citizenship rights such as voting and holding office cannot be exercised until three years after the letter (Constitution art. 75).

Sources

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