Countries › Uruguay › Guide › 3. Investing › Restricted activities and sector limits for foreign investors in Uruguay: no screening, rural land companies, audiovisual licences and domestic air services

Restricted activities and sector limits for foreign investors in Uruguay: no screening, rural land companies, audiovisual licences and domestic air services

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

Uruguay has no foreign investment screening: investors are admitted without authorization or registration and treated as nationals. The limits that do exist are sector specific: companies that own rural land or farm operations must have registered shares held by individuals unless the Executive authorizes otherwise; radio and television licensees must be Uruguayan companies with no foreign capital links, with a 51 percent route for subscription TV and Executive approval for any change of ownership; and domestic air services are reserved to national companies save reciprocity. Large deals also need merger clearance, which applies equally to local and foreign buyers.

USD figures use UYU 40.210 per US dollar, the Banco Central del Uruguay quotation for DLS. USA BILLETE on 27 October 2026, and the Unidad Indexada (UI) at UYU 6.6792 for 27 October 2026, both retrieved from the BCU quotations service on the verification date. Amounts the law sets in UI or pesos are quoted as written; conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

General foreign investment screening or approval	None Ley Nº 16.906 art. 3, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Foreign investors treated as nationals	Yes Ley Nº 16.906 art. 2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Companies owning rural land: shares must be registered and held by individuals unless authorized	Yes Ley Nº 18.092 art. 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Audiovisual licensee may have links with foreign capital entities	No Ley Nº 20.383 art. 13, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Subscription audiovisual services: share of capital and votes that must meet citizenship and local capital tests	51 %Ley Nº 20.383 art. 13, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Change of ownership of a licensee needs prior Executive approval	Yes Ley Nº 20.383 art. 21, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Original audiovisual licence: no transfer in the first years	5 yearsLey Nº 20.383 art. 21, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Voting capital stake counted as partial ownership of a licence	10 %Ley Nº 20.383 art. 16, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Domestic air services by foreign airlines	Only by authorization on reciprocity Código Aeronáutico art. 113, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
BCU quotation, DLS. USA BILLETE	40.21 UYU per USDBanco Central del Uruguay quotation, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Unidad Indexada (UI) value	6.6792 UYUBanco Central del Uruguay quotation, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Promotion and protection of investment by nationals and foreigners is of national interest; foreign investors get the same admission and treatment as nationals and investments are admitted without prior authorization or registration. There is no national security or foreign investment review body.
Cost to do it: No screening filing or fee: UYU 0 (US$0).Ley Nº 16.906 (Investment Promotion and Protection Law), Art. 1, art. 2 and art. 3, 1998-01-07 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. Rural land and farm operations must be owned by individuals or by entities whose capital is fully represented by registered quotas or shares held by individuals. Sociedades anónimas and partnerships limited by shares may own rural land only if all their shares are registered shares of individuals. The Executive may authorize other companies, branches of nonresident entities, trusts and investment funds when the number of holders or the nature of the business prevents individual ownership; the authorization lists the specific properties and must be sought again when holdings grow or a property is replaced. Land used for non farming activities is excluded.Ley Nº 18.092, art. 1 as worded by Ley Nº 18.172 art. 349, Art. 1, 2007-08-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. Companies with bearer shares that held rural land had two years from the 2007 law to convert all their capital into registered shares, failing which they were dissolved by operation of law. Liens and other real rights over the registered, book entry and endorsable shares of companies covered by the rule (except pledge with transfer of possession) must be registered in the Registro Nacional de Comercio, in addition to the company's share register.Ley Nº 18.092, art. 2 and art. 3 as worded by Ley Nº 18.172 art. 349, Art. 2 and art. 3, 2007-08-31 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. Radio and television broadcasting and subscription audiovisual services need a licence granted by the Executive. Individual licensees must be natural or legal citizens or have at least five years of Uruguayan residence, and be domiciled in Uruguay. Corporate licensees must be incorporated in Uruguay, have registered or book entry shares traceable to the ultimate individual, have no corporate link with or subjection to entities of foreign capital, and not be subsidiaries of foreign companies; each partner must meet the citizenship or residence and domicile tests. For subscription services held by a share company, these tests may be met by shareholders holding at least 51 percent of the capital and votes, provided control is not ceded.Ley Nº 20.383 (audiovisual content services), replacing Ley Nº 19.307, Art. 2, art. 11, art. 13 and art. 14, 2024-10-16 official text · verified 2026-10-27 · changed: Ley Nº 20.383 of 16 October 2024 (published 21 October 2024) repealed and replaced Ley Nº 19.307 of 2014 (art. 94).

5. One person or economic group may hold, in whole or in part, at most five radio licences in the metropolitan area and six in the rest of the country (six in total if in both) and one open television licence; cable subscription television is capped at eight licences. Holding more than 10 percent of the voting capital of a licensee counts as partial ownership. Before a deal that might breach the caps, parties may consult the URSEC, which reports within 60 days; if a merger, inheritance or similar event later causes a breach, the holder has 24 months to comply.Ley Nº 20.383, Art. 16, art. 18 and art. 19, 2024-10-16 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Any deal that directly or indirectly changes the ownership of a licence, or transfers equity in a licensee, needs prior Executive authorization on a report of the URSEC. The URSEC has 60 calendar days to report (silence means no objection) and the Executive 90 days to decide; after a favourable or tacit decision the parties have four months to sign and notify the final deal or the authorization lapses. Original licences cannot be transferred in their first five years. Deals may be signed under the condition of authorization; a transfer without it is absolutely void.Ley Nº 20.383, Art. 21, 2024-10-16 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. Domestic air services are carried out exclusively by national companies; the aeronautical authority may authorize foreign companies on a reciprocity basis. Unless the State operates them, regular domestic passenger, mail and cargo services are run under concessions and non regular ones under authorization. Every commercial air activity, even a ticket sales agency, needs a concession or authorization. Aircraft owners must be domiciled in Uruguay to register an aircraft.Código Aeronáutico (Decreto Ley Nº 14.305), art. 113 as worded by Ley Nº 18.058; art. 32 as worded by Decreto Ley Nº 14.653, Art. 32, art. 106 and art. 113, 2006-11-20 official text · verified 2026-10-27

8. Concentrations reaching UI 500,000,000 of combined Uruguayan turnover and UI 30,000,000 for at least two parties need prior clearance from the competition commission. The rule applies to all buyers alike; the acquisition of a single Uruguayan company by a single foreign company with no prior Uruguayan assets or shares is exempt.
Cost to do it: Thresholds: UI 500,000,000 (UYU 3,339,600,000, about US$83,053,967) and UI 30,000,000 (UYU 200,376,000, about US$4,983,238).Ley Nº 18.159, art. 7 (Ley Nº 20.212 art. 192) and art. 8 (Ley Nº 19.833 art. 5), Art. 7 and art. 8, 2023-11-06 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Activity	Limit	Approval route	Source
Any sector (general)	None; national treatment	No filing	Ley Nº 16.906 art. 2 and 3
Rural land and farm operations held by companies	Registered shares owned by individuals	Executive authorization listing each property	Ley Nº 18.092 art. 1
Radio and open television	Uruguayan company, no foreign capital links, partners citizens or 5 year residents	Licence plus Executive approval of ownership changes	Ley Nº 20.383 art. 11, 13 and 21
Subscription audiovisual services	Tests met by holders of at least 51 percent of capital and votes	Licence plus Executive approval of ownership changes	Ley Nº 20.383 art. 13 and 21
Domestic air services	National companies	Foreign airlines only on reciprocity	Código Aeronáutico art. 113
Large acquisitions (all buyers)	Competition test	Clearance above UI 500 million combined and UI 30 million each	Ley Nº 18.159 art. 7

Where Uruguay limits foreign or corporate ownership (primary law)

Worked example

A foreign agribusiness fund wants to buy 5,000 hectares of farmland through a Uruguayan S.A. owned by its foreign holding company. Because the S.A.'s shares would not be held by individuals, it must obtain an Executive authorization naming each property before acquiring, and must apply again before adding land (Ley Nº 18.092 art. 1). A foreign tech company buying a software firm faces no ownership limit at all (Ley Nº 16.906 art. 2 and 3) and only checks the merger thresholds (Ley Nº 18.159 art. 7).

Step by step

1. Map the target's activities against the table: land, audiovisual licences, air services, and any activity under a State concession or licence.
2. For rural land, decide between individual ownership structures and an Executive authorization request listing each property (Ley Nº 18.092 art. 1).
3. For an audiovisual licensee, file the ownership change with the URSEC and allow 60 days for its report and 90 for the Executive, then sign within four months (Ley Nº 20.383 art. 21).
4. Run the merger thresholds for any acquisition (Ley Nº 18.159 art. 7).
5. Check sector permits on the sectors page (energy, mining, hydrocarbons, telecom) and the free zone rules if relevant.

Common traps

A foreign parent or a branch holding farmland directly needs an Executive authorization that lists every property, renewed whenever the holding grows (Ley Nº 18.092 art. 1).
Audiovisual licence transfers without prior authorization are absolutely void, and the licence can be revoked if an unauthorized person operates the service (Ley Nº 20.383 art. 21).
Advice written under the 2014 media law (Ley Nº 19.307) is out of date: Ley Nº 20.383 replaced it in October 2024.
Stakes above 10 percent of the voting capital of a broadcaster count toward the licence caps (Ley Nº 20.383 art. 16).

Sources

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