Uruguay: Obtaining Permanent Residency

Transcription

1 1. INTRODUCTION Uruguay has a stated policy of welcoming foreign nationals who wish to come and live in the country. There is no immigration quota, nor does Uruguay s immigration authority discretionally reject applications. It is not required that the applicant invest in the country, either. As long as the applicant meets the requirements listed below (essentially, a clean police record and proof of means to support him/herself), Permanent Resident status will always be granted. 2. REQUIREMENTS The required documents to apply for Permanent Residency are: a) Birth Certificate: For those who don t keep their birth certificate, there is a useful online service to obtain it: (this service is only available in the US). Note: in the event that your current name differs from the one on your birth certificate/passport, the court document supporting the change will be needed. This is not mandatory when you initially file for residency but will be necessary when applying for the National ID (the document that proves your Permanent Resident status). b) Marriage certificate: This is optional. The advantage of filing a marriage certificate is that it enables only one of the spouses to have to prove a source of income (see d, below). c) Police record: To prove that one has a clean police record, he or she must obtain a police certificate from the country of birth, from the country which issued the applicant s passport (if different from the country of birth) and from those countries where he/she resided in the past five years. US citizens may request the police record in Uruguay, at the local Interpol office. However, it is less costly and quicker to do it in the US. The police record cannot be more than six months old on the date you schedule the filing appointment at the National Migration Office (see Chapter 4, below, which describes the application process). d) Proof of Income: The Proof of Income (PoI) requirement is fulfilled by proving that you have a steady stream of income to support yourself (and your family, if applicable). The amount of income you declare has to be consistent with your lifestyle. The PoI may be proven in a number of ways: a pension, dividends, rental income, or a work contract with a company in Uruguay, among others. Note: We review the source of income with you, to ensure that it is acceptable for immigration purposes. A simple bank statement will not suffice as PoI, since it does not prove a steady stream of income. Thus, the prior verification that the documents you submit are correct is of great importance. 1

2 In addition, you have to prove that the income is actually received in Uruguay, so it s convenient to open a bank account in the country, (if you don t have one already) which is easy, and can be done in a day, at some banks. If you do not have an account in Uruguay, it is important to be in the country two days before the residency filing date, to allow for time to open an account. In Chapter 5, below, we specify what is required to open a bank account. The Proof of Income document cannot be more than six months old on the actual date when you submit your application for residency at the National Migration Office (on the pre-scheduled date). e) Tetanus vaccination: If you have a vaccination report showing your last tetanus shot, you ll avoid getting one at the medical checkup in Uruguay (see g, below). If you cannot be given this shot (i.e. allergies) you ll need a letter issued by a doctor, stating that you cannot get the shot and the reasons. This letter does not require legalization, and must be recent (not more than one year old). Please note that minors (under 18) must bring their vaccination reports. If they lack them, they can be vaccinated at any hospital in Uruguay, for free, any time before the visit to the medical checkup clinic. f) Additional medical documents for women: Women aged 18 to 65 must bring a pap smear exam report, not more than 30 months old. Additionally, women aged 40 to 59 must bring a mammogram exam report, not more than 18 months old. g) Medical check-up: A brief and simple medical checkup is required, from one of several authorized private clinics in Uruguay. This exam is fast, and it is not a screening test. h) Proof of address and stay requirement: Uruguay requires that applicants have an actual address in Uruguay (a property, owned or rented) and that the person resides in the country for a significant amount of time during the application process. To meet the address requirement you have to provide a proof of residency issued by the police precinct nearest to your home. This takes only some minutes and you just need to show up at the police station in person with your passport and two witnesses. To meet the stay requirement, during the (average) months that it takes to obtain residency after you apply, you may freely leave and re-enter Uruguay, and you may stay indefinitely, since you are a temporary resident from day one. But you must also spend considerable time in Uruguay. If you have to move around for different reasons, you should at least be able to spend approximately six months in Uruguay per year, during the application process. Once you become a permanent resident, there is no longer a stay requirement and you will lose your resident status only if you stay out of the country for more than three years. Uruguay, renowned for its serious reputation, does not grant paper residency. That is, it does not grant Permanent Resident status to applicants who simply apply and then spend little or no time in the country. To obtain Permanent Resident status, you must show intent to reside, during the application process, and spend a significant part of your time in the country. 2

3 If, after residency, you wish to obtain Uruguayan citizenship (and a second passport), you need to wait three years (if married), or five years (if single). This period starts to run from the moment you first arrived in Uruguay to file for residency, and to be able to obtain citizenship- you need to spend at least six months out of each of those 3/5 years in the country (besides other formal requirements which mainly consist of gathering paperwork that prove your connection with the country: utility bills, doctor visits, membership of a sports club, payment of property taxes, etc.). 3. STAMPING YOUR DOCUMENTS BEFORE YOU SEND THEM Documents a, b, c and d (from the list in the previous chapter) need to be Apostilled in your home country (if your country is part of the Apostille Treaty: the United States, for example, is part of it). An Apostille is a simple stamp, which you obtain locally, at a state office. If your documents come from a country that is NOT part of the Apostille Treaty (such as Canada, for example), the documents need to be stamped at the competent Uruguayan consulate (the consulate in the country where the document was issued). The stamping procedure is called legalization and all consulates are familiar with it. We ll facilitate your contact with the competent consulate, if necessary. After you identify the competent Uruguayan consulate, call them and explain that you will send documents for legalization. They will ask you to send the documents, a check/money order for the legalization fee, and a self-addressed stamped envelope to return the documents to you. 4. THE APPLICATION PROCESS In order to apply for Permanent Resident status, an appointment must be booked at the National Migration Office (NMO). The appointment must be requested personally at the NMO and we shall escort you. In September 2012 the National Migration Office introduced an important change, in order to decentralize applications and speed up the residency process. To ensure that the NMO s office in Montevideo is not overwhelmed with applications, those who live or intend to live in a different city, have to apply at that city s office (in the past, most applicants would apply at the Montevideo office, regardless of whether they lived in Montevideo). So: (a) If you live/will live in Montevideo, you must request the appointment in Montevideo. The appointment date will be scheduled for a date that will usually be four to six months later. To book the appointment date you will need: your passport your entry card (given to you at the airport, on arrival) one passport size photo the proof of address issued by the police (see chapter 2.h, above) your clean police record, if you have it (otherwise, you file it later). You will then have five to six months to gather all the other documents, which you ll submit on the scheduled filing date. 3

4 (b) If you live/will live outside Montevideo, the NMO will grant you a filing appointment date two to twenty days later. So, in this case you will need to have gathered all the documents before you schedule the application filing appointment. The application process differs according to the place you live in or plan to live in. If that s Montevideo (where most people live), you first obtain an address, and then have a few months to gather your documents, since the NMO s Montevideo office has more applications to process than other offices, and thus grants the document filing appointment date four to six months into the future. If you live in (or plan to live) elsewhere Punta del Este and Colonia are the other two places where most people relocate to- you must first obtain your documents abroad, and then obtain your address in Uruguay. If you don t know where you will be living we recommend you pay a fact-finding visit, open a bank account, organize your accommodation (rent or purchase) and then go back to your country of origin to gather your documents. We ll assist you with the gathering of the documents, and will ask that you send them to us by first, to verify them. Once you arrive in Uruguay, we ll escort you to the NMO to schedule the appointment date. We will then finish preparing your documents: They require a stamp at Uruguay s Foreign Ministry in Montevideo (to validate the consulate s signature, if they were legalized, as opposed to Apostilled). We will need to have them translated by an official interpreter (our firm has in-house official interpreters). And we shall notarize them (our firm has in-house notaries, locally called escribanos, all of them bilingual). On your NMO appointment date, we will previously escort you to the local Interpol office (if you are a U.S. citizen and did not get your FBI report at home) to request your police record, and to the health checkup clinic. These two appointments also have to be booked in advance, and we ll handle that for you. On the scheduled appointment date, all your paperwork is filed, but no interview is made. The applicant interview will come at a later stage, after the NMO has reviewed your papers and we ll escort you to it. The interview is simple, just to double-check the information in the file. After you file your application at the NMO, your file will go through several stages. We ll monitor the process, and provide answers to the NMO on routine questions they usually have on your PoI or address verification. The NMO usually requests an update on the PoI halfway through the process, to make sure that you still have means to support yourself. Permanent Resident status is usually granted within 12 to 18 months. In the meantime, you will be a Temporary Resident, with a Uruguayan National Identification Card ( cédula de identidad ) from the day you apply, and as such, you may stay in the country indefinitely (or come and go), and even bring your household goods import tax free. 4

5 After you obtain Permanent Resident status, you are issued the definitive identification card. Note: If you plan on bringing household goods, we can assist you with this by recommending an independent local moving agent with relocation experience. It will be important to know what items you wish to bring from the start, so the agent can assess their value. The agent will also explain what documents need to be brought and what requirements must be met, to allow for a smooth importation of the goods (usually, only an insurance bond, which is released after you obtain the Permanent Resident status). 5. OPENING A BANK ACCOUNT IN URUGUAY Uruguay has an open financial system. Banks open accounts for non-residents, and over one third of bank deposits in Uruguay are held by non-residents (some banks do not open accounts for U.S. citizens). Deposits can be held in local currency or in foreign currency (mainly US Dollars or Euros). The banking system is solid, and is made up of a dozen banks (Uruguay rarely grants a bank license, and chooses to keep a limited number of solid, well-known banks). The cities that offer the best banking options are Montevideo, Punta del Este and Colonia. The banks that operate in Uruguay are: Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay (BROU, or Banco Republica ). This is the largest bank, government owned. Itau (Brazil s largest bank) Nuevo Banco Comercial (NBC). Owned by Scotiabank (Canada) Lloyds (British) Discount Bank (New York based bank) Santander (Spanish) BBVA (Spanish) HSBC (British) Heritage (Swiss) Citibank (U.S.) Banco de la Nacion Argentina (Argentina) Bandes (local) The following ones open accounts to non-residents of any nationality easily (including U.S. citizens): Banco de la Republica Oriental del Uruguay (BROU): The account is operational the minute you open it. It can be opened with only USD 200. If you keep a monthly average of USD 500 or more, there are no administrative costs. 5

6 Itaú: you can open a savings account with USD 750 and a current account with USD 2,500. There are administrative costs associated with the accounts (average USD 36 per month). It takes the bank 2-3 weeks to process the paperwork and have the account operational. For more personalized services and English-speaking staff, Itaú is recommended. BROU is suggested for more basic functions (savings accounts). If you only need an account to receive your income in Uruguay for Residency application purposes, BROU is a practical choice since it has the lowest minimum deposit requirement. The required documents to open an account are: a. Your passport. b. A second ID (a driver s license, for example). c. Poof of address: any current utility bill from your home country. d. A bank reference letter: a letter from a bank that you currently operate with, indicating that you are a client in good standing, and the number of years you have been a client with the bank who is issuing the letter. e. Proof of income. This can be a social security document, a CPA letter stating your monthly income, proof of rental income, tax returns, etc. In addition, the bank will require a brief personal visit, to sign the relevant forms, and will ask for an indication of the estimated funds that will come into the account, along with an explanation of their origin (standard know your customer procedure). If you choose to open an account at BROU, bear in mind that the proof of income document has to be previously apostilled (stamped) in your home country, and then be translated into Spanish by a certified translator in Uruguay. If you will be applying for Residency, then the proof of income documents that you used for your residency application will work for BROU bank, since they will have been apostilled and translated for the residency filing. Please bear in mind that it is your obligation to comply with any applicable laws in your home country regarding disclosure of foreign bank accounts. You should consult your tax advisor or an attorney in your home country, to ensure you understand current regulations and meet their requirements. 6

7 6. THE ADVANTAGES OF OBTAINING PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS The advantages of obtaining permanent resident status are, mainly: Once you have your permanent residency, you ll be able to apply for citizenship (and a Uruguayan passport) in 3 years (if married), or in 5 years (for single applicants). Time starts to count from the day you first arrived in Uruguay to file for Permanent Residency, regardless of when Permanent Resident status was actually granted. You will be able to stay in Uruguay indefinitely (from the moment you file your application). You will be able to bring your personal belongings and household goods duty free. You ll obtain a National Identification Document, called "Cedula de Identidad", and local health insurance. You ll have easier travel requirements among MERCOSUR countries. 7. OUR SERVICES Our firm s bilingual associates will work side by side with you along the way and make sure that you are assisted in every step: We ll escort you to the NMO to book your appointment date. We ll help you contact the competent Uruguayan consulate (if necessary/applicable). We ll determine which is the best source of income to use, and will help you draft the supporting documents so they have the correct wording that the NMO requires. Our notaries will produce the sworn certificates that the NMO requires for your proof of income and your address, based on the documents you send us. We ll have your documents translated by our in-house certified translators; and then stamped at the Foreign Ministry in Montevideo. We ll register your birth certificate (and marriage certificate, if applicable) at the National Registry so you can have your cédula issued. We ll escort you to the Interpol appointment to get your police record (for U.S. citizens), and we ll book and escort you to your medical check-up in Uruguay. We ll connect you with experienced movers and work with them to make sure your belongings arrive properly. One of our qualified associates will be present with you at the filing, and at the interview (to translate and assist you). 7

8 As your application moves within the NMO, we ll submit the updates that are usually requested during the process, on your proof of income, and closely monitor your file. We ll assist you in obtaining your temporary national ID ( cedula ), and to renew it a year later if necessary. At the end of the process, we will assist you in obtaining your definitive cédula. ** We ll assist you in obtaining a driver s license. ** We will get as many re-entry permits for you as necessary. ** We ll assist you with your application for citizenship and a second passport, once the necessary time (three or five years) has elapsed. ** ** These services carry an additional cost. FAQ: Is Spanish required to apply for Permanent Residency? ANSWER: No. Spanish is not required. But, at the NMO, the Registries, and the other offices where paperwork has to be filed, employees do not speak English, so the assistance by someone who is bilingual and experienced in dealing with these offices is recommended. 8. OUR FEES Our fees for assisting you with the Permanent Residency application are based on a oneperson rate of USD 1,600 (plus VAT of 22%), with a descending rate per additional applicant, as detailed in the chart on the next page. We charge 50% of our fee when we start assisting you (preparing the documents and obtaining the NMO appointment date) and the remaining 50% when Permanent Residency is granted. Should you initiate the use of our services, but then decide to cancel the NMO appointment or not to proceed with the application, the 50% retainer fee will be imputed towards the advice and assistance granted up to the cancellation. If we have made an appointment for you at the NMO and you decide to (or have to) postpone it, we will charge a USD 250 postponement fee. Additionally, the process requires approximately USD 600 per person in expenses. Expenses are mostly made in the first stage. The next page has a list of what they include. We ll provide a detailed breakdown when the process is completed, and return any unspent funds to you when the process is completed. 8

9 FEES AND EXPENSES CHART FEES VAT (22%) FEES (VAT EXPENSES TOTAL COST DUE AT DUE AT INCLUDED) START FINALIZATION ONE PERSON $ $ 352 $ $ 600 $ $ $ 976 COUPLE $ $ 638 $ $ $ $ $ COUPLE + ONE CHILD $ $ 814 $ $ $ $ $ COUPLE + 2 CHILDREN $ $ 968 $ $ $ $ $ ADDITIONAL CHILD $ 600 $ 132 $ 732 $ 600 $ $ 966 $ 366 ** In those situations where applicants are adopted children, or single parents, some additional legal fees may apply since additional paperwork and filings are necessary at the NMO s legal division. ** If you file for residency outside of Montevideo, the fees increase by 10%. EXAMPLE OF EXPENSES Residency application filing stamps $ 61 Reentry permits $ 25 Customs permit $ 6 Notarial certification of income $ 56 Notarial certification of passport $ 11 Permit stamp to obtain national ID $ 6 Filing fee for national ID $ 8 Birth certificate filing stamp $ 22 Marriage certificate filing stamp $ 22 Copy of birth certificate stamp $ 4 National ID appointment date stamp $ 15 Copy of marriage certificate stamp $ 4 Birth certificate legalization $ 8 Marriage certificate legalization $ 8 Birth certificate translation (est) $ 70 Marriage certificate translation (est) $ 70 Interpol police record fee $ 44 FedEx of Interpol police record request $ 89 TOTAL AVERAGE EXPENSES (USD): $ 529 9

10 9. ADDITIONAL USEFUL INFORMATION Finding the right place to live in and realtors who can help you Most people that move to Uruguay pick one of the following places and types of homes to live in: Montevideo: condos in the coastline neighborhoods of Pocitos or Punta Carretas or in the Old City; houses in residential Carrasco. Punta del Este: beachfront condos or houses. Piriapolis, Atlantida or Rocha: houses near or on the coastline. Colonia: colonial houses. Farms which are distributed throughout the whole country. We ll be pleased to recommend appropriate realtors in each of these areas, so you can explore the different alternatives and get the right help finding your home. In addition, our firm s conveyance attorneys (escribanos) will assist in the required due diligence on the property, to ensure you obtain a clean title. Visit to download our information on the property purchase process in Uruguay. Other useful services When moving to Uruguay, you will probably need help finding the right health insurance plan, schools and universities for your children, tips on purchasing appliances, paying bills, and other day to day matters. We can either help you with these issues or recommend a relocation company that handles these non-legal matters. 10. ABOUT ACT 16,340 (A LAW WITH ADDITIONAL BENEFITS FOR PENSIONERS) A special law (# 16,340) allows certain types of residency applicants (pensioners) to enjoy two types of additional benefits: bringing your car free of import duties, and obtaining a passport before having to wait for the 3/5 years since you first arrived, to become a citizen. One important thing: the Act 16,340 process is not an alternative residency application path, nor an alternative visa. You must apply for residency under the normal path (outlined above), and AFTER you obtain your residency, you may apply for the additional benefits of Act 16,340 (you have six months to do this, after the residency is granted). Benefits: You can bring a car duty free. You (as well as your spouse and children under 18) can obtain a Uruguayan passport. 10

11 Requirements: You must invest U$S 100,000 either in a property or Uruguayan Treasuries, and hold the investment for 10 years (the property may be switched). You must have a minimum income of USD 1,500 per month. The income must be retirement-type income. Most residency applicants don t choose to take the additional step of applying for the Act 16,340 benefits, mainly because the import process for the car is complicated, and the passport comes without citizenship (you still have to wait 3/5 years since you first arrived, to obtain citizenship). November 2012 * * * 11