Uruguay Expat: How to Move to Latin America’s Most Progressive Nation
Ever thought about visiting Uruguay? This small nation between Argentina and Brazil isn’t well known to people outside the region, and Karen Higgs is trying to change that.
Home to the world’s longest carnival — it lasts 40 days each year — Uruguay is a laid back country with a European flair. You’ll walk around plenty of colonial and art deco buildings as candombe music drums in the streets.
You’ll also find beaches, wineries, and a burgeoning culinary scene in Uruguay, one of the most progressive countries in the world.
And, if you can work remotely or are retired or have your own money, you don’t even need a visa to live and work there. So why aren’t we there already??
On the LIVE Without Borders podcast, Karen tells us how to become an expat in Uruguay. Originally from Wales, Karen has lived in Uruguay since 2000 and is the unofficial tourism ambassador for the country.
In fact, her website is a mashup of the words guru and Uruguay: Guru'Guay and is a great resource for anyone thinking of traveling or moving to the country. She also wrote The Guru’Guay Guide to Uruguay and The Guru’Guay Guide to Montevideo (Amazon partner links).
Listen to the podcast to hear her best tips on what to eat and experience in her adopted hometown of Montevideo, a place, she says, that has become quite vegan-friendly.
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Punta Ballena, Departamento de Maldonado, Uruguay. Photo by Ernesto Velazquez.
What visa do I need to live and work in Uruguay?
You don’t need one! If you’re retired or work remotely, meaning your income comes from outside Uruguay, you don’t need a work visa. And you won’t have to pay tax on your income coming from abroad.
Uruguay expert Karen Higgs recommends staying in Montevideo’s Old City, where you can explore historic cafes and walk everywhere. Photo courtesy of Karen.
You’ll enter and get a stamp in your passport allowing you to stay for 90 days, Karen says. When it’s time to renew, you can ferry over to Argentina, which takes under three hours, and then come back to Uruguay and your 90 days will begin again. You can do it in one day if you want to, or go explore Buenos Aires.
If you don’t want to bother with the ferries, Karen says a company called Uruguay XXI can help you sort out a two-year temporary residency visa for you. Find out more about getting residency in Uruguay.
”I would never recommend coming to Uruguay to look for work,” Karen says. “And that is because the pay here is relatively low; the average wage is about $700 a month.”
To qualify to live in Uruguay, you have to have a clean criminal record and be earning about $1500 a month, which will allow you to live a pretty good life in the capital city of Montevideo or elsewhere.
”Going out in the evening to eat, you're talking about maybe $25 for a three-course meal with wine per person,” Karen says. “And a ticket to go and see a show costs about $10. So you really could have a very nice quality of life as a single person for that amount of money.”
Just make sure you bring any electronics you want with you, because that stuff is pricey.
”Uruguay has a very small population, so it has a very small market, which means that there's not a great deal of choice here and anything that's imported is quite expensive,” Karen says. “For somebody that's planning to move here, at least for a time as a digital nomad, I definitely recommend you bring all of your devices with you. You know, your phone, your laptop, et cetera.”
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