Moving to Uruguay from New Zealand

More than UYU 26,000 a month: For temporary residence as a worker, DNM asks for a letter stating your monthly pay, which must be at least one national minimum wage. From 1 July 2026 the minimum wage is a set monthly amount (Decree 319/025). To be safe, have more than UYU 26,000 a month. For permanent residence DNM asks for a monthly income "sufficient for support", shown by a notary's or accountant's certificate, and prints no figure. The provisional identity card for remote workers asks for no income figure at all, only a sworn statement. The minimum wage is reset by decree, so check the figure for your filing date.

Law 19,254, which is sometimes cited as a consular route, covers permanent residence for relatives of Mercosur nationals and does not apply to you. For temporary residence as a worker, DNM asks for a letter on letterhead from the employer stating the activity, the term and a monthly pay of at least one national minimum wage, a set monthly amount from 1 July 2026 (to be safe, have more than UYU 26,000 a month), with a notary's certificate or a social security work history. For permanent residence, DNM asks for a monthly nominal income "sufficient for support" and gives no number. An employee of a foreign company shows it with a notary's certificate of the link with the company, that it has no branch in Uruguay, the amount paid, how it is paid and how the work is done from Uruguay. A self-employed person gives a notary's or accountant's certificate of income, and a person living on investment income or a pension gives a notary's certificate of the monthly amount and how it reaches Uruguay. Either file costs 557.30 UI, about UYU 3,715 or NZ$165 at the 15 October UI value, plus 55.70 UI (about UYU 371 or NZ$16) for the migration certificate for the ID card. If your application is pending, each trip out of the country needs a re-entry permit of 225.60 UI, about UYU 1,504 or NZ$67. For an activity of less than 180 days DNM points you to the provisional card instead.

Uruguay is on New Zealand's apostille list. The Department of Internal Affairs charges NZ$37 per certificate and aims at 15 working days (urgent service NZ$120 extra, 5 working days), using form BDM460, and a New Zealand notary public where a copy must be notarised. New Zealand Police vetting sends its result straight to the visa authority and gives you no copy, so for a file you request a Criminal Record Check from the Ministry of Justice, which aims to answer within 20 working days (about 90% come back in under a week). Neither page says whether that check can be apostilled, so ask the Authentication Unit. You also need a Uruguayan health card and a vaccination certificate issued by providers in Uruguay, a passport photograph on the day of the appointment, a marriage certificate under a year old if you need to show a marriage link, and an interpreter if you do not speak Spanish. Documents issued electronically that can be verified online do not need an apostille. DNM says there is no stipulated time frame for permanent residence and depends on the case. You start the file online, DNM reviews the documents, and only then opens the appointment booking and the payment; you attend the appointment in person in Montevideo (Mercedes 1004) or at a DNM office in the interior, with the original documents, one appointment for each family member, and missing documents are received in a single instance. The temporary-residence checklist asks for the original of the document you entered the country with, and we found no consular step in the DNM checklists; Uruguay's embassy in Canberra is accredited to New Zealand but there is no Uruguayan mission in New Zealand. A paid appointment you miss is not refunded. After you apply for permanent residence, DNM says a digital certificate lets you get a Uruguayan ID card showing "resident in process", valid for two years the first time. We found no processing time for temporary residence or for the provisional card, so those are unknown. Allow for the New Zealand side as well: the criminal record check can take up to 20 working days and the apostille 15 working days, so the certificate may take several weeks to reach you.

DGI counts every day you are present, leaves out days in transit, and counts absences of up to 30 calendar days as days in Uruguay unless you prove tax residence elsewhere with a certificate from that country's tax authority. A remote-worker card renewed once can add up to well over 183 days in one calendar year. Residents pay on Uruguayan-source income, which includes income from activities carried out in Uruguay, and on capital income and gains from foreign entities. Uruguay's investment agency describes the system as a source system. We found no DGI ruling on how pay for work you do in Uruguay for a foreign employer is treated, so that is unknown: ask a Uruguayan accountant before you rely on the description of Uruguay as territorial. New Zealand can tax you on your worldwide income at the same time (see the third finding).

Capital income is taxed at 12% for most income and 7% for some, such as certain dividends. Non-residents pay the non-resident tax (IRNR) only on Uruguayan-source income, at rates from 3% to 12% according to a government agency's summary. This describes the mechanism, not your bill.

If you are resident because you were present more than 183 days, you need no investment; the other routes ask for large property or fund investments. You cannot use it if you were a Uruguayan tax resident in either of the two previous years. It does not cover your salary or freelance fees, and a separate skilled-worker programme in articles 190 to 192 is for employment contracts with companies active in Uruguay. People already using the 2020 regime keep it for its term and then have only the later options in article 24-bis. Decree 188/026 (published 19 August 2026) sets the detailed rules; we could read only a list of the articles it changes, so how to claim the option is unknown.

Until then New Zealand taxes your worldwide income, including income not brought into the country: you file an IR3 with the IR1261 overseas income summary (due 7 July unless you have a tax agent) and may be able to claim a credit for foreign tax you paid. If you leave permanently, you can file an IR3 or ask for an assessment, and tell your bank so the right non-resident withholding tax is deducted. There is no tax treaty to settle a clash: Uruguay appears in none of Inland Revenue's lists of double tax agreements, information exchange agreements, or agreements signed or under negotiation, and DGI's list of treaties in force does not include New Zealand, so no tie-breaker applies if both countries treat you as resident. Uruguay's rules for residents are in the first two findings; how the two systems interact for you is a question for an adviser.

A student loan stops being interest-free from the day after you leave if you become overseas-based, which means spending 31 days or fewer in New Zealand in a 184-day period; repayments then follow your loan balance. If you already get NZ Super, you may be able to keep it overseas, at a rate based on the months you lived in New Zealand between ages 20 and 65 out of 540, if you apply at least six weeks before leaving.

A remote-worker card holder is not registered with social security, so plan for private cover during the card period. New Zealand's reciprocal health agreements cover only Australia and the United Kingdom, and public health care for citizens is provided in New Zealand, so nothing covers you in Uruguay by default; SafeTravel advises comprehensive medical and travel insurance for New Zealanders travelling or resident in Uruguay. Residence files need a Uruguayan health card and a vaccination certificate from providers in Uruguay.

A person with a pending file pays a re-entry permit of 225.60 UI on each trip out of the country.