Uruguayan passport

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Uruguayan passport front cover
Picture page of a Uruguayan e-Passport
TypePassport
Issued by Uruguay
PurposeIdentification
EligibilityUruguayan citizenship
Expiration10 years
Older uruguayan passport with "URUGUAYA" Nationality in the field.

Uruguayan passport (Spanish: Pasaporte uruguayo) is a travel document issued by the Oriental Republic of Uruguay to Uruguayan citizens. It grants the bearer international passage in accordance with visa requirements, serves as proof of citizenship and facilitates access to consular services provided by the country's embassies worldwide. Passports are issued by the National Directorate of Civil Identification, an agency of the Ministry of the Interior.[1]

For travel within Mercosur—as well as Chile and Bolivia—Uruguayan citizens do not need a passport, as they may use their national identity document instead. Since October 16, 2015, the Ministry of the Interior has issued biometric passports that meet ICAO and U.S. Visa Waiver Program standards.[2]

According to the 2025 Henley Passport Index, Uruguayan nationals had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 157 countries and territories, ranking the Uruguayan passport 23rd in terms of travel freedom.[3]

History

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The first Uruguayan passport dates from 1925.
This passport didn't came with nationality field, but with Ciudadano legal after the name, and "ciudadano legal" translated as "naturalized citizen". It had the portrait photo of the holder, both front and profile and translations for four languages: French, Italian, and english.
In 1922 the Uruguayan passport required paid stickers as a fee that were afixed to the passport.
In 1925, the Uruguayan "Legal" Nationality appears on the passport for first time. This one is written as "Ciudadno/a legal", "Ciudadano Legal" translated into Spanish as "naturalized citizen". In 1951 a new series of the Uruguayan passport was released with a green cover. This one had "Ciudadano Legal" after the name, but without nationality field as the previous. It has the same photo format, and translated to French.
In 1954, the passport became machine written with new features. The legal nationality appears as "Ciudadano/a legal uruguayo/a". It is only in Spanish and French.
In 1969 there are new Blue covered passports. This passport embosses the Words "REPUBLICA ORIENTAL DEL URUGUAY", the coat of arms the Uruguay, and the Word "PASAPORTE". These passports were written with pen, instead of machine written. The Legal citizenship doesn't appear anymore. Instead there is a new field that states the legal citizenship of the holder. This one has English translation instead of French.
In 1984 there is another update on the Uruguayan passport.This one is Machine written again. This one has more security measures and in the first page there is the coat of arms of Uruguay. This one had a legal citizenship field, instead of putting it at "Nationality" field, like previous.
In 1998, the passport had many anti-counterfeiting features protection, and a field for the civil status, if the person is employed, and the photo doesn't include the profile photo anymore. Now the nationality of origin is indicated with the previous nationality of the person, which had at the origin, before becoming a legal citizen, with a clarification "(VEA PAG 7/LOOK PAGE 7)".[4]
In 2014, the Uruguayan passport, adpating to the Mercosur Passport standards, had fairly new features, which includes the new map of South America, Safety measure visible under ultraviolet light. It is written in Spanish, Enlgish, and Portuguse, and in "OBSERVACIONES/ANOTAÇÕES/NOTES" may include a mesage such as "EL TITULAR DE ESTE PASAPORTE ES NACIONAL URUGUAYO, LEY 16.021/THE HOLDER OF THIS PASSPORT IS AN URUGUAYAN CITIZEN LAW 16.021/O TITULAR DESTE PASSAPORTE É CIDADÃO URUGUAIO LEI 16.021". The nationality field, like previous, has "VEA PAG 6/LOOK PAGE 6". [5]
In 2015 the Uruguayan government has announced a new ePassport, completely revamped. This one has new features, and extends the durability from 5 years to 10 years and correlates it to ICAO standards. It removes portuguese translation, and didn't mention the legal nationality, like previous.[6]

[edit]

Since the Constitution of Uruguay distinguishes between “nationality” and “citizenship,” only individuals born in Uruguay, or those born abroad to an Oriental (i.e., Uruguayan) parent or grandparent, are considered “Uruguayan nationals”.[7][8] Consequently, Uruguay does not grant nationality through naturalization; instead confers "legal citizenship" to foreign residents who meet certain requirements.[A][9][10]

Because of this constitutional terminological distinction, a foreigner who became a legal citizen and obtained a Uruguayan passport would have their original nationality listed in the passport’s “nationality” field.[11] This has caused complications with visa requirements and international recognition, since nationality—not citizenship—is the basis for these procedures.[12] In April 2025, the National Directorate of Civil Identification decided to replace the passport’s “Nationality” field with a combined “Citizenship/Nationality” field, using the URY code for both national and legal citizens so that the issuing country and the holder’s citizenship coincide.[13] The “birthplace” field was also removed.[14] However, in August 2025, after the new passports without the “birthplace” field were rejected in France, Germany, and Japan, Uruguay reversed the decision and reinstated the field.[15][16]

By contrast, countries such as the United States also distinguish between citizens and nationals, but this does not create issues, as both categories use the same nationality code in the "nationality" field, ensuring consistency in international travel documents.[17]

Visa requirements

[edit]
Main article: Visa requirements for Uruguayan citizens
Countries and territories with visa-free entries or visas on arrival for holders of regular Uruguayan passports.
  Uruguay
  Freedom of movement
  ID card travel
  Visa free access
  Visa on arrival
  eVisa
  Visa available both on arrival or online
  Visa required

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Only natural-born citizens—individuals born within the national territory, as well as children of a Uruguayan father or mother—hold Uruguayan nationality.

References

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  1. ^ "Decreto N° 296/016". www.impo.com.uy. Archived from the original on 2024-11-19. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  2. ^ "Emiten hoy el primer pasaporte electrónico" (in Spanish). 16 October 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  3. ^ "The Official Passport Index Ranking". Henley & Partners. Archived from the original on 2025-07-25. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  4. ^ https://www.somostodos.uy/archivo
  5. ^ https://www.consilium.europa.eu/prado/es/URY-AO-01001/index.html
  6. ^ https://www.gub.uy/presidencia/comunicacion/noticias/nuevo-pasaporte-electronico-posiciona-uruguay-alto-nivel-internacional
  7. ^ Risso Ferrand, Martín (2005). Derecho Constitucional (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Montevideo: Fundación de Cultura Universitaria. ISBN 9789974209633.
  8. ^ "Civil Register Inscription: Birth - Embajada de Uruguay en los Estados Unidos". 2021-06-23. Archived from the original on 2025-05-17. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  9. ^ "Uruguay modificará sus leyes para que los residentes legales puedan acceder a la nacionalidad y todos sus beneficios". infobae (in European Spanish). 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  10. ^ "ONU le solicita a Uruguay que recapacite sobre la ciudadanía legal: ¿qué sucede?". EL PAIS. 2022-06-04. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  11. ^ swissinfo.ch, S. W. I. (2024-04-03). ""Uruguayos de segunda": extranjeros con ciudadanía pero sin la nacionalidad". SWI swissinfo.ch (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  12. ^ ""Todos somos uruguayos" lucha para que niños y adolescentes extranjeros pueden obtener ciudadanía uruguaya". subrayado.com.uy (in Spanish). 2025-04-10. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  13. ^ "Ministerio del Interior actualiza información en pasaportes para cumplir con normativa internacional". Ministerio del Interior (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2025-07-26. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  14. ^ "Polémica con el pasaporte uruguayo, que se puso al nivel del de Corea del Sur, Arabia Saudita y Liechtenstein | La Mañana" (in Spanish). 2025-07-16. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
  15. ^ Bratton, Elizabeth (2025-08-06). "Uruguay backtracks on passport format after concerns raised by France, Germany, and Japan". Latin America Reports. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  16. ^ "Uruguay reverts to previous passport version after all". MercoPress. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  17. ^ "Differences Between U.S. Nationals and U.S. Citizens". CitizenPath. 2024-04-04. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
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