Decree Dated October 8, 2026 Opens Permanent Residency Path After Final Denial

Uruguay’s Decree dated October 8, 2026 establishes a route to permanent residency for some asylum seekers, including people whose claims have been rejected. The measure is based on arraigo, or demonstrated ties to Uruguay.

It does not take effect immediately. The decree becomes effective 90 days after official publication, after which eligible applicants will have a limited period to file.

People with pending asylum cases face an additional decision. They must formally withdraw those claims to use the new route, although the decree preserves the option to seek asylum again if new grounds later arise.

The measure is not automatic. Applicants must file and meet its legal, documentary and financial conditions.

Entry history and asylum status set the eligibility line

Applicants must have entered Uruguay legally through an authorized border checkpoint before January 1, 2026. The route covers two groups: people with pending asylum applications who formally withdraw them, and people whose applications received a final denial.

Eligibility also depends on the applicant’s broader legal situation. A person must have no legal impediment to entering or remaining in Uruguay, and no other available route to temporary or permanent residence.

The decree is expected to benefit thousands of Cubans. Nearly 90% of Uruguay’s more than 30,000 pending asylum applications reportedly involve Cuban nationals. Those figures describe the potential population, not automatic approvals; each applicant still has to qualify and submit an application.

The entry cutoff excludes people who arrived on or after January 1, 2026. The rule also requires legal entry at an authorized checkpoint, so the date alone does not establish eligibility.

Applicants must document identity, health and support

Applicants generally need to assemble evidence across several areas. The requirements include:

• A valid, undamaged identity document and a passport-style photograph.
• Criminal-record certificates from any country where the applicant lived for more than 180 days during the five years before entering Uruguay.
• Proof of vaccination under Uruguay’s health requirements.
• Evidence of personal or family means of support in Uruguay.

The support requirement can be documented in different ways. Applicants may present a named employment history from Uruguay’s Banco de Previsión Social, or a notarized certificate describing their work and showing monthly income above the national minimum wage.

Applicants relying on a family member’s income must also establish the family relationship. The decree’s financial test therefore calls for both evidence of support and, where support comes through a relative, evidence connecting the applicant to that person.

These materials sit alongside the legal eligibility conditions. Applicants need to show that they meet the entry and asylum-status rules, have no bar to staying in Uruguay and cannot use another available residency route.

Pending asylum claims must be withdrawn before the new application

People with asylum cases still being considered cannot pursue both processes at once. To begin the new residency process, they must expressly renounce the pending claim.

The withdrawal has to enter the asylum file and be communicated to Uruguay’s refugee authority, the Comisión de Refugiados (CORE). Before an official records it, that person must explain the consequences to the applicant.

The decree allows a person to request asylum again in Uruguay later if new grounds arise. That provision does not remove the immediate requirement for pending claimants to withdraw their existing cases before applying through this route.

The filing window starts only after the decree takes effect

Once the decree takes effect, applicants will have 12 months to submit their applications. The National Directorate of Migration may extend the filing period once, by up to an additional 12 months.

Migration may issue a certificate after an application begins. That certificate can be used to obtain a provisional identity document identifying the holder as a resident with an application pending.

Approval leads to a separate step. A successful applicant receives certification needed to obtain the definitive identity document. The decree therefore sets out a process that begins with an application and supporting evidence, then proceeds through pending status before the final document becomes available.