Uruguayan citizenship by descent: who qualifies, the law, and what it takes

Q: Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a parent?

Likely. Uruguayan nationality passes to children and grandchildren of Uruguayan nationals born abroad, on registration at the consulate or civil registry. Uruguay distinguishes nationality from citizenship; descendants hold nationality and register for a cédula.

Q: Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a grandparent?

Likely. Uruguayan nationality passes to children and grandchildren of Uruguayan nationals born abroad, on registration at the consulate or civil registry. Uruguay distinguishes nationality from citizenship; descendants hold nationality and register for a cédula.

Q: Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Unlikely. Uruguayan descent stops at grandchildren of a person born in Uruguay: the law reaches the children of the Uruguay-born and their children, and no further.

Through a parentLIKELYCitizen by descent (Law 19.362)Through a grandparentLIKELYCitizen by descent (Law 19.362)Through a great-grandparentUNLIKELYCitizen by descent, generation by generation

Ways to apply: Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)
Dual citizenship: Kept, however you apply

Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Through your mother
04Keeping your citizenship
05Ways to apply
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Law changes
10Other options
11Sources

Who qualifies, generation by generation

LIKELY

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a parent?

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Uruguayan nationality passes to children and grandchildren of Uruguayan nationals born abroad, on registration at the consulate or civil registry. Uruguay distinguishes nationality from citizenship; descendants hold nationality and register for a cédula.

Children and grandchildren of Uruguayan nationals born abroad are Uruguayan nationals on registration. Law 19.362 (2015), extending Law 16.021: children and grandchildren of natural-born Uruguayans, Law 19.362

LIKELY

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a grandparent?

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Children and grandchildren of Uruguayan nationals born abroad are Uruguayan nationals on registration. Law 19.362 (2015), extending Law 16.021: children and grandchildren of natural-born Uruguayans, Law 19.362

UNLIKELY

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Uruguayan descent stops at grandchildren of a person born in Uruguay: the law reaches the children of the Uruguay-born and their children, and no further.

What would settle itWhether your parent or grandparent was born in Uruguay; the count starts from the last person born there.

Those born in Uruguay are nationals (Art. 1); their children, wherever born, are nationals too (Art. 2); and the children born abroad of those Art. 2 nationals are natural citizens (Art. 3, as amended in 2015). A great-grandchild of the person born in Uruguay falls outside all three. Law 16.021 (1989), Arts. 1-3, Art. 3 as amended by Law 19.362 (31 December 2015), Arts. 1-3

The dates that matter

2015
Those born in Uruguay are nationals (Art. 1); their children, wherever born, are nationals too (Art. 2); and the children born abroad of those Art. 2 nationals are natural citizens (Art. 3, as amended in 2015). A great-grandchild of the person born in Uruguay falls outside all three. Law 16.021 (1989), Arts. 1-3, Art. 3 as amended by Law 19.362 (31 December 2015), Arts. 1-3

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Uruguay’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Law 19.362 (2015), extending Law 16.021: children and grandchildren of natural-born Uruguayans

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Open to you through a parent or a grandparent

LIKELY
Through a parent

The law

Children and grandchildren of Uruguayan nationals born abroad are Uruguayan nationals on registration. Law 19.362 (2015), extending Law 16.021: children and grandchildren of natural-born Uruguayans, Law 19.362

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Closed: no one qualifies this way today

UNLIKELY
Through a great-grandparent
Uruguayan descent stops at grandchildren of a person born in Uruguay: the law reaches the children of the Uruguay-born and their children, and no further.

The law

Those born in Uruguay are nationals (Art. 1); their children, wherever born, are nationals too (Art. 2); and the children born abroad of those Art. 2 nationals are natural citizens (Art. 3, as amended in 2015). A great-grandchild of the person born in Uruguay falls outside all three. Law 16.021 (1989), Arts. 1-3, Art. 3 as amended by Law 19.362 (31 December 2015), Arts. 1-3

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent or grandparent was born in Uruguay; the count starts from the last person born there.

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Through a parent or grandparent

Your ancestor’s Uruguayan birth certificate
Birth and marriage records for each generation to you, apostilled and translated
The result is a Uruguayan cédula and passport

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Time: A few months at the consulate or Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil to register and receive a cédula; a passport follows once you hold it.
Cost: About $200–400: apostilled and translated U.S. records and the cédula fee. The registration itself is inexpensive.
The hard part: Uruguay separates nationality from citizenship. The paperwork proves your ancestor’s Uruguayan nationality by birth in Uruguay; the deliverable is a cédula, and a passport is a separate later step.
Who decides: The Uruguayan consulate for your address, or the Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil in Montevideo.
The first record: Your ancestor’s Uruguayan birth certificate, from The Dirección General del Registro del Estado Civil. Order the certified copy online or through the consulate with the name and approximate birthdate; a few weeks. gub.uy

How it’s filed

Where: The offered Uruguayan consulate for your birth district: Miami, New York, Washington or San Francisco office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Form: Birth-inscription answers: Miami child or grandchild form, or New York officer-prepared act
Appointments: Birth-registration document review and appointment by email. Member emails completed form and scans to cdmiami@mrree.gub.uy or cgmiami@mrree.gub.uy. The post assigns an appointment after document review. Adult attends with two witnesses; parents need not attend. New York applicants request an appointment at cdnuevayork@mrree.gub.uy with the reviewed answer sheet, original-record scans and home address; the officer prepares the actual birth act. Use the selected post’s payment methods and payee. Washington applicants request review and an appointment at cgwashington@mrree.gub.uy; a parent and two witnesses attend with the member. Use uy-washington-records and uy-washington-attend. San Francisco: request review and an appointment at cgsanfrancisco@mrree.gub.uy; your living parent and two adult witnesses attend with you. Use this post’s published USD 14 fee and Spanish payee.
Fee: About $18
Decision: 2–9 months
Your records: Apostilled, and translated. Miami accepts a Uruguayan public translator or its own Spanish translation at USD 54 per page, up to five pages. The offered route uses the consular translation. New York uses a Uruguayan public translator under its own registration checklist; approve the translator’s written quote before ordering.

Your consulate

Every office in the United States (4)

Consulate of Uruguay in Miami

Serves Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

How: In person; you appear in person
Address: 2103 Coral Way, Suite 600, Miami, FL 33145
Pay: 18 USD, by credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or money order made out to “Consulate of Uruguay in Miami”; no personal checks.

source ↗

Consulate of Uruguay in New York

Serves Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin

How: In person; you appear in person
Address: 633 Third Avenue, Suite 13G, New York, NY 10017
Pay: 18 USD, by money order or cashier’s check made out to “Consulado del Uruguay”; no personal checks.

Adult applicants born in this district. Request an appointment at cdnuevayork@mrree.gub.uy. Bring two adult witnesses who are not your parents; your parents need not attend. Use a Uruguayan public translator. The consular officer prepares the birth inscription from the reviewed automatic answer sheet and original records; the Miami Word form is not a New York government form.

source ↗

Consulate of Uruguay in San Francisco

Serves Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands

How: In person; you appear in person
Address: 111 Pine St, Suite 1650, San Francisco, CA 94111
Pay: 14 USD, by money order or cashier’s check made out to “Consulado del Uruguay”; no personal checks.

Births in the San Francisco district. Request review and appointment at cgsanfrancisco@mrree.gub.uy. Attend with a living transmitting parent and two adult witnesses, all with valid IDs. Bring original apostilled birth and lineage records and home address; use a Uruguayan public translator. The post’s Spanish registration page lists USD 14 by money order or cashier check payable to Consulado del Uruguay. Follow uy-san-francisco-records and uy-san-francisco-attend; the officer prepares the act from the automatic answer sheet. First definitive DNI and passport remain personal procedures in Uruguay.

source ↗

Consulate of Uruguay in Washington

Serves Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, District of Columbia

How: In person; you appear in person
Address: 1913 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20006
Pay: 18 USD, by money order or cashier’s check made out to “Consulate of Uruguay”; no personal checks.

Adult applicants born in the Washington district with a living transmitting parent holding valid Uruguayan identity. Request document review and appointment at cgwashington@mrree.gub.uy. Member attends with that parent and two adult witnesses holding valid IDs; provide the parents’ and witnesses’ home addresses. The officer prepares the act from the reviewed information sheet. Registration costs USD 18 and the consular birth-certificate translation USD 54.

source ↗

What goes in the file (6)

Your apostilled original full US birth certificate
For Miami: Spanish translation by its consulate or a Uruguayan public translator; for New York: translation by a Uruguayan public translator
Both parents’ valid identity documents; the transmitting parent’s valid Uruguayan passport or cédula
For a grandchild: the Uruguay-born grandparent’s Uruguayan birth record and the transmitting parent’s apostilled foreign birth record
For Miami: completed child or grandchild inscription form; for New York: reviewed family answer sheet and the officer-prepared birth act
Two adult witnesses’ valid identity documents; neither witness may be a parent

What goes wrong (9)

The consular inscription produces a Uruguayan-format birth record. That record lets you apply for the DNI (cédula) and then the passport, but the first DNI for a grandchild is issued only at DNIC offices in Uruguay (Colón, Belloni, Ciudad del Plata), in person, UYU 456 (July 2026), from 5 business days up to 90 days. Plan a trip to Montevideo.
Law 19.362 makes grandchildren of a Uruguay-born person natural citizens when their parent is a Uruguayan national by descent (Law 16.021 Art. 2). It does not reach great-grandchildren.
Uruguay separates nationality from citizenship; a person under 16.021/19.362 must also register with the Electoral Court to exercise citizenship, which needs proof before the Corte Electoral of at least two acts of settling in Uruguay (Law 16.021 Arts. 4–5): more than three months in the country, renting or buying a home, opening a business, a job, two months’ enrolment at a school or university, or a similar act.
From AR: the Uruguayan consulates in Argentina (Buenos Aires and others) take the inscription the same way; Spanish documents need only the apostille. From BR: the consulates in Brazil (e.g. São Paulo); Portuguese documents need a Spanish translation. From CA: Montreal (Quebec and Maritimes) or the Ottawa and Toronto posts by place of birth. From GB, AU, NZ, ZA: the embassy for your residence.
The Uruguayan ancestor’s own naturalization abroad does not affect the claim: Constitution Art. 81 keeps a Uruguayan’s nationality even after naturalizing abroad — only the exercise of citizenship rights pauses until the person settles in Uruguay again — so no proof of non-naturalization is needed.
Adult US-born applicants only; the Miami birth district controls, not current residence. A grandchild’s transmitting parent already holds valid Uruguayan identity. First definitive DNI and first passport are completed personally in Uruguay; a provisional DNI is insufficient for the adult passport.
New York’s adult checklist and USD 18 fee appear in the updated adult-specific section of its registration page. Its repeated older USD 14 section is not the offered adult procedure. For New York use uy-new-york-records and uy-new-york-attend; Miami retains its own Word form, payment and translation procedure.
Washington uses the updated USD 18 registration and USD 54 translation checklist on its birth-registration page, replacing that same page’s repeated older USD 14 paragraph. Parents and witnesses must attend under Washington’s checklist. Miami’s downloadable Word form is not a Washington official form.
San Francisco serves the remaining US states under its cited directory, with its own USD 14 registration fee and parent-attendance requirement. Use the officer-prepared act, retain actual completed foreign-register testimony and follow the existing first-document procedure in Uruguay.

source ↗

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

birth1879–2026
Dirección General del Registro de Estado Civil (Ministerio de Educación y Cultura)
Search by name, date and department of birth. Consulates and the DNIC want the Uruguayan ancestor’s birth certificate recently issued (the DNIC asks for one issued within 30 days).
Ask
Online, in Spanish · request page ↗
Takes
1–6 weeks
Good to know (4)
- Ordered online on gub.uy (Solicitud de partidas) by the person’s ID number or by name and date. Births registered from 1 January 2022 are digital and download free; older, handwritten entries cost UYU 153 (urgent UYU 612) and are collected at Avenida Uruguay 933, Montevideo, or posted inside Uruguay, so a relative there picks them up.
- From the United States, the Uruguayan consulate for your state orders it for you: free, 5–10 working days, with a prepaid USPS return envelope and a copy of the requester’s Uruguayan ID; about USD 18 and 4–8 weeks with an apostille (Washington’s terms).
- The Registro de Estado Civil was created by Law 1.430 of 11 February 1879. Earlier births are in Catholic parish baptism books, held by the parish or its diocese.
- Order a fresh copy close to the filing date: the DNIC wants the grandparent’s certificate issued within the last 30 days.
source ↗
birth
Registro de Estado Civil, sección de extranjeros: foreign births of Uruguayans’ children and grandchildren inscribed through a consulate or in Montevideo (Inscripción de partidas extranjeras)
The applicant’s own inscribed birth record (testimonio de partida inscripta en la sección de extranjeros) is what the DNIC asks for; it results from the application below.
Ask
In person, in Spanish · request page ↗
Takes
1–6 months
Good to know (1)
- Foreign births inscribed since 2015 are digital: once the consulate’s inscription reaches Montevideo, the record downloads free on gub.uy under ‘Datos registrales o actas del extranjero’. The DNIC wants it issued within the last 30 days, so download it just before the DNI appointment.
source ↗

Translations

Into: Spanish
Who may translate: A sworn translator in the country
About: $25–$60 a page

Foreign birth certificates must be apostilled (or legalized) and translated into Spanish. For the consular inscription, the U.S. consulates translate a birth certificate themselves for USD 54 a page. For the DNI in Uruguay, every document must be in Spanish or translated by a traductor público registered with the DNIC, which gives out the list; a translation made abroad is not enough there.

source ↗

The passport

Where: DNIC in Uruguay, after the actual first definitive DNI is issued
Fee: About $140
Time: 1–9 weeks

source ↗

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Uruguay.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

3 residence programs lead to Uruguay without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

Every source on this page

2 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.

Through a parentLIKELYCitizen by descent (Law 19.362)Through a grandparentLIKELYCitizen by descent (Law 19.362)Through a great-grandparentUNLIKELYCitizen by descent, generation by generation

Ways to apply: Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)
Dual citizenship: Kept, however you apply

Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.

On this page

01Who qualifies
02Dates that matter
03Through your mother
04Keeping your citizenship
05Ways to apply
06The documents
07What it takes
08Where the records live
09Law changes
10Other options
11Sources

Who qualifies, generation by generation

LIKELY

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a parent?

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Children and grandchildren of Uruguayan nationals born abroad are Uruguayan nationals on registration. Law 19.362 (2015), extending Law 16.021: children and grandchildren of natural-born Uruguayans, Law 19.362

LIKELY

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a grandparent?

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Children and grandchildren of Uruguayan nationals born abroad are Uruguayan nationals on registration. Law 19.362 (2015), extending Law 16.021: children and grandchildren of natural-born Uruguayans, Law 19.362

UNLIKELY

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Uruguayan descent stops at grandchildren of a person born in Uruguay: the law reaches the children of the Uruguay-born and their children, and no further.

What would settle itWhether your parent or grandparent was born in Uruguay; the count starts from the last person born there.

Those born in Uruguay are nationals (Art. 1); their children, wherever born, are nationals too (Art. 2); and the children born abroad of those Art. 2 nationals are natural citizens (Art. 3, as amended in 2015). A great-grandchild of the person born in Uruguay falls outside all three. Law 16.021 (1989), Arts. 1-3, Art. 3 as amended by Law 19.362 (31 December 2015), Arts. 1-3

The dates that matter

2015
Those born in Uruguay are nationals (Art. 1); their children, wherever born, are nationals too (Art. 2); and the children born abroad of those Art. 2 nationals are natural citizens (Art. 3, as amended in 2015). A great-grandchild of the person born in Uruguay falls outside all three. Law 16.021 (1989), Arts. 1-3, Art. 3 as amended by Law 19.362 (31 December 2015), Arts. 1-3

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Uruguay’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Law 19.362 (2015), extending Law 16.021: children and grandchildren of natural-born Uruguayans

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Open to you through a parent or a grandparent

LIKELY
Through a parent

The law

Children and grandchildren of Uruguayan nationals born abroad are Uruguayan nationals on registration. Law 19.362 (2015), extending Law 16.021: children and grandchildren of natural-born Uruguayans, Law 19.362

Citizen by descent, generation by generation

Closed: no one qualifies this way today

UNLIKELY
Through a great-grandparent
Uruguayan descent stops at grandchildren of a person born in Uruguay: the law reaches the children of the Uruguay-born and their children, and no further.

The law

Those born in Uruguay are nationals (Art. 1); their children, wherever born, are nationals too (Art. 2); and the children born abroad of those Art. 2 nationals are natural citizens (Art. 3, as amended in 2015). A great-grandchild of the person born in Uruguay falls outside all three. Law 16.021 (1989), Arts. 1-3, Art. 3 as amended by Law 19.362 (31 December 2015), Arts. 1-3

What would settle an unsure case

Whether your parent or grandparent was born in Uruguay; the count starts from the last person born there.

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Through a parent or grandparent

Your ancestor’s Uruguayan birth certificate
Birth and marriage records for each generation to you, apostilled and translated
The result is a Uruguayan cédula and passport

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

Time: A few months at the consulate or Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil to register and receive a cédula; a passport follows once you hold it.
Cost: About $200–400: apostilled and translated U.S. records and the cédula fee. The registration itself is inexpensive.
The hard part: Uruguay separates nationality from citizenship. The paperwork proves your ancestor’s Uruguayan nationality by birth in Uruguay; the deliverable is a cédula, and a passport is a separate later step.
Who decides: The Uruguayan consulate for your address, or the Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil in Montevideo.
The first record: Your ancestor’s Uruguayan birth certificate, from The Dirección General del Registro del Estado Civil. Order the certified copy online or through the consulate with the name and approximate birthdate; a few weeks. gub.uy

How it’s filed

Where: The offered Uruguayan consulate for your birth district: Miami, New York, Washington or San Francisco office list
How: In person; you appear in person
Form: Birth-inscription answers: Miami child or grandchild form, or New York officer-prepared act
Appointments: Birth-registration document review and appointment by email. Member emails completed form and scans to cdmiami@mrree.gub.uy or cgmiami@mrree.gub.uy. The post assigns an appointment after document review. Adult attends with two witnesses; parents need not attend. New York applicants request an appointment at cdnuevayork@mrree.gub.uy with the reviewed answer sheet, original-record scans and home address; the officer prepares the actual birth act. Use the selected post’s payment methods and payee. Washington applicants request review and an appointment at cgwashington@mrree.gub.uy; a parent and two witnesses attend with the member. Use uy-washington-records and uy-washington-attend. San Francisco: request review and an appointment at cgsanfrancisco@mrree.gub.uy; your living parent and two adult witnesses attend with you. Use this post’s published USD 14 fee and Spanish payee.
Fee: About $18
Decision: 2–9 months
Your records: Apostilled, and translated. Miami accepts a Uruguayan public translator or its own Spanish translation at USD 54 per page, up to five pages. The offered route uses the consular translation. New York uses a Uruguayan public translator under its own registration checklist; approve the translator’s written quote before ordering.

Your consulate

Every office in the United States (4)

Consulate of Uruguay in Miami

Serves Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

How: In person; you appear in person
Address: 2103 Coral Way, Suite 600, Miami, FL 33145
Pay: 18 USD, by credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or money order made out to “Consulate of Uruguay in Miami”; no personal checks.

source ↗

Consulate of Uruguay in New York

Serves Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin

How: In person; you appear in person
Address: 633 Third Avenue, Suite 13G, New York, NY 10017
Pay: 18 USD, by money order or cashier’s check made out to “Consulado del Uruguay”; no personal checks.

source ↗

Consulate of Uruguay in San Francisco

How: In person; you appear in person
Address: 111 Pine St, Suite 1650, San Francisco, CA 94111
Pay: 14 USD, by money order or cashier’s check made out to “Consulado del Uruguay”; no personal checks.

source ↗

Consulate of Uruguay in Washington

Serves Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, District of Columbia

How: In person; you appear in person
Address: 1913 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20006
Pay: 18 USD, by money order or cashier’s check made out to “Consulate of Uruguay”; no personal checks.

source ↗

What goes in the file (6)

Your apostilled original full US birth certificate
For Miami: Spanish translation by its consulate or a Uruguayan public translator; for New York: translation by a Uruguayan public translator
Both parents’ valid identity documents; the transmitting parent’s valid Uruguayan passport or cédula
For a grandchild: the Uruguay-born grandparent’s Uruguayan birth record and the transmitting parent’s apostilled foreign birth record
For Miami: completed child or grandchild inscription form; for New York: reviewed family answer sheet and the officer-prepared birth act
Two adult witnesses’ valid identity documents; neither witness may be a parent

What goes wrong (9)

The consular inscription produces a Uruguayan-format birth record. That record lets you apply for the DNI (cédula) and then the passport, but the first DNI for a grandchild is issued only at DNIC offices in Uruguay (Colón, Belloni, Ciudad del Plata), in person, UYU 456 (July 2026), from 5 business days up to 90 days. Plan a trip to Montevideo.
Law 19.362 makes grandchildren of a Uruguay-born person natural citizens when their parent is a Uruguayan national by descent (Law 16.021 Art. 2). It does not reach great-grandchildren.
Uruguay separates nationality from citizenship; a person under 16.021/19.362 must also register with the Electoral Court to exercise citizenship, which needs proof before the Corte Electoral of at least two acts of settling in Uruguay (Law 16.021 Arts. 4–5): more than three months in the country, renting or buying a home, opening a business, a job, two months’ enrolment at a school or university, or a similar act.
From AR: the Uruguayan consulates in Argentina (Buenos Aires and others) take the inscription the same way; Spanish documents need only the apostille. From BR: the consulates in Brazil (e.g. São Paulo); Portuguese documents need a Spanish translation. From CA: Montreal (Quebec and Maritimes) or the Ottawa and Toronto posts by place of birth. From GB, AU, NZ, ZA: the embassy for your residence.
The Uruguayan ancestor’s own naturalization abroad does not affect the claim: Constitution Art. 81 keeps a Uruguayan’s nationality even after naturalizing abroad — only the exercise of citizenship rights pauses until the person settles in Uruguay again — so no proof of non-naturalization is needed.
Adult US-born applicants only; the Miami birth district controls, not current residence. A grandchild’s transmitting parent already holds valid Uruguayan identity. First definitive DNI and first passport are completed personally in Uruguay; a provisional DNI is insufficient for the adult passport.
New York’s adult checklist and USD 18 fee appear in the updated adult-specific section of its registration page. Its repeated older USD 14 section is not the offered adult procedure. For New York use uy-new-york-records and uy-new-york-attend; Miami retains its own Word form, payment and translation procedure.
Washington uses the updated USD 18 registration and USD 54 translation checklist on its birth-registration page, replacing that same page’s repeated older USD 14 paragraph. Parents and witnesses must attend under Washington’s checklist. Miami’s downloadable Word form is not a Washington official form.
San Francisco serves the remaining US states under its cited directory, with its own USD 14 registration fee and parent-attendance requirement. Use the officer-prepared act, retain actual completed foreign-register testimony and follow the existing first-document procedure in Uruguay.

source ↗

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

birth1879–2026
Dirección General del Registro de Estado Civil (Ministerio de Educación y Cultura)
Search by name, date and department of birth. Consulates and the DNIC want the Uruguayan ancestor’s birth certificate recently issued (the DNIC asks for one issued within 30 days).
Ask
Online, in Spanish · request page ↗
Takes
1–6 weeks
Good to know (4)
- Ordered online on gub.uy (Solicitud de partidas) by the person’s ID number or by name and date. Births registered from 1 January 2022 are digital and download free; older, handwritten entries cost UYU 153 (urgent UYU 612) and are collected at Avenida Uruguay 933, Montevideo, or posted inside Uruguay, so a relative there picks them up.
- From the United States, the Uruguayan consulate for your state orders it for you: free, 5–10 working days, with a prepaid USPS return envelope and a copy of the requester’s Uruguayan ID; about USD 18 and 4–8 weeks with an apostille (Washington’s terms).
- The Registro de Estado Civil was created by Law 1.430 of 11 February 1879. Earlier births are in Catholic parish baptism books, held by the parish or its diocese.
- Order a fresh copy close to the filing date: the DNIC wants the grandparent’s certificate issued within the last 30 days.
source ↗
birth
Registro de Estado Civil, sección de extranjeros: foreign births of Uruguayans’ children and grandchildren inscribed through a consulate or in Montevideo (Inscripción de partidas extranjeras)
The applicant’s own inscribed birth record (testimonio de partida inscripta en la sección de extranjeros) is what the DNIC asks for; it results from the application below.
Ask
In person, in Spanish · request page ↗
Takes
1–6 months
Good to know (1)
- Foreign births inscribed since 2015 are digital: once the consulate’s inscription reaches Montevideo, the record downloads free on gub.uy under ‘Datos registrales o actas del extranjero’. The DNIC wants it issued within the last 30 days, so download it just before the DNI appointment.
source ↗

Translations

Into: Spanish
Who may translate: A sworn translator in the country
About: $25–$60 a page

source ↗

The passport

Where: DNIC in Uruguay, after the actual first definitive DNI is issued
Fee: About $140
Time: 1–9 weeks

source ↗

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Uruguay.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

3 residence programs lead to Uruguay without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

Every source on this page

2 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a parent?

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a grandparent?

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a great-grandparent?

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Uruguay.

Who qualifies, generation by generation

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a parent?

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a grandparent?

Can you claim Uruguayan citizenship through a great-grandparent?

The dates that matter

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Dual citizenship with your home country

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The law

The law

What would settle an unsure case

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by descent (Law 19.362)

How it’s filed

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

Translations

The passport

Recent and pending changes

If descent doesn’t reach you

Every source on this page

Check your family for Uruguay.