Working in Uruguay as a French Citizen: Residence, Salaries, Taxes and Contributions

A French passport allows entry without a visa for 90 days, but that stay is for tourism: to work as an employee, the normal route is temporary legal residence, applied for online on gub.uy with the National Directorate of Migration (DNM). It is granted for a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 2 years, renewable, with an extension request filed within the 90 days before expiry. For an employee, the supporting document is a letter on the employer’s letterhead stating the activity, the length of the contract and monthly pay at least equal to the national minimum wage, accompanied by a notarised certificate or a named work history issued by the BPS, the social security institute (gub.uy).

The fees are 557.30 UI for residence, 55.70 UI for the migration certificate needed for the identity card and 225.60 UI per re-entry permit if you leave the country during the procedure. The file also requires a criminal record certificate of national scope, a vaccination certificate issued in Uruguay and a work health card, with foreign documents apostilled and translated. Those under 30 can aim for the working holiday programme, which requires insurance covering illness, hospitalisation, maternity and repatriation (see working holiday (PVT) insurance).

Once salaried employment is declared, Uruguayan social security law applies, to the employee and to family members living in Uruguay (CLEISS). Before departure, CLEISS recommends asking the health insurance fund for form SE 423-02, which certifies the totalisation of insurance periods, and informing the CPAM (the local health insurance office), the CAF (the family allowances fund) and France Travail (the employment agency). The guide for employees working abroad details these steps.

The national minimum wage is set by decree of the Executive Branch and revised periodically; it is about 25,000 pesos a month. The daily wage is obtained by dividing the monthly amount by 25, the hourly wage by dividing it by 200 (Ministry of Labour and Social Security). Above this floor, pay is negotiated by sector within the Wage Councils, whose bargaining rounds the ministry follows.

The National Institute of Statistics and the Ministry of Labour publish labour market data, which make it possible to place a job offer against the local market. A salary offered in pesos is exposed to local inflation, whereas a contract denominated in euros or dollars follows exchange-rate movements: the “Economic indicators” block of this page gives the updated indicators (growth, inflation, unemployment, exchange rate).

The employment contract is concluded in Spanish and the employee receives, by law, a thirteenth month (aguinaldo) and holiday pay; these two items are taxed separately, at a proportional rate equal to the maximum marginal rate of the IRPF (DGI page). The precise terms of notice, leave and working time are found in the Ministry of Labour texts or confirmed with a local notary.

The CLEISS contribution table distinguishes the risks. For an employee in the general scheme, the basic sickness contribution is 3% payable by the employee and 5% by the employer; invalidity, old age and survivors account for 15% for the employee and 7.5% for the employer; the occupational retraining fund adds 0.10% on each side. The total reaches 18.10% for the employee and from 19.525% to 40.125% for the employer, depending on the employer contribution for enhanced-service credits (from 6.9% to 27.5%) and the work-accident insurance premium.

Self-employed workers are covered for sickness, maternity, invalidity, old age and death, but neither for unemployment nor for family benefits. Their contribution is 8% for sickness, 22.5% for invalidity, old age and survivors, and 0.10% for the retraining fund. The national minimum monthly wage is revised periodically (see above).

The sickness contribution funds the National Health Fund (FONASA): the detail of the employee-share rates, from 3% to 8% depending on income and family situation, appears on the page on the healthcare system in Uruguay. Retirement is built through a public pay-as-you-go scheme run by the BPS and, for some insured people, through an individual savings scheme run by the AFAPs, as the page on retiring in Uruguay explains.

Tax residence is determined on 31 December each year, and meeting just one of the grounds used by the DGI is enough: more than 183 days of presence in the calendar year; habitual residence of the spouse and minor dependent children; main centre of activities, meaning the highest gross income obtained in Uruguay; or holding a qualifying investment, for example real estate worth more than 3,500,000 UI acquired from 1 July 2020 with at least 60 days of presence in the year. Residents come under the IRPF, non-residents under the IRNR.

For an employee’s earned income, the IRPF is a progressive tax: it is due when nominal monthly income exceeds 7 BPC, the BPC (benefits and contributions base) being worth about 6,600 pesos according to CLEISS and revalued every year. Deductions apply for retirement contributions, FONASA and dependent children, at a rate of 14% if annual nominal income is below 180 BPC and 8% beyond. The employer withholds the tax at source; the DGI’s monthly and annual simulators make it possible to check the calculation.

New tax residents have an optional regime, exercised only once using form 0306. For tax residence acquired from 2020, two choices exist for investment income from foreign sources: the IRNR during the year of the change and the following ten tax years, with no tax on that income, or the IRPF at a rate of 7% with no time limit, instead of 12%. Earned income comes under the IRPF in every case. No France-Uruguay tax treaty appears in the sources consulted: the allocation of taxing rights between the two States, notably for a French pension, should therefore be checked with the French tax authorities.

The France-Uruguay social security agreement, signed on 6 December 2010 and in force since 1 July 2014, sets the length of secondment at 24 months. Secondment cannot be used to replace a worker who has reached the end of theirs, and a derogation remains possible with the agreement of the authorities of both countries. The seconded employee keeps French health insurance with no additional contribution: care received in Uruguay is reimbursed under French legislation on paid invoices, using form S 3125c (CLEISS). See also seconded or expatriate.

A self-employed person joins the Uruguayan scheme at the rates above and is not entitled to unemployment insurance or family benefits. A remote worker who remains an employee of a foreign company must, on the other hand, check their residence situation: legal residence requires proof of resources, and tax residence is acquired from 183 days of presence. The rules specific to digital nomads are set out in the guide to digital nomad visas.

The Uruguayan economy has diversified towards paper, trade, services and tourism, while remaining closely tied to farming and livestock; the currency is the Uruguayan peso. The country’s main customers are Brazil (about 20% of exports), China (about 17%) and the United States (about 8%), according to France Diplomatie, the French foreign ministry.

The Treasury Directorate-General, cited by France Diplomatie in its economic sheet, counts some sixty French companies in Uruguay, often with a regional headquarters, and identifies waste management, green finance and renewable energy as growth areas. Trade between France and Uruguay reaches nearly 400 million euros a year. For a qualified profile, these sectors and business services are the main openings identified by official French sources.