Okay this is more of a journal at the moment- I dont even think I'll link to this- but as an autistic, navigating paperwork is hard enough, let alone paperwork in another language so I'm going to lay out how to get a digital nomad visa in Urugay in plain english with as much detail as possible. To be clear, this is US-UYU but it might be helpful for anybody.
get documents-
-FBI background check (youll need it appostled but that has to be requested AFTER the check is complete)
-Appostled birth cert (depending on your state you might can do this online, or you have to go into the office)
-Appostled name changes/marriage records as needed (again, might can do this online, might need to go in, depends on your state)
-Passport (very important)
-Pap smear if you're AFAB
-Flights
-If you're bringing pets- find a USDA certified vet (if your vet isn't one, they will have one to recomend to you) and call them to make an appointment- tell them you're flying your pet to Uruguay, tell them your flight date, and any layovers you have. They will schedule an appointment for you, has to be within a certain window, about 10 days before your flight. There will be paperwork to fill out before you get there, they will tell you what it is, and they will give your pet some flea meds (at least for cats, idk about dogs), send a form by email to the USDA and Uruguay for you, and then email it to you once it's completed by both governments. Print this out and keep it with your pet while traveling. If your pet is not vaccinated, they will need those too and could make it a more complicated/longer process, but our boy was already vaccinated.
-Do not fly American Airlines to Uruguay with pets. They say they can do it on the website, and then will tell you they cant and keep your money when you cancle your flight.
-We flew LatAm and they were great.
-Talk to your doctor and get 3 months of your meds. Your insurance might not cover 3 months, but pay for it out of pocket, you're allowed to have 3 months of your meds (unless its like, ADHD schedule meds).
-Bring a spare USB drive with you
-Get travel insurance- idk how long. We fucked up and couldn't get any, but you should probably have it. We were denied for the only one I found that covers Uruguay (SafetyWing?) so idk
Bonus:
-Downlod google translate onto your phone. Your phone probably wont work in Uruguay, but GT has an offline feature. Download the offline spanish pack, and it will help SO MUCH
-Our phones still gave us GPS even though we didnt get service. Maybe yours will too- but that alone was very helpful.
-You have to have whatsapp to get around talking to buisnesses here. I know we hate Meta in this house but you have to have it to talk to doctors and buisnesses and anybody.
-Download whatever apps you want before you leave- if you dont have service you can't two-factor auth downloads. So if you want something like Signal downloaded so you can talk to friends and family on something other than a Meta service, download that before you leave.
when you get here-
To get the digital nomad visa:
-You dont have to do shit for 3 months, you're on a travel visa that you didnt have to do anything for, it comes free with your US passport.
-In order to get state insurance, you do need your visa finalized, so start this process as needed, depending on your travel insurance/level of anxiety/etc
-Make a Gub.uy (gooby) accoount. This is called a "Digital ID" in everyone elses tutorials.
-Once you have a gooby, you can apply for a "Provisional Identification" which is the digital nomad visa.
Here
-It's the "Start Now" button on this page. Hot tip- use chrome or a translation extension if you're struggling so you can see the page in english.
-Once you agree to the terms, you'll click the second bubble of the form "Digital Nomad", fill out your information, stick a picture of your passport in, and then
-Download the affidavit form you have to fill out and stick it on a USB drive, take it to a copy shop, and pay 5 pesos to get it printed
-Fill it out and scan it in and attach it to your application.
-You cannot pay for your application online without a urugayian bank account. So on the payment page, click "Abitab" and okay. You now have 24 hours to pay.
-Download the pdf of the barcode it gives you to your USB and go back to the print shop and print those.
-Abitab is a physical store you can pay bills at. They are everywhere and it will not be hard to find one. THEY ALSO DO NOT TAKE FOREIGN CARDS! Some do! But some dont and if you're worried about a language barrier, just bring your barcodes and cash.
-Keep your receipt!!
-Hit "finalize" on your application.
-they will email you your visa application certificate! Go back to the copy store and print this out!!!
-we hit a wall and went to the physical office to schedule our appointment at this point. Rincon 665 in Ciudad Viaje. It looks like a DMV, the people behind the glass can help, they'll print out your appointment time for you. You have to pay in cash again.
To pull out money:
-BANRED ATMS say they can do international withdrawls. They can, but only on Visa cards. Our Mastercard kept timing out and canceling. They are everywhere though.
-For Mastercard...
To get a bus pass:
-Bring your passport to an Abitab, and ask for a bus pass. One bus pass can do multiple people so you dont HAVE to get multiple passes if you dont want to.
-Its not much, like 500 pesos maybe, remember to bring cash just in case they cant take your card.
-You can also fill it up at the Abitab when you first make it.
-Bus rides are about 80 pesos each, you boop your card AND take the paper ticket. This took getting used to as a Seattlite. The card is only for paying, and doesn't track your rides or allow you to trasfer. So if transit officers come on (I havent seen them here but Im used to them in Seattle) you need the paper ticket, and if you transfer a bus, you have to pay again. UNLESS you ask the bus driver for your "2 hour pass" which give you a transfer ticket good for 2 hours.
To get a phone:
-You need a urugaun phone number for a lot of stuff, like getting a bank acount.
-There are 3 brands- the national brand, Claro, and another I forget. They're all fine. We got a friend to help us buy a phone with the national brand.
To get a bank account
-You might have noticed you need a bank account to pay for a lot of stuff.
-I was lucky enough to stumble upon a job within two months of getting here, and if you get a job, the bank will let you open an account for free/with no minimum deposit because you have to have somewhere for your direct deposits to go.
To get "Insurance"
-We were really American-pilled and thought we had to have insurance.
-You CAN become "members" of a private hospital. Hospital Britanica is known for having a lot of staff that speaks english, so we wanted to start there. Unfortunately when I came in to schedule our intake appointments, they said we weren't allowed to become members because we have both had cancer.
-Private hospitals cost a lot (like 500/month, which isn't much in the US for insurance but is a lot here) and the public hospitals are free and appointments and things cost "like 80 pesos" and "the same doctors work at both" according to our friends. We're sticking to this for now.
-Pharmacies will be able to sell you basically any med that isn't a brain-medicine over the counter. So SSRIs, ADHD meds, those things will need an Uruguyan perscription, but everything else you should be able to bring your bottle or US perscription and they can sort it out.
-This website is for applying for state insurance. This is what you need the pap smear for.
To translate your documents for the second 6 months/residency:
-This website Colegiotraductores has a list of official translators you can email. For the second 6 months of the visa, you just need your birth certificates translated. For residency, you're going to want stuff like your FBI background check, marriage certifs, name changes, stuff like that.