Uruguay: Procedure to obtain or recover Uruguayan citizenship for a person born to an Uruguayan mother outside Uruguay; whether there are any conditions for entering and/or staying in Uruguay; whether the granting of Uruguayan citizenship for such a person is automatic or discretionary

The information that follows was provided by a consular officer at the Embassy of Uruguay in Ottawa during an 18 July 2003 telephone interview.

To claim the right to Uruguayan natural citizenship (ciudadanía natural), an adult person who was born outside Uruguay to an Uruguayan father or mother (only one Uruguayan parent needed) should approach an Uruguayan consulate and prove his or her Uruguayan parental lineage (filiación). This is done by presenting a birth certificate that identifies the applicant's parents, and a birth certificate of the father or mother proving that he or she was born in Uruguay.

A law interpreting the pertinent constitutional articles (ley interpretativa) has defined that natural citizenship by virtue of being born abroad to an Uruguayan parent does not apply if the parent was not born in Uruguay.

Once the right to Uruguayan natural citizenship has been proved before consular authorities, the applicant can obtain an identity document (cédula). The cédula is issued by authorities in Uruguay and referred to the consulate abroad; the process could take up to two or three months. Only after the cédula number has been issued and received, can the consulate issue a passport; the passport must carry the same number as the cédula.

It must be noted that the cédula and passport are identity and travel documents that do not constitute in themselves allowance to fully exercise the rights of citizenship in Uruguay, such as voting and being elected to public office. The exercise of full citizenship rights is allowed once the person meets certain requisites that demonstrate an established link to the country; these requisites include a period of residency in Uruguay, and presenting to the electoral court in Uruguay documents that show liens to the territory, such as land ownership or other. The document that proves a person's entitlement to exercising full citizenship rights, including voting, is the credencial cívica, which is issued by the national civic registry (registro cívico nacional).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Reference

Uruguay. 18 July 2003. Embassy of Uruguay, Ottawa. Telephone interview with consular officer.

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases.

Internet sites and search engines, including:

Defense Personnel Security Research Center (DPSRC), San Francisco

Government of Uruguay

International Organization for Migration

Political Database of the Americas

Resource Information Centre (RIC), Washington, DC

UNHCR Refworld and UN searchable archives