For travel within Mercosur—as well as Chile and Bolivia—Uruguayan citizens do not need a passport, as they may use their national identity document instead. Since October 16, 2015, the Ministry of the Interior has issued biometric passports that meet ICAO and U.S. Visa Waiver Program standards.[2]
According to the 2025 Henley Passport Index, Uruguayan nationals had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 157 countries and territories, ranking the Uruguayan passport 23rd in terms of travel freedom.[3]
Legal citizens
Since the Constitution of Uruguay distinguishes between “nationality” and “citizenship,” only individuals born in Uruguay, or those born abroad to an Oriental (i.e., Uruguayan) parent or grandparent, are considered “Uruguayan nationals”.[4][5] Consequently, Uruguay does not grant nationality through naturalization; instead confers "legal citizenship" to foreign residents who meet certain requirements.[A][6][7]
Because of this constitutional terminological distinction, a foreigner who became a legal citizen and obtained a Uruguayan passport would have their original nationality listed in the passport’s “nationality” field.[8] This has caused complications with visa requirements and international recognition, since nationality—not citizenship—is the basis for these procedures.[9] In April 2025, the National Directorate of Civil Identification decided to replace the passport’s “Nationality” field with a combined “Citizenship/Nationality” field, using the URY code for both national and legal citizens so that the issuing country and the holder’s citizenship coincide.[10] The “birthplace” field was also removed.[11] However, in August 2025, after the new passports without the “birthplace” field were rejected in France, Germany, and Japan, Uruguay reversed the decision and reinstated the field.[12][13]
By contrast, countries such as the United States also distinguish between citizens and nationals, but this does not create issues, as both categories use the same nationality code in the "nationality" field, ensuring consistency in international travel documents.[14]
↑ Only natural-born citizens—individuals born within the national territory, as well as children of a Uruguayan father or mother—hold Uruguayan nationality.
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Uruguay 
