Advice for expats moving to Uruguay (or anywhere else)

Casapueblo, Uruguay
Hi Fernando,
I just came upon your blog in my search about Uruguay. Did you and
your family eventually move there? We live in the US and are
considering a move to Uruguay and have no idea where to start. I
wanted to ask you some questions if you are living there or if you
know someone who does.

Thanks,
Tiffany
.
Hello Tiffany. I’m not in Uruguay and not planning to move there any time soon. We never planned to do so really. In fact the last person from Uruguay I talked with already emigrated and is now happily living in Ireland. She left with her family looking for the kind of stability and opportunities Uruguay simply couldn’t provide. Still, Uruguay is the country I have recommended in my book “Bugging Out and Relocating” for those looking to move to South America.

So as to contact people there my suggestion would be to start with the obvious “expats in Uruguay” search and go from there. Participate in forums, get to know people. Keep in mind though that one man’s paradise is another man’s hell.
If you want my opinion, basically what I said in this video is still very much true.
Uruguay can be a great place for you. Or Argentina. Or Colombia. Or Thailand. Or Canada. Or India.

Also Uruguay
But since you ask me and I’m not a magazine or website editor trying to hook you up with anything here’s some honesty/tough love: While you may be happy in any of those places, there’s some facts you can’t avoid. Canada is simply better as a place to live in than India. Or Colombia. Or Thailand. This is not me expressing an opinion, but a simple observation of pretty conclusive data.  Indicators of quality of life, healthcare, crime, life expectancy, GDP, education, infrastructure, employment, transportation, cost of living, and a long etcetera points in a certain direction. Uruguay is nice. Its relatively peaceful and simple living. Millions live there happily and wouldn’t trade it for anything else… just like millions of people in other countries.

My point is be honest with what you want to find in Uruguay, or anywhere else. This is one of the main points I focus on in “Bugging out and Relocating” when it comes to moving abroad. Expectations. Crime in Uruguay will be much better if you’re from Chicago, but it will be much worse if you come from Maine. Either way you’ll experience a clash of cultures. People all over Latin America are mostly used to getting by with less. Less of everything. Computers, cars, cell phones, many of these will be luxuries for you. Organization and overall bureaucracy is a lot worse, and I know this drives many people from developed countries nuts.

Now, if you want a friendly, family oriented culture you will find it in Uruguay. Family and friends, the importance of relationships between people is stronger and simply more of a priority all over Latin America compared to most of the developed world. Friends hug one another more, people greet each other with a kiss in the cheek, it just seems overall more “touchy” which some people aren’t comfortable with but it’s not meant to be sensual in any way, its just a more expressive culture in the way they interact with one another. For example people in Uruguay don’t doubt a second about sharing mate, where everyone drinks form the same straw. It’s the same in Argentina. An American more worried about personal space and worried about sharing a glass let alone a metal straw is hardly the kind of person that would integrate well in Uruguay. Then again you could focus more on being among expats from your same country, most of which went there with the same ideas and expectations, maybe even more important LEFT your country for the same reason and you just get along great with them, sticking among like-minded people in somewhat of an enclave.
My advice is be honest with yourself. The expectations you have and what you are likely to encounter there. There’s a tremendous difference between the developed and developing world. Everything sounds fantastic until you realize that other than some honourable exceptions pretty much everything is more expensive in Uruguay than in USA.

Once you are certain you want to give it a go, don’t make any permanent decision. Give it a year. Don’t sell your home in USA, rent it out and rent in Uruguay. The first year is usually the “honeymoon” period where everything looks great. The second and third year will be more down to earth but a year minimum is the time you should give it before making any permanent decisions you may later regret.
Best of luck and as the Irish saying goes, May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”

Bugging Out and Relocation: Uruguay

 Punta del Este is very nice... and expensive.

Never having been to Uruguay ... Where would be your top five choices

to relocate family ? Reasons may vary ... but could you mention the

main reason for each of the five choices ?

Thank you for all your studies & shares !

Ron

Hello Ron,

Below is part of the Chapter on Uruguay from my new book “Bugging Out and Relocating”.

Uruguay is nice but it has two important disadvantages to keep in mind: 1)It is still South America. There’s still considerable crime, the infrastructure is still poor overall and even the most basic task that could get resolved over the phone in five minutes in USA or other developed nation may take waiting in line in some crowded office all day. 2)Uruguay is not as cheap as you would expect. Sure, some people there may live on 1000 USD a month or less, but then again those that live with that kind of money do so in poor homes, have no car and none of the luxuries you take for granted in USA. For middle or upper middle class quality of life, Uruguay will be more expensive than USA and most other developed nations.

Especially with a country like Uruguay, you want to be close to the capital . My advice would be to find a place within your budget close enough to Montevideo. In more developed countries cities can generally stand on their own. Not so in South America. In general, its in the capital where you get everything done, from running errands to finding somewhat reasonable prices.  

Excerpt from the chapter on Uruguay from  “Bugging Out and Relocation”:

Where to Live

Punta del Este is where the rich and famous gather in Uruguay. It’s as exclusive as it is expensive.

Montevideo is the capital city and would be a good choice for younger people looking to work and study in Uruguay. Pocitos and Punta Carretas are favored by expats. Carrasco and Punta Gorda are good options too. These are some of the best neighborhoods in Montevideo.

A bit further away from Montevideo but still close enough for when you need anything and also popular among expats, Atlántida and La Floresta are good, affordable alternatives. If you are looking for a nice summer resort town, consider Piriápolis.

Rocha, in the department of Maldonado, is a good choice for those looking for a smaller town and a quiet lifestyle close to the beach. It is a bit further away from Montevideo going north along the Atlantic coast, yet close enough for when you need to visit the capital. Colonia del Sacramento is another great little town. It is located to the west of Montevideo and it is closer to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ferry services to Buenos Aires city are available.

Expats Opinion: Argentina vs. Uruguay

While doing some more research (Dear God, I need to sleep) to wrap up my upcoming book I came across an expats opinion on living in Argentina compared to Uruguay.

I think it is interesting to see someone else’s opinion. It does reflect my own but sometimes I’m afraid of not being as objective as I would like to be. 

In this case though, I agree 100%. Regarding driving, anyone that can drive in Argentina can drive anywhere else in the world, blindfolded and with one arm freshly amputated. I’m not exaggerating. Not one bit.

Expats Found it Easier to Move to Uruguay than to Argentina

"I faced the same choice 2 years ago, Uruguay or Argentina. I already had an apartment in Buenos Aires, wanted to relocate from coastal Brazil and did not want to live in a big city. We ended up near Punta del Este (but a world away in many respects) in Uruguay. The political and financial situation in Argentina is impossible. A few months ago it was impossible to get dollars (by decree of the President) and no one outside of Argentina wants their pesos. Inflation is 25-30%. I gave up trying to get residency. We still have our apartment in BA and enjoy the 35 minute flight from Punta to be in a great city every month. Since you mentioned you need to be near an airport there is one (Laguna del Sauce) 5 minutes from our house. And Uruguay seems very stable, the people are friendly, inflation is 7% and banking is easy. Both countries have winters and August is particularly gloomy. If you are visiting in July and August you will see the worst of the weather. I thought I would share my experiences with both countries," explained one expat in Punta del Este.

……….

You will have to have a car anywhere outside of Montevideo, whereas in the city you won't need one. (Frankly...I wouldn't DRIVE in Argentina, much less own a car. I've lived in Mediteranean Europe, Mexico, etc...and Argentina is BY FAR the most dangerous place to drive I have ever seen. Noone stops...EVER. Uruguay by contrast is simply 'sort of bad', comparable to many other places outside the U.S."

 http://www.expatexchange.com/ctryguide/4172/115/Uruguay/Expat-Uruguay-10-Tips-for-Living-in-Uruguay

Relocating and Gun Ownership in Uruguay

Hi Fernando,
Glad to hear you’re still enjoying your new home country.  My mother and I are going through the residency application for Uruguay.  I re-read today your sole blog on this country.  Would appreciate any leads, tips, anything.  As I mentioned, we lived in Argentina and still know a few people there but we don’t know anyone in Uruguay.  I still can handle Spanish and could make new friends.  My mother is in her late 70s. She takes high blood pressure medicine but otherwise generally in good health.  Do you think it may be difficult to obtain health insurance for her?  Also would you know what laws governs the import/export and ownership of precious metals in-country? I couldn’t find anything readily on the internet.  Also did you just take what you could with you, two pieces of luggage, or did you have things shipped to you?
 thanks
 Saludos
 Dan

Hi Dan, since you already lived in Argentina you already have a good idea of what its like to be in a Latin country. Uruguay being just across the river from Buenos Aires, Uruguay is strongly linked to porteños and Argentina in general so it wont be that much of a change. On the other hand and one of the things I like the most about it, there’s much less corruption in Uruguay and while crime is increasing its not nearly as bad. There’s an important American expat community in Uruguay as you’ll quickly see googling about it. Uruguay is still a Latin American country, certainly not a first world country but as close as it gets for Latin American terms. I’ve mentioned it several times, it would be one of my first choices if I had to stay in South America.

Uruguay has pretty acceptable free medical care, so once you get your residency you can have medical care for both of you. I’d still ask about it in the embassy for more details. I know you can have private medical care but I’ve read that even then some people prefer the free one because its not tainted by financial interest when it comes to medical care and treatments.  A good private provider would be very good no doubt, but its just nice to know that you always have the free medical care just in case. Private health insurance for your mother may be hard to get and it will certainly be expensive, but give that if the residency gets through, you’ll have the free one. Again, its better to ask in the embassy and expat blogs so as to know which clinics are best and other details of relevance.

About gold, yes, you can own precious metals in Uruguay, buy and sell them, but you’ll be taxed if you enter precious metals to the country.
Yes, when I left we took two suitcases each, that was it. We left stuff back in Argentina and sometimes family and friends traveling bring us some of it. When you do something like that you see how little you need to get by and that what really matters in life, well, its certainly not stuff. It is nice though, having your things, your belongings, there´s nothing wrong with that and I sure would like to have a nice firearms collection again some day (heck, gear is piling around me already!), but I know I don’t need it to live happily.

Hello Ferfal,
Love your blog. My wife and i have plans to relocate to Uruguay in the near future. My only concern is being able to take my firearms with me. That will make or brake the deal. I do not intend on leaving my Tools behind. I own a 12 gauge pump shotgun and an AR 15 semi automatic M4 style Carbine chambered for 5.56 and .223 ammo. I will be purchasing A pistol caliber rifle soon and possibly a pistol as well. I would like to know if those two rifles are allowed and if so what do i have to do to enter the country legally with my firearms?
You may respond in Spanish or English if you like.
Regards,
D-

Yes, you can bring your firearms to Uruguay. What you need to begin with is a “tenencia”(gun ownership), for this you’ll have to ask around gunstores and clubs in Uruguay because you require a psychiatric test, firearms handling course among other standard paperwork. Clubs and gunstores usually have people that can do these things for you. The M4 though, that may be very hard or even impossible to import. There’s a chance there’s some collectors license or loophole of some sort, but if there is one I don’t know of it, and most likely it will be expensive. You can have your handguns though, shotguns, lever action carbines and bolt guns, even a carry license is possible eventually with additional instruction and paperwork, but you should start with the “tenencia” ownership. Basically you can be armed ok in Uruguay, maybe not AR and AKs, but still good enough to have your basic defensive tools.
This link of American expats may be of help regarding guns. Notice that you cant escape anti gun American liberals even if moving to Uruguay!
http://board.totaluruguay.com/Expat/Owning_guns_in_Uruguay
Join the forum discussion on this post!
FerFAL

Relocating to Uruguay?

Its no secret that survivalism, disguised under its more politically correct term “preparedness” is in vogue these days. Its been several years now since wilderness survival TV shows have caught the attention of the audience, combining entertainment with all important survival information such as how to properly drink elephant urine (or your own for that matter) and how to pretend to jump into a category 5 white water river, pretending to do it using your pants alone when you actually have a flotation device hidden beneath. Even something like pretending to sleep outdoors during extreme cold when the truth is that both survival expert and crew spend the night at the Holiday Inn has caused the death of people already. As the “end of the world” market grows, articles recommending one location or another without any logic to it are more and more common.

Funny enough, Uruguay is rarely mentioned or recommended. While 100% mainland dependant islands or 3^rd world hell holes seem to be the favorite destination if SHTF for most freelance writers, this little gem goes unnoticed by many couch commandos. I already knew about Uruguay, have traveled there before an that’s why in my book I recommended it as the best alternative for relocation in South America. Chile is somewhat similar in terms of social stability but its more expensive, and lets not forget the little issue about being steadily sinking into the Pacific.

Last week I traveled to Colonia del Sacramento. I’ve never been there before and I liked it even more than Montevideo and Punta del Este, almost an ideal location for a survivalist.

What does Uruguay have in its favor?

Location is very much ideal if you want to be away from the main world powers. Usually this would be more of a disadvantage, but if you’re worried about powerful countries nuking each other, this is preferred. At the same its just an hour away from Buenos Aires in boat. I took the slower boat from Buenos Aires, the one that takes 3 hours, but the trip is very enjoyable across the River Plate. The Buquebus boat has a bar inside and a shop, kids have a good time in it. Strategically speaking, you’re still 1 hour away from Buenos Aires, the 7^th largest city in the planet, and while crime is a problem here as well as every other problem Argentina has, its close enough to take advantage of the larger metropolis in case you need to buy items that are harder to find (or just more expensive) back in Uruguay. At the same time, river Plate being the widest river in the planet creates the perfect natural barrier. Even during colonial times, the rocky shallow shores of Colonia made it hard for invading forces. Buenos Aires can go to hell in a basket, none of that will reach Colonia.

Regarding supplies, ebay makes it easy to buy just about anything you need in terms of specialized gear.

Uruguay has a low population, 3.5 million inhabitants for its 68,037 sq mile territory. The people are 90% white of European ancestry, mostly Catholic, similar to Argentina.

Gun Laws. While nothing like the ones in USA, they are better than in most other South American countries. You need a gun license to purchase guns up to 9mm, and a collectors one for larger calibers. Like in Argentina, detachable mag fed rifles and carbines in calibers other than 22LR are impossible to get. But its not hard to get a Glock 9mm, lever action rifles, pump shotguns and bolt action rifles. Not perfect but you can still be well armed for 90% of the self defense needs. A carry permit is a bit harder but available for the law abiding citizen. Wish Argentina had similar carry permits. 

Water is more than plentiful. The river Plate and the other rivers make it ideal in terms of water availability.

Regarding food, Land is flat and fertile, Uruguay produces more than enough food. Agricultural activity is 10% of the country’s GDP, putting it in line with countries like Brazil and Canada, but with a laughable amount of population in comparison. Uruguay will be exporting 400.000 tons of beef in 2011. http://en.mercopress.com/2010/09/16/usda-forecasts-uruguay-s-beef-exports-will-increase-to-400.000-tons-in-2011

What does all this mean? That because of agricultural production, its rivers and sea, food is incredibly plentiful in Uruguay. This is all too important if you expect interruption in the import/export channels.

According to Transparency International, Uruguay is the least corrupt country in South America, along with Chile. This is also very important, specially for foreigners that don’t know the local codes of how corruption works in a specific country. You don’t want to relocate only to be beaten to near death and thrown in a jail. Happens often enough in Latin America, specially in anti-American countries, and Argentina’s government openly promotes leftist politics and Chavez like hatred towards US citizens. Crime in Uruguay is very low, safer than many American cities and an Utopia compared to crime riddled Argentina. 

Probably one of the most attractive things about Uruguay is how cheap it is to live there. Its among the top 10 cheapest countries to live in (10^th posittion) , and according to International Living, it’s the best because of its life quality. “A first world country in Latin America” according to them.  Sure there’s cheaper, but do you want to live in Narau y Turkmenistán? In Uruguay you could even send your kids to a good bilingual school so they can one day go back to US and study in an American University if you wish so… or rent them an apartment in Buenos Aires across the river and send the to the public university almost for free… You simply have those options in Uruguay, and that’s terrific.

I liked the small town of Colonia a lot, the views are great the tranquility, the prices in the non-tourist areas. According to my tourist guide in Colonia, an average monthly wage is 300 USD. I found this to be rather low but I’m sure a family can live ok with 1000 USD, and couple could sure live well spending less than that. You’re used to a better lifestyle? You can go as crazy as you want in Uruguay. Punta del Este has beach resorts with homes that cost several million dollars, but you can live well for cheap too. That’s the beauty of it.

Between the ranches, country and beaches there’s lots of fresh air and outdoors activities all across the country.

The one thing I don’t like about Uruguay? Politically, they’ve recently elected a leftist, President “El Pepe” Mujica.

Banking is easy in Uruguay. Considered the Switzerland of Latin America, you can have a numbered account to keep your money safe (or as safe as it can be in the banking system)

Final note, anyone seriously considering visiting Uruguay, and wanting my help, feel free to contact me through email.

Take care guys.

FerFAL