Uruguay Has Found a Solution to Its Passport Problem

President Yamandú Orsi’s government has announced a prepared bill for naturalized citizens whose Uruguayan passports still list the nationality of their country of birth. The proposal addresses the constitutional interpretation behind the contradiction rather than merely changing the passport form.

What is wrong with passports issued to naturalized citizens?

An Uruguayan passport can currently send two incompatible messages. It confirms that its holder is an Uruguayan citizen while the nationality field continues to identify the country where that person was born.

This affects foreign-born residents who completed Uruguay's naturalization process and received a Carta de Ciudadanía. Uruguay recognizes them as citizens but does not currently treat them as Uruguayan nationals. The distinction does not affect citizens by birth.

Outside Uruguay, that distinction becomes a practical problem. Border officials and airlines may have to decide whether the holder should be treated under the entry rules for Uruguayan citizens.

Why did the 2025 passport fix fail?

In April 2025, the Ministry of the Interior tried to remove the contradiction without Parliament. Passports issued to legal citizens began using the URY code, while the place of birth was removed.

The experiment ended in July. After questions arose about international acceptance, the ministry restored the previous format. The document again looked familiar, but the legal contradiction remained.

How would the bill resolve the nationality problem?

The government is now relying on an interpretive law. Its central idea is to recognize both constitutional categories — citizens by birth and legal citizens who acquired that status through naturalization — as Uruguayan nationals.

RULATAM’s earlier analysis argued that a legislative solution was necessary. Changing one line in the document could not produce a durable result while the holder’s underlying legal classification remained unchanged.

If Parliament approves the bill, the state would have a legal basis for recording Uruguayan nationality for those citizens. Place of birth would remain a separate fact and would no longer determine the nationality shown in the passport.

How the Reform Changes Latin America's Birth-Tourism Market

The government's proposed reform materially changes the competitive balance in Latin America's birth-tourism market. If Parliament adopts the bill in the form announced by the government, Uruguay will take on an important part of Brazil's family model — gaining an advantage it has so far lacked in competing for families planning the birth of a child in Latin America.