'Considering Uruguay' Montevideo

Considering Uruguay

Would like to discuss the reality of the cost of living, climate, safety issues, employment/business possibilities, education for children, tax ramifications, real estate issues, and any of the positives and negatives you have discovered through your experiences.

THANK YOU for your response.

You'll find cost of living, safety and climate (not quite freezing in the winter to 90s in the summer) to be excellent.

Nothing beats an extended stay to explore to options and experience everything first hand.

What other places have you considered? What got your interested in Uruguay?

Ed in Rio

you're armenian? me too! do you speak spanish?

called "Escapeartist.com". Its helped me out alot.

For example, the author suggests that you give the parking attendents 20 pesos (24 or so would be a dollar). Now, locals always give these men and women a little money, but it is much closer to 1 or 2 pesos.

The ebook does have lots of information and is a good addition to your first trip to Uruguay though.

• www.Escapeartist.com

Thanks

The other factor you need to look at is property taxes.

Here is an excellent site with many houses and apartments (condos) for sale and rent. Most with photos. Have a look and you can get an idea of price ranges.

For easy conversion look for 150-200 square meters.

• Uruguay Property Listings

I have seen Uruguay through websites and catalogs and it looks like a promising place to retire. Yup, I am a former professor from a small high school here in New Orleans and would like to retire to Montevideo, in Uruguay. I have browsed through the other posts and I would like to thank them for providing some first hand information about the country.

~J. Thames

I guess 'average' is the best way to look at things because it would be your second best option if you found it hard to fit into the 'higher side of life.'

But of course nowhere is perfect and Uruguay has flaws too. I would be VERY wary of those guides you mention like the escape artist one. I have found that they tend to paint a very simplistic and often unrealistic picture of a place just so they can sell things to you.

We're putting together a guide on this website that is written by expats for expats so its a good places to get some helpful information. If you have been living here for a while and have some stories or experiences to share it would really help out your fellow expats.

Take a look:

• An Expat Point Of View: The Ultimate Guide To Living In Urug...

In the one my folks lived in before they passed, they lived in their own home and as their health deteriorated, there were given more comprehensive services. My dad died while they continued to live on their own. My mom continued there for some years and progressed from the house she and dad had been in, through her own apartment with meals in the dining room, to a more strongly (medically) supervised living situation, and ended with the hospice services. They made this progression all with folks she had known for years (both friends and staff). It was a caring place for them both.

I have not seen this kind of retirement community here in Uruguay. There are 'old folks homes' which range from disgraceful to sad to nice. Depending on social strata and family income, there is a tendency for old folks to end their days with family members.

There are some protected, gated communities where people folks buy property and build their homes and live in a safe environment but they are not yet any I have seen that is focused on the needs of retirees.

On the other hand, I know of one project that a Japanese company had wanted to build for Japanese retirees here. I was told that it fell through in the planning phases because on union problems here and because the local government bureaucracy was not flexible to the needs of such a different cultural group.

We spent our first Summer there last Nov to March. It was a very rewarding experience, getting to know the City and Villages out side Montevideo. I return in Nov for the summer again. I have particularly enjoyed the Golf and Tennis that The Club De Golf provided me.

I have a question of any one that may have concrete information on the following.

I am a non Resident of Uruguay and do not plan on taking up Residence status.

In Sept Last year I had all of my used household goods shipped from Vancouver Canada to Montevideo.My Public Escribano arranged and had posted an Insurance Guarantee for a portion of the Duty.This allowed the container to be delivered and off loaded at my home. Everything went smothly except for a Truckers Strike in the Port which delay the deliver by a couple of weeks.

Now here is the Question.

I want to pay the duty on the used household goods and not continue with the Insurance Guarantee

Can any one provide me with the percentage amount of Duty I should pay to Customs?.

From Robert

Maybe you'd consider sharing the name and contact details for some of the people or companies who did your renovation work? I have heard that many construction companies are unreliable and don't finish things to a good standard so if yours did such a good job I'm sure it would help others if you could share it with us.....

Elaine... I found it essential to have a Local Arquitectos to provide completed Plans and Specification for most types of small to large projects. The benefits are that most Arquitectos also act as Construction Project Managers thus ensuring quality and timely completion schedules.They engage the respective trades from known work histories.

The Firm I used is Hughes & Presno their offices are located in Carrasco.

It is a quiet place, although Montevideo is very noisy in terms of Cars and Motorcicles and there are some nice things indeed..come for a visit first to see. If you could afford to live in Southern Europe you will find everything much better quality than here...but your budget doesn't allow for it, ..well you may try here

Good luck with your search..travel is good for the spirit although bad for the enviroment..

I currently live in the middle of the Colorado Rockies, USA. While there are many things I love about living here I have to admit that, for many reasons (including health care), a relocation would probably be a good idea. I'm a freelance writer who specializes in corporate ghostwriting. The nature of my job and how I get paid means I should be able to do this from almost anywhere, assuming that being self employed doesn't cause too many problems with immigration.

I'm single and would be the only person doing the relocation. I also have a cat.... I'm not certain how big an obstacle this is going to create but this is my greatest concern.

I haven't yet been to Uruguay but am planning on taking a trip come October, assuming that I am done with my current assignment. In the meantime, I would love to learn what I can about relocation (including with pets) and health care for those of us with an icky chronic illness/pre-existing.

Thank you all in advance.

I flew from London - Madrid - MVD business class and was allowed to take my pre-basketed cat on board with me. It seems that Iberia allows two business class cabin cats per flight but I don't know whether other airlines are so enlightened. It was cheaper than going tourist class myself and sending the cat via a specialist pet mover. The seats went flat for sleeping and I was supplied with plentiful cava while the cat was fed prawns. It was a very agreeable journey for both of us :-) Various documentation and jabs were required but we had no problems in MVD.

"and health care for those of us with an icky chronic illness/pre-existing. "

Depending on the condition(s, ) its possible that the local mutualistas (health care co-ops) might refuse you or impose exclusions but if you are working, immigration may well insist that you unipersonalize (register as self-employed) and pay BPS contributions. Fortunately, those who pay BPS contributions are entitled to a free local mutualista subscription so I'd be cautiously optimistic about your future healthcare prospects :-)

I'm glad to see that you are planning an exploratory visit. The ROU isn't right for everyone but from what you say, I reckon you'll like the place.

I checked on American Airlines as they are the only carrier that does non-stops to MVD - out of Miami on certain days. It is their policy NOT to allow pets in the cabin on South American routes, which concerns me greatly. As I live in Colorado, it would also be a long trip to connect in Miami with a 9-hour waiting period at Miami's airport. If I had to go to this route, I'd probably break the journey in Miami by staying a few days there. I'm not sure of Continental's policies on pets as I've heard conflicting information. I could do 2 connections out of Denver - connecting in Houston and again in either Panama City or Sao Paulo and then code-sharing on different Latin American carriers. It seems like they may have different pet policies depending the destination/code share but with their coming merger with United, this may all change. I do know I hate the idea of my cat not being in the cabin, though I have found other blogs by people who have immigrated with pets and they seem not to have had any negative issues. I'm still learning about pet immigration policies and what all I'll need to have done.

Regarding pre-exsiting / chronic illnesses: I've been on so many different immigration to Uruguay sites that I'm starting to get a few of them confused. I do seem to remember reading about someone with a major pre-existing who was able to contribute to the social security there (I think it's BPS) and get onto some sort of HMO-type insurance plan. This is what I'm hoping to do. I've read I can't get regular private insurance, such as though British Hospital, due to my health. Unfortunately, I can't erase my health conditions and would never lie about it, so..... This is a big deal. Hopefully not something which would completely derail my being able to relocate.

My plans for the trip in October are still tentatively made. The biggest factor is that I'm on a pretty large assignment that needs to be completed. I'm wanting to learn some Spanish prior to travel and intend to buy some Rosetta Stone courses in the next 2-4 weeks. This should help as I'm really hoping to become fluent in Spanish. I'd appreciate any and all Uruguay tips/advice I can get about pretty much anything. I'm grateful for the sites and blogs I've found so far. If I do relocate, I'd like to truly experience and be a part of Uruguayan culture. I'm ashamed to admit that I've never been to South America and have never truly lived outside of the U.S. I don't feel that little vacations really allow for experiencing anything other than through my N. American lens. I'd like to change that.

Anyway, thank you and lots of thanks to everyone on this site.

You don't need to be a resident to sign up for a mutualista. So, you can certainly go and sign up in October when you are here and see what happens. The British Hospital will certainly be picked about pre existing conditions. The others less so.

By actually signing up you will resolve any issues of being told one thing to find out another later.

Expert Page: Quick Tips for Getting Settled in Uruguay

My point about being a BPS payer is that once you are registered and paying, the BPS is obliged to provide you with local mutualista healthcare cover under the law passed a few years ago if you apply. The only uncertainty I have is that you may need to possess a cedula to qualify. While mutualistas are free to reject or put conditions on you for pre-existing conditions as a private subscriber, as far as I know they cannot impose such conditions on a BPS payer.

The scheme isn't entirely free. I have to pay 56 $UY each time I see the doctor, 102 $UY for blood tests, 143 $UY to see a visiting specialist doctor and various other small charges but these are very affordable amounts when compared with healthcare costs in certain other jurisdictions.

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