Trip checklist: Uruguay

For South African passport holders. Last checked 5 October 2026.

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Visa requirement

South Africans don't need a visa for Uruguay.

Permitted stay

You can stay up to 90 days per visit, and you can apply to extend.

Before you go

• Purpose of visit

  Tourism. Employment or stays over 90 days require prior consultation or a visa.

• Passport validity

  FCDO: valid for the whole stay, with at least one blank page.

• How to apply

  No visa needed. Present your passport at immigration.

• Where South Africans apply

  Not needed for tourism. For other permits: Dirección Nacional de Migración in Uruguay, or the Embassy of Uruguay in Pretoria (not verified).

• Vaccinations, including yellow fever on return to South Africa

  Uruguay: no yellow fever certificate requirement and no vaccination recommendation (WHO). South Africa's own rule on return: Uruguay is NOT on South Africa's yellow fever risk list, so no certificate is needed when flying straight home. You do need one if you transit more than 12 hours in, or travel via, a risk country (for example Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina or Paraguay).

• Extending your stay and overstaying

  Extension of a further 90 days through the Dirección Nacional de Migración.

• Travelling with children

  FCDO: children under 18 on non-Uruguayan passports may need written parental permission ('Permiso de Menor') to leave Uruguay; check with Migración.

• Confirm with the embassy

  Rules change. Check the official source before you book.

Where to apply

• Ministerio del Interior (Uruguay): Régimen de visas de admisión https://www.gub.uy/ministerio-interior/comunicacion/publicaciones/regimen-visas-admision

Research sources

1. 1. Ministerio del Interior (Uruguay): Régimen de visas de admisión (Official, gub.uy) https://www.gub.uy/ministerio-interior/comunicacion/publicaciones/regimen-visas-admision
2. 2. UK FCDO (Other government, gov.uk) https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/uruguay/entry-requirements
3. 3. DIRCO (South African High Commission, Canberra) (Other government, dirco.gov.za) https://dirco.gov.za/canberra/yellow-fever/
4. 4. World Health Organization, International Travel and Health country list (Other government, cdn.who.int) https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/documents/emergencies/travel-advice/yellow-fever-country-list-ith-travel.pdf
5. 5. Wikipedia: Visa policy of Uruguay (Reference, en.wikipedia.org) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Uruguay
6. 6. Wikipedia (Reference, en.wikipedia.org) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_South_African_citizens
7. 7. The GSA (SA visa service), Uruguay guide (Commercial, thegsa.co.za) https://www.thegsa.co.za/visa-and-country-info/2757-venezuela-country-guide

From doineedavisa.co.za/uruguay. Always confirm with the embassy before you travel.