How to Rent in Uruguay as a Freelancer or a Newly Arrived Foreigner
INGAR · · Rentals
Short answer: yes, it can be done. Self-employed, just off the plane, or three months into a new job — there's a path for each. What you should drop is the rule everyone repeats as gospel — "they'll ask for a year on the job" — because not every guarantee demands the same thing, and they don't all assess income the same way.
Depending on your situation, the usual options are:
- a guarantee that accepts an income certificate issued by an accountant;
- pooling income with other people;
- the state-run Fondo de Garantía de Alquiler (government rental guarantee fund), if you meet its conditions;
- a security deposit;
- or the no-guarantee regime created by the LUC (Uruguay's 2020 omnibus reform law), if the owner agrees to it.
One caveat applies to all five: no arrangement obliges an owner to rent to you, and every one of them involves paperwork and an assessment up front.
There is no universal minimum time on the job
The minimum depends on the provider and on how you earn your money. Within a single company, employees, licensed professionals, sole proprietors and corporations can all face different conditions.
Some of the criteria published as of August 1, 2026:
| Provider or arrangement | Published criteria |
|---|---|
| ANDA | For private-sector employees, a minimum of four months on the job. Self-employed applicants submit an income certificate, proof of registration and the last three payments to DGI (the national tax authority) and BPS (the social-security agency), plus a guarantor or a deposit. |
| Porto Seguro | Three months for employees, six months for self-employed professionals, one year for sole proprietors, and two years for micro-business owners or income drawn from commercial companies. Income can be combined across up to five applicants. |
| MAPFRE | Three months for employees and one year for the self-employed, companies or those living on investment income. Allows up to five people to pool income and caps the amount of declared income it will count. |
| Fondo de Garantía de Alquiler (MVOT) | More than three months of continuous employment. Covers salaried and self-employed applicants and includes a specific track for foreigners, alongside income, asset and credit-history requirements. |
These are commercial or operational criteria and they change without notice. Before you settle on a property or pay a holding fee, ask the provider for its current requirements list and, if possible, get pre-approved.
Current conditions at ANDA, Porto Seguro, MAPFRE and the Fondo de Garantía de Alquiler.
For the full landscape of options, we compare them all in rental guarantees in Uruguay: which one works best.
If you're self-employed
The income certificate from a certified public accountant is the main tool for proving you can pay when there's no pay stub to show.
It isn't an approval, and it doesn't automatically make up for a short work history. What it does is document your income against real backing: invoicing, tax filings, bank statements and proof that the business is active.
Before you commission one, ask the guarantee provider you've chosen:
- whether it requires its own template;
- what period the certificate has to cover;
- whether it accepts a certificate from an accountant, or from a notary as well;
- which DGI and BPS documents it wants;
- how much history it requires for your particular line of work (a licensed professional isn't treated like a sole proprietor).
A solid file includes a valid ID, proof of registration with DGI and BPS, certificates of good standing, sworn statements, invoicing records, bank statements showing the money coming in, and the income certificate itself.
Put plainly: the certificate doesn't turn informal work into formal work, and it doesn't force anyone to approve you. It documents what already exists.
If you're a recent arrival from abroad
Being foreign is no barrier to renting. What changes is which documents each guarantee will accept: some insist on a Uruguayan ID and income earned or formalized in Uruguay, while others take a broader commercial view.
The MVOT's Fondo de Garantía de Alquiler explicitly includes a category for foreigners. Among its published conditions:
- be of legal age;
- present a Uruguayan national identity document (the MVOT procedure calls it "cédula de identidad" and requires it for every member of the household);
- have formal employment income;
- show more than three months of continuous employment;
- keep the household's net income within the program's limits;
- not own another property in the same department (Uruguay's equivalent of a state or province);
- meet the credit-history and asset conditions.
The program also accepts self-employed applicants with an accountant's certificate. But the existence of a track for foreigners doesn't mean every newcomer gets approved.
If you're paid from abroad, this is where money most often gets burned for nothing: ask in writing which documents the provider will accept before you pay for certifications, translations or apostilles. Plenty of guarantees simply won't count income they can't verify against a local source.
Pooling income with other people
Several providers let you add applicants — relatives, friends, co-signers — to reach the required income. ANDA allows additional people; Porto and MAPFRE publish the option of combining income across up to five applicants. Everyone who joins is subject to the assessment and to the obligations of the lease or the policy.
Don't assume this door is open in every arrangement. Confirm:
- who is eligible to contribute income;
- whether that person has to live in the home;
- how much work history is required of them;
- exactly what liability they take on;
- and how long that obligation lasts: under several arrangements it doesn't end with the lease, but when the property is actually handed back.
That last point is the one that blindsides people who signed "just to help out a friend."
Can you pay several months up front instead?
It depends on the legal regime governing the lease, and this is not a place to generalize.
Under the LUC's special no-guarantee rental regime, article 422 of Ley 19.889 states that the landlord cannot demand advance payment of more than one month's rent. So within that regime, six or twelve months up front is not available as a substitute for a guarantee.
That prohibition belongs to the LUC regime specifically. Outside it, the rule doesn't carry over without looking at which rules apply and how the contract is drafted.
Either way, prepaid rent and a deposit are two different things: prepayment is credited against the rent itself; a deposit is held as security for any amounts you may end up owing and comes back at the end if there's nothing to deduct.
The security deposit
For deposits covered by Decreto-Ley 14.219, the ceiling is:
- five months of rent for residential property;
- ten months for any other use.
The same rule provides that the deposit be set up within 15 days of signing, and that the tenant may post a personal guarantee instead of a deposit. Wrongly withholding a deposit carries a penalty: a judge can impose a fine of one to five times the amount withheld, and the claim is filed with the Juzgado de Paz (local small-claims court) where the property is located.
Ley 18.795, article 25 requires these deposits to be held in Unidades Indexadas (UI, an inflation-indexed accounting unit), specifies that they earn no interest, and allows banks and financial cooperatives to receive them. Note the wording: the law permits those institutions to offer the product, it doesn't require them to. Confirm where you can actually open the account before you commit.
Conditions published by BHU
| Item | Condition |
|---|---|
| Currency | Unidades Indexadas |
| Interest | 0 % |
| Setup fee | 5 % of the amounts deposited, not subject to VAT |
| Funding | Up to ten installments, the first when the account is opened |
| Deposits above USD 10.000 | Cannot be made in cash |
| Deposits of USD 50.000 or more | Source of funds must be documented |
| Change of beneficiary | 500 UI fee |
An important detail if you fund it in installments: making sure they get paid is the landlord's job, not BHU's.
The depositor still owns the money; the landlord or beneficiary holds a security interest in those funds against any amounts arising from the tenancy. When the lease ends, the money is released to the depositor with the beneficiary's authorization, to the beneficiary with the depositor's authorization, or by court order if the two can't agree.
That's why it pays to document the condition of the property, the payments and the handover of keys: when a refund gets stuck, evidence is the only thing that breaks the deadlock. We go deeper in getting your rental deposit back: what can be deducted and in safekeeping of the security deposit.
Can the deposit help you get a loan later?
BHU publishes a benefit for holders of these accounts: additional financing based on your profile and a preferential saver's rate. Among other conditions, the account must be at least twelve months old and the average balance over the previous six months has to reach the required percentage of the loan requested (5 %).
The benefit is real but narrow: it doesn't replace the credit assessment or guarantee approval, and on a large loan the balance of a rental deposit will rarely be enough on its own.
Full conditions in BHU specification ES.AHR.04.
The LUC's no-guarantee regime
Ley 19.889 created a voluntary regime for renting a home without a guarantee. For it to apply, all five conditions must be met at once:
- The property is used as a dwelling.
- No guarantee of any kind exists in the landlord's favor.
- The lease is in writing.
- It expressly states the term and the rent.
- Both parties declare their intent to be governed by this regime.
It can't be combined with a deposit, insurance or a guarantor: if there's a guarantee, this isn't the regime you're in. Miss any one of the five requirements and Decreto-Ley 14.219 or the Civil Code applies instead, depending on the case. And no owner is obliged to accept it.
What the tenant needs to weigh
The upside is obvious: nothing to contract, nothing to post. So is the trade-off — the regime provides for faster eviction and repossession procedures than the ordinary ones. It's an exchange, not a gift.
There's also a registry issue almost nobody looks at when signing. Under article 423, these contracts are enforceable against third parties only from the date they are recorded. If the owner sells the property, the buyer has to honor your lease only if it's on the register.
If you go this route, have the contract properly drafted and look into recording it. Tacking on the phrase "without guarantee" isn't enough. More detail in renting without a guarantee in Uruguay: the LUC regime.
Which route tends to work for which profile
| Situation | Options worth exploring |
|---|---|
| Self-employed, formally registered, with a track record | A guarantee that accepts an income certificate |
| Licensed professional with at least six months of activity | Products that treat professionals differently from other sole proprietors |
| Self-employed for more than three months, within the state program's limits | Fondo de Garantía de Alquiler |
| Foreign national with formal income in Uruguay | Fondo de Garantía de Alquiler or a private guarantee, depending on requirements |
| Individual income that falls short | Pooling income with others, where the arrangement allows it |
| Capital on hand | Security deposit, if the owner accepts it |
| No guarantee and not enough capital | LUC regime, only if the owner agrees |
The best option doesn't hinge on your income alone: how long you've been earning it, how well you can document it, your credit history, the rent level and which arrangements the owner will accept all carry weight.
Before you pay a holding fee
A holding fee can be perfectly legitimate, even paid from overseas, but it has to be documented. Before you transfer:
- identify the owner, agency or individual receiving the money;
- check that whoever you're dealing with is authorized to offer that property;
- verify the address and the details of the unit;
- ask for a document stating the amount, the purpose and the term of the hold;
- get it in writing what happens if the guarantee isn't approved;
- insist that the conditions for refund or forfeiture be spelled out;
- ask for a receipt or invoice, as applicable;
- check that the account holder matches the party you identified, or that any difference has a documented explanation.
One fair caveat: an account in an individual's name proves nothing on its own — sole proprietors operate under the owner's personal name. The red flag is when you can't identify who's receiving the money or explain their connection to the deal. We've written about deposits and questionable holds here.
Document the condition of the home on day one
Put together an inventory covering the condition of walls, floors and doors and windows; furniture and appliances; plumbing and electrical systems; keys and remotes handed over; meters; and any existing damage.
Attach photos or video, send it through a channel that timestamps it, and get both owner and tenant to accept it in writing.
It won't eliminate arguments, but it completely changes who holds the evidence when disputes over damage or unpaid amounts surface at the end of the lease.
Where we can help
There's no single guarantee that suits everyone. A freelancer six months in, a company with two years behind it, a foreign national earning locally and someone paid from overseas all need different routes.
Before we send you out to view properties, at INGAR we look at how you earn and document your income, how long you've been at it, which arrangements the owner accepts, whether you can pool income with someone else, and which option has a realistic shot at approval.
The point isn't to promise you a guarantee: it's to build a coherent file so you don't end up with a holding fee paid on a route your profile was never going to clear.
Before you start touring, run the numbers: the guarantee calculator compares the cost of each arrangement at current rates, and the listings let you filter by what actually fits your monthly budget.
Frequently asked questions
Can you rent in Uruguay if you're self-employed or a recent arrival from abroad?
Yes. There's no universal minimum time on the job: it depends on the provider and on how you earn your money, and within a single company the conditions can differ for employees, licensed professionals, sole proprietors and corporations.
How do I prove income without a pay stub?
An income certificate from a certified public accountant is the main tool for demonstrating you can pay. It isn't an automatic approval and it doesn't replace each provider's own assessment.
Can I combine my income with someone else's?
Several guarantees let you add applicants — relatives, friends or co-signers — to reach the required income. ANDA allows additional people, and Porto and MAPFRE publish the option of combining income.
Can I pay several months up front instead of posting a guarantee?
It depends on the legal regime governing the lease. Under the LUC's no-guarantee rental regime, article 422 of Ley 19.889 addresses that situation expressly, so it's not something to generalize about.
What's the maximum security deposit?
For deposits covered by Decreto-Ley 14.219, the ceiling is five months of rent for residential property and ten months for any other use.
When does the LUC's no-guarantee regime apply?
Only when all five of its conditions are met at once, one of them being that the property is used as a dwelling. It's a voluntary regime created by Ley 19.889.
Keep reading
- Rental guarantees in Uruguay: which one works best
- Renting without a guarantee in Uruguay: the LUC regime
- Requirements for renting in Montevideo
- Getting your deposit back: what can be deducted
- Agency commission on rentals
- Rental law: rights and obligations
Sources
- Ley 19.889 (LUC), articles 421 to 423 — IMPO
- Decreto-Ley 14.219, article 38 — IMPO
- Ley 18.795, article 25 — IMPO
- BHU — Specifications for rental security deposits (ES.AHR.04)
- MVOT — Fondo de Garantía de Alquiler
- ANDA — Rental guarantee for tenants
- Porto Seguro — Contracting options
- MAPFRE — Residential rental guarantee
General information current as of August 1, 2026. Private guarantee requirements change, and every application is subject to assessment. This content is not a substitute for legal, accounting or contractual advice.