Uruguay - Travel Restrictions Imposed Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
Uruguay - Travel Restrictions Imposed Due to Coronaviru
The President of Uruguay has announced the total closing of the border with Argentina as from 17 March 2020, except for Uruguayan citizens or residents who want to come back to Uruguay. Beginning 20 March, Uruguay will suspend all incoming flights from Europe. Until then, only Uruguayan citizens or residents will be allowed into the country if they fly from European countries. Other measures have been introduced to control and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The President of Uruguay has announced the total closing of the border with Argentina as from 17 March 2020, except for Uruguayan citizens or residents who want to come back to Uruguay.1
Beginning 20 March, Uruguay will suspend all incoming flights from Europe. Until then, only Uruguayan citizens or residents will be allowed into the country if they fly from European countries.
On 13 March, the Uruguayan government had announced a sanitary emergency due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. With the appearance of the first COVID-19 cases in Uruguay, the government adopted new measures to protect the Uruguayan population and prevent the spread of the virus.
WHY THIS MATTERS
The new travel restrictions have a considerable impact on the global mobility of employees between Uruguay and European countries, as cross-border transfers of foreign nonresident employees and their families will be banned as from 20 March.
The closing of Uruguay’s borders beginning 17 March will impact companies with expatriate populations in terms of future assignments inbound to or outbound from Uruguay. Employees and their families who may have received offers for an international assignment to Uruguay should postpone the commencement of the assignment. This could cause some anxiety, stress, and inconvenience, especially where plans for relocation are already underway.
Companies with global presence and individuals operating across borders need to be increasingly aware of the relevant risks associated with travel, large-crowd events and conferences, and new work arrangements consequent to the COVID-19 outbreak.
FOOTNOTE
1 For COVID-19 information from the U.S. Embassy in Uruguay, see https://uy.usembassy.gov/covid-19-information/. Also, see the announcement in Spanish on the website for Uruguay’s president, “Gobierno decretó cierre total de fronteras con Argentina a partir del martes 17.”
For a media report of the Uruguayan president’s press conference of 16 March (in Spanish), see “Coronavirus en Uruguay: 29 casos confirmados y cierre de fronteras con Argentina” in La Diaria (online) 16 March 2020 at: https://ladiaria.com.uy/articulo/2020/3/coronavirus-en-uruguay-29-casos-confirmados-y-cierre-de-fronteras-con-argentina/ . (Note that this is a 3rd party (non-governmental, non-KPMG) website. Providing this link does not represent an endorsement of this website by KPMG.)
Please note that KPMG LLP (U.S.) does not offer immigration services or labor law services. However, KPMG Law LLP in Canada can assist clients with U.S. immigration matters.
RELATED LINKS
The information contained in this newsletter was submitted by the KPMG International member firm in Uruguay.
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