Uruguay processes more than five thousand residence permits for foreigners during 2024, the majority being Cubans.

Uruguay processed over five thousand residency applications for foreigners during the first five months of 2024, reported the government on Saturday.

An official statement indicates that from January 1st to May 30th, 5,143 foreigners, mostly Cubans, Venezuelans, Argentinians, and Brazilians, applied for residency to live in Uruguay.

To address all requests, the government opened a residence office on Friday at the headquarters of the National Immigration Directorate.

The head of that entity, Eduardo Mata, reported that about 70 migrants begin their residency paperwork each day.

These procedures increased significantly compared to the same period in 2022, when 2,425 requests were recorded, the official stated.

The note does not detail whether these requests increased as a result of the presidential decree signed at the beginning of May that would allow thousands of Cubans in that country to resolve their migratory situation, a benefit that undocumented individuals had been requesting for months.

After several years demanding actions from the government of Luis Lacalle Pou to be granted residency in the South American country, Cubans and other immigrants of nationalities that require a visa to enter Uruguay could finally access a legal status with this measure, known as the Residency by Rooting decree.

The Residence by Rooting Decree provides for three types of residence: for labor or self-employment rooting (permanent), family rooting (permanent), and rooting for training (renewable temporary).

Currently, the Refugee Commission (CORE), the body in charge of processing the requests of those entering the country as asylum seekers, has over 24,000 pending applications to respond to.

Mostly citizens of Cuban origin or other nationalities who require a visa to enter the country and have been complaining for years that without regularization they cannot find jobs or schools.

A census published in 2023 confirmed that Cuban migrants represent 20% of the foreign population in Uruguay, and thousands were in a migratory limbo from which they will now be able to emerge thanks to the new decree.

However, last April around 5,000 Cubans were in a "migration limbo," as they did not have refugee status and could not renounce their asylum application in order to apply for permanent residency that would allow family reunification.