i have friends (europeans) who recently moved to uruguay as rentistas. they had even lived and worked in the country decades earlier, and have owned a home there for some years. the guy recently retired from his last international posting as a diplomat. he has great connections in that world, including with high-up uruguayan government people in important ministries. still, he and his wife lived through such a nightmare experience jumping through all the bureaucratic hoops that they almost gave up. it was almost prohibitive getting their residency status. plus it took them 9 months to get permission to have their furniture shipped to uruguay which meanwhile was sitting in storage in another country for which they paid monthly rent. with his excelent connections my friend finally got the president of the republic (!!) to intervene and sign some documents personally. that's what it took.
another thing to consider is that everything is much more expensive in uruguay - food, clothing, daily living, etc. we have various friends in montevideo who often come to visit us in buenos aires. they immediately go on a shopping spree because they can't believe the prices. same with the restaurants. they tell me that many uruguayans make ferry runs just to buy stuff in buenos aires to resell in montevideo.
so, before you circulate the "easy expat living" in uruguay any further, make sure you know what you are talking about.
