In Uruguay are National ID and passport synonymous with each other or they're two separate documents?

1. What each document is and who issues them

The National Directorate of Civil Identification (Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil, DNIC) issues both the Documento de Identidad (cédula) and the passport, but the two documents are legally and functionally different: the cédula is the compulsory photo identity card for residents used for domestic identification and certain regional travel privileges, whereas the pasaporte (passport) is the official international travel document and the instrument that facilitates consular protection and visa procedures ^{[1] [4]}.

2. Practical overlap — when an ID acts like a passport

Practically, Uruguay’s ID card can substitute for a passport for travel within Mercosur member and associated states (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and associated members including Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru), allowing Uruguayans to cross many regional borders without presenting a passport; this convenience is an important functional overlap but does not make the documents identical in status or international reach ^{[1] [3]}.

3. Technical and international differences

Technically the passport conforms to international obligations for travel documents (biometric e‑chip passports since 2015), and is the globally recognized document for visa‑free access and consular assistance outside the Mercosur travel area; the ID contains chips and electronic features that enable e‑gates in some regional airports, but international acceptance of the ID is limited compared with the passport ^{[2] [1] [4]}.

4. Citizenship, nationality fields and an important recent reform

A notable difference historically caused confusion for naturalized citizens: Uruguay’s constitutional language had led passport and identity documents to reflect birthplace or “nationality” inconsistently, creating visa and recognition problems for naturalized citizens; in 2025 DNIC reformed passport fields to use a combined “Nationality/Citizenship” entry and the URY code so passports unequivocally identify holders as Uruguayan for international procedures — a change that applies to passports, while identity cards still record birthplace information in some administrative fields ^{[2] [5] [6] [7]}.

5. Legal and human‑rights implications of the split

That passports and ID cards are separate matters has had real legal consequences: the passport is the instrument that states a person’s citizenship status for foreign authorities and thus determines visa requirements and consular protection, whereas the cédula governs domestic rights and access to services; the 2025 passport fix remedied many travel‑impairing anomalies for naturalized citizens but commentators note constitutional ambiguity remains that affects identity records and full legal parity in non‑passport documents ^{[5] [7] [8]}.

6. Alternative views and potential agendas behind reforms

Official narratives frame the passport change as technical compliance with ICAO standards to remove administrative obstacles to travel ^{[2] [7]}, while advocacy and investigative accounts highlight a human‑rights angle — correcting a discriminatory practice that had left naturalized citizens effectively disadvantaged abroad ^{[5] [6]}. Some analyses caution the passport fix is partial: it fixes travel documents but not necessarily deeper constitutional categories or how the cédula continues to register birthplace for naturalized people ^{[7] [6]}.

7. Bottom line for someone asking if the terms are synonymous

In Uruguay the terms are not synonymous: the national ID is a compulsory domestic identity document that also enables regional travel within Mercosur, while the passport is a separate, internationally focused document used for global travel and formal proof of citizenship abroad; recent reforms have aligned passport fields to reduce confusion for naturalized citizens, but identity cards remain distinct and can still differ in how birthplace/nationality are recorded ^{[1] [3] [2] [5]}.