Artículo de publicación ISIIn this paper we show that some 3-dimensional isometry algebras, specifically those of type I, II, III and V ( according Bianchi’s classification), can be obtained as expansions of the isometries in 2 dimensions. It is shown that in general more than one semigroup will lead to the same result. It is impossible to obtain the algebras of type IV, VI-IX as an expansion from the isometry algebras in 2 dimensions. This means that the first set of algebras has properties that can be obtained from isometries in 2 dimensions while the second set has properties that are in some sense intrinsic in 3 dimensions. All the results are checked with computer programs. This procedure can be generalized to higher dimensions, which could be useful for diverse physical applications.