Moving to Chile

MUST BE APPLIED FOR FROM ABROAD through the migration service's digital procedures portal - the page marks it available only from outside Chile. The general temporary-residence page lists who may apply from inside Chile - people with family ties to Chileans or permanent residents, current temporary residents changing subcategory or extending, and the humanitarian subcategories - and a paid-work applicant is not among them. Two tracks. With a contract: an employment or services contract with an employer that has its domicile or a branch in Chile, the employment contract signed by the EMPLOYER before a Chilean notary and by the WORKER before the competent Chilean consulate; granted for up to 2 years and extendable for 2 years at a time. With a formal job offer accepted by the applicant: a 90-day permit, then 45 days after arrival to present the definitive contract for a one-year extension; if that contract does not materialise the 90-day permit is withdrawn and the person is ordered to leave. The employer or contracting party must show liquidity to hire the applicant. The page states no minimum salary. Plus a passport valid at least a year from application, a criminal record certificate no more than 60 days old (over-18s) and a recent colour photo on a white background. Losing the job or changing employer does not by itself revoke the permit, except the 90-day job-offer permit.

There is NO published numeric threshold: the pension, or the regular income from real estate or financial assets, must cover at least the applicant's basic needs during the stay, by the indicators estimated by the Ministry of Social Development and Family. Any specific figure quoted for Chile is invented. Three evidentiary tracks, each also requiring a passport, a criminal record certificate (over-18s) and a photo: retirees present a retirement certificate stating the pension's amount and duration, and proof of the last pension payment available when applying; real-estate rentistas present a certificate from the competent body of their ownership of the property, the lease obliging a set sum to be paid to them regularly, and documents proving the rental income; financial-asset rentistas present a certificate from the competent body of their ownership of the assets, and documents proving the income those assets directly produce. The pension documents, the ownership certificates and the lease are legalised or apostilled as applicable; for the ownership certificate the page adds that this is not needed for real estate located in Chile or for assets yielding income in Chile, without saying whether that waives the certificate or only its legalisation. A renewal requires proof of continued retiree or rentista status and of economic solvency. Passport valid a year or more from application, criminal certificate no more than 60 days old. MUST BE FILED FROM ABROAD. Dependants can be granted residence under article 74 Nos. 1 and 2 of Ley 21.325. Available rents or pensions are among the grounds on which the 24-month wait for permanent residence can be reduced to 12 months.

Minimum investment USD 500,000 or equivalent (about EUR 460,000), and the investment must be aimed at producing goods or services. Open to legal representatives and senior managers of a foreign company investing that amount in Chile, and to senior managers and specialist technical staff hired by a company established in Chile whose capital is controlled by a foreign investor holding at least 10% of the voting rights. A Carta de Patrocinio (sponsorship letter) from InvestChile, the foreign-investment promotion agency, is MANDATORY. Also required: a document detailing the investment, stating at least its purpose and amount and the nature of the applicant's functions; owners or partners of an incorporated company may add its incorporation deed, start-of-activities certificate, electronic tax folder and proof of municipal licence payment. Plus a passport valid a year or more, a criminal certificate no more than 60 days old (over-18s) and a photo. MUST BE FILED FROM ABROAD. Renewal requires evidence of progress in carrying out the committed investment, not merely capital held. Investments or companies operating in Chile are among the grounds on which the wait for permanent residence can be reduced to 12 months.

The sponsor must be a CHILEAN CITIZEN OR a foreigner holding PERMANENT RESIDENCE (residencia definitiva). Qualifying ties: spouse, or another relationship that under the applicable law has effects equivalent to marriage (a civil union is listed); parent; child under 18; child with a disability; unmarried child under 24 who is studying; or a minor in the sponsor's personal care or guardianship. ONE OF THE FEW SUBCATEGORIES FILABLE FROM INSIDE CHILE: the portal offers one option for applying from abroad and one for applying in Chile. Identification: a passport if applying from abroad, a valid identity document if applying in Chile. Plus a criminal record certificate (over-18s), a photo and the certificate proving the tie - a marriage or civil-union certificate, or the child's birth certificate, with a notarised declaration of care and expenses for a child under 18. Family ties with Chileans or permanent residents are among the grounds on which the wait for permanent residence can be reduced to 12 months, and a permanent resident with a qualifying Chilean family link can apply to naturalise after 2 years of continuous residence. The permanent-residence fee is waived where the applicant has a Chilean spouse, and for children and adolescents.

Ley 21.325 Article 70 No. 13, as cited by the migration service. Eligible nationalities: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Requires a passport (Bolivian nationals may present a valid national identity card under a bilateral agreement), a criminal certificate no more than 60 days old (adults) and a recent colour photo, with foreign documents apostilled or legalised. The page lists no job offer and no income test. Granted for up to 2 years and extendable on proof that the activities it was granted for continue; holders may do lawful paid work, subject to the Labour Code's limits on employing minors. MUST BE FILED FROM ABROAD - the page marks it available only from outside Chile. Fees vary by nationality; the Bolivia-Chile migration agreement removed the application fee for Bolivian nationals. Dependants can be granted residence under article 74 Nos. 1 and 2 of Ley 21.325.

For holders of temporary residence whose subcategory admits it, applying no more than 90 days before the temporary permit's extension deadline. The standard qualifying period is 24 months of temporary residence (for temporary residence applied for after 14 May 2022). It can be REDUCED TO 12 MONTHS for family ties with Chileans or permanent residents, official missions, available rents or pensions, investments or companies operating in Chile, contributions in the social, cultural, artistic, scientific or sports fields, and cases under international agreements; it can be LENGTHENED for insufficient means, lack of work stability, absences or infringements. Absences extend it on a published scale: up to 2 months absent keeps it at 24 months; more than 2 and up to 6 months takes it to 30 months; more than 6 and up to 12 months to 36 months; more than 12 months to 48 months. Requires proof of income or economic support through contracts, tax records, pension payments or a supporter's sworn declaration. The fee is calculated from the ingreso minimo no remuneracional; it is waived where the applicant has a Chilean spouse, and for children and adolescents. Held indefinitely, but tacitly revoked after more than two continuous years outside Chile unless extended at a Chilean consulate in the last 60 days before that mark; that extension is granted once, for two years.

For people who carry out executive or directorial work relating to businesses or investments that companies hold in Chile and who need to enter regularly. HARD CAP: the total stay across visits must not exceed 6 MONTHS IN EACH CALENDAR YEAR. Requires a passport valid a year or more, a criminal certificate no more than 60 days old (over-18s), a photo, a document stating the reasons for the visits and the economic and commercial interests involved, and an apostilled or legalised letter or certificate from the foreign institution the applicant represents, specifying their role and interests and showing an associated income. MUST BE FILED FROM ABROAD. Extendable on proof that the activities continue; dependants can be granted residence under article 74 Nos. 1 and 2 of Ley 21.325. Because of the six-month annual cap this route is unlikely to build the residence needed for permanent status - treat it as a mobility permit rather than a settlement route.

MUST BE FILED FROM ABROAD via the digital procedures portal. For study at an educational establishment recognised by the State. Requires a passport valid a year or more, a criminal certificate no more than 60 days old (over-18s), a photo, a regular-student or enrolment certificate, and proof of economic support - bank deposits, periodic transfers, or a notarised declaration of expenses by a supporter in Chile who must prove their income, among others - or a scholarship certificate stating its duration, funding and institution; no numeric threshold is given. WORK RIGHTS: holders may do lawful paid work UP TO 30 HOURS A WEEK, for their institution or any other employer, without additional authorisation; working beyond 30 hours can cost student status. Extensions require proof of continued studies and support. The permit can be revoked on loss of regular-student status, subject to force majeure or unforeseeable circumstances, which the migration service must weigh. Dependants can be granted residence under article 74 Nos. 1 and 2 of Ley 21.325.

The migration service's page lists sixteen countries with a Working Holiday agreement in force - Germany, Australia, Austria, Canada (as youth mobility), South Korea, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal and the Czech Republic - plus the Pacific Alliance's work-and-holiday programme (Colombia, Mexico, Peru) and Switzerland's agreement for trainee workers. SWEDEN IS SUSPENDED. The requirements and effects of each permit are those set by the applicable agreement rather than by Chilean law, and the page refers applicants to the Foreign Ministry's Working Holiday page for them; the 18-30 age band recorded here is the common one and was not confirmed against each agreement. Requires a passport valid a year or more, a criminal certificate no more than 60 days old (over-18s), proof of economic sufficiency and the documents the agreement demands. MUST BE FILED FROM ABROAD.

For foreigners entering Chile to do specific seasonal work for limited periods, once or across several years. Granted for up to 5 years, but the stay may not exceed 6 MONTHS IN EACH CALENDAR YEAR, and it can be extended for at most 2 further years. The general temporary-residence page lists who may apply from inside Chile - family ties to Chileans or permanent residents, current temporary residents changing subcategory or extending, and the humanitarian subcategories - so anyone else applies from abroad. Requires the general documents for temporary residence: a passport valid a year or more when applying from abroad, a criminal certificate no more than 60 days old (over-18s) and a photo. Like the business subcategory, the annual presence cap makes it a poor vehicle for accumulating the residence needed for permanent status.

Article 10 No. 2 of the Constitution makes Chilean the children of a Chilean father or mother born abroad, provided an ascendant in the direct line of the first or second degree - a parent or a grandparent - acquired Chilean nationality by birth in Chile (No. 1), by naturalisation (No. 3) or by special grace of law (No. 4). A great-grandchild is outside it: the Constitution names only the first and second degree. The migration service states the same rule procedurally: a child of a Chilean father or mother born abroad must show that a parent or grandparent obtained Chilean nationality by birth in Chilean territory, by naturalisation letter or by special grace, and is pointed to consular registration of the birth. The text in force attaches NO residence requirement to the nationality itself. A year in Chile appears in the Constitution in one place only, article 13, and it governs something else: a Chilean under No. 2 or No. 4 may EXERCISE the rights of citizenship, such as voting and standing for office, only after having resided in Chile for more than a year. Separately, and not this route: the migration service lets a permanent resident with a Chilean family link - including a blood relative of a Chilean to the second degree, and a child whose Chilean father or mother lost that nationality before the child was born - apply to naturalise after 2 years of continuous residence instead of 5.

Requires the applicant to be 18 or over - or 14 to 17, as a child of foreigners, with a notarised authorisation from their parents or whoever has their personal care - to HOLD a valid permanent residence (residencia definitiva), and to have 5 or more years of residence in Chile COUNTED FROM THE ELECTRONIC STAMP of the temporary residence that led to that permanent residence. The five years is total residence, of which the permanent-residence period is only the latter part. REDUCED TO 2 YEARS of continuous residence, counted the same way, for a permanent resident with a Chilean family link: the spouse of a Chilean for at least two years, with the marriage registered in Chile and both living in a common home; a blood relative of a Chilean to the second degree inclusive; a person adopted by a Chilean; or a child whose father or mother had been Chilean but lost that nationality before the child was born. A minor whose parent is a refugee recognised by Chile and has naturalised may apply with no other legal requirement. Applications are made on the digital procedures portal and only from inside Chile. The stated average processing time is 3 years.