GlobeQuest

Chile visas and residency

Who can visit Chile without a visa, and the 5 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Chile, by passport

How the 198 passports we track get in. A visitor entry is never permission to work, study or settle — that is what the routes further down are for.

United StatesVisa-free · 90 daysUnited KingdomVisa-free · 90 daysIndiaVisa requiredCanadaVisa-free · 90 daysAustraliaVisa-free · 90 daysGermanyVisa-free · 90 daysFranceVisa-free · 90 daysNetherlandsVisa-free · 90 daysIrelandVisa-free · 90 daysSpainVisa-free · 90 daysItalyVisa-free · 90 daysPortugalVisa-free · 90 daysPolandVisa-free · 90 daysSwedenVisa-free · 90 daysSwitzerlandVisa-free · 90 daysSouth AfricaVisa-free · 90 days
Long stay

How you actually move to Chile

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified July 2026

Residencia Temporal — lawful remunerated activities

Foreigners with an employment contract under a subordinate or dependent relationship with an employer domiciled or holding a branch office in Chile.

What you need
  • An employment contract with an employer domiciled or with a branch office in Chile
  • Application lodged from outside Chile via SERMIG's Portal de Trámites Digitales
  • A portal account or ClaveÚnica
  • Passport and a criminal record certificate, legalised or apostilled
How long it lasts
Up to 2 years.
Path to permanent residence
Residencia Definitiva after a qualifying period of temporary residence, and Chilean nationality is a separate later step.
Cost
SERMIG publishes fees by subcategory and by nationality, and some nationalities pay reciprocity-based amounts. Check the current schedule on serviciomigraciones.cl; apostilles and certified translations are frequently the larger cost.
Processing time
Variable and often long since the 2021 law. Plan in months.
Worth knowing
  • You must apply from outside Chile. The pre-2021 practice of entering as a tourist and converting in-country is closed to new arrivals, and a great deal of surviving online advice still describes it. The exceptions are narrow but real: people who entered Chile before 12 February 2022, applicants with family ties to a Chilean or a permanent resident, and humanitarian cases can still change category from inside. Check whether one covers you before assuming you must leave — and if none does, arriving first can leave you with no legal path forward.
  • The employer must be domiciled in Chile or have a branch here — a foreign employer with no Chilean presence does not satisfy this subcategory.
  • Tax residency arrives after more than 183 days in Chile, continuous or not, within any rolling twelve-month window. That is the test Ley 21.210 wrote into article 8 N°8 of the Código Tributario; the old 'six months in a calendar year' rule it replaced is still widely quoted and is wrong.
  • Chile has no digital nomad visa. What it does have is an exemption from tax on foreign-source income for THREE YEARS COUNTED FROM YOUR ENTRY INTO CHILE — article 3 of the income tax law says 'desde su ingreso a Chile', not from the date you became resident or the date your visa was granted. Scouting trips and tourist months before you moved properly have already burned into it, and people routinely calculate from the wrong date and lose a year.
  • The extension of that exemption is discretionary, not an entitlement. Article 3 lets the SII's Director Regional extend it 'en casos calificados'; six years total is what practice commonly reaches, but the statute fixes no ceiling and grants no right to any of it. It must be applied for before the initial window closes and cannot be claimed retrospectively. Nobody sends a reminder.
  • The provisional RUT from the SII, obtainable with a passport and visa via form F4415, is what lets you bank and transact before your cédula exists.
Sources:SERMIG — foreigners engaged in lawful remunerated activitiesSERMIG — Residencia TemporalSERMIG — Residencia DefinitivaSII — Servicio de Impuestos Internos
FamilyMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Residencia Temporal by international reciprocity (Mercosur)

Nationals of Mercosur member and associated states — the lightest route into Chile by a wide margin, and one that dual nationals routinely overlook.

What you need
  • Nationality of a Mercosur member or associated state
  • Passport or national identity document
  • Criminal record certificate
  • Application through SERMIG's portal
How long it lasts
Up to 2 years.
Path to permanent residence
Leads to Residencia Definitiva on the same basis as other temporary residence subcategories.
Cost
Published by SERMIG; generally lower than the employment subcategory.
Processing time
Typically faster than the employment route, as it requires no employer.
Worth knowing
  • No job offer is required, which is the whole point — this is a nationality-based route rather than an employment-based one.
  • If you hold Argentine, Brazilian, Uruguayan, Paraguayan, Bolivian, Colombian, Ecuadorian or Peruvian nationality alongside another passport, check this route first. People with dual nationality frequently apply the hard way on their other passport without realising.
  • The exact list of qualifying states follows Mercosur membership and association agreements, which change — confirm your nationality qualifies before relying on it.
Sources:SERMIG — residence by international reciprocity (Mercosur)SERMIG — temporary residence subcategories
StudentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Residencia Temporal for students

Students accepted onto a course at a recognised Chilean educational institution.

What you need
  • Acceptance from a recognised Chilean institution
  • Evidence of means of support
  • Passport and criminal record certificate
  • Application from outside Chile through SERMIG's portal
How long it lasts
Up to 2 years, renewable while studies continue.
Path to permanent residence
Study time counts toward Residencia Definitiva, and graduates of Chilean institutions can move onto the work subcategory.
Cost
Published by SERMIG. Chilean public university tuition for foreigners is far below North American or UK levels.
Processing time
Apply well ahead of the academic year; processing has been slow since 2021.
Worth knowing
  • The permit is tied to your enrolment — dropping the course puts your residence at risk.
  • Work rights on a student permit are restricted; check the conditions rather than assuming you can take a job.
  • Spanish-language ability is the practical gate for most programmes, as English-taught degrees are far less common than in Europe.
Sources:SERMIG — student temporary residence permit
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Residencia Temporal for seasonal workers

Workers doing specific seasonal jobs for limited, one-off or inter-annual periods — largely agriculture, fruit export and fishing.

What you need
  • A seasonal job in Chile within the scope of the subcategory
  • Application through SERMIG's portal
  • Passport and supporting documentation
How long it lasts
Up to 5 years, extendable by a further 2 — but the stay may not exceed 6 months in any calendar year.
Path to permanent residence
Weak. Because the permitted stay is capped at 6 months a year, it accumulates residence far more slowly than the ordinary work subcategory.
Cost
Published by SERMIG.
Processing time
Varies with the season and the employer.
Worth knowing
  • The unusual shape of this permit is the thing to understand: a long overall validity, but a hard 6-month-per-year ceiling on actual presence. It is designed for people who return each harvest, not for settling.
  • It is the one temporary residence subcategory not capped at 2 years, which makes it look more generous than it is.
  • If you intend to live in Chile continuously, this is the wrong permit however easy it looks to obtain.
Sources:SERMIG — seasonal workersSERMIG — Residencia Temporal
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Residencia Temporal under international agreements

People covered by bilateral or multilateral agreements Chile is party to — including working holiday arrangements and professional mobility agreements.

What you need
  • Coverage by a relevant international agreement between Chile and your country
  • The documentation that specific agreement requires
  • Application through SERMIG's portal
How long it lasts
Up to 2 years, depending on the underlying agreement.
Path to permanent residence
Counts toward Residencia Definitiva on the ordinary basis.
Cost
Varies by agreement; published by SERMIG.
Processing time
Varies by agreement.
Worth knowing
  • This subcategory is a wrapper around many different agreements, so there is no single set of requirements — you have to identify the specific instrument covering your nationality.
  • Chile has working holiday agreements with a number of countries, and where one exists it is often the fastest way in for people under the age limit.
  • Check this subcategory before assuming the employment route is your only option; it is the least-known of the SERMIG list.
Sources:SERMIG — temporary residence subcategoriesSERMIG — Residencia Temporal
On the ground

Where you'd land in Chile

Santiago

Three tax-free years on foreign income, six if you ask in time — with the Andes 45 minutes from your desk.

Full Santiago guide
Valparaiso

UNESCO port city where Congress actually sits, at half Santiago's rent — and where the contour line is a risk map.

Full Valparaiso guide

Chile at a glance

Capital
Santiago
Population
19.9M
Languages
Spanish
Currency
CLP