Chile Residency: Plain and Simple

You’ve probably heard about countries that offer an “economic citizenship” package. Some of these countries have a fairly swift and non-intrusive process. For those considering Chile, regardless of what some may claim, neither of these are available here.

What Chile does offer is a relatively easy and inexpensive, not to mention straightforward, means of becoming a resident – and eventually a citizen. Depending on where you’re immigrating from, fees charged by the government range from zero to $1,500 at certain steps along the way. But most are little or nothing (the USA is zero for instance on residency, and less than US$50 for citizenship).

It’s easiest if one has a reasonable amount of money anywhere in the world (I recommend US$250,000 but it can be less) that can be presented on some sort of account statement. Birth, marriage, divorce certificates are needed, and college diplomas are a plus, as are titles to property in Chile (if one happens to have any).

There are a number of temporary visa options: student, missionary, contract, investor, real estate or stock investor (rentista) and retirement (pensionista) are the more common ones. We recommend applying under the latter two, unless you have already secured a job in Chile. The visa attained is called a “temporary” visa and it normally lasts for a year (there are other time durations for other visas in the list).

I do not recommend applying for a visa outside of Chile. The extra requirements are expensive and intrusive (for instance a police report is required, whereas it is not when applying from within Chile).

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