Dual Citizenship in Chile: Rules and How It Works

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Dual Citizenship in Chile: Rules and How It Works

Last updated on 22/06/2026

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Short answer: yes, Chile allows dual citizenship, and has done so without restriction since a constitutional reform in 2005. You can become Chilean without giving up your original nationality, and Chileans can naturalize elsewhere without losing their Chilean nationality.

That single fact shapes a lot of decisions: whether to naturalize after years of residency, whether to claim nationality through a Chilean parent or grandparent, give to your children by birth... Here are the details.

Does Chile allow dual citizenship?

Yes. Chilean law places no limit on how many nationalities a Chilean can hold. The Constitution provides that Chileans only lose their nationality through voluntary, formal renunciation before a Chilean authority, and even that requires you to already hold another nationality, since Chile will not leave you stateless.

In practice this means that:

foreigners who naturalize in Chile keep their original nationality, as far as Chile is concerned. Whether your home country lets you keep it is a question of their law: most Western countries (US, UK, Canada, Australia, France, and most of the EU) permit it, while a few (Japan, Singapore, China, India) do not.
Chileans who acquire a second nationality keep their Chilean one automatically, unless the country that grants them citizenship requires them to renounce their Chilean citizenship. And children can inherit or combine nationalities, whether born in Chile to foreign parents or born abroad to a Chilean parent, without ever choosing between them.

The complete naturalization requirements are in our Chilean citizenship guide. This page focuses on the dual-nationality questions specifically.

Does Chile allow dual citizenship with the US?

Yes, on both sides. Chile permits its citizens to hold US nationality, and the United States permits its citizens to hold Chilean nationality. A US citizen who naturalizes in Chile does not lose US citizenship (the US naturalization oath issue runs the other way and does not apply), and a Chilean who naturalizes in the US keeps Chilean nationality under the post-2005 rules.

So can an American get dual citizenship in Chile? Absolutely, through either of two doors:

Naturalization after the qualifying years of residency (five years from first temporary residence, or two for close relatives of Chileans)
Descent, if you have a Chilean parent or grandparent born in Chile

Two American-specific notes are worth flagging. On taxes, the US taxes its citizens on worldwide income no matter where they live, while Chile taxes its residents (not its citizens) on worldwide income, so holding both passports does not by itself create double taxation: residence and income sources do. On travel, you will use the US passport to enter the United States and the Chilean one to enter Chile, since both countries require their citizens to use their own documents.

When renunciation mattered: before the 2005 reform

The generous rules are relatively recent. Before the reform enacted by Ley 20.050 in 2005:

Chileans who voluntarily naturalized in another country lost Chilean nationality automatically (with narrow exceptions, such as the 1958 dual-nationality treaty with Spain or cases where naturalization was a legal requirement to live and work abroad).
Foreigners naturalizing in Chile were expected to renounce their previous nationality as part of the process.

The 2005 reform abolished both rules and allowed Chileans who had lost nationality under the old regime to recover it through a simple registration with the Registro Civil. If a parent or grandparent "lost" Chilean nationality decades ago, do not assume the chain is broken: recovery and descent rules may still work in your family's favor, which is exactly the kind of case worth checking carefully.

Dual citizenship through Chilean descent

The fastest route to a Chilean passport is not naturalization: it is ancestry. Children and grandchildren of Chileans born in Chile can claim Chilean citizenship by descent from abroad, through a consulate or the Registro Civil, without ever having lived in Chile.

And the question that audience asks most is precisely the one this page answers: will claiming Chilean nationality cost me my current one? It depends. Chile will not ask you to renounce anything, and the major countries (US, Canada, Australia, most of Europe) will not treat your Chilean recognition as a loss event. Verify your own country's rule if it is one of the strict ones (Germany, Japan, Singapore, India, China), but for the vast majority, descent means addition, not substitution.

What you gain is substantial: a Chilean passport with visa-free access to most of the world including the US Visa Waiver Program, the unconditional right to live in Chile, and the ability to pass nationality on to your own children.

Living with two passports: the practicalities

Day to day, dual citizenship with Chile is undramatic. A few rules of thumb:

Entering and leaving Chile: always use your Chilean passport and cédula de identidad. Chilean border control treats you as Chilean only.
Entering your other country: use that country's passport. For third countries, pick whichever document gets better treatment: for the US, that is usually the Chilean passport's ESTA access if your other passport needs a visa.
Taxes follow residence, not passports. Chile taxes you on worldwide income only if you are tax-resident there (broadly, more than 183 days), with a multi-year exemption on foreign income for new residents. US citizens additionally file with the IRS wherever they live. Get advice from a qualified tax professional before relocating. Citizenship itself rarely changes the answer, residence does. Note that there is a tax treaty between Chile and the USA, aiming notably at avoiding double taxation.
Obligations: Chilean men of military-service age are formally subject to conscription rules, though exemptions commonly apply to those naturalized as adults or living abroad. Voting in Chilean elections is possible from abroad for presidential races and primaries.

Check your eligibility

If you are weighing naturalization after years in Chile, or you suspect a Chilean parent or grandparent makes you eligible already, the right first step is a clear read of your documents and timeline. Book a call and we will map your fastest route to the second passport.