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We help you obtain the right visa

Chile bureaucracy can sometimes be very creative. They invented around a dozen types of visas.

Some of them like the student visa are rather simple to obtain. There are few documents required and you can get the visa from abroad, by applying at the Chilean consulate in your country. Chilean officials working in these consulates know well these types of visa because they do it all the time.

For certain types of visas, it becomes more complicated. You need to collect 15-20 documents, translate them, and stamp them in 2-3 different offices. Then you need to come to Chile to initiate the visa process. A missing document and you lost 1-2 months to restart the process. A mistake can lead to rejection and a difficult situation for you.

For a newcomer, all this bureaucracy can be painful to manage.

That’s why Expat.cl can assist you in your visa process.

Our service encompasses all the types of visas available in Chile. We define with you the best visa for you and your family. We send you the detail of documents required for your visa, and we assist you to write your request (which we can translate if needed). We then take care of submitting your application to the immigration department. Once you get approved, we help you to perform the last steps required to obtain your ID card.

The Expat.cl guarantee

If your first visa application gets rejected, we assist you to answer the rejection, or apply again for another visa, without additional cost.

Your visa in 6 steps

  • Phone call or conference call using Skype to understand your situation and determine which visa is best

  • You receive a guide explaining the documents you need to collect before coming to Chile, as well as a general explanation of the steps

  • We validate that the collected documents are correct and properly stamped to avoid any problem in the future

  • When coming in Chile, we take care of having them translated by a translator approved by the Chilean immigration department

  • We initiate the process and follow-up on a weekly basis

  • We go with you to the police department and the civil register office, to perform the last steps required to get your Chilean ID

The total duration of the process can range from 4 to 6 months. It takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks for immigration to register documents, then 2 to 3 months to obtain the visa. The last step (ID card) takes a few weeks.

You don’t need to be in Chile during the whole process. However, you need to come once to initiate the process in Chile, as they will request a proof of entry (the small white paper they give you at the airport, don’t loose it!). Once you get the visa approved, you will need to be there to finalize the process, as both the police department and the civil register require fingerprints and photos.

Frequently Asked Questions

The number and type of documents required depend on the visa type. Documents also differ if you want to register at the same time your partner or children. Therefore, we can not do an exhaustive and unique list of documents. Firs step is to get a valid passport with at least a double page available to stick the visa. For other documents, please have a look at the dedicated pages on our guide, or contact us to review your situation.
It is possible to do only one visa for the member of the family who is working in Chile. You can indicate family members on the visa application so that they get approved at the same time.

It is important to know that if your partner is registered with your visa, as “dependiente”, he or she will not have the possibility to legally work in Chile.

Therefore, depending on your situation, it can be more interesting to only register the children on your visa and to do a separate request for the partner. As the law regularly evolve, we study each situation on a case-by-case basis.

For 2-3 years, the number of foreigners requesting visas has steadily increased. Therefore, it takes between 4 to 6 months to complete the total process. Around 3-4 months to obtain the visa, plus a few extra weeks to get the Chilean ID card (and the RUT number, which is the ID number required for a lot of things in Chile, such as opening a bank account, installing internet in your flat…)

The work permit can be received more rapidly. It takes between 3 to 5 weeks from the day you apply for the visa.

Considering the time needed for all the process, it can be interesting, if you can do so, to visit Chile a few months before you want to move, in order to initiate the process and get to know better Chile. This will allow you to better prepare your relocation.

We advise this especially to people willing to retired in Chile, as well as entrepreneurs willing to do business in Chile. The latter often need to open bank accounts, and to perform legal steps. Having a visa an ID number ready avoid losing too many time while starting the company.

Same thing for people looking for a job here, as companies prefer foreigners who have already completed all the legal steps, and who have a RUT number.

Some types of visa, such as the student visa, or the working-holiday visa, can be obtained from abroad by contacting the Chilean consulate in your country. For most of the other visa (work/temporary residence), it is faster to initiate the process in Chile (even it still takes time).

Get in touch

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Contact us directly

Jérémie LE PEVEDIC
Director, Expat.cl

  • contact@expat.cl
  • +56 9 7551 7812
  • expatcl