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- Types of visas in Chile
Last updated on 22/06/2026
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Are you looking to relocate to Chile? This comprehensive guide covers every temporary resident visa Chile offers, along with specific requirements and required documents for each category. It is the first of the two residency steps, and the second is permanent residency. See our residency section for the full picture.
Temporary Residence Visas
A temporary resident visa for Chile allows you to stay legally in the country. They are usually issued with a validity of one or two years. You can renew them or apply for permanent residency if your temporary visa category allows it and if you meet the criteria for a Permanent Residency application.
There are multiple types of temporary residence visas. Here is a quick comparison:
| Visa type | Who it's for | Duration | Path to PR? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work contract | Employed by a Chilean company | 2 years | Yes |
| Retirement | Retirees with retirement pension | 2 years | Yes |
| Rentista | Foreigners with recurring passive income | 2 years | Yes |
| Investor | Investors with USD 500k+ | 2 years | Yes |
| Family reunification | Family of Chilean citizens or permanent residents | 2 years | Yes |
| MERCOSUR | Citizens of AR, BO, BR, PY, UY | 2 years | Yes |
| Religious | Religious workers in registered institutions | 2 years | Yes |
| Student | Full-time students | 1 year (renewable) | Yes but renewal first |
| Medical treatment | Patients needing healthcare in Chile | Varies | No |
| Pregnant women | Expectant mothers in Chile | 1 year | Not directly |
| Multiple-entry business | Business visitors, max 6 months/year | 1 year | Difficult |
| Former Resident | Foreigners who used to be permanent resident | 2 years | Yes |
Below more details about the different kinds of temporary visas in Chile:
Decree 177, published in May 2022, details the new categories of temporary visas in Chile following the implementation of the new immigration law in February 2022. The list presented in this article takes into account the updated categories introduced by this decree.
Family reunification visa
This visa is for you if you have a direct link with a Chilean citizen or a foreigner with permanent residence, who can be:
- your spouse (married or civil union),
- one of your parents,
- one of your children.
This is a visa you can apply for while residing in Chile as a tourist. You must apply for other visa types before coming to Chile.
Read more: Family reunification visa for Chile
Temporary visa for a former resident in Chile
This visa category is for foreigners who were living in Chile with permanent residency and have left Chile for more than two years, leading to the tacit revocation of this permanent residency.
Work contract visa / Visa de Residencia Sujeta a Contrato
The work contract visa (visa sujeta a contrato) allows foreign citizens who come to Chile to work for a Chilean company. To qualify for this visa, you must already have a work/freelance contract signed with a company, or a signed offer.
Do not use this visa if you come to Chile while maintaining your work contract with a foreign company. In that case, you may qualify for an investor visa, but not for the work visa. See the work visa page of our guide for more information.
This visa does not allow to relocate to Chile to look for a job. You can only apply to this visa with a work contract signed by a Chilean company, which you will then sign yourself at the nearest consulate of Chile in your country of origin. Therefore, do not come to Chile as a tourist and expect to switch visa category by signing a work contract after arriving. It won't work.
If you want more information, read the article about the work visa in Chile.
Temporary visa for religious persons
This temporary visa allows religious foreigners from churches, orders, or congregations recognized in the country to come to Chile to carry out religious, educational, or assistance activities. You cannot use this visa if your church/congregation has no legal presence in Chile.
This visa is only granted to religious persons joining an existing, registered religious institution. You cannot get a religious visa to create a new religious institution.
You can find more information in the article about the Chile religious visa.
Retirement visa
This temporary visa is for retirees who can demonstrate a recurring retirement pension from outside Chile. It allows them to stay in Chile for one or two years. Since the new immigration law came into force, all visas in this category have been issued for two years.
Read more: Retirement visa for Chile
Rentista visa
This temporary visa is for foreigners who can demonstrate a recurring passive income generated outside Chile, from:
- income generated by real estate rentals,
- dividends generated by financial assets.
It allows them to stay in Chile for one or two years. Since the new immigration law came into force, all visas in this category have been issued for two years.
You need to demonstrate a recurring income, but if you can, this is one of the most flexible visas for people looking to come to Chile.
Read more: Rentista visa for Chile
Temporary visa for investors
This temporary residence is for entrepreneurs, investors, or business owners who travel to Chile for more than ninety days due to their activities and interests in the country.
The investor visa requires USD 500,000 investment in Chile, so it is not for everyone. It can also be granted to foreign companies with a Chilean branch, which need to send employees to Chile. If you are an entrepreneur or a small investor, other visa categories might be more useful.
Read more: Investor visa for Chile
Temporary visa for pregnant women
This visa allows pregnant women to stay in Chile for one year. You need to be able to justify economic means while you stay in Chile.
Read more: Pregnant women visa for Chile
Temporary visa for a medical treatment
This visa allows foreigners coming to Chile to undertake specific medical treatments to stay in Chile for one year. You need to be able to justify economic means while you stay in Chile.
Read more: Medical visa for Chile
MERCOSUR - Principle of international reciprocity
This visa allows nationals of Mercosur member states: Argentinians, Bolivians, Brazilians, Paraguayans, and Uruguayans, to stay in Chile as temporary residents, regardless of the activity they come to perform, as long as they do not have criminal records.
For more information, see our guide about the Chile MERCOSUR visa.
Multiple-entry business visa
This permit is for foreigners who, for business purposes or to manage investments that foreign companies maintain in Chile, must regularly come to the country but only stay in Chile for up to six months per calendar year.
This visa category is less restrictive in terms of required documents. If you intend to stay long-term and apply for permanent residency, this might not be the best / fastest option. Despite being in the categories that are allowed to apply for permanent residency, the restriction to a maximum of six months per year make it impossible to qualify for permanent residency after 2 years, and you will have to extend your visa by another 2 years.
Student visa
The student visa is for foreigners who travel to Chile to study as regular students. It only allows studying. However, you are authorized to work part-time with this visa, as long as you do not work more than 30 hours per week. The duration usually is one to two years, based on the duration of your studies.
Digital nomads and remote workers
Chile does not have a digital nomad visa. If you work remotely for a foreign company, you have options: mainly the tourist visa (short-term) or the rentista visa (long-term). See our digital nomad guide.
Other visa types
There are a few other types that we do not detail as they are unlikely to apply to our clients:
- Foreigners subject to the custody of the Gendarmerie of Chile
- Foreigners who are in Chile by order of National Courts of Justice.
- Humanitarian reasons
- Seasonal workers
Permanent Residency, the next step
After holding a temporary visa for a certain period, generally 24 months, you may be eligible to apply for permanent residency in Chile. The two permits form a pair: the temporary resident visa gets you into the country legally, while permanent residency removes the renewal cycle and opens the path to citizenship.
You can read the permanent residency article for the qualifying criteria, timeline, and costs. Not sure which temporary category fits your profile? Book a consultation and we will identify the right pathway together.
Frequently Asked Questions regarding temporary residency in Chile
It is a temporary authorization (for a determined period) to live in Chile and perform any activity authorized by law.
It depends. Following the 2022 immigration reform, you must apply from abroad. If you enter Chile as a tourist, only applications for certain temporary visa types are allowed to be sent while in Chile, such as the family link visa, for people having a link with a Chilean or a permanent resident in Chile, and humanitarian visas such as the pregnancy visa.
There are specific requirements for each type of Temporary visa. The major criteria for Chile to grant a temporary residence, is to be sure that you have recurring income, or a lump sum of money allowing you to live in Chile upon arrival, while you are looking for a job, creating your company, studying…
There are no fixed requirements regarding income.
It depends on the nationality of the applicant. See our page Cost of visa in Chile.
You can apply for a temporary visa for "Family link" if you have a first-grade family link with a Chilean citizen, which means, if you are:
- father or mother of a Chilean citizen,
- spouse of a Chilean citizen,
- child of a Chilean citizen.
Yes. You can work with a student visa, but you are limited to 30 hours per week.
It depends on the type of visa/work permit you request and your nationality. See our page Cost of visas in Chile.
Within 30 days of receiving your visa, you must request your Chilean identity card: go to the nearest civil registry office. It may take more than 30 days to receive it, but as long as you have requested an appointment within 30 days of receiving your visa, you are good to go.
Yes. There is no special pathway for Americans: you qualify through one of the temporary residence categories like everyone else, most commonly the work contract visa, the retirement visa, the rentista visa, or the investor visa. The application is filed online from the US before you travel, because since the 2022 reform you cannot enter as a tourist and switch to residency from inside Chile.
It depends. if you fit a category. Chile has no points system or quotas: if you have a work contract, recurring income, a qualifying investment, or a family link, approval is the norm. The real friction is practical: apostilled and translated documents, and processing times of around 6-8 months for temporary visas.
