Chilean Citizenship by Descent Service

We confirm your claim, retrieve Chilean records, and handle the civil registry and consulate steps until your Chilean citizenship is recognized.

Jérémie Le Pévédic

Last updated on 08/09/2026

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How citizenship by descent is registered

If your parent or grandparent was born in Chile, you may qualify for Chilean citizenship by descent. You must prove the family connection with civil records and file each registration in the required order with the consulate and the Registro Civil.

Missing records, differences in names, or an incorrectly ordered registration can delay the process. We retrieve the Chilean records, prepare the file, and follow the registration remotely until your citizenship is recognized.

This service is for you if

✓

Your parent or grandparent was born in Chile, and you want that nationality recognized as yours

✓

You live outside Chile and need the registration process handled remotely

✓

Your family's Chilean records are missing, incomplete, or somewhere in a registry you cannot search yourself

✓

You want a Chilean passport for yourself and need to check whether Article 10 allows transmission to your foreign-born children

What we handle for you

We check your eligibility, retrieve the records, and prepare the registration in the required order.

01

Eligibility check & Chilean records

Before you pay for apostilles or translations, we check whether your family history meets the requirements.

  • ✓Eligibility analysis based on your family history, including grandparent cases that need a two-step registration
  • ✓Retrieval of your ancestor's Chilean birth certificate from the Registro Civil
  • ✓Searches for birth/marriage certificates and other civil records needed to prove the chain from your ancestor to you
  • ✓Resolution of differences in names and spellings between countries
02

File preparation & registration

We prepare a complete, correctly sequenced file and handle the registration with the Chilean consulate and the Registro Civil.

  • ✓A personalized checklist of the foreign documents you need, with clear instructions for apostilles
  • ✓Official Spanish translations arranged for every document that needs one
  • ✓Registrations filed in the right order: in grandparent cases, your parent's inscription first, then yours
03

Follow-up to ID & passport

We stay on your case until your citizenship is recognized and you can request your Chilean documents.

  • ✓Follow-up with the consulate and the Registro Civil until your birth is inscribed in Chile
  • ✓Immediate notice whenever an institution requests something, so your case keeps moving
  • ✓Your Chilean birth certificate and RUN issued once inscribed
  • ✓Guidance to request your Chilean ID card and passport as the final step

Your citizenship by descent timeline

Typical durations observed across past cases. Every family history is different, and processing times are set by Chilean institutions.

Records & eligibility

1-3 months

Locating the Chilean birth certificate and mapping the registration chain. Quick when records are easy to find, but longer when certificates sit in regional offices or were never issued.

Documents & registration

1-3 years

Apostilles, translations, and registration through the consulate serving your area. Parent-line cases with documents in hand typically move in a year. However, grandparent cases involving a chain of registrations take several years in total.

Chilean ID & passport

3-4 weeks

Once your birth is inscribed and you have your RUN, you can request your Chilean ID card and passport like any other citizen.

Trusted by expats at

Airbus — Expat.cl client Bank of Korea — Expat.cl client Cegelec — Expat.cl client FAO — Expat.cl client Quantum — Expat.cl client Novo Nordisk — Expat.cl client Vinci — Expat.cl client

Need more time to plan?

Two options to help you plan:

  • The Chile Handbook for Foreigners
  • A 1-hour consultation for USD 127
  • The consultation fee credited toward a later service
Book a 1-hour consultation

Any questions?

Find answers here...

Eligibility

Who qualifies for Chilean citizenship by descent?

If your mother or father was born in Chile, you qualify, regardless of where you were born or whether your parent ever renewed a Chilean passport. If your grandparent was born in Chile, it is very often still possible as a two-step process: your parent is registered as Chilean first, and then you register as the child of a Chilean. Adopted children generally hold the same rights as biological children.

Is there a generational limit?

Yes. Chilean nationality passes from parent to child, as long as 1) each generation in the chain is registered with the Registro Civil, and 2) either the parent or grandparent acquired Chilean nationality by birth in Chile, naturalization, or special grant. So you cannot get citizenship by descent in Chile if your only qualifying ancestor is a great-grandparent or a more distant relative.

Can my children be included?

It depends. For a child born abroad, Article 10 requires that one of the child's parents or grandparents acquired Chilean nationality by birth in Chile, naturalization, or special grant. This condition is usually met when you claim through a parent born in Chile. If you claim through a grandparent born in Chile, you cannot assume your own children qualify through that same line; their family chain must be checked separately.

The process

Can I do everything from abroad?

Yes. There is no residency requirement to claim citizenship by descent. Births abroad of children of Chileans are registered through the Chilean consulate serving your area, which transmits the inscription to the Registro Civil in Chile. We retrieve the Chilean records remotely and prepare your file, so your involvement is limited to providing your own documents and attending the consulate when required.

Do I need to speak Spanish?

No. Unlike naturalization, citizenship by descent has no language or integration test. Any document not already in Spanish is officially translated, and we handle all the communication with the consulate and the Registro Civil in Spanish on your behalf.

Does Chile allow dual citizenship?

Yes. Chile has allowed dual nationality. Whether or not you can keep your current citizenship depends on whether your home country also allows dual citizenship.

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Fill out our short form, and we will get back to you within 24 hours with a clear plan.

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Chilean Citizenship by Descent?

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