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- Chile Visa by Nationality: Who Needs One in 2026
Last updated on 20/06/2026
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Whether you need a visa to enter Chile depends mainly on one thing: the passport you carry, not your residence and not the other visas in your passport, with a few important exceptions covered below. Chile's entry rules are reciprocal and nationality-based, which produces some results that surprise travelers: Americans and Australians walk in visa-free, while Indian and Chinese citizens normally need a consular visa. The big exception, and the most-searched question on this topic, is that those nationalities can skip the visa entirely if they hold a valid US visa or US green card.
This guide sorts the rules by nationality, as of 2026, against Chile's official visa schedule (the cuadro de visas published by the Ministry of Foreign Relations). Entry policies change, so confirm against current official Chilean sources before booking.
Who can enter Chile without a visa?
Citizens of roughly 90 countries enter Chile visa-free as tourists for up to 90 days. At the border you receive an entry record (the tarjeta de turismo in slip or digital form). Keep it, hotels and customs may ask for it.
| Nationality group | Visa needed? | Standard stay |
|---|---|---|
| USA, Canada, UK, EU/Schengen countries | No | 90 days |
| Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea | No | 90 days |
| Most of Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, Peru...) | No | 90 days |
| Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay (Mercosur) | No (national ID card accepted) | 90 days |
| India, China, Dominican Republic | Yes — unless you hold a qualifying US visa or green card* | Per visa granted |
| Cuba, Haiti, most of Africa and Middle East | Yes (consular tourist visa) | Per visa granted |
*India, China, and the Dominican Republic are exempt from the tourist visa if they hold a valid US visa (or, for China, a US or Canadian visa) or a US green card. This is the one set of cases where another country's document changes Chile's answer, explained next.
The 90-day stay can typically be extended once from inside Chile for a further 90 days, for a fee, through SERMIG (Chile's national migration service). Details on entry requirements, extensions, and overstay consequences are in our Chile tourist visa guide, and US-specific questions are covered in our guide to Chile visa requirements for US citizens.
Chile visa for Indians with a US visa: yes, it helps
This is one of the most-searched Chile entry questions, and the answer is the opposite of what many guides claim: a valid US visa does exempt Indian citizens from Chile's tourist-visa requirement.
Under Chile's official visa schedule, Indian passport holders are exempt from the permanencia transitoria (transitory-stay, i.e. tourist) visa if they carry either:
- a US visa of any type except a C visa / transit visa, valid for at least six months, or
- a US green card (lawful permanent residence).
This waiver has been in force since April 1, 2019. With a qualifying US visa or green card, an Indian citizen enters Chile visa-free as a tourist, exactly like a visa-exempt nationality, for up to 90 days.
A few practical points:
- Almost any US visa class qualifies, tourist (B1/B2), student (F/M), work (H/L/O), exchange (J), and so on. The single exclusion is the C transit visa.
- You must have at least six months of validity remaining on the US visa at the time you enter Chile. A green card has no such window.
- Only US documents count for Indian citizens. A Canadian visa does not qualify (that broader option exists only for Chinese passports, see below).
- Carry the proof: your passport, the US visa or green card, and ideally a printout of the rule. Airline check-in staff and even some border officers do not always know each nationality's exemption, so be ready to point to it.
If you do not hold a qualifying US visa or green card, then yes, an Indian citizen needs a Chilean consular tourist visa, applied for before travel (see how to apply below). Indian citizens who hold permanent residence in a third country other than the US still fall under their Indian passport for this purpose.
The same rule for Chinese and Dominican citizens
Two other nationalities get this US-visa shortcut, and it is worth knowing because the same confusion surrounds them.
- Dominican Republic: identical rule to India. Dominican passport holders are exempt from the Chile tourist visa with a valid US visa (any type except C/transit, at least six months) or a US green card, since April 1, 2019.
- China (People's Republic): a slightly broader version. Holders of an ordinary Chinese passport are exempt with a US or Canadian visa (any type except a C/transit visa) or a green card, valid for at least six months, also since April 1, 2019. China is the one case where a Canadian visa, not just a US one, opens the door.
For every other nationality that needs a Chilean visa, no third-country visa substitutes for it: holding a US, Canadian, or Schengen visa does not waive Chile's requirement.
Chile visa for US green card holders
For most nationalities, a US green card does not change Chile's answer: Chile looks at your citizenship, so a green-card-holding UK citizen enters visa-free on their British passport, while a green-card holder from a visa-required country still needs a Chilean consular visa.
The exception is the three nationalities above. For citizens of India, China, and the Dominican Republic, a US green card does grant visa-free tourist entry to Chile, it is one of the two qualifying documents (alongside a valid US visa) under the 2019 rule.
For any other visa-required nationality, the green card's value is logistical rather than legal: as a US resident you apply through the Chilean consulate in the United States rather than in your country of citizenship, which is usually faster and better organized. But the visa requirement itself stands or falls with your passport.
Chile visa for Australians: the reciprocity fee story
Australians do not need a visa for Chile: 90 days visa-free as tourists. If you have read older forum posts about Australians paying a hefty fee on arrival in Santiago, that is the now-defunct reciprocity fee: a one-time charge (US$117 for Australians at the end) that Chile levied at the airport to mirror what those countries charged Chileans for visas. The fee was dropped for Americans in 2014 when Chile joined the US Visa Waiver Program, and abolished for Australians in 2019.
As of 2026 there is no reciprocity fee for any nationality. Australians simply present their passport, receive the standard 90-day entry, and pay nothing.
Mercosur: special rules for South Americans
Citizens of Mercosur states and associates (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia... mentoined below as 'Mercosur countries') get the friendliest treatment of all:
- Entry with a national ID card alone for tourism, no passport required
- The Mercosur–Chile residence agreement: the right to apply for temporary residence in Chile for up to two years based purely on nationality, no job offer or sponsor required, and a path to permanent residency afterward
If that is your situation, the residence route is usually far more valuable than tourist entry, so see our dedicated Mercosur visa guide.
Despite being a founding member of Mercosur, Venezuela has been suspended since December 2, 2016. Venezuelan citizens therefore do not qualify for the Mercosur rules currently.
While the Mercosur rules also apply to foreigners resident in the Mercosur countries, there is a catch. To enter visa-free, they must not be citizens from a country required to apply for a consular visa. Therefore, a Canadian legally residing in Argentina can either enter Chile as a tourist with his Canadian passport or Argentinan ID card (the interest is limited, but in case the passport is lost or currently being renewed, it can be helpful sometimes). However, a Sudanese citizen will need to apply for a consular visa and enter with his Sudanese passport, even if residing in a Mercosur country.
How to apply if your nationality needs a visa
If you carry a visa-required passport and do not qualify for one of the US-visa waivers above, request the tourist visa before travel, through the consulate responsible for where you live:
- Start the application in Chile's online consular system .
- Submit passport, photos, financial proof, itinerary and accommodation, employment evidence, and a return ticket, plus any documents the consulate specifies. Tourist visas are typically issued for up to 90 days.
- Wait for issuance before buying non-refundable tickets. Processing takes weeks, times vary by post and season, and decisions rest entirely with the Chilean authorities.
For stays beyond tourism (work, study, retirement, family), every nationality, visa-free or not, needs the appropriate residence permit. Start from our visas overview to find the right category.
Not sure which rules apply to you?
Mixed-nationality families, expiring passports, a US visa with only a few months left, third-country residence: real cases are messier than tables. Book a call and we will confirm exactly what your passport needs and plan the steps before you fly.
