Chile tourist visa and transitory stay

Chile does not require prior authorisation or a visa for entry as a transitory visitor, except from nationals of certain countries for reasons of national interest or reciprocity. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes a table by nationality showing whether a visa is required and the maximum stay, which is 90 days. Nationals who do need a visa apply through the Consular Service System (SAC) to a Chilean consulate abroad; the table distinguishes single-entry and multiple-entry visas, each with a maximum of 90 days and a fee set by nationality, with a 10 per cent surcharge where the fee is collected in local currency.

The permit is for people who come for leisure, sport, health, studies, business, tourism, family or similar reasons without intending to settle. At the border you must show that you have enough lawful means to support yourself. The PDI records the permitted stay on the Tarjeta Única Migratoria (TUM). The permit cannot run past the expiry date of your passport or travel document.

Holders of transitory stay cannot carry out paid activities. In exceptional cases, people who need to perform specific, sporadic paid activities, such as members and staff of public shows or expert advisers and technicians, can ask SERMIG for a work authorisation; it costs 150 per cent of the paid-activities temporary residence fee for their nationality and lasts as long as the contract.

SERMIG handles extensions (prórroga) of the transitory stay. The stay can be extended once by up to 90 days. The extension costs USD 100, paid in Chilean pesos at the exchange rate published in the Official Gazette, regardless of nationality; children and adolescents are exempt. Apply before the original period ends.

People on a transitory stay cannot apply for residence permits while in Chile. Exceptions are people with family ties to Chileans or definitive residents, dependants of a temporary resident, people with a humanitarian reason, cases consistent with the National Migration Policy, and others qualified by the Undersecretariat of the Interior. Everyone else applies for temporary residence online from abroad.