Country-wide policy
Where Chile's Nationality Rules Actually Live
Chile's migration law and the decree that lists every residence subcategory do not name a single country between them. We searched both consolidated texts for every neighbour, for Spain, Italy, Japan and Korea, for Mercosur and for the Andean Community, and there are no hits at all. That is not the same as saying Chile treats everyone alike. It means every rule that turns on your passport has been delegated somewhere else: to a treaty, to the supreme decree that fixes which nationalities need a consular visa, to the supreme decree that sets permit fees on a reciprocity basis, or to the transport ministry's licence treaties. If you are looking for what your nationality changes in Chile, the law is the wrong place to look.
Topics it changes
- Visiting as a tourist
- Residency on passive income
- Residency as a retiree
- Residency through work
- Residency through investment
- Residency as a student
- Residency through marriage
- Residency under a regional treaty
- Driving and licence exchange
At a glance
- Countries named in the migration law
- None
Our own finding, not a quotation: the stored consolidated text of Ley 21.325 was searched with accents folded and case ignored for argentina, peru, bolivia, brasil, espana, italia, japon, corea, paraguay, uruguay, colombia, ecuador, venezuela, mercosur and andin. Zero hits. This describes that text, not Chilean law as a whole.
- Countries named in the subcategory decree
- None
The same search over the stored consolidated text of Decreto 177 of 2022, with the same result.
- Who decides which nationalities need a visa to visit
- A supreme decree signed by the interior and foreign ministers
- What sets the price of a permit
- A supreme decree that must take international reciprocity into account
- So the fee for the same permit
- Depends on your nationality
- Treaty residence route
- Open by law to nationals of any state party to an agreement in force; the migration service names five
- Driving licence treaties in force
- Nine countries
- Another family of nationality-based permits
- Working-holiday arrangements, set by agreements with particular countries
A nationality-blind statute over a nationality-sensitive system
Read the migration law end to end and you will not find a country. It speaks of nationals of particular countries, of international reciprocity, of agreements ratified by Chile and in force - always in the abstract, always with the list handed to something else. The subcategory decree does the same. What follows is that the ordinary way of answering "what does my passport change here" - read the law - returns nothing in Chile, and returns nothing whether or not there is something to find.
Four places the answer actually sits
First, the treaties: the residence permit granted under an agreement takes its requirements and its effects from the agreement itself, and the decree adds nothing. Second, the visa decree: which nationalities need a consular authorisation before they can visit is fixed by a supreme decree signed by two ministers. Third, the fee decree: the amount payable for a permit must be set taking international reciprocity into account, so the price of the identical permit differs by passport, and the migration service tells applicants to look theirs up. Fourth, an entirely different ministry: transport runs its own nine driving licence treaties, with no connection to any of the above.
Which is why the answers do not line up
The migration service names five countries for treaty residency. The transport ministry names nine for driving licences, and only three of the nine overlap with the five. The foreign ministry points at working-holiday agreements without saying who has one. Each list is correct about its own subject and says nothing about the others, and there is no single place in Chile where a nationality's position is stated as a whole.
What the law says
«Sin perjuicio de lo establecido en el inciso precedente, por motivos calificados de interés nacional o por motivos de reciprocidad internacional, se podrá exigir respecto de los nacionales de determinados países una autorización previa o visa otorgada por un consulado chileno en el exterior. El listado de países cuyos ciudadanos estarán sometidos a esta exigencia será fijada mediante decreto supremo firmado por los ministros del Interior y Seguridad Pública y de Relaciones Exteriores, previo informe del Servicio, del Consejo de Política Migratoria y de la Subsecretaría de Relaciones Exteriores.»Our translation - not official
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, for qualified reasons of national interest or for reasons of international reciprocity, nationals of particular countries may be required to hold a prior authorisation or visa issued by a Chilean consulate abroad. The list of countries whose citizens will be subject to this requirement shall be fixed by supreme decree signed by the ministers of the Interior and Public Security and of Foreign Affairs, following a report from the Service, from the Migration Policy Council and from the Undersecretariat of Foreign Affairs.
The visa list is the clearest case: the law creates the power and hands the list to a decree. We do not hold that decree, so we cannot say which nationalities are on it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The National Congress Library's consolidated-law service. Publishes each norm as a dated, versioned consolidated text with amendment provenance in the margin and an explicit last-version date.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Holds the text and nothing about how it is applied - no practice, forms, fees or processing times. It also does not follow delegation: Ley 21.325 art. 27 hands the visa-required country list to a supreme decree, and reading art. 27 tells you nothing about that list. Beware the printing view, where margin notes interleave into the middle of sentences, so a quotation taken from a rendered page will not match the stored text.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Su monto se determinará por decreto supremo expedido a través del Ministerio del Interior y Seguridad Pública, que deberá ser firmado también por los ministros de Hacienda y de Relaciones Exteriores. Este decreto deberá considerar el principio de reciprocidad internacional para su determinación.»Our translation - not official
The amount shall be determined by supreme decree issued through the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, which must also be signed by the ministers of Finance and Foreign Affairs. That decree must take the principle of international reciprocity into account in setting it.
Reciprocity as a mandatory input to the fee means the same permit costs different amounts depending on the passport. This is easy to miss because no number appears in the law at all.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The National Congress Library's consolidated-law service. Publishes each norm as a dated, versioned consolidated text with amendment provenance in the margin and an explicit last-version date.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Holds the text and nothing about how it is applied - no practice, forms, fees or processing times. It also does not follow delegation: Ley 21.325 art. 27 hands the visa-required country list to a supreme decree, and reading art. 27 tells you nothing about that list. Beware the printing view, where margin notes interleave into the middle of sentences, so a quotation taken from a rendered page will not match the stored text.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Puedes consultar el costo según tu nacionalidad en la sección de»Our translation - not official
You can look up the cost according to your nationality in the section on
The migration service's own confirmation that the fee is nationality-dependent, on a page about a specific permit. The sentence continues into a link to the fee schedule, which is where the excerpt stops. We do not hold that schedule.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The agency created by Ley 21.325 that grants, extends and revokes residence permits and decides nationalisation files. Its pages carry a per-page update date, which makes staleness visible without a diff.
Standing: Decides what it means
Cannot be cited for: Not the text of the law - its pages summarise and occasionally narrow it. Not fees, which sit on a separate schedule expressed relative to the minimum income. Not the visa-required country list, which it hands to the foreign ministry. Nothing on tax or health entitlement.
We re-read it every 45 days. More about this source
«9\. Extranjeros acogidos a acuerdos internacionales ratificados por Chile y que se encuentren vigentes, que concedan residencia temporal.»Our translation - not official
9. Foreigners covered by international agreements ratified by Chile and in force which grant temporary residency.
One of two treaty slots in the law, and the one the subcategory decree actually implements.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The National Congress Library's consolidated-law service. Publishes each norm as a dated, versioned consolidated text with amendment provenance in the margin and an explicit last-version date.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Holds the text and nothing about how it is applied - no practice, forms, fees or processing times. It also does not follow delegation: Ley 21.325 art. 27 hands the visa-required country list to a supreme decree, and reading art. 27 tells you nothing about that list. Beware the printing view, where margin notes interleave into the middle of sentences, so a quotation taken from a rendered page will not match the stored text.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Los requisitos y efectos de los permisos en cuestión serán aquellos que se hayan establecido en el acuerdo o tratado que resulte aplicable al extranjero de que se trate. La misma regla se observará respecto de la posibilidad de solicitar el permiso desde el extranjero o en territorio nacional.»Our translation - not official
The requirements and effects of the permits in question shall be those established in the agreement or treaty applicable to the foreigner concerned. The same rule shall be observed as regards the possibility of applying for the permit from abroad or within national territory.
The decree writes no conditions of its own for treaty residency: the treaty supplies them, down to whether you may apply from inside Chile. That makes the treaty, not the decree, the thing that has to be read - and it is the reason a rule can be nationality-specific without a single nationality appearing in Chilean legislation.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The National Congress Library's consolidated-law service. Publishes each norm as a dated, versioned consolidated text with amendment provenance in the margin and an explicit last-version date.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Holds the text and nothing about how it is applied - no practice, forms, fees or processing times. It also does not follow delegation: Ley 21.325 art. 27 hands the visa-required country list to a supreme decree, and reading art. 27 tells you nothing about that list. Beware the printing view, where margin notes interleave into the middle of sentences, so a quotation taken from a rendered page will not match the stored text.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Lo dispuesto en este artículo no afectará la aplicación de acuerdos internacionales celebrados por Chile que establezcan normas específicas en esta materia y que se encuentren vigentes.»Our translation - not official
The provisions of this article shall not affect the application of international agreements concluded by Chile that establish specific rules on this matter and are in force.
Article 11 is the universal document list - passport valid for at least a year, criminal record certificate. This closing sentence lets any agreement in force displace it for the nationals it covers, which is the mechanism behind concessions like the Bolivian identity card.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The National Congress Library's consolidated-law service. Publishes each norm as a dated, versioned consolidated text with amendment provenance in the margin and an explicit last-version date.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Holds the text and nothing about how it is applied - no practice, forms, fees or processing times. It also does not follow delegation: Ley 21.325 art. 27 hands the visa-required country list to a supreme decree, and reading art. 27 tells you nothing about that list. Beware the printing view, where margin notes interleave into the middle of sentences, so a quotation taken from a rendered page will not match the stored text.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Chile tiene en vigor tratados internacionales con España, Surcorea, Perú, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Japón, Paraguay y Bolivia.»Our translation - not official
Chile has international treaties in force with Spain, South Korea, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Japan, Paraguay and Bolivia.
An entirely separate ministry, an entirely separate set of treaties, and a different nine-country list from the migration service's five. Nothing links the two, and a reader who checks only one of them gets half the answer.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Runs the online licence exchange and recognition procedures and verifies a foreign licence with its issuing authority before issuing a certificate.
Standing: Applies the rule
Cannot be cited for: Not the licence itself, which is issued by the municipal traffic department on its own requirements, fees and appointments. Not the rules for driving as a visitor on a foreign licence, nor for obtaining a Chilean licence from scratch. Not the texts of the treaties it summarises.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Dentro de las categorías de residencia temporal, existen algunas que están determinadas mediante Acuerdos firmados por Chile con otros países.»Our translation - not official
Within the temporary residency categories, there are some that are determined by Agreements signed by Chile with other countries.
The foreign ministry confirming that whole residence categories are nationality-determined, and giving the working-holiday programme as its example. Which countries have one is not stated on the page and is not recorded anywhere in our data.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The consular network, which grants the prior authorisation or visa and holds the per-nationality requirement, fee and maximum stay.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: Nothing about a particular nationality can be quoted from it. The per-country table sits behind a script-driven selector, so a stored reading captures the list of countries and none of the values - an excerpt claiming that a given nationality does or does not need a visa cannot be verified and must be refused. Not residence permits, which it hands to the migration service.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The two decrees this rests on are not in our store and have not been read: the decree fixing which nationalities need a consular visa, and the decree fixing permit fees. Until they are, we cannot state a fee or a visa requirement for any nationality.
Neither is the schedule of migration charges the service publishes as aranceles migratorios, which is where an applicant is told to look up their own fee.
Working-holiday agreements are confirmed to exist by the foreign ministry as a family of nationality-determined residence permits. Which countries have one has not been read from any source and is deliberately not listed here.
The finding that neither instrument names a country is ours, produced by searching the stored texts. It is a statement about those two texts. Chile's treaties, its decrees and its bilateral agreements name countries constantly; the point is that none of that is visible from the legislation.