Country-wide policy
Permanent Residency: the 24-Month Clock and What Moves It
Every Chilean residence route runs through the same gate. Permanent residency normally needs 24 months of temporary residency in a subcategory that admits the application, and that number is not fixed: time spent out of the country pushes it up on a published scale that reaches 48 months, while family ties, a pension, an investment or a recognised contribution can pull it down to 12. Once granted it is indefinite, but it lapses by itself after two continuous years abroad. This is the fact that decides how long each of the residence topics on this page actually takes.
Topics it changes
- Residency on passive income
- Residency as a retiree
- Residency through work
- Residency as a student
- Residency through investment
- Residency through marriage
- Residency under a regional treaty
- Becoming a citizen
What it requires
- Hold a temporary residence permit in a subcategory that expressly admits application for permanent residency
- 24 months of residence in that capacity, for applications filed after 14 May 2022
- Apply no more than 90 days before the temporary permit's renewal deadline
- Show the activity or economic support you live on, per the migration service's published list
- A criminal record certificate from the country of origin, apostilled or legalised, and a current Chilean identity card
- Book an appointment at the Civil Registry within 30 days of being notified of the grant
At a glance
- Standard wait
- 24 months of temporary residency
- Absence up to 2 months
- 24 months
One row of the scale the migration service publishes as a table and this page quotes in full. The statute fixes the twenty-four-month starting point and the forty-eight-month ceiling and sets no steps between them.
- Absence over 2 and up to 6 months
- 30 months
One row of the scale the migration service publishes as a table and this page quotes in full. The statute fixes the twenty-four-month starting point and the forty-eight-month ceiling and sets no steps between them.
- Absence over 6 and up to 12 months
- 36 months
One row of the scale the migration service publishes as a table and this page quotes in full. The statute fixes the twenty-four-month starting point and the forty-eight-month ceiling and sets no steps between them.
- Absence over 12 months
- 48 months
One row of the scale the migration service publishes as a table and this page quotes in full. The statute fixes the twenty-four-month starting point and the forty-eight-month ceiling and sets no steps between them.
- Reduced wait
- 12 months, on family ties, official missions, pensions or rents, investments, or a recognised contribution
The statute writes the floor as "not less than one" year; the migration service publishes it as 12 months. They agree.
- Statutory ceiling on extending the wait
- 48 months
- Dependants
- Not subject to the waiting period, once the principal has completed theirs
- Tacit revocation
- Two continuous years outside Chile
- Saving the permit before it lapses
- Apply at a Chilean consulate in the last 60 days before the two years
- Extension when saved
- Two years, once only
- Subcategories that cannot apply at all
- Seasonal workers, people in Gendarmería custody, people in Chile by court order, and medical-treatment permits
Leaving the country is expensive in months
The migration service publishes a table that converts absence into waiting time, for temporary residencies applied for after 14 May 2022. Up to two months away, the requirement stays at 24 months. Over two and up to six, it becomes 30. Over six and up to twelve, 36. Beyond twelve months away, 48 - the statutory maximum. The absence is counted continuous or not, so a series of long trips home adds up exactly like one long one. This single table changes the arithmetic of a Chilean move more than any requirement in the individual residence permits.
And staying, working and having family here is cheap in months
The other direction is capped at twelve months by the statute. The migration service names the circumstances: family ties to Chileans or permanent residents, official missions carried out in Chile, availability of rents or pensions, investments made or companies in effective operation in Chile, a contribution to social, cultural, artistic, scientific or sporting life, and other cases contemplated in international agreements in force. The regulation weighs these rather than granting them automatically.
The other lever: insufficient means and unstable work
The law lists what can push the wait past 24 months besides absence, and two of them are economic. Insufficient means of subsistence is defined as a household whose income is below the minimum needed to meet its members' basic needs on the social development ministry's indicators. Labour instability is defined as failing to show income from any lawful economic activity, employed or self-employed, for at least half the months of temporary residence. Migration, labour, social security, environmental, health, tax and customs infringements are also weighed, by gravity.
Permanent does not mean unconditional
Permanent residency authorises any lawful activity indefinitely and removes the need for a visa to enter. It also evaporates on its own after two continuous years abroad unless you go to a Chilean consulate in the last sixty days before that anniversary and ask for the extension, which is granted once and lasts two years. There is no second extension, which makes a long posting overseas a decision about the permit as well as about the job.
What the law says
«Artículo 79.- Postulación de los residentes temporales titulares. Se podrá otorgar la residencia definitiva a los extranjeros titulares de un permiso de residencia temporal que admita su postulación y que hayan residido en el país en tal calidad por a lo menos veinticuatro meses.»Our translation - not official
Article 79.- Application by principal temporary residents. Permanent residency may be granted to foreigners holding a temporary residence permit that admits such an application and who have resided in the country in that capacity for at least twenty-four months.
Two conditions, and the first is easy to miss: the subcategory has to admit the application 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
«Sin embargo, mediante reglamento se podrá establecer que el plazo de residencia temporal necesario para postular a la residencia definitiva sea de hasta cuarenta y ocho meses, en mérito de los siguientes antecedentes personales del interesado:»Our translation - not official
However, regulations may establish that the period of temporary residence needed to apply for permanent residency be up to forty-eight months, on the basis of the following personal circumstances of the applicant:
The statute sets a ceiling of 48 months and hands the detail to the regulation; the published absence table is the regulation's answer.
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
«El reglamento señalado en el inciso precedente podrá también establecer un plazo de residencia temporal para postular a la residencia definitiva inferior a dos años, pero no menor a uno, en atención a las siguientes circunstancias personales del interesado:»Our translation - not official
The regulation referred to in the preceding paragraph may also establish a period of temporary residence for applying for permanent residency shorter than two years, but not less than one, in view of the following personal circumstances of the applicant:
Twelve months is the statutory floor - no circumstance can take it lower.
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
«Artículo 83.- Revocación tácita. La residencia definitiva quedará tácitamente revocada al ausentarse su titular del país por un plazo continuo superior a dos años, salvo que el interesado solicite, antes del término de dicho plazo, la prórroga de tal residencia ante el consulado chileno respectivo, la cual se otorgará por una sola vez y tendrá una vigencia de dos años.»Our translation - not official
Article 83.- Tacit revocation. Permanent residency shall be tacitly revoked if the holder is absent from the country for a continuous period exceeding two years, unless the interested party applies, before the end of that period, for an extension of that residency at the relevant Chilean consulate, which shall be granted once only and shall be valid for two years.
Continuous absence, not a quota of days. Two departures of eighteen months each, with a visit in between, do not trigger this - and the consular extension is available once, never twice.
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
«Artículo 78.- Definición. Residencia definitiva es el permiso para radicarse indefinidamente en Chile, que autoriza a desarrollar cualquier actividad lícita, sin otras limitaciones que las que establezcan las disposiciones legales y reglamentarias.»Our translation - not official
Article 78.- Definition. Permanent residency is the permit to settle indefinitely in Chile, authorising the holder to carry out any lawful activity, with no limitations other than those set by legal and regulatory provisions.
About 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
«Artículo 81.- Postulación de los dependientes. Los dependientes de un titular de un permiso de residencia temporal podrán postular a un permiso de residencia definitiva sin sujeción a los plazos establecidos en el artículo 79, siempre que el titular haya cumplido con el período de residencia requerido y su permiso sea de aquellos que expresamente admiten su postulación.»Our translation - not official
Article 81.- Application by dependants. Dependants of the holder of a temporary residence permit may apply for a permanent residence permit without being subject to the periods established in article 79, provided the principal has completed the required period of residence and their permit is one that expressly admits the application.
A dependant who joined late does not restart the clock - they inherit the principal's.
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 titulares de estos permisos estarán habilitados para postular a la residencia definitiva, con excepción de aquellos que cuenten con los permisos indicados en las letras d), f), g), y k) del presente artículo.»Our translation - not official
Holders of these permits shall be entitled to apply for permanent residency, with the exception of those holding the permits indicated in letters d), f), g) and k) of this article.
The excluded letters are seasonal workers, people under Gendarmería custody, people in Chile by order of the courts, and people on medical-treatment permits. Every other subcategory in the decree leads on.
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
«deberán haber residido en el país en tal calidad **al menos por 24 meses**.»Our translation - not official
they must have resided in the country in that capacity for at least 24 months.
The agency's figure for what article 79 writes as "veinticuatro meses". The two agree.
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
«el plazo mínimo de residencia exigido **puede reducirse a 12 meses**, considerando las siguientes circunstancias personales:»Our translation - not official
the minimum period of residence required may be reduced to 12 months, taking the following personal circumstances into account:
The agency's figure, expressed in months and in digits, for what the statute writes as "not less than one" year. The two agree. The service attributes it to article 79 of the law and article 66 of the regulation; we have read the former and not the latter.
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
«| Hasta 2 meses | **24 meses** |
| Más de 2 meses y hasta 6 meses | **30 meses** |
| Más de 6 meses y hasta 12 meses | **36 meses** |
| Más de 12 meses | **48 meses** |»Our translation - not official
| Up to 2 months | 24 months | | More than 2 months and up to 6 months | 30 months | | More than 6 months and up to 12 months | 36 months | | More than 12 months | 48 months |
The migration service's scale in full: months of absence on the left, months of residence required on the right. The statute authorises a ceiling of forty-eight months and leaves the weighting of each factor to the regulation, so every step and every threshold here is the agency's.
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
Practical notes
The application window is the 90 days before the temporary permit's renewal deadline, so it is easy to miss by waiting for the permit to expire.
Proof of how you support yourself is the bulkiest part of the file - employment contract and its registration, payslips or SII invoices, AFP contribution history and FONASA or Isapre contribution certificates, depending on your situation.
If the migration service asks for more documents, 60 running days run from the notification; silence can cost the application.
Once granted, an appointment at the Civil Registry has to be booked within 30 days of notification.
Spouses of Chileans and children are exempt from the fee; everyone else pays a figure calculated on the non-remunerational minimum income.
The 24 / 30 / 36 / 48 month scale for absences is the migration service's, published as a table on its permanent residency page. The law sets only the 24-month starting point and the 48-month ceiling, and leaves the weighting of each factor to a regulation we have not read.