Temporary Residency for Investors and Related Staff
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Bolivia on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Bolivia to Chile · Residency through investment
Chile has an investor residence permit, and it is expensive: five hundred thousand US dollars, put into producing goods or services, and sponsored by the state investment promotion agency before the migration service will look at the file. A second door in the same paragraph costs the applicant nothing personally - senior managers and specialist technical staff hired by a Chilean company that a foreign investor controls through at least 10% of the voting shares come in the same way. Neither door exists in the migration statute: the investor category was created by the supreme decree that lists the subcategories, which means it can be changed without going back to Congress.
At a glance
- Investment threshold
- USD 500,000, or the equivalent in another currency
The decree writes the figure in words - "quinientos mil dólares de Estados Unidos de Norteamérica" - and the quotation on this page carries it. No Chilean-peso equivalent is published in the decree.
- What the money must be for
- Producing goods or services
- Who must sponsor you
- InvestChile, the foreign investment promotion agency
- Route without investing your own money
- Senior management or specialist technical staff of a company controlled by a foreign investor with at least 10% of the voting shares
- Where you apply
- From abroad
- Maximum term of a temporary permit
- 2 years under the statute, extendable by up to 2 more
This is the statutory ceiling for every temporary residence permit, not a figure published for this subcategory. The specific term is fixed by a separate supreme decree on subcategory validity, which we have not read.
- Leads to permanent residency
- Yes
- Normal wait for permanent residency
- 24 months of temporary residency
- Possible reduction
- Down to 12 months where an investment has been carried out or a company is actually operating in Chile
- Where the category comes from
- The subcategory decree, not the migration law
Requirements
- An investment in Chile of at least five hundred thousand US dollars, or the equivalent in another currency
- The investment must be for the production of goods or services
- A sponsorship letter from InvestChile, applied for beforehand with a document setting out the object and amount of the investment
- A criminal record certificate, legalised or apostilled
- Applied for from outside Chile, through the migration service's electronic platform
- Alternative route: employment or a service engagement as a senior manager or specialist technical staff member with a company in Chile controlled by a foreign investor holding at least 10% of the voting shares
- At renewal: documents showing progress in carrying out the committed investment, plus the company's tax folder, its municipal licence payment where applicable, and the contract linking you to the company
In detail
Two routes in one paragraph, and only one of them costs you money
The first paragraph of article 62 is the one everybody quotes: half a million dollars, directed at producing goods or services. The second paragraph is the useful one for most people who end up using this permit. It covers senior managers and specialist technical staff engaged by a company established in Chile, provided a foreign investor controls at least 10% of that company's voting shares. The threshold there is a fact about the employer, not about the applicant, and nothing in it asks the applicant to invest anything at all.
InvestChile decides before the migration service does
The decree asks for exactly two documents: a criminal record certificate and a sponsorship letter from InvestChile. That makes the investment promotion agency, not the migration service, the body that actually screens this route. InvestChile issues the letter on request, against a document setting out the object and the amount of the investment, plus whatever else the agency requires by its own resolution. The practical file is therefore longer than the decree suggests, and the part that decides the outcome is published by an agency we have not read.
A category the law never asked for
Article 70 of the migration law obliges the government to create subcategories covering thirteen situations, and investment is not one of them. The investor permit is one of four extras the 2022 decree added on its own initiative, alongside former permanent residents, multiple-entry business visits, and refugees. Practically, that means the threshold, the sponsorship requirement and the category itself can be rewritten by a supreme decree, without the parliamentary step a change to the law would need. Chile is unusual here: its neighbours tend to put investment thresholds into statute.
The investment can shorten the wait for permanent residency
The ordinary wait for permanent residency is 24 months of temporary residency. Both the law and the migration service list investments carried out, or companies actually operating in Chile, among the circumstances that can bring that down - and the law caps the reduction at one year, so 12 months is the floor. The law leaves the weighting of each factor to the regulation.
Country-level policy
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.
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.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Bolivia
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«Artículo 62.- Podrán solicitar este permiso las personas extranjeras, representantes legales y personas que desempeñen funciones gerenciales o de alta dirección en una empresa extranjera, que busquen invertir en Chile por un monto igual o superior a quinientos mil dólares de Estados Unidos de Norteamérica o su equivalente en otras monedas, siempre que dicha inversión tenga por objeto la producción de bienes o servicios.»Our translation - not official
Article 62.- Foreign persons, legal representatives and persons performing managerial or senior management functions in a foreign company, who seek to invest in Chile in an amount equal to or greater than five hundred thousand United States dollars or its equivalent in other currencies, may apply for this permit, provided that the investment has as its object the production of goods or services.
The threshold is written in words rather than digits, which is how Spanish legal drafting states amounts. The condition at the end is easy to lose: the money has to go into producing goods or services, not into an asset held passively.
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
«Podrán igualmente solicitar este permiso aquellas personas extranjeras que desempeñen funciones gerenciales o de alta dirección y el personal técnico especialista, que sea contratado como trabajador dependiente o para prestar servicios en una empresa establecida en Chile, cuyo capital o patrimonio sea controlado directa o indirectamente por un inversionista extranjero que tenga al menos 10% del derecho a voto de las acciones de la sociedad o un porcentaje equivalente de participación en el capital social si no se tratare de una sociedad por acciones o en el patrimonio de la empresa.»Our translation - not official
Foreign persons performing managerial or senior management functions, and specialist technical staff, who are hired as employees or to provide services to a company established in Chile whose capital or assets are controlled directly or indirectly by a foreign investor holding at least 10% of the voting rights of the company's shares, or an equivalent percentage of participation in the share capital where it is not a company limited by shares, or in the company's assets, may equally apply for this permit.
This half of the article is the one most people miss. It asks nothing of the applicant's own wealth: the threshold is a fact about the employer's ownership, not about the employee.
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
«b) Carta de patrocinio emitida por la Agencia de Promoción de la Inversión Extranjera (InvestChile). Dicha carta será emitida previa solicitud del interesado, acompañada de un documento que pormenorice los detalles de la inversión, indicando al menos el objeto de la misma y el monto, y la naturaleza de las funciones según corresponda, así como los demás antecedentes que determine la referida Agencia, por medio de resolución.»Our translation - not official
b) A sponsorship letter issued by the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (InvestChile). That letter shall be issued at the request of the interested party, accompanied by a document detailing the investment, stating at least its object and amount, and the nature of the functions as applicable, together with any other information the said Agency determines by resolution.
The gate is InvestChile, not the migration service. What else InvestChile asks for is set by its own resolution, which we have not read - so the real document list for this route is longer than the decree's two items and is published somewhere we have not been.
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 64.- Los extranjeros titulares de un permiso de residencia temporal correspondiente a la subcategoría regulada en el presente párrafo podrán solicitar una prórroga del mismo, adjuntando para ello en su solicitud los documentos que den cuenta del progreso en la materialización de la inversión comprometida, además de los siguientes antecedentes:»Our translation - not official
Article 64.- Foreigners holding a temporary residence permit corresponding to the subcategory governed by this paragraph may apply for an extension of it, attaching to their application the documents showing the progress in carrying out the committed investment, together with the following information:
Renewal is conditioned on the investment actually moving. A promise that stays a promise is a renewal problem.
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
«n) Permiso para inversionistas y personal relacionado.»Our translation - not official
n) Permit for investors and related staff.
Letter n) is one of four subcategories the decree adds beyond the thirteen situations the statute obliges it to cover. Its existence rests on the decree alone.
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 listed in letters d), f), g) and k) of this article.
Letter n) is not among the exclusions, so this route leads on to permanent residency.
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
«En todo caso, dicho decreto deberá comprender, al menos, las siguientes situaciones:»Our translation - not official
In any event, that decree shall cover at least the following situations:
The thirteen situations that follow this line are the statutory floor, and investment is not among them. The investor permit therefore exists at the discretion of the executive, and a future supreme decree could remove it without a change in the law.
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 72.- Vigencia. La vigencia de la residencia temporal será de hasta dos años, salvo para el caso de la subcategoría de trabajadores de temporada señalada en el número 4 del inciso segundo del artículo 70, la que podrá tener una vigencia de hasta cinco años cuando ésta establezca plazos de estadía anuales limitados. Este permiso podrá prorrogarse hasta por dos años adicionales.»Our translation - not official
Article 72.- Validity. Temporary residency shall be valid for up to two years, except in the case of the seasonal workers subcategory referred to in number 4 of the second paragraph of article 70, which may be valid for up to five years where it establishes limited annual periods of stay. This permit may be extended for up to two additional years.
The ceiling is statutory and applies to every subcategory. The term actually granted to an investor permit is fixed by the separate supreme decree on subcategory validity referred to at the end of this article, which we have not read.
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
«4\. Inversiones ejecutadas y/o empresas que acrediten operación efectiva en Chile.»Our translation - not official
4. Investments carried out and/or companies demonstrating actual operation in Chile.
One of the circumstances on which the regulation may shorten the wait for permanent residency. The statute caps the reduction at one year - "inferior a dos años, pero no menor a uno".
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
«- Inversiones realizadas y/o empresas con operación efectiva en Chile.»Our translation - not official
- Investments made and/or companies with actual operation in Chile.
The migration service lists the same circumstance among those that can bring the 24-month wait down to 12, and attributes it to article 79 of the law and article 66 of its regulation. We have read article 79; we have not read the regulation.
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
«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 temporary residents holding a permit in their own right. Permanent residency may be granted to foreigners holding a temporary residence permit that admits the application and who have resided in the country in that capacity for at least twenty-four months.
The twenty-four months are written in words. This is the ordinary wait, and it is the number the reduction and the extension both move away from.
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 residency for applying for permanent residency of less than two years, but not less than one, having regard to the following personal circumstances of the interested party:
The statute sets the floor in years and in words - not less than one - and leaves the actual figure to the regulation. The migration service publishes it as twelve months.
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 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
Practical notes
The decree says nothing about how the investment must be documented, or when it must be in place. What InvestChile asks for is fixed by its own resolution, which we have not read.
No fee is stated in the decree. Permit fees in Chile are set by a separate supreme decree that must take international reciprocity into account, so the amount depends on nationality.
We did not read InvestChile's own pages, the migration service's page for this subcategory, or the supreme decree that fixes how long each subcategory runs for. The duration stated here is the statutory ceiling, not a figure published for investors.
Chile also has a separate multiple-entry business permit for people who come regularly on company business rather than settling - that is a different subcategory and is not covered here.
- consolidatesDecreto 177 de 2022 - establece las subcategorías migratorias de residencia temporal
Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile (Ley Chile)
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
- consolidatesLey 21.325, Ley de Migración y Extranjería - texto consolidado
Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile (Ley Chile)
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
- adjudicatesSubcategorías de Residencia Temporal
Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (Chile)
About 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
- adjudicatesRequisitos de Residencia Definitiva
Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (Chile)
About 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