Entering Chile on a Permanencia Transitoria
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Colombia 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 Colombia to Chile · Visiting as a tourist
Chile admits visitors on a permiso de permanencia transitoria of up to 90 days, extendable once by a further 90 for a flat USD 100. The permit is a statement about intention as much as about time: it is granted to people who arrive with no intention of settling, and Chile enforces that reading by refusing, as a rule, to let anyone convert it into residency from inside the country. Residence applications are filed from abroad. Most nationalities need no visa in advance; some do, and the list is held by the foreign ministry rather than by the migration service.
At a glance
- Authorised stay
- Up to 90 days
- Extension
- Up to 90 more days, once only
- Extension fee
- USD 100, paid in pesos
The migration service's published price, the same for every nationality and paid in Chilean pesos; children and adolescents are exempt. It has not been traced to the schedule of migration charges that fixes it, so it is the agency's figure rather than one read off an instrument.
- Ceiling on the permit
- Never beyond the passport's expiry
- Paid work
- Not permitted
- Switching to residency from inside Chile
- Not permitted, apart from a short list of exceptions
- Proof of stay
- Tarjeta Única Migratoria, issued by the PDI on arrival
- Visa list held by
- Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Requirements
- A valid travel document; the permit can never run past the passport's expiry date
- Proof at the border of lawful means of subsistence for the stay
- A consular visa in advance if your nationality is on the foreign ministry's list
- No paid work, except with a specific authorisation for one-off engagements
- Plan the residence application from outside Chile - arriving as a visitor first closes off most routes
In detail
The 90 days are a ceiling, and the passport is a second one
Chile's migration service states the extension plainly: 90 days on arrival, extendable once by a further 90, and the permit can never outlast the passport. That second limit catches people who plan a six-month stay on a passport with five months left. The extension is bought online for a flat USD 100 in peso equivalent, the same figure for every nationality, and children are exempt.
Arriving as a visitor is the wrong way in if you mean to stay
The permit is defined by the absence of an intention to settle, and Chile holds that line procedurally. Residence applications are made from outside the country through the migration service's digital portal. The migration service lists the exceptions itself: family ties to a Chilean or to a permanent resident, applying as a dependant of a temporary resident, humanitarian grounds, a stay consistent with the National Migration Policy, and other cases qualified by the Interior Undersecretariat. Everyone else who arrives as a visitor and then decides to stay has to leave and apply from abroad.
What we could not read
The list of nationalities that need a consular visa before travelling is published by the foreign ministry as a per-country lookup rather than as a table, and the underlying supreme decree sets it. We have not read that decree, so this page does not tell you whether your nationality needs a visa; the consular service's own page is the place to check, and it also carries the fee and the maximum stay for each case.
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.
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Colombia
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 47.- Definición. La permanencia transitoria es el permiso otorgado por el Servicio a los extranjeros que ingresan al país sin intenciones de establecerse en él, que los autoriza a permanecer en territorio nacional por un periodo limitado.»Our translation - not official
Article 47.- Definition. Transitory stay is the permit granted by the Service to foreigners who enter the country with no intention of settling in it, authorising them to remain in national territory for a limited period.
The words 'sin intenciones de establecerse' are not decoration. They are why the permit cannot be turned into residency from inside Chile.
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 48.- Plazo de estadía. Los titulares de permisos de permanencia transitoria podrán permanecer en el país hasta por noventa días. La Subsecretaría del Interior, por razones de orden público, podrá limitar dicho plazo a un período menor, para lo cual deberá establecer criterios generales de aplicación, previo informe del Servicio.»Our translation - not official
Article 48.- Length of stay. Holders of transitory stay permits may remain in the country for up to ninety days. The Interior Undersecretariat may, on public order grounds, limit that period to a shorter one, for which it must set general criteria of application, after a report from the Service.
Ninety days is a ceiling the ministry may lower by general criteria, not a right to ninety days.
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 27.- Autorización previa o visa. No requerirá autorización previa o visa para el ingreso y estadía en Chile quien lo haga en calidad de titular de un permiso de permanencia transitoria.»Our translation - not official
Article 27.- Prior authorisation or visa. Anyone entering and staying in Chile as the holder of a transitory stay permit shall not require prior authorisation or a visa.
Read alone this says nobody needs a visa. The next paragraph is the one that matters for a given nationality.
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 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 of international reciprocity, nationals of particular countries may be required to hold a prior authorisation or visa granted by a Chilean consulate abroad. The list of countries whose citizens are subject to this requirement shall be set by supreme decree signed by the ministers of the Interior and Public Security and of Foreign Affairs, after a report from the Service, the Migration Policy Council and the Undersecretariat of Foreign Affairs.
The list lives in a supreme decree, so it moves without the law moving. We have not read the decree and do not reproduce the list.
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 50.- Actividades remuneradas. Los titulares de permisos de permanencia transitoria no podrán realizar actividades remuneradas. Excepcionalmente, podrán solicitar al Servicio una autorización para ejecutar dichas labores quienes requieran realizar actividades específicas y esporádicas, y que como consecuencia directa de éstas perciban remuneraciones o utilidades económicas en Chile o en el extranjero, tales como integrantes y personal de espectáculos públicos, deportistas, conferencistas, asesores y técnicos expertos.»Our translation - not official
Article 50.- Paid activities. Holders of transitory stay permits may not carry out paid activities. Exceptionally, those who need to carry out specific and sporadic activities, and who as a direct consequence receive remuneration or economic benefit in Chile or abroad, such as members and staff of public performances, sportspeople, conference speakers, advisers and technical experts, may request an authorisation from the Service to do so.
The exception covers income earned abroad as well as in Chile, which is wider than it first reads - but only for specific, sporadic engagements.
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
Practical notes
Entry is recorded on a Tarjeta Única Migratoria issued by the Policía de Investigaciones at the border - keep it, because it is what proves the permit is still running.
The migration service handles extensions and work authorisations for visitors; the foreign ministry handles the advance visa, through its consular booking system.
The border officer checks lawful means of subsistence, and the consular service words it as a requirement rather than a formality.
- 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
- adjudicatesPermanencia Transitoria
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
- issuesVisas para ingresar a Chile
Servicios Consulares, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Chile)
About 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
- 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
- adjudicatesPermanencia Transitoria - costo de la prórroga
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
- adjudicatesPermanencia Transitoria - exención para niños, niñas y adolescentes
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