Issue · October 2026 · everything a nomad needs, city by city

Nomadzine

The visa · Chile

Chile

Chile has no visa or permit for remote workers. Most nomads use the visa-free Permanencia Transitoria of 90 days, extendable once for USD 100, while the two residence routes that fit remote earners are the rentista subcategory for people living on property or investment income and the lawful-paid-activities subcategory, which needs a Chilean employer or a Chilean client. Both residence permits must be applied for from outside Chile through the SERMIG digital portal; a tourist cannot switch to residence in-country except for family or humanitarian reasons.

    Nomad visa · September 2026None as suchRoutes4Bases1

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The routes

Researched 10 September 2026 · rules as of September 2026 · as published, not legal advice

  1. Temporary stay

    Visa-free stay (Permanencia Transitoria) with one 90-day extension

    Permiso de Permanencia Transitoria / Transitory Stay Permit, with Prórroga de Permanencia Transitoria

    Remote workers from visa-exempt countries who want up to six months in Chile without a residence application.

    Income floor
    none published; entrants must show sufficient financial means to support the stay
    Duration
    Up to 90 days on entry, extendable once for a further 90 days counted from the expiry of the first permit; cannot exceed passport validity. The extension must be requested between 10 and 90 days before expiry.
    Cost
    Entry is free for visa-exempt nationals; extension USD 100 (SERMIG fee table updated 1 September 2026; USD converted at CLP 925.25 until 30 September 2026). A work authorisation for transitory-permit holders costs 150 percent of the Residencia Temporal fee for lawful paid activities.
    Processing
    Extension is filed online; no statutory or typical time published on the pages opened.
    Eligibility
    Nationals of visa-exempt countries; others need a consular visa first. Holders are not authorised to carry out paid activities, with exceptions only for specific sporadic activities such as performers, athletes, lecturers and technical advisers. Holders cannot apply for residence while in Chile except for family reunification or humanitarian reasons.
    Work rights
    Paid activities are not authorised as published. Remote work for a foreign employer is not addressed in the published rules and expat guides describe it as tolerated in practice; that is unconfirmed by SERMIG.
    Dependants
    Each family member enters on their own passport under the same rules.
    Leads to
    no
    Apply
    Entry at the border; extension online through the SERMIG Portal de Trámites Digitales

    Documents Passport valid for the whole stay · Evidence of sufficient means for the stay · For the extension: online application on the SERMIG Trámites Digitales portal with the USD 100 fee

    Official page →

  2. Long stay

    Temporary residence for retirees and rentistas

    Residencia Temporal, subcategoría Extranjeros jubilados y rentistas / Retired persons or leasers (subcategory 11)

    Remote earners whose income comes from property rentals or financial assets rather than a salary, and pensioners.

    Income floor
    No fixed figure published. The income must be regular and sufficient to meet at least basic needs as measured by the Ministry of Social Development and Family.
    Duration
    Residencia Temporal is valid for up to two years and can be extended on proof that the retiree or rentista status and economic solvency continue.
    Cost
    Residencia Temporal fees are set by nationality in a SERMIG table and expressed in UTM; the specific amount for each nationality was not confirmed in this research. Residencia Definitiva later costs CLP 142,726.
    Processing
    SERMIG reporting cited for 2025 gives 0 to 12 months for most Residencia Temporal files and one to two years at minimum for Residencia Definitiva.
    Eligibility
    Any nationality; passport with at least one year of validity at application; criminal-record certificate not older than 60 days for adults; regular income from real estate or financial assets, or a pension.
    Work rights
    Residence is granted on passive income; the page does not address paid work or remote work for a foreign employer.
    Dependants
    Family members may be included as dependants under paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 74 of Law 21.325.
    Leads to
    Residencia Definitiva is normally available after 24 months of temporary residence; the regulation allows 12 months where the applicant has pension income, family ties, investment or other listed circumstances. Citizenship currently requires five years of residence; a bill approved by the Chamber of Deputies in November 2024 would raise it to ten years and was not confirmed as law in this research.
    Apply
    From outside Chile only, through the SERMIG Portal de Trámites Digitales with a portal account or ClaveÚnica

    Documents Passport with at least one year of validity · Criminal-record certificate from the country of origin or residence of the last five years, issued within 60 days, apostilled or legalised · Recent colour photograph on white background · Rentistas with property: ownership certificate, lease contract stating regular payments and proof of rental income, apostilled unless the property is in Chile · Rentistas with financial assets: ownership certificate for the assets and proof of income from them, apostilled unless the assets are Chilean · Retirees: pension certificate stating income and period, plus receipt of the last payment, apostilled or legalised · Translations into Spanish or English by a certified body; PDF files of at most 2 MB

    Official page →

  3. Freelance / self-employed

    Temporary residence for lawful paid activities (employee, contractor or job offer)

    Residencia Temporal, subcategoría Extranjeros que desarrollan actividades lícitas remuneradas / Foreigners engaged in lawful remunerated activities

    Remote workers who can sign a contract with a Chilean company or a Chilean permanent resident, either as an employee or as an independent provider of specialised services.

    Income floor
    none published; the employer or client must show liquidity and a tax file or proof of solvency
    Duration
    Up to two years for employees, extendable for two successive years. A job-offer permit is valid for 90 calendar days, with 45 days after entry to file the signed contract for a one-year extension. Validity runs from entry into Chile.
    Cost
    Fee by nationality from the SERMIG table in UTM; specific amounts not confirmed in this research.
    Processing
    0 to 12 months for most Residencia Temporal files per the 2025 SERMIG reporting cited by practitioners.
    Eligibility
    Employees need an employer with an address or branch in Chile. Independent workers need a contract with a Chilean or permanent-resident client for intangible or specialised professional services lasting more than 90 days, executed at a Chilean consulate. Passport with one year of validity; criminal-record certificate within 60 days. Losing the job does not by itself revoke the permit, except for the 90-day job-offer permit, where a contract that does not materialise ends the permit.
    Work rights
    Local employment or local clients under the contract filed. Remote work for an employer outside Chile is not mentioned as a qualifying basis.
    Dependants
    Family members may be included as dependants under article 74 of Law 21.325.
    Leads to
    Residencia Definitiva after 24 months of temporary residence as a rule, with stable lawful income for at least half the months of temporary residence; citizenship after five years of residence under current law.
    Apply
    From outside Chile through the SERMIG Portal de Trámites Digitales

    Documents Passport with at least one year of validity · Criminal-record certificate issued within 60 days, apostilled or legalised · Recent colour photograph · Employment or service contract notarised in Chile by the employer and signed by the worker at the consulate · Proof of the employer's or client's liquidity and tax file (carpeta tributaria) or proof of solvency · For companies: certificate of validity and list of directors from the Civil Registry · For a job offer: notarised offer letter and acceptance letter signed at the consulate

    Official page →

  4. Working holiday

    Working holiday visa

    Visa de Vacaciones y Trabajo / Working Holiday Visa under bilateral agreements

    Young nationals of partner countries who want a year in Chile with the right to take local work.

    Income floor
    Varies by agreement; each bilateral scheme sets its own proof-of-funds figure, none verified against a ministry page in this research.
    Duration
    Typically 12 months per working-holiday community sources; terms vary by agreement.
    Cost
    Set by each agreement and consulate; not verified.
    Processing
    Consular; not verified.
    Eligibility
    Community sources list agreements with Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden and Switzerland, with age limits of 18 to 30 for most and up to 35 for some. The United Kingdom, the United States, India, Brazil and South Africa are not listed. This list was not confirmed on a Chilean ministry page in this research.
    Work rights
    Local employment allowed under the agreement; remote work for a foreign employer not addressed.
    Dependants
    Not covered; applicants apply individually.
    Leads to
    Not designed as a path to Residencia Definitiva; time as a temporary resident may count only if the subcategory admits it.
    Apply
    Chilean consulate in the applicant's home country

    Documents Passport of a partner country · Proof of funds and return ticket as required by the specific agreement · Health insurance as required by the specific agreement

Without a visa, by passport

The stay you get on arrival, and whether working remotely on it is tolerated

  • EU / EEA / Switzerland90 days, extendable once for 90 days (USD 100)Paid activities are expressly not authorised on the transitory permit; remote work for an employer abroad is not addressed in the published rules and is reported by expat guides as tolerated in practice.
  • United Kingdom90 days, extendable once for 90 days (USD 100)Same rule: no paid activities as published; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • United States90 days, extendable once for 90 days (USD 100)Reciprocity fee dropped in 2014. Paid activities not authorised; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • Canada90 days, extendable once for 90 days (USD 100)Paid activities not authorised; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • Australia90 days, extendable once for 90 days (USD 100)Reciprocity fee abolished in 2019. Paid activities not authorised; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • New Zealand90 days, extendable once for 90 days (USD 100)Paid activities not authorised; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • Japan90 days, extendable once for 90 days (USD 100)Paid activities not authorised; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • Brazil90 days; national ID card accepted instead of a passportPaid activities not authorised; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • Argentina90 days; national ID card acceptedPaid activities not authorised; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • Mexico90 days, extendable once for 90 days (USD 100)Paid activities not authorised; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • IndiaConsular visa required, unless the holder carries a US visa of any class other than C transit with at least six months of validity, or a US green card, which gives 90 days visa-free (rule since 1 April 2019)Same work restrictions as other transitory-permit holders; remote work for abroad unaddressed, grey.
  • South AfricaNot confirmed from the sources opened in this research; check the Chilean consulateIf admitted on a transitory permit the same rule applies: no paid activities as published.

Tax

When the country starts counting you as its taxpayer

Residency trigger
A person is tax resident from day 184 once they have spent more than 183 days in Chile, consecutive or not, within any 12-month period, under article 8 of the Tax Code as explained in SII Circular 63 of 2021. Domicile is a separate test based on intention to settle, which can be met earlier. Residence is lost after at least 184 days of absence in a 12-month period.
Special regime
Article 3 of the Income Tax Law taxes a foreigner who becomes domiciled or resident only on Chilean-source income for the first three consecutive years after arrival; from the fourth year worldwide income is taxed. Foreign salary or freelance income from clients abroad therefore sits outside Chilean income tax during those three years. This is a standing rule, not a time-limited programme.
Social security
No published rule specific to remote workers paid from abroad was found in this research. Employees of Chilean employers are enrolled by the employer in the pension (AFP) and health systems. Certificate-of-coverage rules under Chile's bilateral social-security agreements were not verified.
Treaties
Chile has a network of double-taxation agreements listed by the SII, including one with the United States that entered into force in December 2023. Practitioner commentary on Circular 63 states that during the first three years a foreigner taxed only on Chilean-source income cannot claim treaty residence in Chile, so a remote employee or contractor should expect their home-country treaty position to govern that period.

Practicalities

Fees and currency
SERMIG fees are expressed in UTM or USD and converted to pesos at payment; the table was updated on 1 September 2026 and the USD rate is CLP 925.25 until 30 September 2026. Residencia Definitiva costs CLP 142,726, citizenship CLP 39,742.
Identity card and tax number
After a residence permit is approved the holder must book an appointment at the Registro Civil within 30 days to obtain the cédula de identidad; the RUN on that card is the number used for tax, banking and contracts.
Documents
Foreign documents must be apostilled or legalised and translated into Spanish or English by a certified body. Documents from private issuers must be filed within 30 days of issue, public ones within 60 days, criminal-record certificates within 60 days, and the FAQ gives a 90-day ceiling for foreign certificates. Files are uploaded as PDFs of at most 2 MB.
Overstay
Overstaying is fined under Law 21.325. SERMIG does not publish a single figure on the pages opened; a voluntary self-declaration earns a 50 percent reduction, the fine must be paid within 10 working days of notification, and under-18s are exempt.
Switching status in-country
A transitory-permit holder cannot apply for residence from inside Chile except for family reunification or humanitarian reasons; rentista and paid-activity applications are filed from abroad and the permit's validity starts on entry.
Bank account, SIM and health insurance
Not verified from primary sources in this research. Applicants report that a cédula with RUN is the practical key to banking; SIM and insurance rules for tourists and residents were not confirmed.

Chile: no nomad visa, a 90-day visa-free stay plus one extension, and residence only through Chilean income or passive income applied for from abroad

The routes that exist

Chile's migration law of 2021, in force since February 2022, recognises transitory stay, temporary residence, permanent residence and naturalisation. The temporary residence subcategories published by SERMIG in September 2026 cover family, lawful paid activities, study, seasonal work, religious ministers, medical treatment, retirees and rentistas, investors, multiple-entry business, Mercosur nationals and humanitarian cases. None is a remote-work or digital-nomad permit, despite several commercial visa sites describing one launched in 2023; that claim is not supported by SERMIG's own subcategory list.

In practice remote workers choose between the visa-free stay of 90 days plus one paid extension, the rentista subcategory if their income is from property or financial assets, and the paid-activities subcategory if a Chilean company or resident will contract them. Salaried employees of foreign firms with no Chilean counterpart have no residence route that names their situation.

What applicants report about the process

Residence applications go through the SERMIG digital portal and must be lodged from outside Chile; a tourist inside the country cannot convert to residence except for family or humanitarian grounds. Validity runs from the date of entry, so the permit clock does not start while the file waits. Practitioners citing SERMIG's 2025 reporting describe most temporary-residence decisions arriving within 12 months and permanent-residence decisions taking one to two years at minimum, with citizenship averaging about three years.

The paperwork is unforgiving on dates: criminal-record certificates must be under 60 days old, private documents under 30 days, and everything foreign must be apostilled and, if not in Spanish or English, translated by a certified body. Files are uploaded as PDFs of at most 2 MB each. Job-offer applicants have 45 calendar days after entry to file the notarised contract or the permit lapses.

Money and tax

Tax residence starts on day 184 of presence within any 12-month period. A foreigner who becomes resident pays Chilean tax only on Chilean-source income for the first three years, so a nomad working for clients or an employer abroad is outside Chilean income tax on that income for that period, although they are also not treated as a Chilean treaty resident during it. From the fourth year worldwide income is taxed.

Government fees are modest by regional standards: the tourist extension is USD 100 and permanent residence costs CLP 142,726. Temporary-residence fees vary by nationality and are published in a separate SERMIG table. Banking, SIM registration and health-insurance practice were not verified from primary sources in this research.

What is changing

The government that took office in March 2026 has moved migration policy towards enforcement: the previous regularisation programme was halted, expulsions in the first months of 2026 exceeded the whole of 2025, and bills to criminalise irregular entry and lengthen detention were sent to Congress in June 2026. A broader reform of Law 21.325 approved by the Chamber of Deputies in November 2024 would raise the naturalisation residence period from five to ten years and add a knowledge test; whether it has passed the Senate was not confirmed here.

None of these measures targets visa-exempt visitors or the rentista and paid-activity routes directly, but applicants should expect stricter scrutiny of documents and longer timelines while the agency's priorities shift.

Researched from serviciomigraciones.cl · serviciomigraciones.cl · serviciomigraciones.cl · serviciomigraciones.cl · serviciomigraciones.cl · serviciomigraciones.cl · serviciomigraciones.cl · tramites.extranjeria.gob.cl · sii.cl · sii.cl · the authority