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Pathway

Chile Residence for South Americans

Chile Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Chile’s MERCOSUR route lets citizens of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay apply from abroad for up to two years of residence. No job offer, family sponsor, or investment is required.

Eligible citizenships
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay
Where to apply
From outside Chile
Job offer required?
No

Summary

If you are a citizen of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, or Uruguay, you can apply for temporary residence in Chile through the MERCOSUR reciprocity route. You do not need a job offer, family sponsor, or investment.

Apply from outside Chile with the required identity and background records. Permission can last up to two years and allows paid work. Family members and later permanent residence each require separate applications.

Check your citizenship and apply from abroad
  1. Before filing Confirm your citizenship is listed This category uses Chile’s specific five-country list, not every MERCOSUR-associated nationality.
  2. Application abroad Apply outside Chile Use the foreign-application procedure with current identity and background evidence.
  3. Up to 2 years if approved Keep your temporary residence valid Complete arrival requirements and assess any extension or later permanent-residence application separately.

A visitor entry is not the ordinary in-country conversion route for this category. Residence in a listed country does not replace its citizenship.

Could this pathway work for you?

Eligibility

You must be a citizen of one of these countries:

A dual national may rely on the qualifying citizenship even if another passport is not from the region. The applicant should make the qualifying nationality clear throughout the SERMIG filing and use the corresponding identity record.

The application must be filed while the person is outside Chile. SERMIG's portal labels this as “Residencia Temporal en el extranjero.” Entering Chile as a visitor and then trying to convert through this ordinary MERCOSUR procedure does not match the published filing rule.

The current initial document list is short:

For an outside-Chile application, SERMIG says a passport must have at least one year remaining when you apply. It also says the criminal-record certificate must be no more than 60 days old. Foreign documents must be apostilled or legalized under the applicable rule. A document in a language other than Spanish or English needs the official translation SERMIG describes. Private records generally must be submitted within 30 days of issuance and public records within 60 days unless the document itself states a different validity.

Fees depend on nationality under Chile's reciprocity schedule. SERMIG currently states that the Bolivia–Chile migration agreement removes the application fee for Bolivian citizens. Applicants of the other four nationalities should use the current SERMIG fee table, not an old consular price.

What This Route Allows

An approval gives Chilean temporary residence for up to two years. The holder may live in Chile and perform lawful paid activity, subject to the ordinary labor rules that apply to everyone and the special employment rules for minors. A separate work authorization is not required merely because the person uses this nationality-based category.

Eligible close family members may seek temporary residence as dependents under Article 74 of Law 21,325 and the dependent rules in Decree 177. A dependent application is separate and requires its own identity and family records.

SERMIG permits an extension. Its current route page tells applicants to provide documents showing that the activities supporting the original permit have continued. Because checklists can change and the legal basis is nationality, a holder should open the live extension form before the filing window and provide the exact activity, support, and residence evidence the portal requests.

The permit can lead to Residencia Definitiva, but not simply because two calendar years have passed. For post-May 2022 cases SERMIG's baseline is 24 months of temporary residence in Chile. Absence of more than two months can increase the minimum to 30, 36, or 48 months. Income stability, financial support, immigration compliance, and other legal compliance are also reviewed.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a route for every South American, Latin American, MERCOSUR-associated, or Spanish-speaking citizen. SERMIG's current list contains only the five nationalities above. A permanent resident of one of those countries who lacks its citizenship does not qualify on that basis.

It is not available through birthplace alone. A person born in Argentina but no longer an Argentine citizen, for example, cannot rely on birthplace alone.

The route does not grant permanent residence on arrival, create Chilean citizenship, or excuse the applicant from the outside-Chile filing and background requirements. It also does not guarantee that a dependent qualifies; the family relationship must fit the separate dependent rules.

No job offer is required for initial eligibility, but that does not mean residence history is irrelevant later. Renewal and permanent-residence review can require evidence of the person's real life, activity, support, absences, and compliance in Chile.

Next Steps

  1. Confirm current citizenship in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, or Uruguay. Obtain the qualifying passport, or the accepted Bolivian identity document if using that exception.
  2. Plan to submit from outside Chile. Do not rely on being admitted as a visitor and changing to this category inside the country.
  3. Obtain the adult criminal-record certificate shortly before filing so it remains within SERMIG's 60-day rule.
  4. Check authentication and translation. Apostille or legalize foreign records and translate only when the current official rule requires it.
  5. Create or use the appropriate account in SERMIG's Digital Procedures Portal and choose the outside-Chile temporary-residence application.
  6. Check the current nationality-based fee on SERMIG's fee page. A Bolivian applicant should confirm the published fee exemption in the live procedure.
  7. After entry, preserve the electronic residence stamp, Chilean identity records, work or support evidence, and travel history. Review extension or permanent-residence requirements well before expiration.

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Sources