• If you are part of a foreign company and you need to travel to Chile you should review the requirements of the new National Immigration Service.

Chile’s new immigration institutional structure came into effect on February 12, with the publication of the new regulations of Law 21.325 related to immigration, which created the new National Immigration Service to replace the current Immigration Office run by the Interior Ministry.

The new law establishes that this new service will have sole responsibility for analyzing and making decisions on residence visa applications and the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Consular Directorate (Dirección General Consular, DIGECONSU) will only be responsible for temporary residence (tourist) visa applications.

This change entails new immigration categories and subcategories, which will come into effect when the Supreme Decree is enacted. In the meantime, the subcategories established in Decree Law No 1.094 of 1975 remain in effect.

We therefore recommend that the executives of the companies we advise check the corresponding visa and permit requirements prior to traveling to Chile for business.

Finally, please note that the National Immigration Service’s digital procedures platform is currently suspended so it can be converted into a new digital platform to receive the new applications.