• More than 2,000 requests to streamline visas have been made to Chile’s Foreign Investment Promotion Agency during the last year. Almost 20% of these requests originated from China, followed by Argentina and Brazil. 

Coordination and collaboration between various State institutions is essential to create coherent public policies, above all when it comes to promoting Chile’s economic development and improving the quality of life of its inhabitants. 

For that reason, Chile’s National Immigration Service (SERMIG), Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (InvestChile), and economic development agency CORFO’s seed accelerator Start-Up Chile signed an agreement to streamline immigration procedures for foreign investors and highly qualified professionals coming to Chile to implement investment projects. 

The agreement forms part of the National Immigration Policy’s «Economic and Industrial Development» pillar, which aims to promote legal immigration to contribute to achieving this objective, in particular in relation to capacity building and attracting highly qualified foreign professionals. 

The signing ceremony for the agreement was attended by SERMIG’s National Director, Luis Eduardo Thayer, InvestChile Director, Karla Flores, and CORFO’s Executive Vice President, José Miguel Benavente. 

SERMIG will make an information platform available to InvestChile and Start-Up Chile where they can monitor the status or progress of temporary residence procedures for investors and related personnel in a timely manner. 

This initiative aims to «facilitate the insertion of foreign investors in Chile because of the benefits this provides to society as a whole, including the creation of new jobs, technology, new businesses, and more development. For that reason, we’re going to streamline the processing of permits for foreign investors in collaboration with InvestChile and CORFO,» explained SERMIG’s National Director, Luis Eduardo Thayer. 

Visas for foreign investors in Chile 

InvestChile sponsors foreign investors and specialized management or technical personnel from foreign companies, facilitates and supports the implementation of their investment projects, and provides post-investment services following their arrival in the country. 

It should be noted that from August 2022 to August 2023, InvestChile has requested the streamlining of visas for 2,062 people. Of that total, 19.6% of the applicants were from China (405); 13.9% from Argentina (286); 11.4% from Brazil (234); 7.8% from Japan (161); 7.5% from Colombia (155); 5% from Peru (103); 4.7% from Spain (97); 3.2% from Venezuela (66); and 3.1% from South Korea (62). 

The agency has also provided 44 sponsorship letters to investors in order for them to obtain temporary residence visas. 

This coordination has enabled InvestChile to support investment projects in various sectors that have a high demand for skilled human capital, including energy, global services, IT infrastructure, and mining. 

This policy «is really good news because it strengthens coordination between the institutions that have signed the agreement, with a view to providing rapid responses to foreign investors who have chosen our country as an investment destination and need to obtain a visa in order to develop their projects,» said InvestChile Director, Karla Flores. 

According to figures from the Central Bank, in 2022 Chile received a record amount of more than US$20 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), an increase of 31% compared to the previous year, with highly specialized sectors standing out. 

If you would like to find out more, read the following article on how to obtain a visa to invest in Chile. 

The role of Start-Up Chile 

CORFO’s seed accelerator Start-Up Chile—which is responsible for promoting the development of technology start-ups that use Chile as a platform to grow their businesses—provides support to start-ups in the growth stage from various countries. Its most recent generation of entrepreneurs included 27.5% from overseas, from countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Thailand, among others.

«This is a very important agreement that will help to streamline the process for entrepreneurs arriving in Chile through the Start-Up Chile program to establish themselves in the country, develop their projects, and strengthen the local ecosystem,» said CORFO Vice President, José Miguel Benavente. 

This agreement «strengthens our capacity to attract the world’s best technology entrepreneurs, in order for them to come to Chile to develop their ideas quickly and efficiently, with the support of the public sector,» noted Carmen Contreras, CEO of Start-Up Chile. 

«In Chile there is a large number of companies and investments that create jobs which depend on the arrival of this type of foreign investors and professionals. As a service, one of our roles is to promote immigration which, in addition to being lawful and orderly, contributes to Chile’s development,» concluded Thayer.