Chile Visas, Taxes and Money for Digital Nomads

No. Chile’s 2021 migration law (Law 21.325) and its 2022 regulation set up a list of temporary residence subcategories, and in October 2026 SERMIG lists 15 of them: family, paid work, study, seasonal work, humanitarian reasons, international agreements, religious work, medical treatment, retirees and people with independent income, former permanent residents, investors, business travellers with multiple entries, Mercosur nationals and a few others. None is for remote workers or digital nomads, and SERMIG doesn’t accept applications on that basis.

Some websites describe a Chilean nomad visa with an income threshold. We found no such permit on SERMIG’s site; treat those claims with caution.

Citizens of the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries don’t need a visa to visit. You get up to 90 days as a visitor (permanencia transitoria), recorded on the tourist card (Tarjeta Única Migratoria) issued by the PDI when you arrive. Your passport must be valid for your whole stay. Keep the card: you hand it in when you leave, and you can get a duplicate online from the PDI if you lose it. Some nationalities need a visa in advance; check SERMIG’s list.

You can extend a visitor stay once, by up to 90 days, through SERMIG before your 90 days run out. The fee is $100, paid in pesos, whatever your nationality; children are exempt. That gives a maximum of about six months in one go.

After that you need to leave. Chile doesn’t publish a fixed limit on how often you can come back as a visitor, but border officers can ask about your plans and funds, and repeated six-month stays with short trips abroad attract questions.

Visitors can’t do paid activities in Chile. SERMIG can grant a special work authorisation, but only for specific, occasional jobs such as performers, athletes, lecturers or expert advisers, not for ongoing remote work.

The law doesn’t specifically address remote work for a foreign employer or foreign clients, paid into a foreign account. It’s a grey area: many visitors do it without problems, but it isn’t formally permitted. Don’t take on Chilean employers or clients, and don’t describe yourself as working in Chile at the border.

Temporary residence (residencia temporal) is granted for up to two years and, for most subcategories, can be extended once for two more. After that you can apply for permanent residence (residencia definitiva). Applications are made on SERMIG’s online portal, and for most subcategories from outside Chile; you can’t usually switch from a visitor stay to residence while you are in the country. Once approved, you download an electronic visa stamp and must enter Chile within 90 days.

You need a passport valid for at least a year, a criminal record certificate from your country issued within the last 60 days, and other documents for your subcategory. Foreign public documents need an apostille or legalisation, and documents not in Spanish or English need an official translation.

The routes that fit remote workers best:

• Paid work (actividades lícitas remuneradas): for work under an employer, normally with a contract from a Chilean company. It doesn’t fit people employed abroad.
• Retirees and people with independent income (jubilados y rentistas): for people with a pension or a steady income from property or financial investments. It doesn’t cover salary or freelance income.
• Investors: for people investing in a Chilean business.
• Students: for courses at recognised Chilean institutions, including long Spanish programmes at universities.
• Family: for spouses, civil partners and children of Chileans or residents.
• Working holiday: under agreements with countries including Australia, New Zealand and Canada, young people (usually 18 to 30, up to 35 for some countries) can get a one-year permit to travel and work. Quotas, ages and the partner list vary; check with the Chilean consulate in your country.

Mercosur and associated-state nationals (such as Argentines, Brazilians, Colombians and Peruvians) have an easier residence route.

Overstaying is an immigration offence. You’ll be fined before you can leave, based on how long you overstayed, and long or repeated overstays can lead to expulsion and a ban on returning. Extend before your 90 days are up.

• Tax residence: you become a Chilean tax resident if you spend more than 183 days, consecutive or not, in Chile in any 12-month period.
• Residents are taxed on worldwide income, at progressive rates from 0% to 40%. Roughly the first CLP 11 million a year is taxed at 0%.
• Three-year rule: foreigners who become resident in Chile are taxed only on their Chilean-source income for their first three years, which the tax authority can extend. After that, worldwide income is taxed.
• Non-residents are taxed only on Chilean-source income.
• No nomad regime: there is no special tax status for remote workers.
• Double tax: Chile has tax treaties with many countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia, Spain and, since 2023, the US.

On a visitor stay of up to six months, remote income from abroad is not normally taxed in Chile, but the 183-day test counts any 12 months, so repeated long stays can add up. This is a general guide, not tax advice. If you become resident, get a RUT (tax number) from the Internal Revenue Service (SII) and talk to a Chilean accountant. Our digital nomad taxes guide explains the general principles.

Chile uses the Chilean peso (CLP), at roughly 950 to 1,000 pesos to the US dollar in 2026. Prices have no cents and are written with a dot for thousands, so CLP 10.000 is ten thousand pesos. Rents, property and some contracts are quoted in UF (unidad de fomento), an inflation-linked unit worth about CLP 40,000 that changes daily, so check what you will pay in pesos.

Hotels don’t charge the 19% VAT to foreign tourists who pay in US dollars or with a foreign card and show their passport and tourist card. Ask before you pay.

ATMs (Redbanc network) take foreign cards, but most charge a fee per withdrawal and have fairly low limits per transaction, so check the fee on screen before accepting. Banks such as BancoEstado, Santander, Banco de Chile and BCI have the most ATMs. Cards and contactless payments are accepted almost everywhere, including small shops, so you need little cash.

Opening a Chilean bank account normally needs a residence permit and a Chilean identity card (cédula) with a RUN number, so it comes after residence. Visitors usually manage with a foreign card and services such as Wise; some landlords accept payment by international transfer.