Digital Nomad & Residency · Chile
Chile digital nomad visa: requirements (2026)
Chile shaded by its digital nomad & residency status
Digital nomad visa in Chile: via other route.
Chile has no dedicated digital-nomad or remote-work visa category. Remote workers and freelancers can legally reside by applying for a Residencia Temporal (Temporary Residency) permit under either the 'lawful remunerated activities, self-employed' or the 'retired/leasers' subcategory, governed by Ley 21.325. The permit is valid for up to two years and is renewable, providing a direct path to permanent residency.
Key points
Chile does not have a visa category labelled 'digital nomad' or 'remote worker.' All long-stay options for remote workers flow through the general Residencia Temporal framework introduced by Ley 21.325 (2021).
The 'Foreigners engaged in lawful remunerated activities' subcategory explicitly covers self-employed (independent) workers. Applicants must demonstrate stable foreign-sourced income (commonly cited as USD 1,000-1,500/month) or provide a service contract. The permit is valid up to two years and renewable.
Foreigners with passive income (pensions, rental income, dividends) may apply under the 'Retired foreigners or leasers' subcategory. Freelance or remote-work income generally does not qualify for this route; it is intended for provable passive/recurring income streams.
New tax residents in Chile are taxed only on Chilean-source income for their first three years of residency. Foreign-sourced remote-work income is effectively exempt during this period, making Chile fiscally attractive for relocating remote workers.
Ley 21.325 includes an 'Investors and related personnel' Residencia Temporal subcategory. A minimum investment of approximately USD 500,000 in a Chilean business or project is required. Two years of temporary residency leads to permanent residency; citizenship is possible after five cumulative years of legal residence.
Residencia Temporal processing currently takes 6-8 months due to administrative backlogs following the 2022 rollout of Ley 21.325. In the interim, nationals of many countries may stay up to 90 days visa-free (extendable once to 180 days) and work remotely for non-Chilean clients without a permit, though this does not confer legal work status in Chile.
Timeline - major decisions & events
Chile's Chambers & Partners Corporate Immigration 2025 guide confirms no dedicated remote-work or digital-nomad subcategory exists; foreign remote workers must use the rentista permit or the 'lawful remunerated activities' temporary residency subcategory. The guide notes short-term regulatory adjustments targeting international remote workers are expected under the PNME roadmap.
Chambers & Partners – Corporate Immigration 2025 Chile ↗Decreto 181 published in the Diario Oficial established Chile's first statutory National Migration and Foreign Policy (Política Nacional de Migración y Extranjería), mandated by Article 22 of Law 21325. Built around ten pillars and 28 immediately applicable measures, it explicitly targets attraction of highly qualified foreign nationals and creates the policy foundation for a future remote-work visa framework.
Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional (BCN) – Decreto 181 ↗Chile's National Migration Service (SerMig) required all ratification applications for temporary residency permits to be filed exclusively through its Portal de Trámites Digitales using ClaveÚnica or a personal account. This completed the administrative digitalisation mandated by Law 21325 and addressed severe in-person backlogs that emerged after the 2022 law took effect.
Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SerMig) ↗Supreme Decree 177 entered into force, establishing the full list of subcategories of temporary residence under Law 21325 and retiring the old 'sujeto a contrato' (employer-tied) category from Decreto-Ley 1094. Remote workers and self-employed foreigners can qualify under 'persons engaged in lawful remunerated activities'; no dedicated digital-nomad subcategory was created.
Refworld – Decreto Supremo 177, Ministerio del Interior ↗Decreto 296, the implementing regulation for Law 21325, was published in the Diario Oficial, bringing the new migration framework into full legal effect and replacing Decreto 597 of 1984. The decree also activated the new Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SerMig) under the Ministry of the Interior and introduced electronic visa stamps, ending 38 years of paper-based procedures.
Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional (BCN) – Decreto 296 ↗Chile's Economic Development Agency (CORFO) launched Start-Up Chile, the world's first public startup accelerator, offering international entrepreneurs a work visa, USD 40,000 in seed capital, and six months of residency. The program established Chile's precedent of using immigration incentives to attract foreign talent and remote entrepreneurial workers.
WIPO Magazine / CORFO ↗Chile - other topics
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Last verified 5/24/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Methodology & how to cite · Explore the full world map →