The primary requirement to qualify for the retirement and periodic income visa in Chile is not so much the amount of money that you have, but the periodic nature of it. Let me stress the “periodic” part of the test used by immigration to qualify for this type of immigration visa in Chile. The most difficult residencies we handle are when people liquidate everything thing they own, quit their job, close their old bank accounts, and open a new account where they deposit their entire life savings before moving to Chile. With no other source of regular income, they have effectively ended their entire financial history. They essentially burn all bridges and evidence that might prove they have a periodic income for applying for residency visas in Chile. That is besides Chilean immigration viewing it as suspect that they do not have a normal financial history in the country they departed from before moving to Chile.

Here are some points to keep in mind regarding requirements for permanent visas and immigration to Chile:

1) You do not need to be retired or have a pension to qualify for permanent residency in Chile. Anyone with an acceptable periodic income can qualify. This includes such things as employment contracts ( either in Chile or outside Chile ), rental contracts, or sales contracts. The key is they must recur or be periodic either by the week, month, or by the quarter.   

2) Your periodic income does not need to be all of your income that supports you. You can have a small source or sources of periodic income, that along with other resources such as savings, investments, property, contracts, or other forms of fixed income prove you are able to support yourself and / or your family.

3) The amount of income does not need to be for the rest of your life. You only need to document resources sufficient to support yourself through the temporary residency application, the approximate 1 year of temporary residency, and the time to apply and receive your permanent residency status. In total, as the time of this article, you need to show about 14 months of periodic income to qualify for residency under this visa in Chile. Chilean immigration for the most part does not care and does not check if you are able to support yourself after that. As an official with the legal department at immigration pointed out to us, Chile really does not care if someone moves to the country and runs out of money. You will be forced to leave on your own, and Chile's economy will benefit from the money you donated while you were here. So, apart from immigration requirements and concerns, make sure you can really can afford to live in Chile.

How much money do you need to obtain a permanent residency visa in Chile?

Well, it depends.  Partly on your family circumstances. Partly where you will live. The rule we use is what would it cost a middle class Chilean to live in a particular area comfortably? A foreigner will often require much more to live comfortably, but that is the base line for immigration. So, Santiago is much more expensive than say the Patagonia. The Chilean immigration department takes that in to account.

Here are some real examples, based on real client profiles (modified to protect confidentiality) that we have successfully obtain residency visas for in Chile in the past. These are less than clear cut cases at first glance that they would qualify for the Retirement and Periodic Income Visa in Chile.

Chile Permanent Residency Visa Example 1: Retired Couple

Retired couple, with a simple social security check of $400 US a month from the U.S. Government, with various real estate holdings around the World, and a moderate savings in a bank outside Chile.  

They live in a rural area with a very low cost of living, purchased property with a value of about $30,000 US, and built a house for about $50,000 US.

Chile Permanent Residence: Approved  

Chile Permanent Residency Visa Example 2: Young Family

Young Family of mother, father, 3 children. Family owns a property in a foreign country that produces a rental income of about $1200 U.S. per month. Family also has savings and investment account of approximately $200,000 US. Mother does not work. Father works online freelancing with no steady contracts, but makes income of approximately $1,000 – 3,000 per month that is difficult to document, and some months makes no money. Family rents an apartment in a city in Southern Chile.

Chile Permanent Residence: Approved

Chile Permanent Residency Visa Example 3: Single Individual

Young male, 25 years old, works on the internet part time and teaches English in Santiago part time. Wants to start a business in Chile and work in Chile at the same time. The part time internet work generates a steady income of about $500 US a month, and his foreign employer issues an employment contract to state how long he has worked for the foreign employer. Along with his existing employment contract with a Chilean school, he generates about $1500 US a month. At the time of temporary residency application, we request a work visa so he can start a business in Chile. This is our recommend alternative to the investment or business visa in Chile for foreigners wanting to invest in Chile.

Chilean Permanent Residency and Work Visa: Approved


Again, we want to emphasis these are examples only. These are under no circumstances to be considered hard and fast rules, and immigration has the right and often does change the requirements based on circumstances. There are many other requirements to applying.

The number one rule of applying for successful immigration approval to Chile is to provide as much documentation as possible regarding your plans and resources.

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