Foreigners engaged in lawful remunerated activities

SUBCATEGORY 2

To whom is this Residencia Temporal permit directed?

Personas trabajando

This permit may be applied for by foreigners who wish to reside in the country for a limited period of time, in order to engage in lawful remunerated activities:

  • Under a subordinate or dependent relationship with an employer who has a domicile or branch office in Chile. This permit is valid for up to two years and may be extended for two years in succession.
  • With a formal job offer issued by a Chilean natural or legal person, and which has been formally accepted by the interested party, may also apply for the permit. Based on the additional information provided in the application, and if the analysis is favorable, the person will be granted a Residencia Temporal permit for a period of 90 calendar days. Once you enter the country, you will have 45 days to present the employment contract, granting you a 1-year extension.

Where can I apply for a Residencia Temporal permit?

This application for a Residencia Temporal permit must be made from outside Chile, by logging in with the account created by the applicant for these purposes or with ClaveÚnica, in the Portal de Trámites Digitales of Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SERMIG).

* Application only available from abroad.

Requirements

Whether the activities are executed under subordination and dependence, or on your own account, you must attach to the residence application, the Carpeta tributaria (Tax folder) of the employer or contractor, in case the employer is a legal or natural person that has Inicio de actividades (issued by SII, the Chilean IRS). Otherwise, you must certify sufficient economic solvency to comply with the contractual obligations agreed upon.

  • Non-profit legal personality:
    1. Passport or identification document.
    2. Certificate of criminal record or equivalent document issued by the competent authority of their country of origin or the country in which they have resided in the last 5 years (required to applicants over 18 years old).
    3. Certificate of validity of the legal personality issued by the Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (SRCel).
    4. Certificate of the directory of legal personality issued by the SRCel.
    5. Employment contract.
    6. Proof of liquidity to hire the applicant.
  • For-profit legal personality:
    1. Passport or identification document.
    2. Certificate of criminal record or equivalent document issued by the competent authority of their country of origin or the country in which they have resided in the last 5 years (required to applicants over 18 years old).
    3. Document in which it is stated the legal representation of the person signing the contract.
    4. Employment contract.
    5. Proof of liquidity to hire the applicant.
  • Natural person:
    1. Passport or identification document.
    2. Criminal record certificate.
    3. Employment contract.
    4. Proof of liquidity to hire the applicant.
  • Non-profit legal personality:
    1. Certificate of criminal record or equivalent document issued by the competent authority of their country of origin or the country in which they have resided in the last 5 years (required to applicants over 18 years old).
    2. Certificate of validity of the legal personality issued by the Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (SRCel).
    3. Certificate of the directory of legal personality issued by the SRCel.
    4. Contrato de prestación de servicios (service contract).
    5. Proof of liquidity to hire the applicant.
  • For-profit legal personality:
    1. Passport or identification document.
    2. Certificate of criminal record or equivalent document issued by the competent authority of their country of origin or the country in which they have resided in the last 5 years (required to applicants over 18 years old).
    3. Certificado de inicio de actividades (a certificate issued by SII, the Chilean IRS).
    4. Document in which it is stated the legal representation of the person signing the contract.
    5. Contrato de prestación de servicios (service contract).
    6. Proof of liquidity to hire the applicant.
  • Natural person:
    1. Passport or identification document.
    2. Certificate of criminal record or equivalent document issued by the competent authority of their country of origin or the country in which they have resided in the last 5 years (required to applicants over 18 years old).
    3. Contrato de prestación de servicios (service contract).
    4. Proof of liquidity to hire the applicant.
  • Non-profit legal personality:
    1. Passport or Identification document.
    2. Certificate of criminal record or equivalent document issued by the competent authority of their country of origin or the country in which they have resided in the last 5 years (required to applicants over 18 years old).
    3. Letter of job offer notarized at a Chilean notary public.
    4. Letter from the applicant accepting the job offer, signed at the Consulate.
    5. Proof of liquidity to hire the applicant.
    6. Certificate of validity of the legal personality issued by the Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (SRCel).
    7. Certificate of the directory of legal personality issued by the SRCeI.
  • For-profit legal personality:
    1.  Passport or identification document.
    2. Certificate of criminal record or equivalent document issued by the competent authority of their country of origin or the country in which they have resided in the last 5 years (required to applicants over 18 years old).
    3. Letter of job offer notarized at a Chilean notary public.
    4. Letter from the applicant accepting the job offer, signed at the Consulate.
    5. Proof of liquidity to hire the applicant.
    6. Certificado de inicio de actividades (a certificate issued by SII, the Chilean IRS).
    7. Document in which is contemplated the legal representation of the bidder.

Important!

  • The passport must be valid for at least one year as from the application date (for applications submitted abroad).
  • The employment contract must be signed by the employer at a Chilean notary public. While the foreign person must sign it at the competent consulate.
  • Documents issued in any language other than Spanish and English must be submitted together with their respective translation, which must be authorized by a certified body.
  • All documents issued abroad or by the respective consular representation in Chile must be apostilled or duly legalized, as stipulated in Articles 345 and 345 bis of the Código de Procedimiento Civil (Code of Civil Procedure).
  • Documents issued by private parties must be submitted within 30 days from the date of issuance. Those issued by public institutions and agencies must be presented within 60 days from the date of issuance unless the validity of the document is expressly stated.

General information

The period of validity of the permit will be counted from the entry of the foreigner into the country. Regardless of the above, the time limit for the employer to comply with its duties of notarization and electronic registration of the contract, regulated in Articles 9 and 9 bis of the Código del Trabajo (Labor Code), will be counted from the opportunities established in each of those precepts.

From the moment you enter the national territory, you will have a period of 45 calendar days to submit to SERMIG a notarized copy of the employment contract and the proof of the electronic registration of the same, under the terms of Article 9 bis of the Código del Trabajo (Labor Code).

This contract must have been signed with the employer who submitted the formal offer mentioned above.

The form and content of the employment contract must comply with the provisions of the Código del Trabajo (Labor Code) and may have as its object any kind of employment, unless it is contrary to morality, safety, or public health, or its exercise is prohibited by requirement of the national interest and a law so declares.

In the context of freedom of contract, the parties may voluntarily agree that the employer will finance the foreign worker's return ticket after the contractual relationship between them has expired.

The loss of the job that served as the basis for receiving the permit or a voluntary change of employer will not, by itself, be grounds for its revocation; therefore, if you already have a Residencia Temporal permit, you may change employer without the need to inform SERMIG, except for 90-day permits granted with a job offer (see details in the next question).

In case you have not complied with the contract signed with the employer who sent the formal offer, the SERMIG, together with the termination of the 90-day permit, will order you to leave the national territory. This is regardless of the civil or criminal liability that may be imputed to the natural or legal person who issued the job offer that ultimately did not prosper.

If you want to enter the national territory to engage in lawful remunerated activities for your own, and that does not correspond to the immigration subcategory of investor, you will have to comply with the following requirements:

  • Prior to your entry to Chile, you must have a contract with a Chilean, or a permanent resident, one of the contracts regulated in the civil or commercial regulations in which the foreigner provides their intangible services or specialized professional services, and provided that the period in which such services are to be done exceeds 90 calendar days. If a shorter stay is required, the provisions of the decree that establishes the subcategories of Permanencia Transitoria will be applied.
  • This contract must be executed at the competent Consulate by the provisions of the Reglamento Consular. Without this additional information, SERMIG will not issue a permit in process certificate.

Yes, you can. To do so, if you will apply for the Prórroga de Residencia Temporal (Extension of Residencia Temporal permit), you must certify that you continue to engage in lawful remunerated activities.

Yes, you may be granted a Residencia Temporal permit as a dependent of the holder of this immigration subcategory, if your condition is included in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 74 of Law No. 21.325.

For more information on the requirements, visit the page about dependent status.

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