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What is the carta de Nacionalización?

The carta de Nacionalización is a way for foreigners to obtain Chilean citizenship according to article 10 subsection 3 of the Chilean Constitution, which is further developed by a government decree issued by the Ministry of Interior and Public Safety, by order of the President of Chile.

In what cases can I obtain the Chilean citizenship?

If you have reached 18 years of age, you are a holder of a valid Residencia Definitiva permit, and you have five years or more of residence in Chile from the date you obtained the Estampado Electrónico of the Residencia Temporal permit that gave rise to the Residencia Definitiva permit that remains valid.*

*According to the Government Decree No. 5.142.

If you are the son or daughter of foreigners, and you are 14 years of age or older, you are a holder of a Residencia Definitiva permit, and you have five years or more of residence in Chile (counting from the date you obtained the Residencia Temporal permit that gave rise to the Residencia Definitiva permit that remains valid), and also you have a notarized authorization from your parents or the person in charge of your custody.*

* Must be confirmed by a legal document.

If you are less than 18 years old, and your parents or at least one of them has a refugee status (recognized by Chile), and at least one of them has obtained the Chilean citizenship.

If you are a permanent resident, and you can certify two years of continuous residence in Chilean territory (counting from the date you obtained the Residencia Temporal permit that gave rise to the Residencia Definitiva permit that remains valid), and according to the Law No. 21.325 of Migración y Extranjería, you have any of the following family bonds with a Chilean citizen:

  1. If you have been the spouse of a Chilean citizen for at least two years, your marriage has been registered in Chile, and you have lived with your Chilean spouse in the same household for at least two years (according to the article 133 of the Chilean Civil Code).
  2. If you are a relative of a Chilean citizen up to the second degree of consanguinity, or if you have been adopted by Chilean citizens.
  3. If any of your parents lost their Chilean citizenship before your birthday.

Where can I apply for Chilean citizenship?

You can apply online at the Portal de Trámites Digitales of the Servicio Nacional de Migraciones. You will need a login account or ClaveÚnica for such purposes. You will also have to comply with all the requirements.

Apply for citizenship *

* Application only available from abroad.

Requirements

As an applicant, you must attach the general documentation plus the specific documentation for your application, as shown below:

For people not related to a Chilean citizen

  1. Scanned image of passport identification sheet (if you do not have a passport, present a national identity document of the country of origin or consular certificate (legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile), which certifies identity and nationality.)
  2. Certificate of criminal or judicial record of country of origin apostilled or legalized, and translated if applicable (for people over 18 years old.)
  3. Travel certificate issued by Policía de Investigaciones (PDI, Chilean Bureau of Investigation) (mandatory only for those who entered Chile as minors and cannot obtain the criminal record certificate of their country of origin.)
  4. Recent photo:
    • In color, with a white background.
    • Looking directly at the camera, covering the entire face, with a neutral expression and open eyes.
    • Do not wear accessories such as glasses or a hat.
    • It must be taken on a current date, as close as possible to the time of application.
    • Upload to the platform in JPG or PNG format.
  • If both parents are in Chile:
    • Notarized affidavit of both parents or of who has the custody of the minor, authorizing the application for a Carta de Nacionalización.
  • If one of the parents is abroad:
    • Notarized authorization of the parent who is in Chile and notarized authorization (or the corresponding certifying officer) of the one who is abroad, apostilled, or legalized as appropriate. Or, broad power of attorney of the parent who is abroad that accompanies the power of attorney delivered, where it specifies the authorization to apply for citizenship (apostilled or legalized).
  • If one of the parents is deceased:
    • Death certificate of the deceased parent.
  • Document that certifies the activity performed in Chile.
  • If you are a natural person, the following documents must be submitted:
    1. To certify that your tax obligations are up to date. You must present the "Carpeta tributaria" (Tax folder), which can be obtained from the website of the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (Chilean IRS), authenticating yourself with RUT (Chilean tax ID number) and Clave Tributaria of SII (taxpayer’s password for Chilean IRS) or Claveúnica, by accessing the following route:
      SII's website → Servicios online → Situación tributaria → Carpeta tributaria electrónica → Carpeta Tributaria Regular.
    2. In addition, you must certify that you have no debt, for which you must apply for the Certificado de Deuda issued by the Tesorería General de la República (TGR), which can be obtained from the TGR website, by authenticating with RUT (Chilean tax ID number) and tax password or ClaveÚnica from the page of Certificado de Deudas Fiscales.
  • If the person is a partner of an established company:
    • The same documentation indicated in the previous point (Carpeta tributaria y Certificado de deuda) must be submitted for each of the companies in which the applicant participates.

For people related to a Chilean citizen

This family bond may be a spouse, father, mother, child, grandchild, grandparent, sibling, a person adopted by a Chilean, or a child of a father or mother who, having been Chilean, lost his or her nationality before the applicant’s birth.

  1.  Scanned image of a passport identification sheet (if you do not have a passport, present a national identity card from your country of origin or consular certificate proving your identity and nationality).
  2. Certificate of criminal or judicial record of country of origin apostilled or legalized, and translated if applicable (for people over 18 years old),
  3. Travel certificate issued by Policía de Investigaciones (PDI, Chilean Bureau of Investigation); mandatory only for those who entered Chile as minors and cannot obtain the criminal record certificate of their country of origin.
  4. Recent photo:
    • In color, with a white background.
    • Looking directly at the camera, covering the entire face, with a neutral expression and open eyes.
    • Do not wear accessories such as glasses or a hat.
    • It must be taken on a current date, as close as possible to the time of application.
    • Upload to the platform in JPG or PNG format.
  • If both parents are in Chile:
    • Affidavit authorizing the application for the Carta de Nacionalización from both parents or the person who has custody of the minor.
  • If one of the parents is abroad:
    • Notarized authorization of the father who is in Chile and notarized authorization (or the corresponding certifying officer) of the one who is abroad, apostilled, or legalized as appropriate. Or, broad power of attorney of the parent who is abroad that accompanies the power of attorney delivered, where specified authorizes her or him to apply Citizenship (apostilled or legalized).
  • If either parent is deceased:
    • Death certificate of the deceased parent.
  • If you are a spouse of a Chilean:
    1. Marriage certificate registered in Chile.
    2. Spouse's birth certificate.
    3. Documents certifying that they both share a common household today and two years prior to the date of application.
  • If you are the parent of a Chilean child:
    1. Birth certificate of your Chilean children.
  • If related by blood up to the second degree (grandchild, grandparent, sibling):
    1. Birth certificates that certify the family bond.
  • If you are the child of a father or mother who, having been Chilean, lost his nationality before birth:

    1. Birth Certificate.

    2. Birth certificate of the father or mother with the annotation of loss.

    3. Carta de Nacionalidad of the father or mother, prior to 2005.

  • Document that certifies the activity performed in Chile.
  • If you are a natural person, the following documents must be submitted:
    1. To certify that your tax obligations are up to date. You must present the Carpeta tributaria (Tax folder), which can be obtained from the website of the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (Chilean IRS), authenticating yourself with RUT (Chilean tax ID number) and Clave Tributaria of SII (taxpayer’s password for Chilean IRS) or ClaveÚnica, by accessing the following route:
      SII's website → Servicios online → Situación tributaria → Carpeta tributaria electrónica → Carpeta Tributaria Regular.
    2. In addition, you must certify that you have no debt, for which you must apply for the Certificado de Deuda issued by the Tesorería General de la República (TGR), which can be obtained from the TGR website, by authenticating with RUT (Chilean ID number) and Clave Tributaria of SII (taxpayer’s password for Chilean IRS) or ClaveÚnica from the page of Certificado de Deudas Fiscales.
  • If the person is a partner of an established company:
    • The same documentation indicated in the previous point (Carpeta tributaria and Certificado de deuda) must be submitted for each of the companies in which the applicant participates.

For refugees

  1. Proof of identity.
  2. Recent photo:
    • In color, with a white background.
    • Looking directly at the camera, covering the entire face, with a neutral expression and open eyes.
    • Do not wear accessories such as glasses or a hat.
    • It must be taken on a current date, as close as possible to the time of application.
    • Upload to the platform in JPG or PNG format.
  • Document that certifies the activity performed in Chile.
  • If you are a natural person, the following documents must be submitted:
    1. To certify that your tax obligations are up to date. You must present the "Carpeta tributaria" (Tax folder), which can be obtained from the website of the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (Chilean IRS), authenticating yourself with RUT (Chilean tax ID number) and Clave Tributaria of SII (taxpayer’s password for Chilean IRS) or ClaveÚnica, by accessing the following route:
      SII's website → Servicios online → Situación tributaria → Carpeta tributaria electrónica → Carpeta Tributaria Regular.
    2. In addition, you must certify that you have no debt, for which you must apply for the Certificado de Deuda issued by the Tesorería General de la República (TGR), which can be obtained from the TGR website, by authenticating with RUT (Chilean ID number) and Clave Tributaria of SII (taxpayer’s password for Chilean IRS) or ClaveÚnica from the page of Certificado de Deudas Fiscales.
  • If the person is a partner of an established company:
    • The same documentation indicated in the previous point (Carpeta tributaria and Certificado de deuda) must be submitted for each of the companies in which the applicant participates.

For children of refugees with a nationalized Chilean father or mother

  1. Proof of identity.
  2. Birth Certificate.
  3. Recent photo:
    • In color, with a white background.
    • Looking directly at the camera, covering the entire face, with a neutral expression and open eyes.
    • Do not wear accessories such as glasses or a hat.
    • It must be taken on a current date, as close as possible to the time of application.
    • Upload to the platform in JPG or PNG format.

How to apply for the Chilean citizenship?

Review the step-by-step instructions in the following guide:

Guide to apply for the citizenship

Important!

  • The Portal de Trámites Digitales will not allow you to submit incomplete applications, so you must upload all the requested documents. Otherwise, you will not be able to proceed or complete your application.
  • It is also necessary to keep in mind that if you upload erroneous, incomplete, or incorrect information, you will be notified that your application will not proceed and you will be granted a period of sixty working days, counted from such notification, to rectify the missing information or attach the respective documents.
  • If this is not done within the indicated period, the procedure will be considered abandoned and your application will be filed. However, you will have the possibility of submitting a new application once you have all the background information that supports your application: complete, updated, and current documentation as of the date of submission.

More FAQ about Chilean citizenship

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