Irish Embassy, Santiago de Chile

The Irish in Chile are represented by the following:

• Irish Embassy, Santiago de Chile

There is also a Chilean Embassy in Dublin, where you can verify documents such as university degrees.

Irish Visas in Chile

For Irish people who want to work in Chile on a long-term basis, getting a temporary visa is the best way to go. Below are instructions on how to get one, along with other visas.

1.   Can I work in Chile on a tourist visa?
If you arrive in Chile as a tourist, you can stay for 90 days. There is no cost to entering, as with perhaps every other Latin American country for Irish people. You also don’t need to show any proof that you plan to leave the country before those 90 days (so no need to buy a return ticket for the sake of buying a return ticket, thinking you might get turned away otherwise).

Once you’re at 90 days in Chile, you can renew your tourist visa for another 90 days by either going to the local emigration office (“la extranjería”) and paying a fee of around €60, or by going to another country like Argentina for the weekend. However, this only applies to your first renewal. After 180 days in Chile, you can only renew your visa by making a short trip across the border every three months.

Some gringos who do freelance teaching (private classes, plus part-time work with different institutes) in Chile have been on tourist visas for years. However, it’s best to have the temporary visa at the end of the day as it gives a sense of stability and will help you to obtain full-time jobs (you also won’t have to travel every 3 months). Employers find it harder to give a job to someone who needs a “visa sujeto a contrato”, as opposed to someone who can get a temporary visa.

2.    What is a “Visa sujeto a contrato?”
If you arrive as a tourist and a company gives you a contract, you can get the “Visa sujeto a contrato” (“Visa subject to contract”). But the visa will end if you stop working with the company. After this, you’re back to being a tourist again.

3.    What is a “Temporary Visa” and how do I get one?
A temporary visa lasts for a year and can be easily renewed. You get it under the circumstances below:

• People without college degrees: You’ll need two job offers.
• People with college degrees: You’ll need one job offer, plus your degree certified by the Irish and Chilean Governments. You do this by getting yourself or someone else to bring your original transcript to:
  1. Dept of Education in Dublin to be stamped and signed (you may need to reserve a meeting).
  2. Dept of Foreign Affairs in Hainault House, Dublin 2 for the legalisation stamp and signature (you may need to reserve a meeting).
  3. Only then can this original document be brought to the Embassy of Chile in Dublin for the third stage of the legalisation (from what I remember, the embassy sends this your address in Chile at a relatively small fee. you’ll need to buy the packaging and possibly stamps beforehand yourself). You will need to reserve a meeting beforehand by contacting the embassy via echile.irlanda@minrel.gov.cl.
  4. Once in Chile, the document will need a fourth stamp at the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs before it can be presented as valid to any organisation in Chile (this only takes a few minutes, so most of the running around that you or your friend/family member do will be in Dublin).
• The above information applies only to the Te-8 temporary visa (which applies to most Irish in Chile, except those on the working holiday scheme). Chilean government information on this, in English, can be found here. Information on the other types of temporary visa, meanwhile, can be found here. You should check both of these links just in case there’s something extra that might apply to you.
• The temporary visa is FREE for Irish people, in contrast to other nationalities that have to pay hundreds of euros (as of recently, British passport holders had to pay $1,200 US). So you might as well try to get it if you can for that reason.