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Although I am not ready for retirement myself. I did receive a question from someone reading my blog regarding citizenship in Chile.

What to do if you are thinking of retiring in Chile ? Pursue citizenship / Residency ?

The answer is you are only allowed to pursue residency unless you were born in Chile.

Chipsites has some interesting information regarding residency – I quote

Permanent residency (residencia permanente) allows you to live in Chile indefinitely and pursue any legal activity. You may only apply for legal residency after you have held temporary residency for one year or a student or subject-to-contract visa for two consecutive years. You will are required to apply for permanent residency if you have been a temporary resident for two years.

Permanent residence does not expire until you leave the country for more than a year. If you leave the country for a year or longer, your visa expires automatically unless you arrange ahead of time with the Foreign Legalization Service (Departamento de Extranjería).

http://www.chipsites.com/ww/settling-in-permanent-residency-chile.html

Really , the question is — do I need residency in Chile ? Is it necessary ? Is it worth it ?

The answer – not necessarily – If you are living in Chile for any extended period of time — you have two options – pursue residency or visit Argentina every three months to renew your visa.

Residency is not necessary to buy land nor to buy automobile. Residency however is necessary to open a checking account which is your passage to being a credit worthy citizen in Chile.

It is difficult to get things such as a cell phone subscription, Internet access, online bill paying without having a checking account but you can get by paying for everything in cash. And ironically getting money out of the ATM will give you a much better exchange rate than you would get if you wired money down to Chile. Note checking accounts are only given to people with permanent residency.

Getting Permanent residency is not difficult but then again its not easy .. I have heard from several expats living here in Pucon that its much easier to sort it out in the USA if you want.

If you want to buy land or a car – you apply for a tax id known as a RUT card. This is a tax id card. You can get this quickly within a few days and then you can buy land and automobiles. As far as I know you have the same rights as any other landowner.

Whats good about Chile ?

Unfortunately – the US dollar is so weak now that its not as cheap down here as it once was. Regardless somethings such as healthcare are still relatively cheap.

Good public transportation – Gas is expensive – 5.33 a gallon – and not artificially cheap like the USA so the infrastructure has been built with high gas prices in mind. Lots of public transportation available.

Not as crowded and not as polluted – There are less people here in Chile on 17 million or so in all of the Country so there are more resources/ clean air / clean water. On the downside there is little awareness of things like recycling, protecting the environment, etc.

Its safe – there are robberies but little violent crime.

Fields Marshall, LJ Groth, Marta Araya, Alejandra Castillo and Marcus El Volado

Whats Bad About Chile ?

Bookstores – There is no such thing as a good bookstore. There is nothing compared to borders book down here. Books are expensive and the selection is very bad.

Clothing is bad and expensive. In Pucon, clothes here are both expensive and bad quality – Nice combination.

Bureaucratic Issues – they call it tramites down here in Chile aka red tape. Initially there can be a lot of waiting in line to pay bills, install Internet in your house, etc. It requires some patience.

To get an idea of what expenses could be here in Chile I will detail mine.

Internet/Fixed Telephone Line 1 mb connection – $65 month
Gas – $25 a month – This can be VERY high – so we heat the house with wood typically
Water – $25 a month
Electricity – $65 a month – I probably use a lot as I live my computer on 24×7
Condos Fee – $160 a month – we live in nice condo
Firewood – $40 a month – winter only.
Rent – $300 and up .. This is where rents start and then upwards.
Health Insurance for My Wife and Daughter – $65 monthly

Anyways Hope that helps everyone out there thinking about retiring in Chile. Its not that expensive but due to the weakness of the US dollar its not super cheap either.

Robby Dastin, Gigo Castillo, Chapulin, Fields Marshall and Isabella Marshall

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