Country research
Chile
Prices overall are about 0.48 of United States prices at market exchange rates, and the Global Peace Index 2026 ranks Chile 52nd of 163. People with a pension, or steady rents or financial income, from abroad can apply for temporary residence from outside Chile, and temporary residents can ask for permanent residence after 24 months. The national migration service lists no residence permit for remote work.
- Capital
- Santiago
- Currency
- Chilean Peso
- Language
- Spanish
- Time zones
- America/Santiago, America/Punta_Arenas, Pacific/Easter
- Settings
- By the sea, In a city, In the mountains
- Weather
- Mild, never too hot, Four seasons
The Fernshore Index
How it grades, factor by factor.
The Fernshore Index grades a place factor by factor. Each grade is against a published measure, with its source and the date we checked it. It is research information, not advice. Where we have no figure, the row says Unknown.
Cost of living
70 of 100Strong
Price level 0.476 of United States prices (2025).
Climate
59 of 100Mixed
Santiago, the main city: 8 comfortable months a year (February to May and September to December), measured at the Quinta Normal station. January's high of 30.4 °C is just over the 30 °C line, and June to August are under 18 °C.
Safety
55 of 100Mixed
Global Peace Index 2026: 52nd of 163.
Healthcare
79 of 100Strong
WHO UHC service coverage index 84 (2023).
Schools
Unknown
Our research doesn't cover schools yet.
Community
Unknown
We have no sourced figure for this yet.
Lifestyle
Unknown
We have no sourced figure for this yet.
Work and career
15 of 100Weak
Weak: neither test holds. SERMIG's 15 temporary residence categories include none for remote work for a foreign employer or clients (the paid-work category needs an employer in Chile), and fixed broadband is 23.73 per 100 people (2024), under the 30 line.
Retirement
85 of 100Strong
Strong: retirees and people with steady rents or financial income can apply for temporary residence from abroad, the permit admits an application for permanent residence, and the law sets 24 months of temporary residence for that. No age minimum or deposit is printed, and no income amount (the test is basic needs by a ministry's indicators).
Internet
53 of 100Mixed
23.73 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people (2024).
English
45 of 100Mixed
EF EPI score 517, between the 499 and 550 anchors. The page does not print its edition year.
Visa, United States passport
Unknown
Research for US passports is being checked
Visa, Canada passport
Unknown
Research for CA passports is being checked
Visa, Australia passport
Unknown
Research for AU passports is being checked
Visa, New Zealand passport
Unknown
Research for NZ passports is being checked
Cities
Cities in Chile.
Each city page shows which figures are its own and which are the country's.
Guides
Chile, by passport.
Each guide is written for citizens of one country.
Questions about Chile.
Do I need a visa to visit Chile?
SERMIG says visitors on a transitory stay need no prior authorisation or visa in general, and may stay up to 90 days, extendable once by 90 days for about US$100. To be safe, have more than US$200. Some nationalities need prior authorisation from a consulate, and the page names none, so check the consular list. Paid work is not allowed.
Can I get Chilean residence on a pension or income from abroad?
Yes. Retirees and people with steady rents or financial income can apply for temporary residence from outside Chile if the income covers basic needs by a ministry's indicators; no amount is printed. The law sets 24 months of temporary residence before permanent residence, and a regulation can extend that to 48.
Is there a digital nomad or remote work visa in Chile?
SERMIG lists 15 temporary residence categories and none is for remote work for a foreign employer or clients. The paid-work one asks for an employer in Chile, and a transitory stay does not allow paid activities. How remote work on a tourist stay is treated is not stated, so it is unknown.
How expensive is Chile compared with the United States?
The World Bank puts Chile's overall price level at 0.48 of the United States' in 2025 at market exchange rates. In the 2022 Casen survey, households that rent paid a median of CLP 300,000 a month nationwide. Those are pesos of late 2022 and have not been adjusted.
How are foreign residents taxed in Chile?
A foreigner who settles in Chile pays tax only on Chilean-source income for the first three years from arrival, a period the regional tax director can extend in qualified cases. After that, income from any source is taxed. Treaty effects, social security and pensions are not covered here.
How many foreigners live in Chile, and where?
INE and SERMIG estimated 1,918,583 foreign residents at the end of 2023, 56.8% of them in the Región Metropolitana and 6.4% in Valparaíso. The 2024 census counted 1,608,650 people born abroad (8.7%). US nationals number 14,783; the other launch passports are not broken out.
How good is health coverage in Chile?
The World Health Organization's coverage index for essential health services is 84 out of 100 for Chile (2023). That is a national measure and says nothing on waiting times or quality in one city. Insurance rules and costs for foreign residents were not checked, so they are unknown.
Sources and dates checked
Official sources
- Price level index (GDP), Chile, World Bank. Checked 18 October 2026. 2025: 47.64 (United States = 100), read from the World Bank API on 18 October 2026.
- Extranjeros jubilados y rentistas (Residencia Temporal, subcategory 11), Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SERMIG), Ministerio del Interior. Checked 18 October 2026. Page last updated 18 December 2025. Only available from abroad. Retirees: a pension that covers at least basic needs in Chile by Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia indicators, with a pension certificate and the last payment slip. Rentistas: steady income from property or financial assets that covers at least basic needs. The page prints no amount, no age minimum and no deposit, and it does not give the validity, fees, whether it leads to permanent residence or whether work is allowed. Extension needs proof the person is still a retiree or rentista with enough income.
- Ley 21.325 de Migración y Extranjería, articles 72 and 79, Congreso Nacional de Chile (BCN LeyChile, official legal database). Checked 18 October 2026. Article 79: permanent residence may be granted to holders of a temporary permit that admits it who have lived in Chile as such for at least 24 months; a regulation may extend that to up to 48 months in some cases. Article 72: temporary residence lasts up to two years, extendable by up to two more.
- Subcategorías de Residencia Temporal (list of 15), Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SERMIG), Ministerio del Interior. Checked 18 October 2026. Page last updated 8 April 2025. The 15 subcategories: family reunification; paid lawful activities (needs an employer in Chile); students; seasonal workers; people in custody; court order; humanitarian reasons; international agreements; religious; medical treatment; retirees or rentistas; former permanent residents; investors; multiple-entry business; Mercosur reciprocity. The page does not mention remote work, teleworking or digital nomads. Article 10 of Decreto 177 of 2022 (letters a to p) likewise has no permit for remote work; its job-search permit (oportunidades laborales) is quota-based and for looking for work in Chile.
- Nuestro País (territory, relief, coast), Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile (BCN). Checked 18 October 2026. Chile lies between 17°30' and 56°30' S, with the Pacific Ocean on its west, bathing its coast over more than 8,000 km, and three relief units: the Cordillera de los Andes (east), the Cordillera de la Costa (west) and the central depression.
- Relieve, Región Metropolitana de Santiago, Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile (BCN). Checked 18 October 2026. The Santiago basin, 80 km north to south and 35 km east to west, holds the urban area of Santiago at 520 m between the Cordillera de la Costa and the first foothills of the Andes; the region's Andes carry peaks above 6,000 m (Tupungato 6,570 m).
- Reportes comunales 2025: Santiago and the other 31 comunas of the Provincia de Santiago (Censo 2024, INE), Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile (BCN), from INE data. Checked 18 October 2026. Censo 2024: Santiago comuna 438,856 people; the 32 comunas of the Provincia de Santiago (comuna codes 13101 to 13132, each read from the same report page with idcom=131xx) add up to 5,385,737, our sum; Chile 18,480,432.
- Climate normals 1991-2020, Quinta Normal, Santiago (WMO 85577), Dirección Meteorológica de Chile (WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020 via NOAA NCEI). Checked 18 October 2026. Santiago, the main city, at 33°26'42" S 70°40'58" W and 520 m. Monthly mean daily highs January to December: 30.4, 29.7, 27.9, 23.3, 19.2, 16.0, 15.7, 17.6, 20.1, 23.1, 26.6, 29.0 °C; rain 0.6, 1.3, 4.1, 17.5, 42.6, 80.4, 50.4, 44.1, 25.3, 12.1, 4.9, 3.0 mm (286.2 mm a year, every month under 150 mm). Comfortable months (high 18 to 30 °C and under 150 mm): February to May and September to December = 8. January's high is 30.4 °C, just over the 30 °C line; June to August are under 18 °C. Mean temperatures 22.0 °C (January) and 9.8 °C (July) differ by 12.2 °C. Pudahuel airport (WMO 85574) also gives 8 comfortable months.
- Climate normals 1991-2020, Rodelillo, Viña del Mar (WMO 85560), Dirección Meteorológica de Chile (WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020 via NOAA NCEI). Checked 18 October 2026. The Rodelillo aerodrome station at 33°03'55" S 71°33'23" W and 330 m, in the Rodelillo district of Viña del Mar (the municipality's history page places Rodelillo in the city). Monthly mean daily highs January to December: 23.3, 22.6, 22.0, 19.9, 17.3, 15.5, 15.0, 15.6, 16.9, 18.6, 20.9, 22.3 °C; rain 0.7, 1.1, 3.9, 20.4, 96.0, 161.7, 89.3, 88.7, 37.9, 15.5, 5.0, 3.7 mm (523.9 mm a year). Comfortable months (high 18 to 30 °C and under 150 mm): January to April and October to December = 7. The station is on a hill 330 m above the sea, so shore temperatures may differ. Mean temperatures 17.9 °C (January) and 11.0 °C (July) differ by 6.9 °C. The Punta Ángeles lighthouse station at Valparaíso (WMO 85558, 51 m) publishes rain only (363.1 mm a year, 106.1 mm in June) and no temperatures.
- UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1), World Health Organization. Checked 18 October 2026. Chile: 84 out of 100 (2023), read from the WHO GHO API (UHC_INDEX_REPORTED) on 18 October 2026.
- Permanencia Transitoria (tourist and short stays), Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SERMIG), Ministerio del Interior. Checked 18 October 2026. Page updated 14 October 2025. Up to 90 days, extendable once for up to 90 days for US$100 (children exempt); no prior authorisation or visa in general, but some nationalities need prior authorisation from a Chilean consulate (the page points to the consular list and names no countries); holders may not do paid activities, apart from specific one-off ones (shows, sport, conferences, technical advice) that SERMIG authorises. Remote work is not mentioned.
- Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, Chile, International Telecommunication Union, via the World Bank. Checked 18 October 2026. 2024: 23.73 per 100 people (2025 not yet published), read from the World Bank API on 18 October 2026.
- Decreto 177 de 2022: reglamento de subcategorías de residencia temporal (articles 10, 53 to 59), Ministerio del Interior y Seguridad Pública (BCN LeyChile, official legal database). Checked 18 October 2026. Text as published 14 May 2022. Article 10 lists the subcategories, including 'permiso para extranjeros jubilados y para rentistas', and says holders of these permits may apply for permanent residence except those under letters d, f, g and k (the retiree and rentista permit is letter l). Articles 53 to 59 set the conditions: a pension or steady income enough for basic needs by the Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia's indicators, applied for from abroad, extendable on proof. No amount is printed.
- Casen 2022: rent paid by renting households (v18), our tabulation, Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia (Casen 2022). Checked 18 October 2026. Weighted percentiles by comuna and bedrooms, fieldwork 1 November 2022 to 2 February 2023, pesos of that period, a figure shown only with at least 30 renting households; nationally 14,271 renting households answered (median CLP 300,000, middle half CLP 210,000 to CLP 400,000).
- Ley sobre Impuesto a la Renta, article 3, Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII). Checked 18 October 2026. Text updated to Ley 21.210 (24 February 2020): people domiciled or resident in Chile pay tax on income from any source; a foreigner who settles in Chile is taxed only on Chilean-source income for the first three years from arrival, extendable by the Director Regional in qualified cases.
- ¿Qué obligaciones tributarias tiene un extranjero con domicilio o residencia en Chile?, Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII). Checked 18 October 2026. Updated 8 April 2026: exception for the first three years of stay, tax on Chilean-source income only; afterwards the same obligations as anyone settled in Chile, on income from inside and outside the country.
- Estimación de personas extranjeras residentes habituales en Chile al 31 de diciembre de 2023, Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas (INE) and Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (SERMIG). Checked 18 October 2026. 1,918,583 foreign habitual residents at 31 December 2023 (56.8% in the Región Metropolitana, 6.4% in Valparaíso); US nationals 14,783 nationally, 9,387 in the Región Metropolitana and 1,829 in the Valparaíso region; Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are not named in the files.
- Reporte comunal 2025: Viña del Mar (Censo 2024), Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile (BCN), from INE data. Checked 18 October 2026. Censo 2024 for Chile: 18,480,432 people, of whom 1,608,650 (8.7%) were born outside Chile.
Index measures and references (not official sources)
- Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank, Institute for Economics and Peace. Checked 18 October 2026. Chile ranks 52nd of 163 countries (score 1.826); the report calls it the second most peaceful country in South America and the largest percentage improver in the region.
- EF English Proficiency Index: Chile, EF Education First (private test-taker index). Checked 18 October 2026. Score 517, global rank 54, down 8 points on the previous score. The page does not print its edition year; it is the live country page read on 18 October 2026.