Chile Forum

I have recently (in the last 4 years, before that 2 other moves one out of Chile) moved 3 containers of personnel effects to Chile, 2 for myself a Canadian and one for my son a Chilean/Canadian returning to Chile to attend university. My 2 which included expensive antiques and art were unquestioned, my son’s which included well loved but junk furniture (stuff I can’t believe I paid to transport) and a tonne of electronics cost me an extra $3200 in fees, thus I believe electronics red flagged his stuff. it was the same transport company and the same origin and destination, the only difference was the 42” TV, Stereo/DVD system, computers and beloved game consoles all 3.

by Admin:

You are aware that you can not import used vehicles of any sort to Chile?

Is this quote referencing ground based motor vehicles or does it also include aircraft? I would like to retire very shortly to Chile and bring my gyroplane aircraft that I just built and registered in the USA as a new experimental class aircraft. It has not been flown yet but is legal for flight now....Thanks.

Hmm, that's an interesting question BB. The quote pertains to automobiles. But there are exceptions to the rule. if it is a specialized utility vechicle (fire truck, etc.) then it might be granted an exception.

As for your gyroplane, I suppose you can take it apart and ship it as pieces. Sort of things for your workshop.

What kind of gyroplane do you have?

But not sure about the legalities of the matter. Maybe a flying club might be able to shed some light on the matter. Maybe not. Didn't we have a thread on private aircraft?

I found a link to a site in Chile that might be of interest. http://www.ultrasport.cl/

Thanks mlightheart.
I checked the mentioned website but my spanish is way too weak at this time to make any use of it. I did talk by email a few days ago with a representative of the Experimental Aircraft Association in Santiago and he indicated that the Chilean government allowed the building and flying of experimental (homebuilt) aircraft and ultralights and that it was likely Chile would reciprocate on the use of my US pilots license (with a flight test) but was not clear about moving my gyroplane to Chile. He mentioned that a club buddy flew a similar aircraft as mine in the Santiago area. My gyroplane is a highly customized version of the 2 place RAF2000. I have also heard of a person in the Villarica area who imported a fixed wing ultralight. I am waiting for his return from his honeymoon and hope he has enough strength left to email me. Thanks again for your help.

I sent my things UPS...no problem. Everything was deleivered on time.

yea, we should separate out however we are talking about containers and larger shipments. UPS / Fedex will bankrupt you even sending relatively small packages.

Last document I had sent from the States Fedex was about $85. That was like three sheets of paper.

We never use UPS for critical documents. Outside of Santiago they have serious problems delivering.

If I have applied for Chilean Residency as a economically indipendent individual ??(pensioner) can I ship my stuff before all of my documentation is finalized?

You need to have at least a case number from immigration. Be prepared for a mess of paperwork with it, so you will need a customs agent that knows the procedures. Not all of them can do it.

I am about to have Lead Ore shipped from Chile to China. After reading your warning i thought of asking you if there are any shipping companies that you could recommend, who are fair priced and have no history of predatory practice.

Thanks

Sorry, can not help you there. You should in theory be fine with any international shipping company with a reputation.

Also, most of the problems we are referring to in this thread are for small one off personal shippers inbound to Chile, not the larger dry bulk carrier transactions for commercial purposes. I would imagine, in most of those cases you will only be dealing with the international shipping company anyway.

Please pick one I own stock in, if you do ship.

We moved back to Chile in December last year - for what we intended to be a one year stay. We therefore left most of our furniture and personal possesssions in the US. However, we are now considering staying in Chile. Does anybody have any experience or knowledge of shipping personal items to Chile outside the three month window (which i had heard you have for shipping personal items duty and tax free). WorldCitizen

It is the one year during your temporary residency, not 3 months, and before your permanent residency is granted.