Chile Forum

Tried searching the forum for this, but no such luck...

I've been living in Chile for 2 years (just leaving the country every 90 days/getting visa extensions). We were married in the US (my husband is a chilean citizen) and just got our US marriage certificate mailed to us. I checked the Dept of Extranjero website and it says I have to take the cert to the Chilean Consulate to get it legalized/notarized. They do not have instructions on how to apply for a temp visa (ties with a chilean) ONCE you are in Chile.

We are currently here in Santiago and don't have any plans of going back to the US until the holidays. I also have read all over the forum not to apply for a temp visa at the local consulate if ever I get to go. So, how does one do it from here?

Thanks for any advice!

TE-1 is the correct form to use:

http://www.extranjeria.gov.cl/te_1.html

So it looks like you need to legalize your marriage cert which you should be able to do by mail (search the forum for "legalizing" documents and "legalization" of documents).

You will also need to show financial evidence and Informativo TE-10 explains that in more detail. In practice, I get the sense that it may vary for each Gobernacion (hint: always better to do Immigrations stuff outside of Santiago) and it will not nearly be as rigorous as for a Periodic Income Temporary Residence Visa application.

Maybe admin and others will chime in on this.

Thanks for the tip! I wasn't able to find much on legalizing docs - checked the US Embassy in Chile website and they don't authenticate documents I'll send Charles a pm, hopefully he can help.

Search for the website of the Chilean consulate or the embassy (if that is the locale for your marriage cert) for the particular instructions on how to legalize a document. I did mine for my university diploma all by mail.

Thanks EEUU. I actually placed a call to the Chilean Embassy in Los Angeles. It can easily be done by mail - easier if you have someone who can do it for you in the USA since they don't accept personal checks.

He sent me the procedure how to do this, is it ok to post it here to help others along? It's short but sweet, just to help others along if they find themselves needing the same thing.

Yeah that would be fine. I believe somewhere on this forum, I once posted the LA consulate info and I believe PatX did so in a recent post.

This is the procedure as sent to me by the Chilean Consulate in Los Angeles. For others who need their docs legalized by mail, it would be best to contact the Chilean Embassy where you live first, you know how it goes sometimes You can easily search on the web for the different locations.

Legalization to send documents to Chile

1) Stamp the document with a Notary.
2) Validate the signature of the Notary with either a County Clerk or the Secretary of the State correspondant to your Notary jurisdiction (Note: If the document is issued and already signed by a Clerk of the State, with the Clerk`s name written on it, it does NOT require further county clerk validation. This is the case of birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, etc.)
3) Mail it to our offices to be legalized, send it along with a self address stamped envelope and the corresponding payment.
4) Legalization can be done in person at our Consulate, if you wish.
5) The fee for legalization is US$12.- per document, payable cash, money order, company check or cashiers check made out to “Consulate General of Chile”. We do not take personal checks. Do not send cash by mail. ( You may send one check or money order for the grand total).
_______

Hope this helps!

Update: Encountered no problems getting it done in the LA office by mail. It took 2 business days for it to be mailed back to me to a US address.

I appreciate (shall we say...surprised) how helpful and quick the Chilean Embassy processed it. Now if we can just bring that kind of customer service here (and with a smile)...

I want to make sure I get this right.

I got married in the US. The certificate has been legalized by the appropriate consulate. Now, a person who answered the phone at the extranjeria is telling us that we have to get it translated and legalized here. I'm guessing it doesn't have to be legalized again, but will it have to be translated by an official?

Presuming the license does not require translation or legalization, my husband and I take the license, our passports and his Carnet (he's an Argentinian with permanent residency) to the extranjeria.

I apply for a TE-3 (temporary residency TEMPORARY RESIDENCE VISA FOR A FOREIGNER WITH A FAMILY LINK WITH A RESIDENCE WITH DEFINITIVE PERMANENCE), and a SPECIAL WORKING PERMIT FOR WORKERS WITH IN PROCESS VISA

http://www.extranjeria.gov.cl/ingles/te_3.html (Note, it would be the Te-1 for people marrying Chileans.)
http://www.extranjeria.gov.cl/ingles/pe ... a_tra.html

Armed with my Temporary Residence Visa, & special working permit, I can get my RUT at SII which will remain the same after I apply for permanent residency.

I do not have to register the marriage with the anyone else for this (civil borough, or something like this), correct?

How long will it take to get my temp. residence visa? Will I be able to work instantly?

Thanks.

Please note, I've gone through all 5 pages of a "marriage visa" search and 12 of 126 pages of just "visa." I would have done more, but over the past 2 hours I keep getting this notice... "Sorry but you cannot use search at this time. Please try again in a few minutes"

I will also need to have a te-10.

The answer is yes, marriage licenses from the US do need to be legalized and translated here in Chile. In Santiago, the office for that is
Relaciones Exteriores
Agustinas 1320 Santiago
8274200

There they stamp the document, which happens instantly and is free, and you submit it for official translation. That takes about 2 weeks and varies according to the cost of the document. For a one page marriage license, the cost was $9000 pesos.

That document needs to be brought to the registro civil in order to register the marriage.

In Santiago, the address is
Huerfanos 1570
Santiago
Phone 7822335

As I haven't done it yet, I don't know whether there is a cost or how long it takes.

From there, you can then mail in the appropriate documents (they do not do this in person in Santiago. Nor do they do visas for work in person. It all has to be mailed in.)

What I am probably going to end up doing is getting a special work visa for people on a tourist visa (available instantly in person at the extranjeria, and then mail in my work contract for the temporary residence. I'm assuming one can transfer these, and this is how one can start a job while waiting for the paperwork. At the Extranjeria, we were told it would take 45 days to process the marriage visa, after all of the other elements are addressed. (We're going to file for this one to, just to cover all bases.)

Thanks for the in-country info. I wonder, since we were married in Paraguay and our marriage license is in Spanish, if we will still need to go through this step? My husband is Chilean, and I'm from the States. Could the local embassy verify, or should we wait to get it done in Chile on our scouting trip in Jan/Feb?

Thanks,
Jules