Chile Forum

hi, i'm i uk national planning to travel to Chile early next year with my chilean girl friend. I don't know yet how long i want to stay but probably at least over 3 months. While in chile i want to be able to work. Does anyone know if which type of visa i might need or is anyone aware of a partnership visa i can get through my girlfriend who is a Chilean national. any info would be greatly appreciated. thanks a lot tim. x

Search is your friend.

hi, i've tried searching the web and havn't really come up with anything that helps me so far! i could really do with some advice from some people who have perhaps been through this. i'm aware of the special work card and other visa's on the chilean embassy website, but i want to know if there is anything like a working holiday visa or visa for the partner of a chilean national. Also if anyone knows how strict Chilean employers are in regards to checking visa and how easy it is to find casual employment- bar work, house keeping, manual work that type of thing. again any advice would be greatly appreciated.

mitworbla wrote:hi, i've tried searching the web and havn't really come up with anything that helps me so far! i could really do with some advice from some people who have perhaps been through this. i'm aware of the special work card and other visa's on the chilean embassy website, but i want to know if there is anything like a working holiday visa or visa for the partner of a chilean national. Also if anyone knows how strict Chilean employers are in regards to checking visa and how easy it is to find casual employment- bar work, house keeping, manual work that type of thing. again any advice would be greatly appreciated.

your visa isn't your problem..... its getting a job

If you get offered a serious job, you can get a subject to work visa, very very simple, you do this when you are here

otherwise, you come here on a tourist visa, and go to Argentina every 3 months by bus for a night then come back for another 3 months...

finding work without a visa in bars and language schools is not impossible..... house keeping... you would need to live here to understand that wont fit in with the culture, nor will you make enough money..... there are gringos and lets just say upper class chileans that could use you as a au pair they are advertised every now and again...

does that help?

Thanks for the info! i think i'm starting to get a grasp of things a bit more now, basically i can go to chile on a tourist visa and if i get a serious job a visa shouldn't be too much of a problem.
And then am i right in thinking that having a chilean partner does not help in anyway towards getting a work or residency visa?

In terms of the type of jobs i'm thinking of: casual jobs, house keeping as in hotel work or bar work then if i were able to find that type of work the employer would not be too strict in asking for a work permit? The wages would not need to be much as i will have no living expenses to speak of.

i have been living in new zealand for that last year where it is virtually impossible to find work without a visa or permit. Also in NZ if you are the unmarried partner of a resident you can get a residence visa which entitles you to work, there is nothing like this in chile?
My main concern is coming to chile and not being able to find any kind of work, if i can find casual work that would be fine, i would just do a visa run every 3 months.
any further advice would help thanks tim.

They covered the question, but I meant search THIS site, there must be 100 visa threads saying the same thing that has been pointed out to you.

i've been on the site for the last 2 hours trying to find the relevant info and not come up with a great deal, perhaps an FAQ page would be a good idea. thankyou to the member who replied with useful info, it was a great help, still anymore info or advice would be welcome. x

the only reason you are not gettting work wihtout a visa at the moment is because new zealand is still suffering heavily from the recession, it did not use to be that way new zealand is a country you can very easily operate with just cash and "under the table", im a new zealander and that is one of the reasons i keep living in chile, beside i like chile better, is because if i go back there is a slim chance i will find a job,

Chile is booming, how ever, your limited two 2 areas you can probably find work as a "working holiday", bars (not that easy, but possible), and teaching English (the easiest option), you have no chance of getting a job in a hotel unless you are bilingual spanish/english and that would be front desk not house keeping, house keepers cost $US 300 per month mas o menos for 44 hours a week.....

anything else you need to know someone, or have a required skill, such as mining engineer of some sort!

the hostels do offer Work for Accommodation... but i doubt you will find work for money there....


and you are right unless you are married, i doubt chile will assist you for a visa of any sort, that is a guess based on nothing more than me guessing!

and you will get the smart arse remarks from people in the forum many have been living here for years and have seen this conversation over and over again, to them its like a broken record, we are just knocking you back into reality, 2 hours is not enough to read everything ,just keep reading, thhis forum is gold and chile is unique, but that is why we love it!

good luck,

mitworbla wrote: And then am i right in thinking that having a chilean partner does not help in anyway towards getting a work or residency visa?

i have been living in new zealand for that last year where it is virtually impossible to find work without a visa or permit. Also in NZ if you are the unmarried partner of a resident you can get a residence visa which entitles you to work, there is nothing like this in chile?.

The problem is this: Everyone has a Chilean girlfriend, and many have several. The government is evidently not impressed by that, even if you proclaim relentless monagomous partnership with one or more of them. You have to apply and be accepted on your own merits. This is probably a good time to respectfully suggest that anything along the lines of "Well, in EnZed they ....." is probably not going to be anything like what is done in Chile. I think some others covered the approach: come as a tourist, if you find work (an offer) and really really really wish to stay (gawd knows why you would, but let''s say), then begin the little ordeal here of soliciting a work visa.

Do you have some sort of special skill or type of work you expect to find? If it's the unskilled type, you may find that the country has a surplus of unskilled workers, and wages are niggardly. If you speak Spanish and have experience managing cold-country sheep stations with over 10K animals then maybe down here in southern Patagonia there might be a spot for you since there is sometimes a local preference for skilled Commonwealth types. Just don't expect potable water or broadband wifi out here in the wop-wops.

“or more of them” would be polygamy, no?

Interesting that the Chilean girlfriend hasn't made him aware of the pay/working conditions for typical manual labor or housekeeping work here.

If you have a decent job where you are, better to stay there a bit more and save up money to stay in Chile, rather than working long hours for minimum wage here.

nwdiver wrote:“or more of them” would be polygamy, no?

Only when more than one concurrent relentless monogamous partnership is formally sanctioned by the state, and only in those states that formally proscribe such redundancy.