Chile Forum

Hi!

I was told I need a certified copy of my education certificate to get my Chilean driver's licence (I am Chilean, asked if I could take my South African degree/high school certificate to a notary here to do that, and they said that is acceptable).

I went to the notary in Las Condes on Apoquindo Avda., and they told me they cannot make copies of my certificates because they do not accept documents where the signature is scanned (not done with a pen). But all my certificates/degrees are like that - from South Africa and from Canada (since they are printed in mass, the president/dean etc. doesn't live to sign certificates). Besides, this shouldn't be their concern - all that is required of them is to make a copy and to say that this is a true copy of the original.
They then proceeded to tell me that if I sign ON my official original certificates (?!) then they can do it for me, or I can go to another notary and see if they will do it for me - what is that???

What can I do - any advice? I'd greatly appreciate it!

So you not have either a Canadian or South African license? I was able to get a license in Las Condes by just showing them my US license and showing proof of residency in Las Condes (which I faked by borrowing a bill from a friend who lives there and taking it to the Carabineros and getting a proof or residency for Las Condes).

Really??? I have my Canadian and my South African Driver Licenses.....I'll give that a shot, thanks Heather! But I still would need notarized copies of my things for other purposes
On a side note - the Chilean consulate said I didn't need to do anything in terms of certifying my certificates etc. before I left for Chile.....guess the person I asked didn't know!

Might work in some places but not here in XII Region. They don't care whether you have a foreign driver licence or not. They only care that you graduated from primary school. People here have tried to use originals of Master of Science diplomas from North American universities as evidence of adequate education, and no dice.

Welcome to Chile. Here, have a grape.

xxx

Catt

Another Santiago municipality told me last week that Recoleta and Estación Central municipalities don’t require evidence of schooling for Chilean driver’s licence. Could you keep us posted as to your experience please.

Cat , I got my license at Providencia muni with a scan of my U of Pretoria certificate , my SA drivers licence and a utility bill.

xxx

Yea, the driver's license proof of education has been one of the biggest pains we have ever seen for foreigners. It all depends on the local city and their interpretation of some rather fuzzy laws.

Some say you need a legalized copy of your original diploma, some just want to see the original diploma, others require that you take the equivalence exam. If you are stuck taking the exam, good luck, because that is another bureaucratic mess trying to schedule that with the regional education department.

We have had a lot of clients reach the point where their license expired or whatever, and the one document they don't have or can not get, is an original copy of their diploma.

oh, another one we have run in to is getting the consulate to issue a certificate that your diploma is sufficient proof of education. Seems some consulates are setup to do that, while others do not.

My advice is keep knocking on doors until someone gives you an answer you like.

My father's famous motivation story was the guy in the army that walks around picking up paper saying, "that's not it, that's not it". Finally someone hands him his section 8 paper and he says, "that's it".

I have been using my stateside DL for the last 4 years here and have been pulled over numerous times. Most of the time the pacos believe that since it is from the States, it acts like an international DL, and let me go on my way. This last time they kept it and fined me for not having my headlights on during the day(my fog lights were on and on my truck are much higher than most cars headlights...they werent listing to me) My license is still in Pichilemu and the Policia local are keeping it safe & warm for me. Sometimes I think they just need some type of plastic card to hold on to. If i had given them my old university Id card they would have probably been happy just as long as they have something to turn into the desk Sgt. along with the papers

Hello all!

thanks for all the comments!! Busy busy....I have not yet gotten my Chilean driver's (still using my Canadian), but will be going soon to Providencia to try and get it...I'll post an update on how it goes...