Chile Forum

i was born in Chile as was my mother. She was born to parents with dual citizen ship (Brit and Chilean) My Grandfather arrived middle of 19 century (mom born when he was about 60 to second wife) and all had dual. My cousins kids are the 7th generation born in Chile on there Dads side and all still have dual citizenship, so I am pretty sure Chile doesn't have a problem with it. My father was an American mining engineer in Chile for 15 years and continued working there even after he was relocated back to the US. My dad just got all of us US passports when we were very small and that was that. I have read a little about US dual citizen ship and know it can be awkward. Would having a Chilean passport help me if I want to buy property , banking etc. Would I get one if I applied, ??? What would be the tax liability? Would it be a good idea. I would l would appreciate any thoughts on this issue

I too have dual citizenship (USA & Irish) .The only thing the Americans require is that you enter and exit the states on the US passport.
As for the other questions I cannot help but maby others can.

This has changed recently. There are new laws on the books, and you really need a lawyer to sort out all the details of your particular situation.


In general, anyone that wants to become a citizen of Chile must give up their citizenship in another country.

That said, there is a recent set of laws designed to help kids of families that had to leave the country during the 70's and 80's, were born and raised in other countries, and then returned to Chile to have full Chilean citizenship and also retain the citizenship of another country.

I know in the States you have the right to as many citizenships and passports as you like.

All that said, depending on what you want to do, citizenship might be a faster route to getting some things done, but is not the end all to be all. Most everything, minus the passport, can be done with permanent residency status just as easily.

i was born in Chile as was my mother

Say, since you were born here, you should have a RUT number that is not a foreign RUT number. If you do, your problem might already be solved without whole lot of special paperwork.

You simply need to apply for your passport, or whatever else it is you want to do.

Hi admin,
I have a question that maby you could answer. My wife is a Chillean citizen and wants to become a US citizen. Will she lose her Chillean citizenship by obtaining the American one?
Thanks in advance.........

My understanding is to apply for becoming a naturalised US citizen you MUST renounce all other citizenships. Dual citizenships are more usual when you are born in one country to citizens of another country.

helibel wrote:you MUST renounce all other citizenships.

Not true, I became a naturalised US citizen while retaining my Irish citizenship.It was not one of the requirments.

As i said It was "my understanding"only. My Mom had to denounce both British and chilean to become a US citizen.when she "naturalised" about 15 years ago.( she always swore she would never give up her citizen ships BUT then she got passionately politically active) She was told there had to be very specific ??? reasons to be able to keep other citizenships. How did you manage?

I have a question that maby you could answer. My wife is a Chillean citizen and wants to become a US citizen. Will she lose her Chillean citizenship by obtaining the American one?

Not sure about that one. I don't believe so.

My wife and I kicked around the whole U.S. immigration thing a few years back when I contemplated taking a teaching position at a university in the States. It was a seriously expensive hassle paperwork wise. We opted for moving back to Chile instead.

I don't ever remember coming across anything that would require giving up citizenship in another country. I know there use to be such a requirement, but I believe it was repealed some years ago. I can't count the number of people I have met with multiple citizenships and passports, including U.S. passports around the world.

I know this cannot be a requirement now when becoming a naturalized US citizen because my former landlord and his wife (both Chilean) who I first met in the States both became US citizens and did not lose Chilean citizenship.

this appears to be a hard question! I searched a bit and the oath required at Naturalization states you renounce all other citizenships, when you become a US citizen but the oath has been judged as meaningless and you don't lose your prior citizenship if you don't want to. I also found a site stating that that oath is not required at all so it is confusing to say the least.I

also found Chile on a list of countries that does not allow dual citizenship and on another that allows it in some form.

I'm also a naturalized american citizen and I was never asked to give up my chilean citizenship.However my chilean passport was stamped and nuled meaning (at least I thought) that I couldn't use it anymore.I never took the bother to register in a chilean consulate and I was under the conviction that I had lost it, til recently when I started doing a little research and I found out that a new law was passed in Chile to reintegrate those emigrated to foreign countries in the 70's.Fortunately I always kept my birth certificate and carnet.I called the consulate in Philadelphia and the marvelous ladies there gave me all the info I needed.I'M A CHILEAN CITIZEN! whew!!! Today I have my new passport and RUT (and proud of it).
PS. If in doubt call your nearest chilean consulate,they will give you all the information needed and they will guide you with your documents as well.

Gloria, yours is the situation I wish I had, but I never had a chilean passport though I could have had one when I was a childat the time. What I think I understand now is that to become a Chilean I must renounce my US citizenship and the US does not look kindly on that. The US courts have now deemed that your oath renouncing Chilean citizenship was meaningless so therefore you have both.

I never renounced to my chilean citizenship though and my understanding is that there is an agreement between Chile and the USA for dual citizenship.They (Chile)usually assess the citizenship by the place you were born.Look at your birth certificate.Mine states that I was born in Santiago etc.
If you have intentions of getting dual citizenship I would advise you to call the chilean consulate and fax them a copy of your certificate.That's a proof of where you were born.
Now, (anyone please correct me if I'm wrong) once I live in Chile and I decide to vote, then I would lose my right to be an american citizen.

I'm quoting....."US does not look kindly on that".....because I know "big brother"is always looking, I will restrain myself and I will take the "Fifth".

Hurray! Gloria is a Chileano!! Dual Citizenship should be the priority of the individual. Not the government. Governments expect us to passively accept their prescriptions of ownership/citizenships. Voting in an election in those countries you have citizenship in is your right, as a citizen, whether you have more than one country or no.