Rentista: Rental income, with mortgage?

[sunflowerhk]

Hi all,

I would like to live in Chile. I'm thinking of applying for the Rentista visa for both the Temp and Perm visas. I have three questions:

1. I have an apartment at home and will get rental income (US$1200/month). But the mortgage is not yet paid off, that every month a sum of money (US$850/month) is transferred away as "Loan Payment" as shown in the bank statements. I will have tenancy agreement as proof but only 1 month of bank statement to show the rental income (because the apartment is recently rented out). What is Extranjeria looking at: Only the money coming into one's account monthly and not care about money going out? Or, do they study the bank statements to check carefully the money going in and out of the account? Has anybody with rental income also had a mortgage? I also have cash savings of US$60,000. Can I go with this option?


2. Another option (less preferred) is to borrow money from family to pay off the mortgage. So, I will have my rental income (US$1200/month). But, a sum of money will still be transferred away to my family's account to pay them back each month. The only difference from option #1 is that I can claim (showing "Title Deeds" as proof) that I own this apartment (worth US$350K), and also the money transferred away will not be shown as "Loan Payment" in the bank statements. Which option is better: Option 1 or 2?


3. Question 3 is something else: I have a PhD and years of work experience as a university teacher back home. Will sending in my degree certificates and work contracts help increase the success rate of my RENTISTA application? If so, must I also legalize my degree certs and work contracts?


What I want to do in Chile, briefly: Don't actually plan to have a job in Chile. Looking to "retire" into a simple, self-sufficient lifestyle in the campo in Chile. But I'm also open to changes... regarding e.g. finding work, if I have to to make my application stronger for perm residence. Anyway, my priority is to stay and live in Chile.

Any help will mean a lot to me. Many thanks!

sunflowerhk

[admin]

Rental income is the only thing they look at. They don't care about your debt.

[Putenio]

They probably won't need your degrees - they didn't need ours FWIW/FYI.

Regarding degrees and part time work, validation, the process of getting them legalized/validated/recognized/etc., and ROI - in terms of opportunities, I can speak to that. If your PhD is something like chemical engineering, there might be a demand for you if you speak the language and are fine with 1/3 of what you might make stateside. I saw a listing in forestry at the Univ. of Concepcion, for example, and another in one of the hard sciences at P. Univ. Catolica Valapariso some time ago. PUC does LinkedIn.com in August>Oct.

If it's in something less specialized and/or necessary, then they'll figure you might fit in the English teacher role, and the compensation is much lower. Books, publications, research, awards, grant funding award levels per year, national committee appointments, course or curricular development, accreditation, and the like simply don't translate well (IMHO, after 26 years of back and forth experience). Add to that the very nature of the academy to have specialists and in-fighting, plus territorial faculty (most of whom lack a terminal degree or any publications - outside of the Santiago or Concepcion universities, but remember, it's pituto that counts here), and you might get offered a class section or two, and be quite surprised when you convert the equivalent CLP to USD. Also, to add fuel to the fire, you can teach in just about any univ. undergrad English program (Pedagogia de Ingles de E. Media, Basica, etc.) with a BA/BS - have a colleague that does just that part time.

I've also observed a bit of a barrier to US "gringos" at Chilean state schools but P. Univ. Catolica and the privates (USS, UST) are much more open and interested. So the idea that our terminal degrees or research experience (outside of the hard or applied sciences) has much value hasn't proven itself to be correct from this perspective on the ground, with five universities all around, and lots of colleagues at those institutions - except as as translator or co-investigator, which can be fun - but doesn't mean any $$$. If you are cool with something like a community college wage per class to teach as an English adjunct, then there are lots of opportunities, and please know the students here resemble undergrads stateside (tech-focused, just in time learning, millennials).

Now if your language skills are up to par, you might be asked to translate research articles - they have to produced in both Spanish and English now for quite a few academic depts so the Doc. program faculty at UAustral, for example, has asked for collaboration on their respective crab territorial pattern, mating, & feeding articles, etc. That happens all the time.

As always, DDYODH - and the advice is worth its price.