Chilean Citizenship by Naturalization

Naturalization (Carta de Nacionalización, the naturalization letter) is the main route to Chilean citizenship for permanent residents who don't qualify by descent or birth. This page covers the standard five-year route, the two-year qualified route for spouses and close family of Chileans — including citizenship by marriage — the narrow refugee-minor route, and what happens once SERMIG approves your application.

Jérémie Le Pévédic
15/07/2026

What is naturalization in Chile?

Naturalization is how a foreign national who does not become Chilean by descent or by birth acquires Chilean nationality. It is formalized as a Carta de Nacionalización (Naturalization Letter, also called a naturalization card) — a decree issued by the President of the Republic, countersigned by the Minister of the Interior. The standard route requires permanent residency plus more than five years of continuous residence in Chile; two reduced/qualified variants — covered below — can shorten that residence requirement or, for a narrow refugee-minor case, remove it entirely.

If you have a Chilean parent or grandparent, citizenship by descent may apply to you instead of naturalization. If you were born in Chile, see citizenship by birth. For how naturalization compares against every other route to Chilean nationality, see the citizenship hub.

Eligibility

Standard naturalization

To qualify for the standard route, DS 5.142/1960 Art. 2 requires:

  • You are 18 or older.
  • You have more than 5 years of continuous residence in the territory of Chile.
  • You currently hold permanent residency (Residencia Definitiva).
  • Incidental trips abroad are assessed by SERMIG (successor to the historical Ministry of the Interior role under the decree) to decide whether they interrupted your continuous residence.

A minor variant lets children of foreigners aged 14–17 apply if they have 5+ years of residence, hold permanent residency, and have written authorization from whoever has their legal care.

Info

DS 5.142/1960 Art. 2 inciso 2 formally requires you to renounce your original nationality, filed only after a favorable preliminary assessment of your application. The DB behind this page flags that clause as likely superseded by Ley 20.050, the 2005 constitutional reform that allows dual nationality, and recommends verifying current SERMIG practice case by case. Consistent with that reform, Chile's own citizen-facing guidance states that naturalized citizens do not have to renounce their original nationality — dual citizenship is permitted.

Qualified naturalization (spouse or close family of a Chilean)

Permanent residents with at least 2 years of continuous residence in Chile can apply through the qualified route if they have one of these ties to Chile, per Ley 21.325 Art. 85:

  • Spouse of a Chilean for at least 2 years, with the marriage or civil union registered in Chile (see Citizenship by marriage below).
  • Blood relative of a Chilean up to the 2nd degree, or a person adopted by Chileans.
  • Child of a former Chilean whose parent lost Chilean nationality before the child's birth.

Ley 21.325 Art. 86 also sets impediments that apply across naturalization routes: a reasoned decree of the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security can deny a Carta de Nacionalización to applicants convicted, in the last 10 years, of conduct that Chilean law classifies as a crime (crimen), or convicted in the last 5 years of conduct classified as a simple offense (simple delito) where the record otherwise warrants denial.

Refugee naturalization

Warning

This route is partial in the DB behind this page. It covers only minor dependents (under 18) of recognized refugees under DS 5.142/1960 Art. 2 inciso 5 — it does not cover a dedicated fast-track for adult recognized refugees, who instead follow the standard-route criteria above. Refugee/asylum substantive law (Ley 20.430) is intentionally out of scope of this eligibility data; verify any adult-refugee-specific naturalization question directly with SERMIG.

Within that scope, minors under 18 whose parent is a recognized refugee in Chile can naturalize as soon as at least one parent has already obtained their own Carta de Nacionalización — with no age threshold, no residence requirement, and no permanent-residency requirement of their own.

Citizenship by marriage

Marrying a Chilean citizen does not grant Chilean citizenship automatically, and there's no separate "citizenship by marriage" application — spouses of Chileans use the qualified naturalization route above, with two conditions specific to the marital tie:

  • You must have been married to, or in a registered civil union with, a Chilean citizen for at least 2 years, and the marriage or civil union must be registered in Chile (if celebrated abroad, it must be inscribed at the Registro Civil).
  • You must otherwise meet the general requirements — under 133 of the Civil Code as invoked by Ley 21.325 Art. 85 inciso 1, alongside holding permanent residency and completing the qualified route's 2 years of continuous residence, instead of the standard route's 5.

There is no minimum length the marriage itself must run before this shorter residence clock starts, and a registered civil union carries the same right as marriage. Marrying a Chilean can also make it easier to obtain a family reunification temporary visa on the way toward permanent residency, but naturalization itself still requires filing the standard application described in Process and timeline below — it is a shorter residence requirement, not a shortcut around the process.

Required documents

Standard naturalization documents

  • Certificate from your country's consul/diplomatic agent in Chile certifying your nationality and identity, or your latest foreign passport / national identity documents
  • Apostilled criminal-record certificate from your country of origin (applicants 18+)
  • PDI travel-history certificate (only if you entered Chile as a minor)
  • Recent color photo
  • Notarized parental/guardian authorization (minors 14–17 only)
  • Proof of current employment/activity and tax compliance — SII Carpeta Tributaria and TGR Certificado de Deuda (each business partner submits these per company)

Qualified naturalization documents (with a Chilean tie)

Same general documents as the standard route (identity document, photo, tax/employment compliance), replacing the criminal-record certificate with tie-specific evidence:

  • Spouse of a Chilean: Chilean-registered marriage (or civil union) certificate, plus your spouse's birth certificate
  • Spouse of a Chilean: proof of 2 years sharing a home
  • Blood relative up to the 2nd degree, or adoptee: birth certificate proving the family link
  • Child of a former Chilean: your birth certificate, plus your parent's pre-2005 naturalization letter showing the loss-of-nationality annotation
  • Notarized parental authorization if you're a minor applying under this route

Refugee naturalization documents

  • Identity document
  • Recent color photo
  • Proof of current employment/activity and tax compliance (Carpeta Tributaria and Certificado de Deuda) — not required for minors applying under the refugee-minor route
  • Minors under 18: your birth certificate
Note

The DB behind this page has no structured checklist entry for these three naturalization routes yet, so the lists above are narrated directly from DS 5.142/1960 Art. 4 and SERMIG's published nationality requirements rather than from the site's document-checklist tool.

Process and timeline

  1. File with SERMIG. Naturalization applications are filed through the SERMIG Digital Services Portal using ClaveÚnica (Chile's unified digital ID login) — the procedure is only available from within Chile. DS 5.142's older text still names the Intendencia Regional / Gobernación Provincial (or the Ministry of the Interior for Santiago Metropolitan Region residents) as the filing point; SERMIG now performs that role.
  2. Background and travel-history report. Investigaciones de Chile (PDI), or Carabineros where PDI is absent, must issue your background and travel-history report within 15 days of receiving your application; unjustified delay is treated as negligence of the unit chief.
  3. Residence assessment. SERMIG assesses whether any trips abroad interrupted your continuous residence, and confirms you meet the 5-year (standard) or 2-year (qualified) threshold.
  4. Renunciation filing, if applicable. Only after a favorable preliminary assessment would you be asked to file the origin-nationality renunciation named in DS 5.142 Art. 2 inciso 2 — see the dual-citizenship note under Standard naturalization above for why this step is now widely understood not to apply in practice.
  5. Decree issuance. The Carta de Nacionalización is granted by presidential decree, countersigned by the Minister of the Interior; a denial decree must be reasoned and personally signed by the President. Granted cards are numbered sequentially by SERMIG and entered in the Roll of Naturalization Cards.

Documents included in your file are valid for one year; if your case is still pending after that, expect to refresh them. If your submission is incomplete, SERMIG's portal blocks it outright, or gives you 60 business days to correct missing information before archiving the case (after which you must reapply with a complete file). You can check your case status at any time in the SERMIG portal's "Consulta estado de trámite" section. SERMIG reports that the overall process, from filing to decision, averages about three years — this is historical reporting, not a fixed or committed timeline.

The qualified and refugee routes above follow this same procedural framework; only the eligibility test and supporting documents differ (see Eligibility and Required documents).

Naturalization has a fee, reduced for applicants who are the spouse or widow/widower of a Chilean, or who have a Chilean child; the historical decree denominates it in an obsolete monetary unit, so see fees for the current amount rather than relying on a figure here.

After approval

Once your Carta de Nacionalización is granted, it takes effect as a presidential decree countersigned by the Minister of the Interior, numbered sequentially by SERMIG and entered in the Roll of Naturalization Cards, with the Roll's changes published annually in the Ministry's Yearbook.

Note

DB gap: the data behind this page does not itemize a Registro Civil (Civil Registry) appointment step for obtaining a Chilean identity card and passport after a Carta de Nacionalización is granted. It documents that exact step — an appointment at the Registro Civil for a Chilean ID and passport — for the separate "opción a la nacionalidad" pathway (children born in Chile who elect Chilean citizenship at 18), and it separately confirms that a Chilean ID and passport are among the documents a nationalized person can later use as proof of citizenship. Confirm the current post-approval steps directly with the Registro Civil or SERMIG rather than assuming the two pathways work identically.

Frequently asked questions about naturalization in Chile

Naturalization process questions

There are two clocks. First, the residence clock: you need more than 5 years of continuous residence as a permanent resident under the standard route, or 2 years under the qualified route (Chilean spouse, close family, or child of a former Chilean). Second, the processing clock, once you file: SERMIG reports this averages about three years, and is not fixed — background reports, the residence assessment, and decree issuance each add time, and documents in your file expire after one year and must be refreshed if a decision is still pending.

It depends on your family ties and status. If you're a permanent resident age 18+ with no Chilean family connection, the standard route applies: 5+ years of continuous residence. If you're a permanent resident who is the spouse of a Chilean (married or in a civil union 2+ years), a blood relative of a Chilean up to the 2nd degree, an adoptee of a Chilean, or the child of a former Chilean who lost Chilean nationality before your birth, the qualified route applies: only 2 years of continuous residence. A narrow refugee route lets minors under 18 naturalize as soon as one parent — a recognized refugee — obtains their own naturalization letter, with no other requirement; it does not cover adult refugees, who follow the standard route.

Every applicant needs an identity document, a recent photo, and proof of current employment/activity and tax compliance. Applicants without a Chilean family tie also need an apostilled criminal-record certificate from their country of origin. Applicants with a Chilean tie substitute tie-specific evidence instead — for a spouse, a Chilean-registered marriage certificate, the spouse's birth certificate, and proof of 2 years sharing a home (see Citizenship by marriage below). Recognized refugees need only an identity document, a photo, and their tax/employment record — no criminal-record certificate or passport scan. See Required documents for the full breakdown by route.

Naturalization is formalized by a decree of the President of the Republic, countersigned by the Minister of the Interior; a denial decree must be reasoned and personally signed by the President. Once granted, your Carta de Nacionalización is numbered sequentially by SERMIG and entered in the Roll of Naturalization Cards. As a new Chilean citizen you would next apply for a Chilean identity card and passport at the Registro Civil (Civil Registry) — but the DB behind this page only documents that specific appointment step for the separate 'opción a la nacionalidad' pathway (children born in Chile electing citizenship at 18), not for the Carta de Nacionalización itself, so confirm the current steps directly with the Registro Civil or SERMIG.

In practice, no. DS 5.142/1960 Art. 2 inciso 2 formally requires renouncing your prior nationality after a favorable preliminary assessment. Chile's official guidance states that a person who obtains Chilean citizenship does not have to renounce their original nationality, and the DB behind this page separately flags the renunciation clause as very likely superseded by Ley 20.050 (the 2005 constitutional reform that permits dual nationality) — with a note that current SERMIG administrative practice should be verified case by case. Chile has allowed dual citizenship since that reform.

Citizenship by marriage

It shortens the residence requirement, but it isn't a fast track or an automatic grant. As the spouse of a Chilean (married or in a civil union for 2+ years, registered in Chile), you qualify for the 2-year qualified route instead of the standard 5-year route — but you must still hold permanent residency first and file the same naturalization application as anyone else. There's no minimum number of years the marriage itself needs to run before you can start counting residence, and civil unions carry the same right as marriage.

Note

This page is a private, independent information service and is provided for general information only; it is not legal advice. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by SERMIG (Servicio Nacional de Migraciones) or the Government of Chile — official applications must be filed directly at serviciomigraciones.cl. For legal representation in a Chilean immigration matter, consult a licensed attorney in Chile; this page does not replace professional legal advice.

References

Ley de Migración 21.325 (Spanish)
DS 5.142/1960 — Ley sobre Nacionalización de Extranjeros (Spanish)

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