Chile Humanitarian Residence Permits, Explained
Chile grants four separate humanitarian residence permits: for victims of human trafficking, for victims of domestic or gender-based violence, for victims of migrant smuggling, and a mandatory permit for foreign children and adolescents present in the country. Each one has its own eligibility rule, certifying authority, and required documents — this page reviews all four.
What are Chile's humanitarian residence permits?
Chile's temporary residence framework sets aside a group of permits under "humanitarian reasons" (razones humanitarias) in Decreto 177, Párrafo Octavo, and in Título IV of Ley 21.325. Unlike most other temporary residence categories, eligibility for these permits does not rest on employment, investment, or a family tie to a Chilean or resident sponsor — it rests on a person's situation as the victim of a serious harm, or on their status as a child. This page covers four of them:
- Trafficking victims — foreign victims of the crime of trata de personas (human trafficking).
- Domestic and gender-violence victims — foreign women, and certain dependents, who are victims of intra-family or gender-based violence.
- Migrant smuggling victims — foreign victims of the crime of tráfico ilícito de migrantes (migrant smuggling).
- Foreign minors (NNA) — a mandatory permit for any foreign child or adolescent (niño, niña y adolescente) present in Chile, regardless of a parent's or guardian's migration status.
Note
Chile also runs a separate humanitarian permit for pregnant women — see the pregnancy visa page. Refugee and political asylum protection is governed by a different statute (Ley 20.430) and is not covered on this page — see the asylum and refuge page for the residence permits available to recognized refugees and asylees.
Each of these four permits is a distinct legal category, with its own eligibility rule, filing process, and duration. None of them can be requested from outside Chile: in every case, the person concerned — or, for the NNA permit, the child — must already be present in national territory. Treat the sections below as independent of one another; a document or citation that applies to one permit does not necessarily apply to the others.
Humanitarian Permit for Victims of Human Trafficking
The Residencia Temporal — Víctimas de Trata de Personas (Temporary Residence — Human Trafficking Victims) permit is available to foreign victims of the crime defined in Article 411 quáter of the Penal Code who are present in Chile. While the permit is valid, its holder may decide whether to pursue criminal or civil legal actions related to the offense, begin regularizing their residence status, or both. Chilean authorities cannot order the repatriation of a person who requests this permit if returning them to their country of origin would expose them to serious risk to their physical or psychological integrity because of the circumstances of the crime.
Who qualifies for the trafficking-victim permit?
This permit is available to a foreign national who:
- is a victim of the offense described in Article 411 quáter of the Penal Code (trata de personas / human trafficking); and
- is present in Chilean territory.
The application must include a certificate from the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) confirming the person's victim status, and it is filed by a Migration Service (SERMIG) official designated for this purpose — not by the victim directly. SERMIG must promptly notify the Technical Secretariat of the Intersectoral Anti-Trafficking Committee (Mesa Intersectorial sobre Trata de Personas) once the request is entered into the system.
Required documents for the trafficking-victim permit
- Victim certificate issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público).
- Passport or travel document — or, if unavailable, a certificate from your country's consulate stating the document could not be obtained.
Note
This application is not filed by the victim directly. It is entered into the SERMIG electronic platform by a Migration Service official designated for this purpose.
Trafficking-victim permit duration and path to permanent residency
Statutory minimums — actual processing adds time on top. Details on the visa page.
This permit is granted for a minimum of 12 months, with work authorization. Holders of this subcategory may apply for permanent residency (Residencia Definitiva) after 24 months of continuous, eligible temporary residence, and may do so even while their temporary permit remains valid. Naturalization (Carta de Nacionalización) is available after 5 years of continuous residence as a permanent resident aged 18 or older.
Humanitarian Permit for Victims of Domestic or Gender-Based Violence
The Residencia Temporal — Víctimas de Violencia Intrafamiliar o de Género permit is available to foreign women who are victims of domestic (intra-family) or gender-based violence, once a Family Court has made that determination. Where the conduct also constitutes a crime, the Public Prosecutor's Office or the court handling the case may make the same determination.
A related route exists for temporary-resident dependents — of any subcategory — who become victims of domestic violence: they may request an independent, titular permit, separate from the sponsor they originally depended on.
Who qualifies for the domestic/gender-violence-victim permit?
This permit is available to:
- a foreign woman determined by a Family Court — or, where the conduct constitutes a crime, by the Public Prosecutor's Office or the court handling the case — to be a victim of domestic or gender-based violence; or
- a foreign temporary-resident dependent, of any subcategory, who is a victim of domestic violence and has brought judicial proceedings against the person responsible.
For the dependent route, if the proceedings end in a conviction, the independent permit is granted automatically on request, on submission of a certified copy of the final, enforceable judgment. If proceedings are ongoing but no judgment has been issued yet, a victim certificate from the Public Prosecutor's Office is enough to obtain the permit for the duration of the judicial process, renewable on request.
Required documents for the domestic/gender-violence-victim permit
- An informational report from the entity that determined victim status (Family Court, Public Prosecutor's Office, or the court handling the case).
- A copy of the most recent hearing record, if a judicial case is still pending.
- Passport or travel document — or, if unavailable, a certificate from your country's consulate stating the document could not be obtained.
For the dependent-escaping-abuser route specifically:
- A certified copy of the final, enforceable conviction, or a victim certificate from the Public Prosecutor's Office if proceedings are still pending.
Note
Holders of this permit may request that it be extended to their ascendants (parents/grandparents), spouse or partner, minor or disabled children, and children under 24.
Domestic/gender-violence-victim permit duration and path to permanent residency
Statutory minimums — actual processing adds time on top. Details on the visa page.
This permit is granted for a minimum of 12 months, with work authorization. Holders may apply for permanent residency (Residencia Definitiva) after 24 months of continuous, eligible temporary residence, and may do so even while their temporary permit remains valid. Naturalization (Carta de Nacionalización) is available after 5 years of continuous residence as a permanent resident aged 18 or older.
Humanitarian Permit for Victims of Migrant Smuggling
The Residencia Temporal — Víctimas de Tráfico Ilícito de Migrantes permit is available to foreign victims of the migrant-smuggling offenses defined in the second and third paragraphs of Article 411 bis, and in Article 411 ter, of the Penal Code.
Who qualifies for the migrant-smuggling-victim permit?
This permit is available to a foreign national who is a victim of one of the migrant-smuggling offenses under Article 411 bis (paragraphs 2-3) or Article 411 ter of the Penal Code. Unlike the trafficking-victim permit, the application must be filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público) directly, through the SERMIG platform, together with a certificate confirming the person's victim status.
Required documents for the migrant-smuggling-victim permit
- Victim certificate issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público).
- Passport or travel document — or, if unavailable, a certificate from your country's consulate stating the document could not be obtained.
Note
This application is filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office, not by the victim directly.
Migrant-smuggling-victim permit duration and path to permanent residency
Statutory minimums — actual processing adds time on top. Details on the visa page.
Decreto 177 does not set a fixed minimum or maximum duration for this permit; SERMIG sets it case by case. Holders are work-authorized and may apply for permanent residency (Residencia Definitiva) after 24 months of continuous, eligible temporary residence, even while their temporary permit remains valid. Naturalization (Carta de Nacionalización) is available after 5 years of continuous residence as a permanent resident aged 18 or older.
Humanitarian Permit for Foreign Minors (NNA)
The Residencia Temporal — Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes (Temporary Residence — Children and Adolescents, abbreviated NNA) permit must be granted to every foreign child or adolescent present in Chile, regardless of the migration status of their father, mother, guardian, or the person responsible for their care. Processing this permit takes priority over other temporary residence categories. It is not extended as a benefit to the parent, guardian, or caregiver who files it — it belongs to the child alone.
Note
No criminal background certificate is required for a child or adolescent applying for this permit, and not having a passport does not prevent a child from regularizing their status.
Who qualifies for the NNA permit?
This permit must be granted to a foreign minor who is present in Chilean territory, regardless of their parents' or guardian's immigration status. Filiation is established with the child's birth certificate. The application is filed by the parent, guardian, or person responsible for the child's care, through the SERMIG electronic platform. Where custody or guardianship was established abroad, the documents issued by the competent authority in that country are required to prove it.
For an unaccompanied foreign minor — one who enters Chile without a parent, guardian, or caregiver — the application is instead filed by Chile's child-protection authority, which must act in the child's best interest. If there is uncertainty about a foreign minor's identity or age, the case is referred to that same child-protection authority.
Required documents for the NNA permit
- The child's birth certificate, to establish filiation.
- Custody or guardianship documents issued by the competent authority, if the person filing is not a parent.
Note
Filed by the parent, guardian, or caregiver — or, for an unaccompanied minor, by Chile's child-protection authority. No criminal background certificate and no passport are required.
NNA permit duration and path to permanent residency
Statutory minimums — actual processing adds time on top. Details on the visa page.
Decreto 177 does not set a fixed duration for this permit, and it does not authorize the child to work. Permanent residency (Residencia Definitiva) is available after 24 months of continuous, eligible temporary residence. Naturalization (Carta de Nacionalización) is available after 5 years of continuous residence as a permanent resident aged 18 or older — or, for a foreigner's child aged 14 or older with 5 or more years of residence, permanent residency, and the authorization of whoever holds their personal care, before turning 18.
Shared application process
Every permit on this page is filed while the person it protects is already in Chile — none of the four can be requested from a Chilean consulate abroad. In three of the four cases, the application is not filed by the person it protects: a designated SERMIG official files it for trafficking victims, the Public Prosecutor's Office files it for migrant-smuggling victims, and a parent, guardian, caregiver, or the child-protection authority files it for a foreign minor. Only the domestic/gender-violence-victim permit can be requested directly by the person concerned, and even then a Family Court, the Public Prosecutor's Office, or the court handling the case must first determine victim status. Each permit is submitted through SERMIG's electronic platform, together with the specific certificate and supporting documents described in its section above.
Warning
Your rights during this process: if you are the subject of an expulsion order, Ley 21.325 gives you the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals of your domicile within 10 calendar days of notification — filing the appeal suspends the expulsion while the court decides — and the right to free legal representation through the Corporación de Asistencia Judicial (Judicial Assistance Corporation), on the same footing as a Chilean national. Separately, a trafficking-victim permit applicant specifically cannot be repatriated while their request is pending if doing so would expose them to serious danger because of the circumstances of the crime in their country of origin.
Chile humanitarian permit fees and related costs
These permits are a category of temporary visa. The associated visa fees vary based on the applicant's citizenship.
Frequently Asked Questions about Chile's humanitarian residence permits
Understanding Chile's humanitarian residence permits
Yes. Decreto 177 groups four separate humanitarian permits on this page: for victims of human trafficking, for victims of domestic or gender-based violence, for victims of migrant smuggling, and a mandatory permit for foreign children and adolescents (NNA). Each one has its own eligibility rule, certifying authority, and required documents — see its section above. Chile also runs a separate pregnancy-based humanitarian permit; see the pregnancy visa page.
This depends on your situation and, for three of the four permits, on which authority has certified it. A Public Prosecutor's certificate applies to the trafficking-victim and migrant-smuggling-victim permits; a Family Court, Prosecutor, or handling-court determination applies to the domestic/gender-violence-victim permit; and the NNA permit applies to any foreign child or adolescent present in Chile, filed by a parent, guardian, or caregiver. If you are unsure which situation applies to you, an NGO, victim-support service, or an attorney licensed in Chile can help you identify the right certifying authority — we cannot make that determination for you.
No. All four humanitarian permits on this page require the person they protect — or, for the NNA permit, the child — to already be present in Chile. None of them can be requested from a Chilean consulate abroad.
Processing times are set by SERMIG and are not fixed by law. You can find the current general indicator for temporary residence applications on the Chile immigration hub page, under "Reply Time" — though a humanitarian permit routed through a certifying authority (Public Prosecutor, Family Court, or the child-protection authority) may follow a different internal timeline than a standard temporary-residence application.
It depends on the permit. For the trafficking-victim permit, a designated SERMIG official files it. For the migrant-smuggling-victim permit, the Public Prosecutor's Office files it. For the NNA permit, a parent, guardian, or caregiver files it on the child's behalf (or the child-protection authority, if the child is unaccompanied). Only the domestic/gender-violence-victim permit can be filed directly by the person concerned, once a Family Court, the Public Prosecutor's Office, or the court handling the case has certified their victim status.
Humanitarian permit conditions
It depends on the permit. The domestic/gender-violence-victim permit can be extended, on request, to the holder's ascendants, spouse or partner, minor or disabled children, and children under 24. The NNA permit is explicitly not extensible to the parent, guardian, or caregiver who files it — it belongs to the child alone. Decreto 177 does not set out a family-extension mechanism for the trafficking-victim or migrant-smuggling-victim permits specifically; a family member in a different situation would need to apply for their own visa category, such as family reunification.
It depends on the permit. The trafficking-victim and domestic/gender-violence-victim permits are granted for a minimum of 12 months. Decreto 177 does not set a fixed minimum or maximum duration for the migrant-smuggling-victim or NNA permits — SERMIG sets these case by case.
Yes, for three of the four. The trafficking-victim, domestic/gender-violence-victim, and migrant-smuggling-victim permits authorize their holder to work in Chile, as temporary residents generally may. No for the NNA permit: it does not authorize the child to work.
It depends on the permit. For the trafficking-victim, domestic/gender-violence-victim, and migrant-smuggling-victim permits, a certificate from your country's consulate stating that you could not obtain a passport or travel document substitutes for it. For the NNA permit, the absence of a passport is explicitly not an impediment to a child's regularization.
No. Unlike almost every other Chilean temporary residence permit, Decreto 177 explicitly does not require a criminal background certificate for a child or adolescent applying for the NNA permit.
If you are the subject of an expulsion order, Ley 21.325 gives you the right to appeal to the Court of Appeals of your domicile within 10 calendar days of notification. Filing that appeal suspends the expulsion while the court decides, and you have the right to free legal representation through the Corporación de Asistencia Judicial (Judicial Assistance Corporation), on the same footing as a Chilean national. Separately, if you have applied for the trafficking-victim permit specifically, Chilean authorities cannot order your repatriation while that request is pending if it would expose you to serious danger because of the circumstances of the crime in your country of origin. For most other denials, general administrative appeal rights under Ley 19.880 apply and suspend the contested decision while it is under review.
Humanitarian permit renewal and permanent residency
Yes, if you meet the requirements of the visa category you are applying for. Ley 21.325 allows temporary residents to change subcategory under conditions set by regulation.
It depends on the permit and on whether your underlying situation continues. Temporary residence permits are generally granted for up to 2 years and may be extended for up to 2 more; the humanitarian permits on this page are tied to your situation as a victim, or — for the NNA permit — to your status as a minor, so renewal requires that situation to still apply. Request renewal between 90 and 10 days before your current permit expires. See the visa renewal page for the general renewal process.
Yes, for all four. The standard residency period before applying for permanent residency (Residencia Definitiva) is 24 months. The trafficking-victim, domestic/gender-violence-victim, and migrant-smuggling-victim permits may apply for permanent residency even while their temporary permit remains valid. Naturalization (Carta de Nacionalización) requires 5 years of continuous residence as a permanent resident aged 18 or older — except that a foreigner's child aged 14 or older, with 5 or more years of residence, permanent residency, and the authorization of whoever holds their personal care, may apply for naturalization before turning 18. See the citizenship page for the general naturalization process.
Note
This is a private immigration information service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by SERMIG (Servicio Nacional de Migraciones) or the Government of Chile. The information on this page is general in nature and is not legal advice. If you are the victim of a crime described on this page, free legal aid may also be available through the Corporación de Asistencia Judicial and through NGOs specializing in victim support. Official applications must be filed directly at serviciomigraciones.cl. For legal representation in Chilean immigration matters, consult an attorney licensed in Chile — this page does not replace professional legal advice.
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