Chile

The UF (Unidad de Fomento) is a unit of account tied to inflation, and its value changes daily. According to the SII table for September 2026: 1 September - 40,875.09 pesos, 25 September - 41,016.28, the 26th - 41,024.46, the 27th - 41,032.64, the 28th - 41,040.82, the 29th - 41,049.01, the 30th - 41,057.20. In practice, prices of apartments and houses are set in UF (an apartment in Ñuñoa costs 6,200 UF, not “so many million pesos”), as are school fees (Colegio Alemán de Santiago - 193.22 UF a year), insurance and some long-term contracts. What this means for a family: the amount in pesos under such a contract rises automatically with inflation, even if the figure in UF has not changed. Any price in UF must be converted at the payment date, not at the signing date.

The minimum wage under Law 21.830: from 1 May 2026, 553,553 pesos a month for workers aged 18–65. This is the amount before deductions, and take-home pay is lower. From January 2027 it will be indexed to inflation. In dollars at the end-of-September 2026 rate (962.26): about 575.

The Encuesta Suplementaria de Ingresos (ESI) of the statistics institute INE for 2025: a survey conducted in October–December 2025, published on 14 July 2026. It measures the net, take-home labor income of all employed people, both employees and the self-employed. The median is 680,000 pesos a month: half of working people earn no more than that. The average is 962,945 pesos, but 68.7% of employed people earn that much or less, so the median is a fairer benchmark for comparing your own income. Private-sector employees earn 1,019,104 on average, public-sector employees 1,321,228, and the self-employed 534,267. The Metropolitan Region is above the national level: median 740,312, average 1,102,043. Men: median 701,985; women: 600,253. The minimum wage under Law 21.830: from 1 May 2026, 553,553 pesos a month for workers aged 18–65; this is the amount before deductions, and take-home pay is lower; from January 2027 it will be indexed to inflation. In dollars at the end-of-September 2026 rate (962.26): the median is about 707, the average about 1,000, the minimum wage about 575.

Permanencia Transitoria is a permit to stay without the intention to settle, up to 90 days, with a one-time extension of up to another 90 days for $100, paid in pesos at the exchange rate, with no distinction by nationality. The term cannot be longer than the validity of the passport. SERMIG explicitly warns: people with a temporary-stay permit cannot apply for residence while in the country, except for the listed exceptions - family ties with Chileans or with permanent residents, an application as a dependant of a temporary resident, humanitarian grounds, alignment with the goals of national migration policy, and individual cases by decision of the Subsecretaría del Interior. For some nationalities, a prior permit or a Chilean consulate visa is required before entry; the list of countries is maintained by Chile's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and nationality must be checked with the consulate before buying tickets - SERMIG refers to exactly that. Residencia Temporal is issued for up to 2 years with a 2-year extension; subcategories include family reunification, paid activity, study, pensioners and rentiers, investors, the Mercosur agreement and others. If residence is obtained abroad, 90 days are given for entry into Chile, and the validity period is counted from the date of entry. The order is strict: plan the move with the visa in hand, not “arrive and figure it out on the spot”.

Table of temporary-stay visas on the website of Chile's Ministry of Foreign Affairs consular service (file corregido060326, for ordinary passports). Visa-free, up to 90 days: the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova. Visa required: Belarus ($60 for a single trip, stay of 30 days; multiple-entry $128, 90 days), Kazakhstan (fee 0, but the stay under a single-entry visa is 30 days, multiple-entry for 90), Armenia ($37, 21 days), Azerbaijan ($40, 30 days), Kyrgyzstan ($36, 90 days), Uzbekistan ($60, 90 days), Tajikistan ($50, 30 days), Turkmenistan ($5, 30 days). The visa is obtained at a Chilean consulate through the Ministry's online system before departure. For Russians this concerns only entry as a tourist: applying for residence while in the country as a tourist is usually not allowed; see the fact on the first visa.

SERMIG: for applications filed after 14 May 2022, a temporary resident must have lived in the country in that status for at least 24 months. The application must be filed before the end of the extension period of the permit, and not earlier than 90 days before it. Time spent outside the country directly lengthens the path: up to 2 months of absence - the same 24 months, from 2 to 6 months - 30, from 6 to 12 - 36, over 12 months - 48. Under Article 79 of Law 21.325, the minimum period can be shortened to 12 months in certain personal circumstances, but it can also grow beyond 24 months - for example, in the absence of a stable income, that is, if there was no lawful economic activity for at least half of the temporary residence period. Dependants of the permit holder apply without a separate period if the holder has completed their own period. The certificate of no criminal record from the country of origin is valid for no more than 60 days from the date of issue. After permanent residence is granted, you must register with the Registro Civil within 30 days of the notification date. Permanent residence is automatically canceled in case of continuous absence from the country for more than two years, unless an extension is requested at the consulate within the last 60 days before that deadline; it is extended once for two years.

Agencia de Calidad de la Educación on the results of PISA 2022: Chile leads Latin America and the Caribbean but does not reach the OECD country average, and the trend since 2018 has not changed statistically. Since 2006, about half of Chilean students have not reached the minimum level of competence in mathematics and about a third in reading; across the region as a whole the situation is worse, with more than 65% of such students. There are also strengths: the share of “resilient” students (children from the most disadvantaged groups with a result higher than 75% of their peers) is above the OECD average for Chile, and the lowest income quintile improved significantly in mathematics by 2018. The gender gap in mathematics and science grew again after the pandemic. For a family this means that the average Chilean school is strong by Latin American standards and weak by European ones, and the spread between schools is larger than the spread between countries - choose a specific school, not “schools in Chile”.

Fonasa states explicitly that it excludes no one living in the country - regardless of age, income level, number of dependants, pre-existing conditions and country of origin. The contribution is 7% of taxable income, with no extra charge for dependants. Since September 2022, Copago Cero has been in effect: in the public network (clinics, outpatient centers, rural health posts, public hospitals), appointments and treatment are free for all four groups. The groups were updated on 1 May 2026 under Law 21.830 and differ only in the right to buy vouchers (bonos) for treatment with private doctors under a contract with Fonasa: group B - income up to 553,553 pesos, C - from 553,554 to 808,187, D - over 808,188; with three or more dependants, a person moves down one group. Group A is treated only in the public network. The private alternative is isapre: the same mandatory 7% contribution goes to a private fund, but the price of a specific plan is set by the insurer and is usually above 7%, and the difference is paid out of pocket. The practical conclusion for a family: basic coverage in Chile exists from the first day of legal stay and does not depend on citizenship, and isapre is about speed and choice of clinic, not about access to medicine in general. We did not verify the price of a specific isapre plan - it has to be calculated from your own income and family composition.