Hello Bob,Good question.
Chile does not have a retirement visa, as does Thailand.
You could live in Chile on 90 day visas, and exit and reenter the country, but I don't know how if and whether they would stop you eventually.
There is a residence permit available for those who wish to work or do business, but this is for one year, and then renewable for another year.
Do you have a steady retirement income? If so, you can probably qualify to live in Argentina, and eventually (after 5 years) even get an Argentinian passport.
So, I would recommend Argentina if you are looking for that kind of stability.
Issues like this are what are discussed in the forum site:
www.RetireAway.com.
We do at this time have a Retirement in Chile section because there doesn't seem to be a standard visa way for people to retire in Chile. However, there is a Retirement in Argentina section.
If people out there can suggest a visa method to retire in Chile, or they are doing it, please post this info at www.RetireAway.com! There is a lot of interest in Chile out there, and it is a shame the government there does not seem to offer a retirement visa program.
Hello! I am retired and have been living in Chile for the past five years. I will relate my experience regarding that matter, and you can draw your own conclusions.I Visited Chile, first, for 28 days, and spent some time in Santiago, Viņa Del Mar, Valpraso and Vallenar where I now live. I spent this time with a friend I ment on line in a chat room, and this trip was made a year after she came to the USA for two weeks. She stayed with my Daughter, and we spent the time in Northern California. It was very helpful for me, that she spoke perfect english.
I applied for a temporary visa which permits me to stay in Chile for 1 year. I worked with the Chicago Chilean embassy and they required 1. A physical that states I was free from communical deseases. 2. An HIV test certified by a reconigzed institution (I used the Veterns Hospital in Kansas)
3. Proof of retirement income. And the form asked for a Chilean sponser. (I do not know if that was an optional item or it it is required) The form required three pasport sized pohotos, submitted loosley. There are other questions on the form, which I do not remember. It may have asked for the address I would be at in Chile. I suggest you call the Chicago Chilean embassy for information about this. It took me two months to get the VISA, which I picked up from an embassy agent in Kansas City.
If you have never been to Chile, you must have a passport and must pay an entry fee of $100.00 This must be in USA currency, and nothing else is acceptable. Repeat it must be in Green backs. I used a 100 dollar bill.
On arival in Santiago, I had to pay a boarding tax of 17 dollars to fly to La Serena, the closest air service to Vallenar, even though my ticket, purchased from a USA travel agent was for the Santiago to Vallenar leg of my journey. If you are flying somewhere else from Santiago, you can expect a delay of up to 8 hours. (as I experienced)
The law in Chile is that you must apply for a "Permanent Resident" status after you are here for one year on a VISA. This is not a visa, but a Chilean Residence ID. It is Called a RUT and you will need it almost everywhere you go, for almost everything you do. I started the process 4 months before my Visa expired, and it took 8 months to get it. For the for months of expired time, they issued me a temporary ID, which I had to renew each month. I finally got the permamnent resident ID, issued on 24, February, 2006 and expires on 24 Februarh, 2011 (ie: five years)
In applying for the permanent resident ID, I had to show proof of financial responsibility.
I was banking (and still do) with a California bank, that has my daughter as the account holder, and me as authorized signatory. I have been using my Debit card to withdraw money from that account ever since I have been here. I did open a Chilean bank account, and deposited pesos that I accquired from an ATM. I soon cancelled that account as they charged me as much as 80 dollars per month service charges.
The american embassy in Santiago has negotiated an agreement with two Chilean banks (Bci and BandoEatado) for them to accept electronic deposits. Social security will do that and the agreement states that the maximum service charge is 6 dollars per month. I also have a private retirement fund that refuses to send electronic deposits to me here in Chile. If you have a private fund, I suggest you talk to them about that, should you desire to have your moneys sent here) Using the postal service is very (and I mean very) risky. When I use the mail, I register everything to insure it arrives. I even sent a package to China from here.
Some additional information:
I have no knowledge or information about working here. I have a friend from Canada, one from Texas, that work here, but for Canadian mining company. Both are permanent residencs, and the Canadian is married to Chilean.
Exchanging dollars for pesos is like playing russian roulette. On arrival the exchange rate was 642 pesos per dollar. Two years later, it went down to 429 pesos per doller, 5 months ago it zoomed to 681 pesos per dollar, and is now on its way down again (currently it is 561 pesos per dollar)
The most hosest business men and women are the small retailer. There are many such, and their store can be as small as a 6 X 8 foot space. The most dishonest are the large companies. Such as the telephone company. I had a home fone for a short while, but had to fight them every month to have them drop charges that I did not make. Finally, I had it removed and now just use the cell phone. The same applies to the water company, the Cable service, etc.
Public transportation is the best in the world. I do not own a car, and can travel anywhere I wish using airlines, bus, or cab. Some cab companies will stick it to you, by taking you on the cooks tour, so you have to learn how to combat that. It can be done.
My living expensis average 481 dollars per month. This includes rent for a three bedroom condo, all utilities, Food and a cell phone. My girlfriend and I go out for dinner every week end, and you would be hard pressed to find a bad restaurant in Chile. Good cooking is a tridition that Chileans take seriously.
The medical is exceptionally good. Much better that in the US, and few americans know that the world health organication of the United Nations, rates the US at number 37 in heallth care quality. In the US, they almost killed me. Here, I got treatment for my emphazima, and I soon was walking a mile every day. In the us, It cost me almost all I had, and I could hardly walk to the mailbox in fromt of my house. I pay for all medical cost and prescriptions out of pocket, as it is so affordable.
I will be opening a chat room in sparkpea as soon as I can larn how, to answer questions about this. I will open it only on monday evening from 6pm to 7pm Chile time. Keep in mind that Chile changes from regular to daylight savings time, and we are now in our winter.
RAJ
RAJ
