Chile Visa and Entry Requirements

Begin with the part that is not about you. The authorities in Chile set and enforce entry rules, and theirs is the only answer that counts.

What this page will not tell you, and why

What a United States passport holder must hold in order to enter Chile for tourism is deliberately absent from this page. The ninety day allowance recorded in the source this cluster cites was written for a different nationality, and it does not transfer. Reproducing it with the nationality quietly swapped is the commonest way travel writing gets entry rules wrong, and it is invisible to the reader because the number looks authoritative either way.

Confirm it with the Chilean consulate responsible for your state, close to travel. Consular jurisdiction in the United States is geographic, and the office covering your address is the one whose answer governs your case.

The tourist card, which is the real subject of this page

The Chilean immigration authorities will give you a tourist card, the tarjeta de turismo, an A5 sized white form. Keep it safe and give it to immigration when you leave the country.

That is an unusual arrangement and it is worth adjusting for. Most countries now record your entry electronically and put a stamp in your passport, so a traveler's instinct is to treat any loose paper handed over a desk as disposable. Here it is the document, and you are the one carrying it for the length of your trip.

Practical handling, in order of usefulness:

• Put it with your passport the moment you are given it, not in a jacket pocket or a day bag.
• Photograph it. A picture is not a substitute for the form, but it makes replacing it far easier and it records what was on it.
• Hotels may ask to see it. That is normal.
• Do not pack it in checked luggage on an internal flight.

If you lose it

There is a defined route, which is the reassuring part. The Chilean investigations police allow you to request a duplicate online, under the heading for a duplicate of the tourist card, and you can also go to their nearest office in person.

Do that before you are at the airport with a flight to catch rather than on the day. A replacement obtained calmly in a city is a different experience from one attempted at a departure desk.

Passport validity, which is not the usual rule

To enter Chile, your passport should have an expiry date after the day you plan to leave. That is more generous than the six month rule so many countries apply, and it is the kind of difference that is easy to get backwards in either direction.

Do not rely on it alone. Confirm with your travel provider that your passport and other travel documents meet requirements, and renew your passport if you need to. You will be denied entry if you do not have a valid travel document. An airline can also refuse to board you on its own reading of a rule, which is a separate decision from the immigration officer's.

Staying longer, or doing anything other than tourism

Working or studying is a different category of permission and has to be arranged with the Chilean authorities in advance. The consulate responsible for your state is again the place to start.

Vaccination is not part of entry

The CDC records no vaccination requirement for entry to Chile, and it records the yellow fever vaccine as neither recommended nor required for the country. There is no health document to arrange as a condition of being admitted.

Verify Before You Travel

Entry rules change and they change by nationality. Check the United States Department of State country information page for Chile, and confirm with the Chilean consulate responsible for your state, close to travel. The safety guide covers the regional advisory that may matter more to your itinerary than the paperwork does.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Chile entry requirements: that the Chilean authorities set and enforce the rules, that a passport should have an expiry date after the day you plan to leave, and that immigration issues a tourist card, the tarjeta de turismo, an A5 sized white form which must be kept and given back on departure, with a duplicate obtainable from the investigations police if it is lost. Accessed 16 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office: Chile travel advice: the index to the entry, safety, regional and health pages this cluster draws on. Accessed 16 September 2026.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Chile traveler health: the yellow fever vaccine recorded as neither recommended nor required, updated 23 April 2025. Accessed 16 September 2026.