Chilean citizenship by descent

Who qualifies, generation by generation

The dates that matter

No date named in Chile’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.

Claiming through your mother or grandmother

Chile’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father. Where its reasons speak of mothers or fathers, they say:

• Chileans include persons born abroad who are children of a Chilean father or mother, provided that one of their ascendants in the direct line of first or second degree acquired Chilean nationality by birth or naturalisation. Political Constitution of Chile, Art. 10(2): children of a Chilean parent born abroad, if the parent or a grandparent acquired Chilean nationality by birth or naturalisation, Art. 10(2) ↗

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

• Holding this citizenship alongside another is addressed by the law cited; check the current position before relying on it. Political Constitution of Chile, Art. 10(2): children of a Chilean parent born abroad, if the parent or a grandparent acquired Chilean nationality by birth or naturalisation ↗

Every way to apply, and the law behind it

The documents, as the rule lists them

Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

• birth1885–2026

  Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (SRCeI)

  Searched by the person’s RUN (national ID number) or, for older records, by name, date and the circunscripción (registry office) of birth. A Chile-born parent or grandparent who ever held a cédula has a RUN.

  Ask

  Online, in Spanish · request page ↗

  Fee

  0 USD

  Takes

  1–4 weeks

  Good to know (4)›

  • The birth certificate ‘para todo trámite’ downloads free from registrocivil.cl with the RUN, the cédula document number and an email; without those (e.g. a deceased grandparent), request it at a consulate or have a relative ask at any Registro Civil office.
  • Consulates ask for an updated certificate of the Chilean parent’s birth.
  • registrocivil.cl blocks automated requests, so the download is done by a person in a browser.
  • The Registro Civil was created by law in 1884 and began recording births on 1 January 1885. Earlier births are only in Catholic parish baptism books, held by the parish or its diocese; many are filmed and browsable free on FamilySearch.

  source ↗

• naturalization

  Chilean nationality status: Registro Civil (inscriptions and loss annotations) and the Servicio Nacional de Migraciones (naturalization by carta de nacionalización)

  Needed if the Chilean ancestor was naturalized in Chile rather than born there (Art. 10(2) accepts either), or to check whether a Chile-born parent lost nationality by naturalizing abroad before the 2005 constitutional reform.

  Ask

  Online, in Spanish · request page ↗

  Takes

  1–6 months

  Good to know (2)›

  • Before Law 20.050 (in force 2005), Constitution Art. 11 took Chilean nationality from a Chilean who naturalized abroad, except where the foreign nationality was a condition of residing there or of equal civil rights. In practice the State treats a Chilean who naturalized abroad without a voluntary written renunciation as never having stopped being Chilean. Where the Registro Civil shows a loss annotation, the Chilean files a Solicitud de Anotación de Pérdida de Nacionalidad at a consulate to have it removed, before the child is inscribed.
  • A certificate that someone was or was not naturalized Chilean (certificado de nacionalizado / no nacionalizado) comes from the Servicio Nacional de Migraciones: register on its online procedures portal, request it for the ancestor, and it arrives by email. For a deceased ancestor, attach the Registro Civil’s full death record (partida de defunción) showing Chilean nationality; documents from abroad must be apostilled.

  source ↗

Recent and pending changes

We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Chile.

We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.

If descent doesn’t reach you

2 residence programs lead to Chile without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

• RetirementResidencia Temporal – Rentista y Jubilado o Pensionado

  Chilean temporary residence based on sufficient passive income from owned assets; the first request is made outside Chile.

• InvestmentVisa de Inversión

  Temporary residence for investing over $500,000 in a Chilean project, facilitated by InvestChile.

Every source on this page

2 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.

1. LawPolitical Constitution of Chile, Art. 10(2): children of a Chilean parent born abroad, if the parent or a grandparent acquired Chilean nationality by birth or naturalisation · Art. 10(2)
2. LawChileAtiende (Civil Registry): registering in Chile a birth abroad, for children and grandchildren of Chileans
3. RecordsThe Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (birth) or the Ministry of the Interior (naturalization): Your Chile-born ancestor’s birth certificate, or their naturalization decree
4. RecordsHow to file: Citizen by descent (Art. 10(2))
5. RecordsInscripción consular de nacimiento, with Form C-9 (order of surnames, signed by both parents)
6. RecordsMinrel consular agenda
7. RecordsBirth records, 1885–2026: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación
8. RecordsNaturalization records: Chilean nationality status
9. RecordsThe passport: where, the fee and the wait

Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.