Has the process for getting a carnet changed and regaining residency?

Navigating Chile
1

Hi All,

I’ve tried to find specific information, but it’s unclear, I wonder if anyone can help?

I used to live in Chile for 10 years and had permanent residency, I have wife and children who are Chilean.

I’ve been out of Chile for 6 years now. Does this mean my permanent residency would have expired? If so, do I have to repeat the process all again? The piece of paper says that I have it indefinitely, but some are telling me this is only if I remain in the country.

Is getting my carnet issued still straight forward, or will I need to go through a bunch of other trámites before they will reissue a carnet? I tried to get my carnet renewed at my local consultate, but they say that foreigners can only get a carnet while resident in Chile. Ideally when I’m next there on holiday, I could get a new carnet and that will be useful.

It seems a bit perverse to restrict me getting a carnet, since I need it for so many reasons. Just to access my Chilean bank account, or AFP, or whatever.

I should have opted for citizenship when I first lived there, that would have made things so much easier.

Does anyone have tips for ex-pats who once lived in Chile and left, that still want to access things? It seems like a Chilean phone number is particularly important these days. Has anyone purchased one on skype?

Cheers.

2

Meet another forumite in a similar situation:

3

My understanding is that if you are out of Chile more than 365 days you lose your permanent residency. You can go to the consulate before the 365 day limit is reached and apply for an extension 1yr at the time for a maximum of 4 years. It is also my understanding that if you lose your permanent residency you start from scratch i.e. you cannot get a new carnet now after 6 years outside.

4

As far as I know, the requirements for residency has not changed for those cases, if you lose permanent residency it is not a big deal to obtain it again from scratch: 1-2 years of temporary and then permanent again, the only issue is the bureacratic proccess with lot of waste of time. Not even venezolanos are deported so, stay clam and start the proccess again from zero, if apply

5

But starting the residency-process while not living in Chile could be a challenge.

6

You are right, Magnyz. To get a new ID, permanent residents need to show the Certificado de Viajes that someone mentioned earlier to show that they haven’t been out of the country for over a year at a time. They will not give someone a new ID if their residency has lapsed, which it has after 6 years away.

7

I am going on 2.5+ years of temporary and no PR on the horizon. I wish it was 1-2 years…