Chile visa requirements for Cuban citizens

Consular Section of the Embassy of Chile in Havana (application filed online first at tramites.minrel.gov.cl)

A Cuban travelling to Chile for tourism needs a consular visa that must be applied for before travelling: it is not automatic and is not processed at the airport. The application starts online on Chile's Ministry of Foreign Affairs portal (tramites.minrel.gov.cl), with the documents uploaded; the physical copies must then be presented at the Consular Section of the Embassy of Chile in Havana, followed by an interview whose date arrives by email with a confirmation number. The Ministry itself warns that processing takes at least 30 days. The tourist visa allows a stay of up to 90 days, non-renewable, and does not authorise working or a change of status inside the country. Among the documents, besides a passport with six months' validity and a recent photo, a letter addressed to the Consul of Chile in Havana is required, explaining the purpose of the trip and the connection with the person inviting.

Rapa Nui (Easter Island): different entry rules

To enter Rapa Nui you fill in the Ministry of the Interior's single entry form and present it at the Investigations Police checkpoint, along with your return ticket and an accommodation booking or an invitation from a resident. The maximum stay is thirty calendar days, for foreign visitors and for non-Rapa Nui Chileans alike. People registered with CONADI as members of the Rapa Nui people do not fill in the form and only show identification.

Source: gob.cl/rapanuiprotegida, requisitos de ingreso; ingresorapanui.interior.gob.cl (comprobado 18/09/2026)

Authorization system

Chile does not require any electronic pre-authorization (ETA or similar) for the passports we track; tourist entry is resolved directly at passport control, where the Investigations Police (PDI) issues the Tarjeta Única Migratoria. The old "reciprocity fee" (a one-time entry charge historically levied on citizens of the US, Canada, Mexico, Albania, and Australia) no longer exists for any of those nationalities: the US had it removed in 2014 (alongside Chile joining the US Visa Waiver Program), and Australia was the last country to have it dropped, in September 2025.

Fee

No entry fee for tourist entry for the passports we track, after the reciprocity fee was eliminated for Australia in September 2025 (the last nationality still paying it).

Required documents

• A valid passport. Nationals of Mercosur countries and Bolivia may enter on their national ID card, without a passport, under the applicable agreement
• Tourist entry runs on the Permiso de Permanencia Transitoria: it allows up to 90 days, extendable once by a further 90, and can never run beyond the expiry of your passport
• Evidence that you have sufficient funds to support your stay. SERMIG publishes no figure: it is left to the border officer's assessment, so it is worth carrying proof of funds even though no specific amount is enforceable

Vaccinations

• No mandatory vaccines for entry: no international certificate of vaccination (yellow fever included) is required under the International Health Regulations.

Health insurance

Not mandatory for this destination.

Transit rules

Tourist "Permanencia Transitoria" valid for up to 90 days, extendable once for the same period through the National Migration Service (SERMIG).

Customs limits

Cash

Declare to Chile's National Customs Service if entering or leaving the country with USD 10,000 or more in cash, negotiable instruments, or other means of payment (including Chilean pesos), or the equivalent in another currency.

Alcohol

2,500 cubic centimetres (2.5 litres) of alcoholic beverages per adult traveller, within the duty-free traveler's baggage allowance.

Tobacco

400 cigarettes, or 50 cigars, or 500 grams of pipe tobacco per adult traveller, duty-free.

Overstay penalties

Fine (calculated in UTM, a monthly tax unit that changes value every month) for exceeding the Permanencia Transitoria's authorized stay, with a 50% discount if the traveller self-declares the infraction digitally through SERMIG before it's detected: from 0.25 UTM (1-90 days over, first offense) up to 4 UTM (over 360 days, first offense); figures nearly double for repeat offenders. Past 180 days over, the infraction is reclassified as serious (Art. 119 of the migration law) rather than minor (Art. 107).

Common reasons for denial

• Having been convicted, prosecuted, formally charged, indicted or judicially pursued abroad for belonging to or financing terrorist movements or groups, or being listed with INTERPOL.
• Having carried out acts that Chilean law classifies as offences against external security, national sovereignty or internal security.
• Suffering from one of the diseases that the health authority determines to be a ground for preventing entry under the Health Code: the list must be set by a previously published exempt resolution.
• Attempting to enter or leave the country through unauthorised crossings while evading migration control, or doing so with falsified, altered or fraudulently obtained documents.