For Expats
Arriving in Chile isn’t hard. It’s disorderly.
Nothing ahead of you is complicated on its own. The problem is that it all arrives at once, in an order nobody explained.
The order that works
Four moments, and what each one calls for.
This isn’t a list of procedures. It’s the order in which to tackle them — which is what really saves time.
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Before you board the plane
Get to know the city before you move to it
The look-and-see trip exists for a reason: walking the neighborhoods, visiting schools, understanding how long it really takes to get from home to the office. Choosing where to live from photos on the internet is the most expensive way to get it wrong.
This is also when the move gets quoted — and it almost always costs more than you estimated.
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Your first week
Identity first, everything else after
Almost everything in Chile asks for a RUT, the national ID number: opening an account, signing a lease, getting a phone plan. It’s the first knot to untie, and until it’s done, everything else waits.
The rest may feel urgent. It isn’t as urgent as this.
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Your first month
Everyday life, in order
Permanent housing, schools, a bank account, a driver’s license, how transportation works, where everything is. It’s a lot at once, and none of it is hard on its own — the problem is that it all lands together, in an administrative language nobody taught you.
If you’re moving as a couple, this also includes what your partner is going to do here.
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Before you leave
Closing well is part of it too
Recovering pension funds, closing accounts, ending the lease, coordinating the outbound move. It’s always underestimated, and it’s what can leave loose ends for years.
Start two months ahead, not two weeks.
Cultural adaptation
Everyone ends up asking the same questions.
- Why do they behave like that?
- Why are they looking at me strangely?
- Was that a yes or a no?
- Why didn’t anyone warn me about this?
It’s not you. Every country has rules that aren’t written anywhere, and nobody explains them because it doesn’t occur to anyone that they need explaining.
Understanding them early is the difference between six months of disorientation and moving with ease within a few weeks. That’s what the cultural adaptation workshops are about.
A question about your relocation?
If your relocation is already underway and you need a concrete answer, write to us. Someone who handles these procedures every week will reply.