Sanctions and fines

Law No. 21.325 of Migración y Extranjería establishes different types of financial sanctions for those who commit any of the immigration infractions. This page lists the various infractions and their respective sanctions, which may consist of fines or warnings.

Title VII of Law No. 21.325 establishes the different cases that will be considered immigration infractions subject to a warning or fine. Articles 105 to 111 of Paragraph I specify the cases that will be considered less serious infractions, while Articles 112 to 119 of Paragraph II specify the cases that will be considered serious infractions.

Important!

As of May 30, 2023, fines are calculated in tranches. By declaring your violation, the fine will be reduced by 50%.

If you have committed any of the following infracttions established in Law No. 21,325 of Migración y Extranjería and you declare it yourself in the Portal de Trámites Digitales of SERMIG, the fine will be reduced in accordance with the provisions of the Article 121 of the Law.

Table of reduced fines *

Reason Days late First time
(UTM)*
Recidivist
(UTM)*

Delay in applying for a Cédula de Identidad (Chilean ID).

(Art.106)

1 to 30 0.25 0.5
31 or more 0.5 1
Reason Days of work without authorization First time
(UTM)*
Recidivist
(UTM)*

Engage of remunerated activities without authorization

(Art.109)

1 to 90 0.25 1
91 to 180 0.5 1.5
181 to 270 0.75 2
271 or more 1 2.5
Reason Days of irregularity First time
(UTM)*
Recidivist
(UTM)*

Expired Residencia Temporal or Permanencia Transitoria permit for a term less than or equal to 180 calendar days.

(Art.107, less serious infraction).

1 to 90 0.25 1
91 to 120 0.5 2
121 to 180 1.5 2.5

Expired Residencia Temporal or Permanencia Transitoria permit for more than 180 calendar days.

(Art.119, serious infraction).

181 to 270 2.5 3.5
271 to 360 3 4.5
361 or more 4 5

* Values in Unidad Tributaria Mensual (UTM), already include a 50% discount for people who declare their infraction. The UTM is a Chilean unit of account used for taxation and government fines or fees.

Less serious infractions

Foreigners residing in the country who do not apply for their Chilean ID within the term established in Article 43 of Law No. 21.325 of Migración y Extranjería will be sanctioned with a fine of 1/2 to 2 Unidades Tributarias Mensuales (UTM)*.

Residents or holders of Permanencia Transitoria permit who remain in the country, having already expired their permit for a term less than or equal to 180 calendar days, will be sanctioned with a fine of 1/2 to 10 UTM*, except for residents who are in the situation provided for in the final paragraph of Article 30 of Law No. 21.325 of Migraciones y Extranjería.

Foreigners who during their Residencia Temporal permit in the country do not comply with the obligation to report their change of address within the term established in Article 46 of Law N° 21.325 of Migraciones y Extranjería, will be sanctioned with a penalty ranging from a written warning to a fine of up to 2 UTM*.

Foreigners who engage in remunerated activities without being authorized or authorized to do so will be sanctioned with a fine of 1/2 to 5 UTM*. The above regardless of the provisions of number 5 of Article 127 of Law No. 21.325 of Migraciones y Extranjería.

The foreigner who enters Chile as an inhabitant of a border zone, by the provisions of Article 54 of Law No. 21.325 of Migraciones y Extranjería, and who enters areas of the national territory not included in the respective bilateral agreement, will be sanctioned with a fine of 1/2 to 5 UTM* or the prohibition to enter Chile for ninety days.

Transportation companies will be sanctioned with a fine of 1 to 5 UTM* for each person who has been transported without having been included in the passenger list or who has not been informed in the respective API/PNR, as stipulated in Art. 111 of Law No. 21.325 of Migraciones y Extranjería.

Higher education institutions are required to inform the SERMIG of the list of foreigners holding a Residencia Temporal for students permit enrolled in their institution, as well as those who have completed, abandoned their studies, or were expelled from the institution.

Higher education institutions that do not comply with this regulation will be sanctioned by the Superintendencia de Educación (Chilean Education Agency) with a fine of 1/2 to 5 UTM* for each case not reported.

Important about Children and Adolescents!

Children and adolescents (NNA) are exempt from all types of fines,
because they are not subject to sanctions in Chile.

* Spanish only.

Serious infractions

Judicial persons who facilitate or promote the illegal entry or exit of a foreign person into the country will be sanctioned with a fine of 50 to 100 UTM*. Regardless of the severity of the criminal offense applicable under current Chilean criminal legislation, natural persons who are not public officials and who, without any profit motive, facilitate or promote the illegal entry or exit of a foreigner into the country, will be sanctioned with a fine of 50 to 100 UTM*.

Transportation companies and drivers that travel to and from the national territory with foreigners who do not have the necessary documentation will be fined 10 to 20 UTM for each passenger who infringes the law. The SERMIG, in addition to applying the corresponding fine, will inform the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications so that it may adopt the measures, if any, within its competence.

The fines established in the preceding paragraph will not be imposed when persons arrive in the country improperly documented if the transportation companies can demonstrate that they took adequate precautions to ensure that such persons had the documents required for entry into the host State.

International transportation companies that fail to deliver the passenger list or the Advance Passenger Information / Passenger Name Records (API/PNR) will be sanctioned with a fine of 10 to 50 UTM* for each person that has been transported under these circumstances.

Transportation companies and drivers that refuse to bring back, at their own expense, passengers or crew members whose entry into the country has been refused or do not take charge of these persons when it is not possible to bring them back within 24 hours, in the cases that correspond to them by the provisions of Article 99 of Law No. 21.325 of Migración y Extranjería, will be fined 30 to 100 UTM* for each passenger in such situation.

A fine of 10 to 50 UTM* will be applied to persons who have left the national territory without passing the exit migration control and wish to re-enter the country after 2 years from the expiration of the permit that enabled them to remain legally in the country.

If the responsibility for the omission of immigration control belongs to an international transportation company, the passenger will be exempted from responsibility and the company will only be fined from 10 to 50 UTM* for each passenger who omits such control.

For purposes of the sanctions indicated below, employers, whether natural or legal persons, who hire foreigners who do not have a residence or residence permit that entitles them to work, or who are not duly authorized to do so, will be classified as micro, small, medium and large companies by the provisions of Article 505 bis of the Código del Trabajo (Chilean Labor Code).

  • Micro companies will be sanctioned with a fine of 1 to 20 UTM*.
  • Small companies will be sanctioned with a fine of 10 to 40 UTM*.
  • Medium-sized companies will be sanctioned with a fine of 30 to 100 UTM*.
  • Large companies will be sanctioned with a fine of 60 to 200 UTM*.

These fines will be applied to each foreign person hired under the aforementioned conditions.

Fines and sanctions applied to the employer will not exempt them from complying with all labor and social security obligations established by law.

In case of recidivism in the period of 2 years, counted from the application of the respective sanction, they will be punished with the fine in its maximum value as indicated in Art. 123 of Law No. 21.325 of Migración y Extranjería.

Foreigners who work without authorization by the above provisions will not be sanctioned if they file complaints against their employer for non-compliance with immigration, labor, or any other type of legislation at the SERMIG, Dirección del Trabajo, Chilean Courts of Justice or any other organ of the Chilean State Administration.

The lease or sublease of rooms to foreign persons must comply with the occupancy rate and other requirements and standards established by the Ordenanza General de Urbanismo y Construcciones (General Ordinance of Urbanism and Construction), by the provisions of Title V of Law No. 18.101. In the event of non-compliance, the landlord or sublandlord will be sanctioned by the provisions of Article 24 quáter of the aforementioned law, and the amount of the fine applied cannot be less than 30% of the maximum fine established therein.

Foreigners who remain in the country for more than 180 calendar days from the expiration of their Residencia Temporal or Permanencia Transitoria permit will be sanctioned with a fine of 1 to 10 UTM*.

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