What does emigrating to Chile cost?
Answer a few short questions and you have an honest range for your situation. For every item it says whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The application itself is affordable: a residencia temporal costs a Dutch national 192 dollars, for work 321 dollars, and the cédula 4,270 pesos. The money is in three other items: the move across the ocean, with an exemption up to 6,750 dollars for your household goods, the health policy until you've joined FONASA, and the car, which may not come along. One thing we say honestly. For a Chilean driving licence the fee differs per municipality; that item is an estimate.
Looking for the whole route to Chile, not just the costs? See the steps, the order and the paperwork →
A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 3.500 – € 9.600
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 2.500 – € 6.500
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 300 – € 800
- De verhuizing
- € 600 – € 1.500
- De eerste maanden
- € 2.600 – € 7.300
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- The residencia temporal at SERMIG€ 150 – € 300
- The cédula de identidad para extranjeros at the Registro Civil€ 0 – € 10
- VOG, apostilles and official translations(estimate)€ 150 – € 450
The amount depends on the number of documents. A couple with birth certificates, a marriage certificate, two VOGs and the statements from the SVB and the pension fund quickly reaches eight documents. A VOG for a visa or immigration costs € 41.35 through the municipality. An apostille from the court costs € 27 per document. A document that isn't in Spanish or English you have officially translated; there is no fixed rate anywhere for that translation, count on a few tens of euros per document. SERMIG accepts a VOG at most 60 days old, and a document from a private institution within 30 days of issue. Whoever starts too early and has to redo things is at the top.
De verhuizing
- Flights(estimate)€ 600 – € 1.500
The spread sits in the season and the luggage: whoever travels with two extra suitcases pays the top. The amount is for one way from Amsterdam to Santiago, with a change.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 2.500 – € 6.500
This item consists of rent paid in advance, the notary for the rental contract, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you still have double costs. A written rental contract you sign before a notary (Ley 18.101, article 20). Rents vary widely: in the better neighbourhoods of Santiago and Viña del Mar you pay a different rate than in a mid-sized town in the south. Also count the currency risk: your income comes in euros, life runs in pesos.
- Bank, phone, contador and the first counters(estimate)€ 150 – € 600
Small money, but it's here because in the first weeks it all comes at once. It's about a Chilean account, a local SIM card, the copies and translations you hand in again at every counter, and a contador who tells you when you need to file in Chile. It's also here because when transferring your pension the bank charges a rate you want to know in advance.
- Getting a Chilean driving licence(estimate)€ 30 – € 150
Deliberately no amount here
Taking the car
There's deliberately no amount here, and no question about it. A used car may not enter Chile: the law says only vehicles without use may be imported (Ley 18.483, article 21). The exceptions are about special vehicles, such as ambulances and campers, and about historic cars of fifty years or older. So count on selling in the Netherlands and buying again in Chile. You won't get the BPM back: that refund only applies on registration in another EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 0.5 to 2% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 1.250 to € 5.000.
The fixed item when buying with a mortgage is the stamp tax on the loan: 0.066 percent per month of term, and never more than 0.8 percent (Decreto Ley 3,475, article 1, number 3). On top come the notary and the registration at the Conservador de Bienes Raíces, the register. The registration in Santiago costs 0.2 percent of the price, at most 264,200 pesos (ChileAtiende); for the notary no percentage is published at an official source, and that cost is the top of the band. Foreigners buy in their own name: the constitution gives everyone the freedom to acquire property (article 19, number 23). The ban in the border areas only applies to nationals of Chile's neighbouring countries (Decreto Ley 1,939, article 7).
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 15 October 2026.
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One thing you can sort out today
Closing down the Netherlands is the same work for everyone, wherever you're going. With the letter pack you enter your details once, and every cancellation and notification letter is ready: health insurance, rent, employer, bank, pension fund. Each comes with the date by which it has to go out. € 49 one-off, and it's also included in every plan.
In Vertrekklaar you get the complete picture of your own costs, with your route, your documents and your deadlines.
From range to your own budget
The calculator above works with a few questions, but the journey itself knows more. In Vertrekklaar the same model calculates with your real situation: who's coming along, which route, and whether the household goods and the pet come along. It also guards the clocks: the sixty days of your certificate of conduct, the ninety days to enter, and the thirty days after landing for your cédula. A one-off € 399, no subscription.
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Every step on one list, free
Not ready to start yet? Then you get the departure checklist for Chile: every step in order, to print and tick off. With it, five mails in a week and a half about the pitfalls and the real costs. If the rules for Chile change, you'll hear about it. After that we ask once where your plans stand, and now and then we send one thing that fits your moment. No newsletter, and you can switch it off at any time.
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