Registration and numbers in Chile: cédula, RUN, RUT and ClaveÚnica
After arriving in Chile you have 30 days to make an appointment at the Registro Civil for your cédula de identidad para extranjeros. The card shows your RUN, the number by which the government, healthcare and schools know you. With the cédula you then apply for the ClaveÚnica, your digital key to government services.
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In Chile your paperwork revolves around one card: the cédula de identidad para extranjeros, which you get at the Registro Civil. Under article 43 of the migration law you apply for it within 30 days of your residence permit taking effect. If you received your permit from abroad, that is the day you enter Chile. The card shows your RUN, the Rol Único Nacional. You use that number everywhere from then on.
| What | Where | Deadline or cost |
|---|---|---|
| Appointment for the cédula | Registro Civil, bookable online | within 30 days of your permit taking effect |
| Cédula de identidad para extranjeros | Registro Civil | 4,270 pesos, ready in about 20 working days |
| Applying too late | fine of half to two UTM | |
| RUT, the tax number | SII | with your cédula; without a cédula with your passport |
| ClaveÚnica | Registro Civil | from age 14, with a valid cédula |
| Change of address | SERMIG | within 30 calendar days |
The UTM, the Chilean unit of account for fines and tax, was 72,151 pesos in October 2026. The fine is therefore between roughly 36,000 and 144,000 pesos. ChileAtiende adds that you pay that fine first, before applying for the cédula after all.
How do you apply for the cédula?
You book an appointment on the Registro Civil website, under "Primera obtención extranjero/a". You choose the region and the municipality, and go to the office with the required documents. According to ChileAtiende you collect the card after about 20 working days. It costs 4,270 pesos.
The cédula is valid as long as your residence permit. Holders of permanent residence get a card for five years. If an application for an extension or a new permit is pending, your old cédula remains valid until SERMIG decides.
Do not count on a reminder. Your permit takes effect on the day you land, and the 30 days run from then, even if you are still at a temporary address. Book the appointment in your first week.
Registration with the investigative police, the PDI, is no longer part of it. According to SERMIG, permits granted after 12 February 2022 no longer need to be registered there before you apply for the cédula. Anyone entering as a tourist does receive the Tarjeta Única Migratoria from the PDI, which records how long the tourist stay is valid.
What is the difference between RUN and RUT?
The RUN is your identity number with the government. Article 44 of the migration law provides that a government body, pension or health institution, or school that needs to give a foreigner a number asks the Registro Civil to assign a RUN. So you are known everywhere by the same number.
The RUT is the tax number of the tax authority, the SII. According to the SII, a foreigner living in Chile shows their cédula when registering. Anyone who does not yet have a cédula uses their passport. A RUT is compulsory for foreigners without a domicile in Chile who invest there, for example in a house or a term deposit. Anyone without a domicile in Chile who receives income from such an investment appoints a representative in the country. A tourist who rents a home or buys something needs no RUT. See also buying a house in Chile.
What do you do with the ClaveÚnica?
The ClaveÚnica is your digital identity for the Chilean government, comparable to DigiD. You apply for it at a Registro Civil office. You must be 14 or older and have a valid cédula. A foreigner with an expired cédula and a pending application with SERMIG can also get one. It does not work with a provisional RUN.
The Registro Civil checks your identity and gives you an activation code. You use it to switch the key on. Among other things you use it to log in to SERMIG's portal and to FONASA, the public health fund; see healthcare in Chile. For a bank account the cédula itself is the key document; see banking and payments. Keep your Dutch DigiD alongside the Chilean key; see keeping your bank account and DigiD.
What must you report when you move?
You report a new address or email address to SERMIG within 30 calendar days, article 5 of the law says. Those details go into the Registro Nacional de Extranjeros, the register that, under article 165, SERMIG keeps of the identity, address and permit of every foreigner in the country. How long your permit runs and when you renew it is in the residence routes.
Children without a RUN first get a provisional number for school from the Ministry of Education; see school in Chile. The order in which you arrange everything after arrival is in the first weeks.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Chile or go straight to step 5.1 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- ChileAtiende — cédula de identidad para extranjeros, deadline, cost and delivery time (Registro Civil) — chileatiende.gob.cl
- SERMIG — the Estampado Electrónico, and no more registration with the PDI — serviciomigraciones.cl
- Ley 21.325, articles 5, 43, 44, 106 and 165: change of address, cédula, RUN, fine and the Registro Nacional de Extranjeros (BCN) — bcn.cl
- SII — the Rol Único Tributario for foreigners — sii.cl
- ChileAtiende — the ClaveÚnica, from age 14 with a valid cédula — chileatiende.gob.cl
- SII — the value of the UTM in 2026 — sii.cl
- SERMIG — permanencia transitoria and the PDI's Tarjeta Única Migratoria — serviciomigraciones.cl
- ChileAtiende — joining FONASA, also with the ClaveÚnica — chileatiende.gob.cl
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