U.S. Citizens need visa for Chile?

[JennPiscopo]

Hi all,

I am flying to Santiago de Chile in three weeks. It appears that U.S. citizens need a visa to enter Chile.

The information on the consulate web-page is not entirely clear.

On the hand, it appears that we can simply buy the visa in the airport when we land.

On the other hand, the application forms are up on the website-- so does that mean we need to bring the application forms to the Chilean embassy here in Buenos Aires, prior to the trip?

If anyone has any experience with this, that would be most helpful!

thanks,
Jenn

 

[Napoleon]

1) I've never been.
2) This (needing a visa) is what I've heard.
3) I believe the visa is US$100. (Or at least it was 2 years ago.)
4) You can pay for it upon arrival rather than obtaining it in advance.

All of this information is 2nd or 3rd hand info from semi-reliable sources.

 

[SilverStar]

I'm a US Citizen (living in BsAs), and we entered Chile by cruise ship, and no visa was required of any kind...Be careful, don't bring in any live fruits or veggies they are not forgiving when it comes to that, I had a Canadian customer that forgot to throw out 1 banana, brought it into Chile and it wasn't pretty.
Fred

 

[fred mertz]

On Dec, 28,2006 I got a tourist visa at the Santiago airport The US$100 visa (I think it´s US131. now) is good until my passport expires. The proceedure took less than 1 minute.

 

[diego7david]

i have an apt in santiago and go back and forth regularly. yes you do need a visa. they call it reciprocity at the airport. i found out that it is reciprosity as we (the usa that is) charges 100 dollars for chileans to apply for a usa visa. its extremely easy like paying your airport departure tax at ba. it is, or at least was last march, 100 dollars usa. the visa is good for the life of the passport. when you get a new passport you must get a new visa. although i bet you could take the paper out of the old and staple it in the new. i wouldnt fret over it or waste your time before you go. its just a revenue source for them at the airport.

 

[rockbodyrock]

There is just the reciprocity at the airport of 135 bucks for Americans

but this fee is only at the airport, if you go by land, mendoza to chile.. there is no fee.

Steve Peralta

 

[LonDagga]

Im going on the 28th and called the embassy without much luck. Can they accept Credit cards or only cash?

Also does anyone know anything about the ski conditions or quality of the mountains near Santiago?

 

[soulskier]

The skiing close to Santiago is OK, better if you go to Portillo, which is a bit farther.

 

[JennPiscopo]

From my readings on the consulate website, they take credit cards as well as USD. I would confirm the information!!

~ Jenn

Im going on the 28th and called the embassy without much luck. Can they accept Credit cards or only cash?

Also does anyone know anything about the ski conditions or quality of the mountains near Santiago?