Border control at Chile airports: what happens to travellers and their data

Arriving: the steps at the border

Law 21.325 on Migration and Foreigners, published on 20 April 2021, makes the Investigations Police of Chile (PDI) the border control authority. The PDI controls the entry and exit of foreign nationals and records them in the National Register of Foreigners ¹.

PDI self-service kiosks went into use at Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago in November 2024. After complaints about queues, the PDI said in December 2024 that it had added control booths, simplified the kiosk steps and cut processing time by 50 per cent. About 100 more officers joined border control duties ⁷.

Kiosk users show a passport or a Chilean identity card, register four fingerprints and have a photo taken. An August 2026 update lets the kiosks read flight details from the boarding pass. The traveller then goes to a PDI officer for a final check ⁸. The PDI took the kiosks out of service in June and July 2025 for a database update. At that time 40 arrival kiosks and 34 departure kiosks were down ⁸.

At entry, holders of a transitory stay permit are entered in the national register. They can receive a document proving entry if they ask for one ¹.

Entry permission: transitory stay permits and visas

Visitors who enter on a transitory stay permit do not need a visa. A supreme decree signed by the interior and foreign ministers can require a prior authorisation or consular visa from nationals of certain countries, for reasons of national interest or reciprocity. The law says such visas may not be imposed in an arbitrary or discriminatory way ¹.

A transitory stay lasts up to 90 days. It can be extended once for up to 90 more days, for a fee. Visitors must show lawful means of support, in an amount set by the National Migration Service. Visitors may not do paid work without a special permit. A transitory stay permit cannot run past the expiry date of the passport ¹.

The Chilean consulate in New Delhi says Indian nationals who hold a US visa of any kind except type C, valid for at least six months at arrival, are exempt from the Temporary Admission Visa. The maximum stay is 90 days ⁶.

Biometrics and automated checks

The PDI kiosks at Santiago airport capture four fingerprints and a facial photo from each user ⁸. They no longer print a paper slip with a QR code after the August 2026 update ⁸.

The PDI said in December 2024 that it was working on projects to automate migration control at other busy crossings ⁷.

Passenger data: API and PNR

Article 100 of Law 21.325 requires transport companies to give a list of passengers and crew, with the data needed to identify them, when they enter or leave Chile ¹.

Air and sea carriers must send Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Records (PNR) to the border authority under a regulation from the Undersecretariat of the Interior. The duty covers international and domestic trips ¹.

Carriers face a fine of 1 to 5 monthly tax units for each person carried but left out of the passenger list or the API and PNR report ¹.

Carriers must take back, within 24 hours and at their own cost, people refused entry for lacking documents. The same applies to people barred under the entry bans in Articles 32 and 33 ¹.

Watch lists and checks

Article 32 of Law 21.325 bars entry to foreign nationals convicted, charged or pursued abroad for belonging to or funding terrorist groups, or registered with Interpol for such acts. It covers people who commit acts Chilean law classes as crimes against state security ¹.

Article 33 lets officers refuse entry to people convicted abroad of serious crimes in the past 10 years, or of lesser offences in the past 5 years. It covers people with criminal records shared through Interpol, people expelled from another country in the past 5 years, and people whose travel purpose differs from the one on their visa ¹.

When officers refuse entry on these or other grounds, they must tell the person in writing at once, giving the facts and the ground. If they do not, the person's account is presumed true in the special appeal procedure. A refused person can appeal from abroad to SERMIG through a Chilean consulate within 15 days ¹.

Your data: the law and how to ask for records

Law 19.628 is the data protection law in force as of 19 October 2026. It gives every person the right to ask a data holder what data it keeps on them, where it came from and who receives it. People can demand correction of wrong data and deletion of data stored without a legal basis. These steps are free ².

If the data holder does not answer within two business days, or refuses on grounds other than national security or the national interest, the person can go to a civil court ².

Law 21.719, published on 13 December 2024, rewrites Law 19.628 and creates a Personal Data Protection Agency. Its changes take effect on the first day of the 24th month after publication ³. That date is 1 December 2026 ⁵. The new law treats biometric data as sensitive. It sets rights of access, rectification, deletion, objection, portability and blocking. Access covers the data and its source, the purposes, the recipients and how long the data will be processed. Data holders get 30 calendar days to answer a request, extendable once by 30 days ³.

In September 2026 the government sent the Senate a bill to delay the law to 1 December 2027. The bill would raise the agency's board from three to five members ⁴. Garrigues reported that the bill was still before the Senate ⁴.

Who runs the systems

The PDI is the border control authority. The National Migration Service (SERMIG) grants transitory stay permits and can delegate that power to the border authority at crossings ¹. The Undersecretariat of the Interior issues the API and PNR regulation ¹. Chilean consulates handle visa applications, and since 12 February 2022 they no longer take residence visa applications ⁶.