Chilean passports are issued to citizens of Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 to facilitate international travel. They are valid for worldwide travel, unless a visa is required by the country the passport holder intends to visit.

Citizens of Chile do not need a passport when traveling to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. For these countries, they may use just their domestic identification cards called "CEDULA DE IDENTIDAD"

Chilean passports are valid for a period of 5 years from the date of issue, and the validity may not be extended. Since the introduction of machine-readable passports, family passports are no longer issued.

Bureaucracy

All passports are issued exclusively by the Registro Civil e Identificacion. Within Chile, passport applications are made in person at most offices of the Registro Civil e Identificacion. For applicants outside of Chile, applications are accepted by all Consulate Generals. A photograph of the applicant is taken on site, as well as a fingerprint of the right thumb if the applicant also requires an Identity Card. Passports applications in Chile have a turn-around time of 7 business days and must be picked up at the office where the application was made, unless the applicant requires the passport to be delivered for pick-up at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport

Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport

Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport , also known as Pudahuel Airport and Santiago International Airport, located in Pudahuel, north-west of downtown Santiago, is Chile's largest aviation facility and the busiest international air passenger gateway to the country...

 in Santiago. The expected time of delivery for passport applications made outside of Chile is of about 6 weeks, unless the applicant requires an expedite service for an additional cost.

Physical description

Regular passports are deep navy blue. The words "REPUBLICA DE CHILE" are above the Chilean Coat of Arms, with the word "PASAPORTE" below. The color of the coat of arms and the letters is copper. The standard passport contains 32 pages, but it can be issued with 48 page for an additional fee. The data page is located in the back cover, therefore leaving all 32 pages for stamps and visas. The data page has several security features, such as the digitalized photograph and signature of the bearer, as well as a holographic coat of arms behind the information and a holographic Moai

Moai

Moai , or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the...

over the upper-left corner of the bearer's photograph.

Since 2003, only machine-readable passports with a digitalized photo of the passport holder are issued. The information page is written in Spanish and English.

• Photograph
• Type of Document (P for Passport)
• Country Code (CHL)
• Passport Number (same as R.U.T. number)
• Surname
• Given Names
• Nationality (Chilena)
• Booklet Number
• Date of Birth
• Issuing Authority (Registro Civil e Identificacion)
• Gender
• Place of Birth (Name of the city if born in Chile. For those born outside of Chile, only the country of birth is listed)
• Issuing date
• Expiration date
• Signature

The information page ends with the machine-readable zone.

Fees

Passport applications for a 32-page booklet within Chile cost $48,900 pesos. ($98 USD)

Passport applications for a regular 32-page booklet outside of Chile cost $100 USD, and the expedite service will cost an additional $20 USD.

Biometric passport

The Registro Civil e Identification and the Ministry of Justice of Chile awarded the contract to implement this technology. The contract was awarded to Spain-based Indra on July 17, 2010. The company hopes to implement biometric technology in all passports and ID cards by 2012.