Chile Travel Guide - Travel Facts

Chile Travel Facts

Visas:
Citizens of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, and a significant list of other countries do NOT need visas upon entering the country for a stay up to 90 days. If planning to stay longer, one must acquire a visa extension from a local consulate. A list of consulates in Santiago is listed below.

Consulates in Santiago:
Canadian Consulate: Nueva Tajamar 481 P 12, Providencia
French Consulate: Condell 65, Providencia
German Consulate: Las Hualtatas 5677, Vitacura
Australian Consulate: Gertrudis Echeñique 420, Las Condes
Italian Consulate: Clemente Fabres 1050, Providencia
Swiss Consulate: Av Americo Vespucio Sur 100, Las Condes
British Consulate: El Bosque Norte 0125, Las Condes
American Consulate: Av Andes Bello 2800, Las Condes
Tourist Visas cost approximately USD 50; Student Visas cost USD 50

Visa applications may require the following:
-valid passport
-return ticket
-evidence of sufficient funds to cover stay
Expect visas to take up to 7 full days to be processed.
It is illegal to work in Chile under a tourist or student visa.

Entrance/Departure Fees
US citizens who arrive by air have to pay an entrance fee of USD100
Canadian citizens who arrive by air have to pay a fee of USD55
Australian citizens pay a fee of USD30.

The international departure tax is USD18, but is payable in either US dollars or pesos, and is often included in your departure ticket.

Time:
Four hours behind GMT/UTC; three hours behind during summer months (mid-December to mid-March)

Electricity:
220V; sockets usually have three entries; adaptors are easy to come by.

Telephones
Chile has a fantastic telephone systems that are both reliable and cheap. The only confusing aspect is that there is not one single national telecommunications company but a number of carriers (private companies) or, in Spanish portadores, each with their own access codes. The competition between these private companies keeps rates very low. CTC and Entel are the dominant two carriers. Their carrier codes are 123 for Entel, and 188 for CTC.

Public Telephones connect automatically to the carrier that owns the booth. If you agree to use the carrier of the phone booth, there is no need to punch in a carrier code. Calling using the booth carrier: Dial 0 and the area code and phone number for inter-regional calls; or dial 00 for international calls, followed by the full phone number. Calling using an alternate carrier: In case you want to switch carriers, dial the chosen carrier's access code, and then dial 0 for an international call followed by the phone number, or the national area code and number for inter-regional phone calls.

Internet:
Surprisingly, there aren't as many cyber cafes as one would expect in a country that is definitely largely connected to the e-world. There are definitely points in the major cities with access to the internet. A great place to check for these points ahead of time is www.cybercaptive.com

Major Holidays Observed in Chile:
January 1: New Year's Day (Ano Nuevo)
Easter: (Semana Santa)- Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday
May 1: Labor Day (Dia del Trabajo)
May 21: A Remembrance Day in celebration of the end of the War of the Pacific after the naval victory at Iquique (Combate Naval de Iquique)
June 15: Corpus Christi
June 29: San Pedro y San Pablo
August 15: Assumption of the Virgin
September 11: Public Holiday observing the military coup that deposed the democratic government in 1973
September 18: National Independence Day; first provisional government of 1810
September 19: Armed Forces Day (Dia del Ejercito)
October 12: Columbus Day (Dia de la Raza) marking the discovery of America
November 1: All Saint's Day (Todos los Santos)
December 8: Feast of the Immaculate Conception
December 25: Christmas Day (Navidad)

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