Chile Removes Visa Requirement for Australians

In some great news for Aussies heading to South America, Australian citizens no longer require a visa to enter Chile.

The Chilean government made the announcement out of the blue on 17 September 2025, with the unexpected change taking effect immediately.

Chile’s capital Santiago is currently the only South American city served by direct flights from Australia, with both Qantas and LATAM serving Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport (SCL). This makes Santiago the de-facto gateway to South America for many Australians. The removal of the visa requirement now makes it significantly easier for Australians to plan a trip to South America!

Chile’s new entry rules for Australians

The Chilean consulate in Sydney has posted the following notice on its website in Spanish, which translated into English reads:

Australian citizens are informed that from 17 September 2025, they no longer need a visa to enter Chile for less than 90 days.

Do you have a question? Send an email to: [email protected]

Timatic similarly confirms the new entry requirements (or lack thereof):

Nationals of Australia do not need a visa for a maximum of 90 days. They can apply to extend their stay for an additional 90 days.

Australians still need to complete a digital customs declaration for Chile either before departure or on arrival.

Note that different entry requirements apply for Easter Island, which is part of Chile.

The Australian government’s Smartraveller website has not yet been updated, and currently contains outdated information about Chile’s old visa requirement.

Chile’s previous visa requirement

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Chile has required Australian citizens to apply for a visa before travelling to Chile. This even included passengers in international transit, except those with less than 8 hours between flights on a single ticket, who would not leave the airport.

As it happens, many Australians found getting a visa for Chile to be a bit of a painful process. There are plenty of stories about this on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.

The previous visa requirement had replaced the “reciprocity fee” that Australian citizens were required to pay when entering Chile until 2020. This fee used to be equivalent to the visa fee that the Australian government charged to Chilean citizens coming to Australia.

Paying that reciprocity fee was at least straightforward. You would simply approach a dedicated counter on arrival in Santiago, and credit card payments were accepted.

The Australian government still requires Chilean citizens to apply for an e-visa before coming to Australia.

Australians still need a visa to enter Brazil

Brazil is now the only country in South America that requires Australian citizens coming for a holiday to apply for a visa in advance. (Suriname requires an Entry Fee Voucher, but that’s not quite the same and is less onerous than getting a visa.)

The Brazilian government’s visa policy works on the basis of reciprocity. Since the Australian government requires Brazilians to get a visa, Brazil returns the “favour”.

Brazil had waived the visa requirement for Australians at various different stages over the past decade. But the Brazilian government reinstated its visa requirement for Australians on 10 April 2025.