Known by the rich literature scenario, Chile is a country that goes beyond the magic words of Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral. Having faced one of the toughest dictatorships of Latin America in the past, today the nation is the sixth economy of the continent and is a promising destination for living and working. By the way, we have a few jobs in Chile that we’re going to share with you regularly on our jobs section and even though the country may be overlooked as a working destination, we are here to tell you: it’s a really promising choice! To prove that, we decided to bring you a series of posts and guest about Chile and its scenario: what is it like to live there, the economy, innovation, business and much more!
To start our series of posts about Chile, we listed here the main topics you need to know about the daily life in this amazing country.
- Getting a Visa
First things first: if you want to move to Chile, you’ll need a visa to live and work there. Fortunately, you won’t find it so difficult: you can do the process all by yourself, which is great specially if you want to save some money, or you can hire an agent to take care of it. For residents from Mercosul countries particularly, like Brazil, its quite easy to get a work visa. You can find out about all types of visa here.
- Cost of Life
If you want to live in a central area and shop in the best places, your costs certainly will be high. For example, a rent in El Golf, a noble neighbourhood in Santiago, is around U$1.600, plus fees. But if you opt for a life in the suburb you can bet your life can be a lot cheaper than in countries like USA, for example, and pay U$800 per month.
Also, keep in mind that everything you buy is subject to a tax, that is currently at 19%, and the service have a 10% tax rate.
- The Capital
The capital, Santiago, is the biggest city of Chile and has enchanted many foreigners with its view: behind the urban scenario, rises the snowy peaks of the Andes Mountains. Besides its beauty, the city is also known to be the center of the business hub, being responsible for almost half of the country’s GDP. Therefore, the city is perfect for people who want to be in the center of the urban life. The beach is also only 1.5 hours away in Vina Del Mar, so you really will be spoiled for choices.
- Housing
An important thing to keep in mind is to know Spanish quite well before you decide to move to Chile or at least have connections there that could help you with things like finding a home and negotiating a good price. If you don’t have either of them, it will be more likely to find properties with inflated prices or it could take more time than usual to find the right place.
A good tip is to hang out on the area that you’re interested in moving in and talk to the people that live there: you could discover a nice place that hasn’t been listed!
See here some useful sites to search:
www.goplaceit.com/cl
www.yapo.cl
www.portalinmobiliario.com
www.chiledeptos.cl
www.amoblados.cl
The best areas for safety are Las condes and Providencia. Downtown Bellavista, Centro are best for parties and cheaper accommodation.
- Healthcare and Education
Chile has public and private healthcare insurance. Even though the private one is more comprehensive in larger cities, its price ranges around $300+ a month, the public service has relatively good quality across the country.
Larger cities, such as Santiago, have quite a few international schools, offering a high quality education for their students.
- Jobs
Digital professionals are in high demand in Chile! If you have at least 3 years experience The Bridge has some really exciting offers to work in Chile in the creative and tech fields. Interested? Send your CV to [email protected].
Thanks for reading!
Sources: 10 Tips for Living in Chile and Moving to Chile
