Contact in Chile for Chilean e-visa?

Question

I’m an Australian trying to apply for a visa to visit Chile for tourism. Application looks all good except for this one part at the end which says I must provide a “Contacto en Chile” (Contact in Chile). Of course I don’t know anyone in Chile because I’m a tourist. Does this mean I’m not allowed to visit Chile? Or is there something I can do here?

Answer 1

So I just got my visa approved! Basically yeah I did as a lot of folks suggested and put the hotel details as my "contact in chile". Just had to be a little creative with some of the form fields but I've included a screenshot of how I filled out this form below.

While I'm here I guess I'll clarify the whole process for any other Australian's doing this because it's really hard to find any info on the process:

Step 1) Submit your application

Go here: https://tramites.minrel.gov.cl/ and select "Solicitar visa o autorización previa" (Request visa or prior authorization). There is an option to switch the page to English at the top, but it seemed to break things on the website so I recommend doing it in Spanish (this may be fixed in future though)

Step 2) Enter your information

Most of the application is quite straightforward, just answer the questions - they will ask about your nationality, passport details, your parents and a few other bits and pieces. There are a few tricky parts which I'll outline below:

• For "País o lugar en el que está realizando la solicitud" (Country or location where you are applying) - you MUST select Australia (Or your passport issuing country) even if you are currently in a different country.
• You can choose which embassy you wish to apply to, I recommend applying to the nearest embassy to you - but contrary to other advice online, you do not need to attend an in-person appointment, so don't worry if there's no Chilean embassy near you.
• They check on the income details quite carefully, ensure your payslips/bank statements cover at least 3 months and match the name and address on your application exactly
• For the "contact in chile" see my screenshot above on how to fill this out

Step 3) Submit your application

Submit and wait patiently, you will get an email confirmation shortly where you can log on and track your application

Step 4) Pay the fee

After you should receive an email asking to pay $190 AUD (price accurate as of Nov 2023) and was given an Australian bank account to transfer into (BSB/ACC number). I paid the fee and replied with a receipt of the transfer.

Step 5) Answer any follow up questions and approval

You may or may not be asked some follow up questions about your application via email. I only had one query about my income which was easily resolved. After about a week (from paying) my visa was approved and sent to me as a pdf. The visa itself must be physically printed on paper - apparently they will not accept a digital copy. I recommend printing it out and sticking it in your passport (you can cut it down to passport size).