Chile: a legal import exception comes first
Chile generally prohibits importing used passenger cars. This overview explains that restriction and selected personal or regional exceptions. Confirm a qualifying legal route with Chilean Customs before purchasing; this page does not establish eligibility for a particular vehicle or permission to drive it.
Sources reviewedA legal exception is required
Used passenger cars are generally prohibited from import. Article 21 preserves specific Section 0 and duty-exemption regimes, listed special-purpose vehicles, qualifying electric trolleybuses with more than 18 seats including the driver, and historical vehicles at least 50 years old that meet the statutory approval requirements. An ordinary used car does not qualify simply because it is shipped from Korea.
Returning Chileans: a personal exception
Adult Chileans returning permanently after at least 18 months of uninterrupted residence abroad under Customs’ residence-interruption rules may seek approval for one used vehicle. For the overseas-purchase route, it must come from the country of residence and have been acquired at least six months before the return. A separate Chilean free-zone purchase route exists. Entry deadlines, personal and family use, and repeat-benefit and transfer restrictions apply.
Disability relief requires approval
Eligible individuals with certified disabilities may apply to Customs to import a used vehicle under Law 20.422. Current disability registration and COMPIN medical-authority documentation are required. Vehicle-value limits, emissions rules, and restrictions on driving, use and transfer apply. Customs approval does not authorize road use. Qualifying nonprofit collective-transport imports follow separate requirements.
Free-zone vehicles have territorial limits
For vehicles acquired under the free-zone regime, eligible owners or authorized lessees domiciled in a free-zone extension area can request a Customs pasavante for temporary travel elsewhere in Chile. Residence, registration and driver conditions apply; this permit does not establish unrestricted nationwide import eligibility.
Documents and registration
Returning-Chilean application: representative documents
The Partida 00.33 application includes a PDI travel certificate issued within 30 days of submission, the bill of lading or equivalent, and an invoice, title or public ownership record. The declaration of permanent return and any required representation or residence-interruption approval must also be supplied. Customs issues the import authorization after review.
First registration after lawful entry
For a Customs-entered vehicle, the Civil Registry requires the original Customs document or the copy designated for the Vehicle Register, showing lawful entry and duties paid or the applicable relief. Owner identity and vehicle identification details are also required. This registration process does not remove the import restriction.
Confirm before purchase
Still unconfirmed for your vehicle. Check with the relevant authority or receiving agent before purchase.
- Confirm the specific exception, vehicle classification and beneficiary eligibility with Chilean Customs before purchase or shipment; ordinary commercial used-car imports are not authorized by this overview.
- For returning Chileans, confirm the residence calculation, country from which the vehicle comes, arrival window, consignment and approval timing, previous use of the benefit, and any release from transfer restrictions. Free-zone purchases have a separate timing route.
- For disability relief, confirm the current value ceiling, COMPIN requirements, approved vehicle and equipment, driving and transfer restrictions, any early-transfer exception, and the separate nonprofit collective-transport requirements.
- Free-zone entry, later permanent movement to the rest of Chile, special-purpose vehicles and historical-vehicle approval require their own case-specific review; the pasavante is only a temporary-travel procedure.
- Confirm the applicable emissions and technical-inspection route, road-use authorization, insurance, taxes and fees for the actual vehicle. No freight price, delivery time or vehicle-specific approval is established here.
Shipping & costs
For Chile, specify the receiving city and importer. Request a written offer showing the route, transport stages, delivery point, insurance and included charges. Confirm vehicle eligibility and required approvals before booking.
What goes into the cost?
Send the vehicle listing, quantity and delivery point. Eligibility and required approvals must be confirmed before arranging shipment. Freight and departure dates need a current offer.
Vehicle purchase
Confirm the vehicle price, invoice and payment recipient.
Vehicle inspection — US$100
Our pre-purchase condition inspection; separate from required government testing or certification.
Korea-side preparation
Request itemized inland transport, export documents, handling and loading.
International freight & insurance
Confirm the route, shipping method, insurance, quote validity and exclusions.
Destination charges
Ask your receiving agent about handling, customs, taxes, registration and delivery costs.
Inspection & next steps
- Send your vehicle details.
Share a listing or your preferred model, year and budget.
- Confirm eligibility, then inspect — US$100.
Our vehicle condition inspection is separate from government testing or certification.
- Review the shipping offer.
Confirm the route, costs and required approvals before booking.
Official sources & review dates
View 5 official sources and review notes
Source publication or amendment dates and our review dates are listed separately.
- Law 18.483 — Article 21, used-vehicle import restriction and exceptions ↗Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile — Ley ChileLaw published: Reviewed: The current consolidated text was reviewed. Ley Chile identifies the latest version as 22 May 2021 and the last amendment as Law 21.180, published on 11 November 2019. Article 21 includes the historical-vehicle exception introduced in 2015.
- Customs Compendium, Chapter III, Appendix XI — returning Chileans and disability relief ↗Servicio Nacional de AduanasSource updated: Not stated for this guidanceReviewed: The current consolidated procedures were reviewed. Annex 1 incorporates the returning-resident amendments dated 23 August 2024 and 12 September 2025. Annex 2 incorporates the replacement disability procedure dated 4 November 2025, whose official notice was published on 14 November 2025. These amendment dates are separate from this review date.
- Solicitud de franquicia por discapacidad ↗Servicio Nacional de Aduanas via ChileAtiendeService information updated: Reviewed: The service information and its official printable version were reviewed. The printable version states an update of 27 January 2026. Eligibility and documentation were cross-checked against the current Customs Compendium, including its November 2025 replacement procedure.
- Solicitud de Tramitación de Pasavante — free-zone vehicles ↗Servicio Nacional de AduanasSource updated: Not stated for this guidanceReviewed: The current Customs service instructions were reviewed. They retain residence, vehicle-registration and authorization conditions for temporary travel outside the free-zone extension area. The page gives service rollout dates in 2020, but does not state a later update date.
- Primera inscripción de vehículos motorizados ↗Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación via ChileAtiendeService information updated: Reviewed: The current first-registration service information and its official printable version were reviewed. The printable version states an update of 1 April 2026. The Customs-document requirement is specific to vehicles entering through Customs; the separate new-vehicle invoice route is not applied to used cars here.