Countries › Chile › Guide › 11. Real estate and land › Foreign ownership of real estate in Chile: equal treatment, the border zone ban for neighbouring country nationals, coastal and frontier state land, and inheritance by barred buyers

Foreign ownership of real estate in Chile: equal treatment, the border zone ban for neighbouring country nationals, coastal and frontier state land, and inheritance by barred buyers

Argentina. For full detail on Argentina, go to The Argentine Thread.

Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Status: Stable

Foreigners, resident or not, buy, own and inherit Chilean property on the same terms as Chileans, with no approval or registration of the investment. The one nationality rule is that nationals and companies of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru may not own, possess or rent real estate in declared border zones without a named supreme decree exemption. State owned land within 10 km of the border or 5 km of the coast follows separate rules, and the 80 metre beach strip can never be sold.

Key facts

Foreign ownership of private real estate	Allowed on the same terms as Chileans; no approval needed textCódigo Civil art. 57; Constitution art. 19 Nº 23, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Border zone ban	Nationals and companies of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru barred unless exempted by supreme decree textDL Nº 1.939 art. 7, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Capital held by neighbouring country nationals that triggers the border zone ban for a company	40 %DL Nº 1.939 art. 7, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Deadline for a barred heir to sell border zone property	1 yearDL Nº 1.939 art. 9, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Fiscal land reserved to Chilean persons near the border	10 kmDL Nº 1.939 art. 6, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Fiscal land near the coast reserved to Chileans (foreigners domiciled in Chile with Navy report)	5 kmDL Nº 1.939 art. 6, as of 2026-10-26 · in force
Fiscal beach strip that cannot be sold	80 mDL Nº 1.939 art. 6, as of 2026-10-26 · in force

The rule

1. The Constitution guarantees the freedom to acquire ownership of all kinds of property, except things common to all people or that must belong to the Nation; only a qualified quorum law, when the national interest requires it, can limit or condition the acquisition of certain assets. The Civil Code adds that the law makes no distinction between Chileans and foreigners in acquiring and enjoying civil rights, so a foreign individual or company can buy land, a home or a building without any foreign investment approval.
Cost to do it: No approval, registration or fee for being foreign. The buyer pays the same notary, registrar and title review costs as a Chilean buyer (see real-estate/title-registration-and-due-diligence).
Example: A Spanish company buying a Santiago office for CLP 986,580,000 needs no prior authorisation; it needs a Chilean tax number (RUT) to sign the deed. / The same purchase, about US$1,000,000 at CLP 986.58 per dollar (Diario Oficial 23 October 2026), follows the same steps as a Chilean buyer.Constitución Política de la República, text set by Decreto Nº 100 of 2005 (Diario Oficial 22 September 2005); Código Civil, text set by DFL Nº 1 of 2000, Ministerio de Justicia, Constitution art. 19 Nº 23; Código Civil art. 57, 2005-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-26

2. For reasons of national interest, nationals of bordering countries may not acquire ownership or other real rights, or hold possession or tenancy, of real estate located wholly or partly in the zones declared border zones under DFL Nº 4 of 1967 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ban extends to companies with their main seat in the bordering country, companies 40 percent or more of whose capital belongs to its nationals, and companies they effectively control. The President may exempt named persons for specific properties by a reasoned supreme decree issued through the Ministry of the Interior and also signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence, based on reports of the Defence Staff and the Dirección de Fronteras y Límites; the exemption gives no other privilege.
Cost to do it: An exemption decree has no published fee but needs inter ministerial reports and has no statutory deadline.Decreto Ley Nº 1.939 of 1977, Normas sobre adquisición, administración y disposición de bienes del Estado (Diario Oficial 10 November 1977), as amended by Ley Nº 18.255, Ley Nº 19.256 and Ley Nº 19.420, Art. 7, 1977-11-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26 · changed: The capital threshold for companies was raised from 20 to 40 percent by Ley Nº 19.420 (Diario Oficial 23 October 1995).

3. Notaries and registrars (Conservadores de Bienes Raíces) are responsible for enforcing the border zone ban: notaries must take a sworn written declaration of the nationality and place of birth of the parties. Notaries and registrars who fail to do so are sanctioned under art. 441 of the Código Orgánico de Tribunales and lose their post on a repeat offence, and anyone who breaches the ban through false documents, sham contracts or similar deceit faces criminal punishment (extrañamiento menor in its minimum to medium degree).Decreto Ley Nº 1.939 of 1977, Art. 8, 1977-11-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

4. Where the border zone ban applies, a foreigner may still inherit the property, but only in order to sell it within one year from the death. If it is not sold within that year, the property is deemed declared of public utility and the President is authorised to expropriate it for the State.Decreto Ley Nº 1.939 of 1977, Art. 9, 1977-11-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

5. State owned (fiscal) land within 10 km of the border may only be obtained in ownership, lease or any other title by Chilean individuals or legal entities. The same applies to fiscal land within 5 km of the coast, measured from the high tide line, although foreigners domiciled in Chile may receive it after a favourable report from the Navy. Fiscal beach land within the 80 metre strip from the high tide line can never be sold and is only open to administration acts (concessions); in the Los Lagos, Aysén and Magallanes regions it may be transferred to Chilean individuals or non profit entities who settle in the region, with a 10 year restriction on resale.
Cost to do it: The restriction concerns land bought from the State; private land near the coast can be bought by foreigners freely, subject to the border zone rule for neighbouring country nationals.Decreto Ley Nº 1.939 of 1977, as amended by Ley Nº 18.255, Ley Nº 19.606 and Ley Nº 20.062, Art. 6, 1977-11-10 official text · verified 2026-10-26

Buyer	Private land outside border zones	Private land in a declared border zone	Fiscal land within 10 km of border	Fiscal land within 5 km of coast
Chilean individual or company	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Foreigner from a non neighbouring country	Yes	Yes	No	Only if domiciled in Chile, with Navy report
National or company of Argentina, Bolivia or Peru (40 percent capital or control test)	Yes	Only with a named supreme decree exemption	No	Only if domiciled in Chile, with Navy report

Who may buy what (DL Nº 1.939 art. 6 and 7; Código Civil art. 57)

Worked example

A US investor buying a vineyard in Colchagua, far from the border, signs a deed like any Chilean buyer; a company 40 percent owned by Argentine nationals buying a lodge in a commune declared a border zone would need a prior supreme decree, and the notary will ask each signatory for a sworn nationality declaration.

Step by step

Check whether the commune is in a declared border zone (DFL Nº 4 of 1967 and later decrees) before signing a promise contract.
If any shareholder is a national of Argentina, Bolivia or Peru, map the cap table and control: 40 percent of capital or effective control is enough to trigger the ban.
Obtain a RUT for the foreign buyer and a local representative before the deed (see entities/rut-start-of-activities-and-representatives).
Prepare the sworn nationality declaration the notary will require under DL Nº 1.939 art. 8.
If buying from the State (Bienes Nacionales), check the 10 km frontier and 5 km coastal rules and the 80 metre beach strip.

Common traps

The border zone ban covers tenancy too: a lease of border zone property to a company controlled by neighbouring country nationals is caught, not just a purchase.
Indirect control counts: the test is 40 percent of capital or effective control, so a holding structure through a third country does not by itself clear the ban.
A barred heir has only one year to sell; after that the State may expropriate.
Owning land does not give water rights or mining rights; they are separate assets (see real-estate/water-rights and sectors/mining-energy-and-key-sectors).

Sources

← Buying and owning real estate in Chile: foreign ownership, border zones, title registration, property tax and the owner surcharge, VAT, capital gains on sale, rentals, indigenous land and water rightsTitle registration and due diligence in Chile: public deed, the Conservador de Bienes Raíces registries, promise contracts, prescription, registrar fees and certificates →