🇨🇱 Santiago · First days

First 48 hours in Santiago

The first two days in Santiago, in priority order: what has to happen, what should, and what can wait. Tick things off as you go.

For Santiago
How long you are staying

Must do

  • The PDI records your entry electronically and you can download the Tarjeta Única Migratoria. Keep it with your passport; you need it to leave and for some procedures.
  • Entel, Movistar, WOM and Claro sell prepaid SIMs with a passport. Ask in store whether your phone needs registering for a long stay; phones bought abroad sometimes do.
  • Buy a bip! card (CLP 1,550, no credit included) at a Metro ticket office, or create a free bip!QR account with ClaveÚnica in the Red app. One fare covers two transfers within 120 minutes.
  • On the Registro Civil website, under first issue for foreigners, within 30 days of your permit taking effect. Missing the deadline brings a fine.

Should do

  • 131 is SAMU, the ambulance; 132 the fire brigade, which is volunteer-run; 133 the Carabineros, the police.
  • Drop, cover and hold on, away from windows; do not run outside during shaking. Note the tsunami evacuation signs if you are on the coast.
  • From May to August the basin traps pollution and environmental alerts are declared on bad days. Check the daily air-quality status and the extra driving restrictions before you drive.
  • Rubbish collection, parks, policing and schools are municipal and differ between neighbouring comunas. Walk the area you are considering on a weekday evening.
  • Once the cédula arrives: the BancoEstado CuentaRUT for paying rent and bills, and ClaveÚnica for FONASA and every government site.
  • Convert UF prices at the current value, and ask for the gastos comunes figure for that exact flat.

Nice to do

  • Afternoon tea, called once, is a meal here: bread, avocado and ham around six in the evening, with dinner late or not at all.
  • Many embassies run a registration or alert service for nationals living abroad. Two minutes now saves a scramble in an emergency.
  • The hill park above Providencia, with a funicular and cable car, shows you the whole city, the comunas and, on a clear day, the Andes.
Your first 48 hours in Santiago0/130% done. Ticks are saved on this device.
  • Must do0/4
  • Should do0/6
  • Nice to do0/3
Emergency133
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