Moving from Chile to France (2026): Relocation Guide
Key takeaways
- Chileans are third-country nationals: a stay over 90 days needs a long-stay visa (VLS-TS), applied for from Chile, which you must validate online on the ANEF portal within 3 months of arrival.
- Household goods can enter France free of import duty and VAT under the franchise de déménagement (transfer-of-residence relief) if you are moving your main residence to France from outside the EU.
- You declare the goods on French customs form CERFA 10070, with a detailed, dated and signed inventory in two copies and a non-resale statement; goods must arrive within 12 months of your move and be kept for 12 months.
- Pets are straightforward: Chile is an EU-listed third country, so no rabies antibody titration blood test is required. You need a microchip, a rabies vaccination given after the chip and at least 21 days before travel, and an EU animal health certificate, plus a SAG export certificate to leave Chile.
- Sea freight from San Antonio or Valparaíso to Le Havre typically takes around 25–35 days with a trans-shipment; an air option exists for urgent items.
1. Leaving Chile: what to close out
Tie off your Chilean administration before you leave, because it is hard to manage from Europe. Your RUT number stays with you for life, so keep it to hand for any future tax, pension or property matters. If you are ending Chilean tax residency, coordinate with the Servicio de Impuestos Internos, and settle utilities, your health plan (isapre or Fonasa) and any outstanding accounts. Renters should give notice and reclaim deposits; owners keeping a property should appoint an administrator or grant a power of attorney to handle local paperwork in their absence.
For your possessions, personal effects leave Chile through the Servicio Nacional de Aduanas. Exporting household goods as personal effects is not a commercial export, but your removal company still prepares the export documentation and a full inventory. Keep your passport, Chilean residence document and evidence of your move to France (the long-stay visa, an employment contract, enrolment letter or French housing document) — the same proof supports the French customs relief on arrival. Wind down Chilean bank accounts tidily rather than abandoning them, to avoid complications with later tax filings.
Allow plenty of lead time. The long Pacific-to-Atlantic routing means most families start packing decisions six to eight weeks ahead and book pet paperwork about a month before the flight.
2. How your household goods ship to France
Chile’s central-region container ports are San Antonio and Valparaíso, both close to Santiago. The natural French gateway is Le Havre, the country’s leading container port on the Atlantic coast, with Marseille-Fos serving the south. Direct sailings on this lane are limited, so shipments generally route via a trans-shipment hub — frequently Callao in Peru, and sometimes a northern-European hub — before reaching Le Havre. Plan on roughly 25–35 days port to port, plus one to three weeks either side for collection, export clearance, and French delivery and customs release.
A full household usually travels as a dedicated 20-foot or 40-foot container (FCL). Smaller volumes go more cheaply as a shared container or part-load (LCL), which adds consolidation and deconsolidation time. If you need certain items straight away, air freight from Santiago is fast but costly per kilo; a sensible approach is to air-freight a small box of first-weeks essentials and send the rest by sea.
The detailed, signed inventory is your most important document. French customs require it in a specific dated form for the relief, so make it accurate and complete, and keep alcohol, tobacco, weapons and restricted foodstuffs out of the consignment to avoid holding up the whole shipment.
3. France customs & transfer-of-residence relief
France lets you import used personal property free of import duty and VAT when you transfer your main residence to France from a third country — the franchise de déménagement. The core conditions are that you are genuinely moving your normal residence to France, your belongings are used personal effects, and the goods arrive in France within 12 months of your documented relocation date. You must also keep the goods — not sell, lend, pledge or lease them — for 12 months after their entry.
The declaration is made to French customs (Douane) on form CERFA 10070 — the declaration of duty-free entry of personal property from third countries. You supply a detailed, estimated, dated and signed inventory in two copies, the CERFA 10070 declaration, a document proving you are settling in France (any evidence of the change of residence), and a signed non-resale statement confirming the goods are used personal possessions that will not be resold. Your removal company normally prepares and lodges this on your behalf. As with all EU moves, alcohol, tobacco and certain other categories are excluded from the relief and handled separately.
4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare
Because Chileans are third-country nationals, staying more than 90 days requires a long-stay visa. The common route is the VLS-TS (visa de long séjour valant titre de séjour), a long-stay visa that also acts as a residence permit for its first year — for work, study, visitor or family purposes. You apply from Chile through the French visa service before you travel. Crucially, once in France you must validate the VLS-TS online on the ANEF portal within 3 months of arrival; miss that deadline and the visa loses its residence-permit status. Validation requires your visa details, your date of entry, your French address and payment of the applicable tax. Chileans who also hold an EU nationality (for example through European ancestry) can use EU free movement instead and skip the visa route — check your ancestry before assuming you need one.
France does not have a single “register at the town hall” step equivalent to the Dutch or Swedish systems; instead, your VLS-TS validation, and later permit renewals via ANEF, form your immigration record. You will, however, quickly need a French address, and many everyday services expect proof of residence (a justificatif de domicile). For healthcare, once you are stably and legally resident you can join the public health system (PUMA / Assurance Maladie) and obtain a social security number; expect the enrolment to take time, so keep private cover for the first months.
On driving, a Chilean licence can generally be used for a limited period after you establish residence, and whether you can exchange it for a French licence depends on reciprocity agreements — otherwise you take the French tests. Check the current rules for licences issued in Chile before your driving entitlement lapses.
5. Pets
Moving a dog or cat from Chile to France is genuinely easy, because Chile is a country the EU lists as a third country with controlled rabies status (Annex II of the EU pet-travel rules). That listing means your pet does NOT need a rabies antibody titration blood test, and there is no three-month waiting period that owners from unlisted countries have to serve. This is the point most owners fret about, and in your case it simply does not apply.
Follow the order that matters: (1) microchip first; (2) rabies vaccination after the microchip — the vaccine date must not precede the chip date; and (3) travel no sooner than 21 days after the vaccination is completed. Your pet must be at least 12 weeks old before its first rabies shot. Close to departure, an official veterinarian issues the EU animal health certificate confirming the microchip and valid vaccination.
To leave Chile you also need a SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) export certificate — the Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación — requested through SAG (started online at cerofilas.sag.gob.cl or at a SAG office), supported by a vet health check within 10 days of travel and current vaccinations; SAG usually issues it within about three business days. Because the SAG timing and the 21-day rabies rule must align, start the pet paperwork roughly a month before you fly. Enter the EU through a designated traveller entry point and confirm your airline’s animal-transport conditions in advance.
6. Money, banking & tax basics
Opening a French bank account is easier once you have a French address and your immigration paperwork in order, though some online banks are flexible for newcomers. Until your main account is running, a fee-free multi-currency account can bridge the gap and handle converting Chilean pesos to euros; moving a lump sum through a specialist currency provider usually beats a standard bank wire. Keep evidence of the source of your funds, as French banks routinely ask.
On tax, France taxes residents on worldwide income once you are tax-resident, and it has an “impatriate” regime that can exempt part of the income of qualifying incoming employees for a limited period — check the current conditions, as they are detailed. Coordinate the exit side too: confirm with Chile’s Servicio de Impuestos Internos when your Chilean tax residency ends, so you are not taxed as resident in both countries for the same period. For the year of the move, cross-border tax advice is generally worth the cost.
How Flyto handles your Chile to France move
Flyto Relocation runs its own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, so a Chile-to-France move is coordinated as a single project rather than a chain of disconnected handovers. We arrange collection and export clearance in Chile, book the San Antonio or Valparaíso sailing to Le Havre or Marseille, prepare the French franchise de déménagement paperwork including the CERFA 10070 and inventory, and manage delivery and customs release at destination. We also help sequence the visa and ANEF steps and the pet paperwork — SAG export certificate, microchip, rabies timing and EU animal health certificate — so nothing is left to chance. Get a quote and we will build your timeline back from your French arrival date.
Frequently asked questions
Does my dog or cat need a rabies blood test to enter France from Chile?
No. Chile is an EU-listed third country, so no rabies antibody titration test is required. You need a microchip, a rabies vaccination given after the chip and at least 21 days before travel, and an EU animal health certificate. See European Commission — bringing a pet into the EU.
Which form do I use for duty-free import of my belongings?
French customs form CERFA 10070, with a detailed, dated and signed inventory in two copies, proof of your move and a non-resale statement. See French Customs (Douane) — transferring your main residence to France.
How long do I have to import my goods, and must I keep them?
Goods must arrive within 12 months of your documented relocation and be kept (not sold or lent) for 12 months after entry. See French Customs (Douane).
Do Chileans need a visa for France, and what must I do on arrival?
Yes. For stays over 90 days you need a long-stay visa (VLS-TS), which you validate on the ANEF portal within 3 months of arrival. See France-Visas — long-stay visa.
Where do I validate my VLS-TS?
On the official ANEF portal (administration-etrangers-en-france.interieur.gouv.fr) within 3 months of entering France. See ANEF — foreigners in France portal.
How long does shipping from Chile to France take?
Sea freight from San Antonio or Valparaíso to Le Havre is typically around 25–35 days port to port, usually with a trans-shipment, plus collection and clearance time. See Fluent Cargo — Chile to Northern Europe transit.
Sources
- French Customs (Douane) — Deductibles when transferring your main residence to France
- French Customs (Douane) — Customs and tax exemptions
- France-Visas — Long-stay visa (VLS-TS)
- ANEF — Digital Administration for Foreigners in France (VLS-TS validation)
- European Commission — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country
- SAG (Servicio Agrícola y Ganadero) — Salida de mascotas de Chile (perros y gatos)
- SAG — Certificado Zoosanitario de Exportación for dogs and cats
- Fluent Cargo — Chile to Northern Europe sea transit